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Showing posts with label Sunrisers Hyderabad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunrisers Hyderabad. Show all posts
Dhoni after CSK.
A triple-role with Delhi Capitals? Or a coaching stint at 'Ranchi Sunrisers'?
Every season, the one question that does the rounds is: is this his last season? Last year, MS Dhoni gave every indication that he wanted to play at his CSK home ground, Chepauk, and then take a call on his IPL career.
Dhoni’s call has been answered by every stadium in India. Every stadium has been a sea of yellow. A CSK fortress. No matter where, it's been Mahi’s home ground. The high point of every CSK match has been when MSD's come out to bat. Ad breaks ceased. Both Star and Jio have been largely aligned on this.
It may have been for just a few deliveries, towards the end of every CSK innings but MSD has come out swinging each time – striking at nearly 200, Dhoni’s daredevilry with the bat has left all gasping for more. After 12 matches, even though MSD has faced a mere 50 deliveries, he has scored 98 runs, with 10 sixes. Dhoni out in the middle has been an event.
It hasn't been uncommon for even those not watching the match, to turn it on. It hasn't been uncommon for those who were turned on elsewhere, to turn to the match. It's been the Dhoni factor. Mobiles switched on, TVs tuned into, viewership peaking. Everyone have sensed, this season is all about Dhoni’s withdrawal.
The eternal question has been, what will CSK be after Dhoni stops playing? Everyone expected that he would remain with the franchise in some capacity, most probably as a mentor, much like Tendulkar is with Mumbai Indians.
Apparently it could be quite to the contrary. It has been learnt that Dhoni hopes to take on something more challenging – a leadership role at a hopeless franchise, either Delhi Capitals or Sunrisers Hyderabad. Both teams are languishing at the bottom, with a handful of games remaining. Dhoni wishes to see, by the end of the season, which of the two teams is more useless.
In their two matches against each other, DC and SRH have won one match a piece. The margin of defeat has been similar, 7 and 9 runs. Both teams chasing had 4 wickets in the bank, played their overs out, and tested the patience of their handful of fans.
Asked if this is true, Dhoni remained non-committal but did say, “Even useless teams have some use. I remember when I was at the Pune franchise (Rising Pune Supergiants), I did feel they had some use – when I returned to CSK, it was with new vigour. I’m not saying I will be taking on a leadership role with either of the teams but I’m not ruling it out either. One must keep looking at fresh challenges.
"Sometimes I feel that we at CSK, with Flem as coach and me there too, are a well-oiled machine. We need to challenge ourselves. That’s why, if you remember, we made Jadeja the captain in between. The rest, y’kno, everyone saw. Some will remember the issues with Raina too, what seemed like a non-issue but really, it’s how you decide to look at matters and take them in your own hands”
The Delhi management said they’d love to have Dhoni in any role: “Ideally we’d like to have him captain, coach and mentor our team as we are missing persons in all three roles. It has been a painful experience for us and we are looking to rename the franchise again. We also are looking at Dhoni to suggest a new name or if he’s fine with us using his name, something like Dhoni’s Delhi – we feel it has a ring to it but finally it is what Dhoni is comfortable with. We are also comfortable to change our jersey to yellow as that is something he is used to. It is still early days and I do not want to make any comments as such so please don’t quote me”
The Hyderabad franchise claimed ever since things had been going south for them, Dhoni was on their mind. “Dhoni’s association with the south is well documented. He is revered in Chennai. Also, the shift from yellow to orange (SRH’s colours) will be quite seamless. I know, DC is keen to have him on board but I do feel, MSD and Hyderabad are a natural fit. I have heard that Delhi is wooing him with a change in name, we will pull out all stops too. We are even prepared to call ourselves Ranchi Sunrisers to make him feel at home”.
When contacted regarding the comments of the DC and SRH management, Dhoni kept it brief, “Nothing to add”.
Just then, Dhoni’s phone rang with the tune 'Main pal do pal ka shayar hu.’
(However plausible this may sound, this is a work of fiction)
First published at cricket.com
Manish Pandey, Rahane and other ODI bats in the IPL.
When scorpions fight to the finish
There is much in common between Virat
Kohli and David Warner: Bully openers,
closure masters, boss captains. While one had anger management issues, the
other continues to fuel his cricket with fury.
Both share the same star sign, Scorpio. Both are in their late 20s,
Kohli’s 27, Warner’s 29. Both have the identical top score in T20
internationals, a 90 not out.
Both are full-on Aussie in their approach to sport. Both have curbed their natural T20 instincts, preferring to battle boredom for the team. Both want to win this IPL so bad you can almost taste it on TV. Both have just about done enough to win it on their own. Going into the finals, Kohli has 919 runs, Warner, 779 runs. That’s the top two run scorers this IPL.
“When I went to Dehli, Sehwag watched me a couple of times and said to me, ‘You’ll be a better Test cricketer than what you will be a Twenty20 player’.”
And can both field. They hurl themselves at the cricket ball as if a magnetic field were pulling them to it. Both did not open in the World T20, but after this IPL, who will stop them?
Tonight, only one will win the IPL.
After winning five back-to-back knock-out matches and making it to the finals, the trophy seems like just another routine chase under lights for Virat Kohli.
Kohli has in his XI, four outright match winners with the bat, Gayle, de Villiers, Watson and himself. Warner has just one: himself. He’s pushed this Sunrisers’ campaign with his bat and his bowlers.
Even the absence of Ashish Nehra and Mustafizur Rahman hasn’t stopped him.
The IPL finals are at Chinnaswamy. For RCB, it’s not a home game, it’s a backyard game, with friends and extended family - 40,000 chants of R-C-Bee, R-C-Bee will be baying for Warner’s blood.
On 12th April, when the two played in Bangalore, RCB sucked the Chinnaswamy for all the runs it was worth – 228, beating SRH (Nehra and Mustafizur included) by 45 runs. Warner made a 25 ball 58. For RCB, Kohli 75, de Villiers 82 sealed the deal. When the Sunrisers returned home, they knocked off 194 beating RCB by 15 runs. That man Warner again, a 50 ball 92. One-all, one to play.
For RCB, off spinner, Parvez Rasool played both games. He played the last of his four games this season more than three weeks back. Will RCB play him again to counter the two left handers on top? Or will they expect Gayle to bowl with his big bat? Will Kohli risk his left arm spinner, Abdulla against Warner? Or will he go as Raina did with Jadeja against Warner, and not bowl him at all? What about the leg spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal?
What about out of favour Sarfaraz Khan? Has he shed enough weight to be picked? Not only is he an October 27 born like Warner, he tonked a 10 ball 35 when he played the Sunrisers, most of those runs were behind the wicket, scooping, paddling, doing all kinds of horrible things to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Such was his impact that day, poor Bhuvi all but gave up on bowling yorkers till just the other day. RCB might find more of baby Sachin in Sarfaraz than they will in Sachin Baby. It’ll be a gamble worth taking, negating Bhuvi could be the game. Bad memories do strange things to sportspersons.
The other big call for RCB is gambling with Lokesh Rahul behind the stumps. It could not just cost them runs, it could cost them the trophy. The only way wicketkeeper, Travis Head makes it to the playing XI if Chris Gayle does not.
Chances are RCB will go with their same winning eleven. And a prayer. It’ll be down to Warner to dismiss Warner. And hoping the other left handers, Dhawan and Yuvraj don’t mess up Abdulla and Chahal too badly.
Either way, a loss in the IPL final will not make either a lesser player. A win for Virat Kohli though, will feed the IPL dream like few things can. (Like Dhoni’s used to in his heyday, you remember?) It’ll add yet another chapter to that story he continues to write on the field. Through the covers. And sometimes, even in the dugout when he fails to score.
Both are full-on Aussie in their approach to sport. Both have curbed their natural T20 instincts, preferring to battle boredom for the team. Both want to win this IPL so bad you can almost taste it on TV. Both have just about done enough to win it on their own. Going into the finals, Kohli has 919 runs, Warner, 779 runs. That’s the top two run scorers this IPL.
Both their cricket journeys have been
shaped by Delhi in no small way. While Kohli is from Delhi, Warner’s opening
for Delhi Daredevils (under Virender Sehwag) by his own admission, defined his
game -
“When I went to Dehli, Sehwag watched me a couple of times and said to me, ‘You’ll be a better Test cricketer than what you will be a Twenty20 player’.”
And can both field. They hurl themselves at the cricket ball as if a magnetic field were pulling them to it. Both did not open in the World T20, but after this IPL, who will stop them?
Tonight, only one will win the IPL.
After winning five back-to-back knock-out matches and making it to the finals, the trophy seems like just another routine chase under lights for Virat Kohli.
Kohli has in his XI, four outright match winners with the bat, Gayle, de Villiers, Watson and himself. Warner has just one: himself. He’s pushed this Sunrisers’ campaign with his bat and his bowlers.
Even the absence of Ashish Nehra and Mustafizur Rahman hasn’t stopped him.
The IPL finals are at Chinnaswamy. For RCB, it’s not a home game, it’s a backyard game, with friends and extended family - 40,000 chants of R-C-Bee, R-C-Bee will be baying for Warner’s blood.
On 12th April, when the two played in Bangalore, RCB sucked the Chinnaswamy for all the runs it was worth – 228, beating SRH (Nehra and Mustafizur included) by 45 runs. Warner made a 25 ball 58. For RCB, Kohli 75, de Villiers 82 sealed the deal. When the Sunrisers returned home, they knocked off 194 beating RCB by 15 runs. That man Warner again, a 50 ball 92. One-all, one to play.
For RCB, off spinner, Parvez Rasool played both games. He played the last of his four games this season more than three weeks back. Will RCB play him again to counter the two left handers on top? Or will they expect Gayle to bowl with his big bat? Will Kohli risk his left arm spinner, Abdulla against Warner? Or will he go as Raina did with Jadeja against Warner, and not bowl him at all? What about the leg spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal?
What about out of favour Sarfaraz Khan? Has he shed enough weight to be picked? Not only is he an October 27 born like Warner, he tonked a 10 ball 35 when he played the Sunrisers, most of those runs were behind the wicket, scooping, paddling, doing all kinds of horrible things to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Such was his impact that day, poor Bhuvi all but gave up on bowling yorkers till just the other day. RCB might find more of baby Sachin in Sarfaraz than they will in Sachin Baby. It’ll be a gamble worth taking, negating Bhuvi could be the game. Bad memories do strange things to sportspersons.
The other big call for RCB is gambling with Lokesh Rahul behind the stumps. It could not just cost them runs, it could cost them the trophy. The only way wicketkeeper, Travis Head makes it to the playing XI if Chris Gayle does not.
Chances are RCB will go with their same winning eleven. And a prayer. It’ll be down to Warner to dismiss Warner. And hoping the other left handers, Dhawan and Yuvraj don’t mess up Abdulla and Chahal too badly.
Either way, a loss in the IPL final will not make either a lesser player. A win for Virat Kohli though, will feed the IPL dream like few things can. (Like Dhoni’s used to in his heyday, you remember?) It’ll add yet another chapter to that story he continues to write on the field. Through the covers. And sometimes, even in the dugout when he fails to score.
Yuvi and you
On Friday, May 6, 2016, Yuvraj Singh played his first match in IPL 9. It helped his franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad make more headlines than they had in the last month with David Warner and Mustafizur Rahman. Warner is the league's top batsman, Rahman is its top bowler. One's an Aussie, the other a Bangladeshi. Yuvraj is more Indian than the IPL.
So far in this edition, there have been no Indian heroes. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane's many half centuries have been in cruise control. You've seen one, you've seen them all.
They've been scored opening, with much method and little madness. In spite of their big runs, their teams are rotting in the bottom half of the points table. Along with Dhoni's Rising Pune Super Giants.
While Virat, Rohit and Rahane open, Dhoni tends to close an innings. By the time he walks out, it's already the death overs. His short spurts at the crease are about hustling between the wickets, the solitary six in the last over. As with the openers, with Dhoni too, you almost know what to expect.
The IPL's calling card was always the unexpected. It made players just as quickly as it unmade them. Today, the league is tired. It's taken two retired India greats, Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan to shake the tournament up.
With Virat's RCB and Dhoni's RPS on the brink of elimination, Yuvraj walks out, seemingly oblivious, to play his first match. Yuvraj's absence is what feeds Yuvraj's presence. His being there, on the field, with ball in hand, comes close to a Sachin wave from the dugout.
It stirs memories. Some are cricket memories but mostly they are untraceable abstract feelings, stuck deep in our subconscious. Even we are not fully aware of them or what they mean to us.
They make us smile, live in hope, want something good to happen, want Yuvi to make that good happen.
Yuvi catwalks to bowl in the ninth over. It's a wide. He's bowling after a long time, we collectively say. The commentators will tell us again that Yuvraj is not a big spinner of the ball. They will talk of his speed variations. There is comfort in this talk, we've heard it many, many times before.
Just as there is comfort in Yuvi. The over is bowled before you know it. And before you know it, Yuvi's back to bowl his second over. He nearly has Bravo's wicket. There could be talk of Yuvraj's knack of taking wickets, that's why Dhoni has often turned to him at crucial times. All this is embedded within you.
Just as Yuvi is embedded within you. Yuvraj faced his first ball in the tenth over. Yuvraj faces his last ball in the 14th over. It's been a forgettable innings, most of us will forget about it.
Yuvi will forget about it. Till he catwalks to bat another day. And play from that memory of yours. What he hasn't done in the IPL is unimportant. It's always what he can do that pushes the bid at the auction.
Yuvraj Singh sold for Rs 7 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad. You sold yourself to Yuvi for...some things money can't buy.
First published here
What to expect in IPL 2016
Even though there will be no Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the team's resident fan boy, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, will remind us time and time again of their glorious past. Each time Dhoni's current team, Rising Pune Supergiants (RPSG) take the field, Siva will take the mickey, mostly out of himself. Expect to be reminded, how CSK had won the trophy so many times and made the finals so many times.
Siva's loyalties will be split when Dhoni's Pune takes on Raina's Gujarat. He will invoke CSK yet again, nauseatingly, compelling his co-commentators to do the same. They will comply. It will be an emotional match for CSK fans, turning up in a sea of yellow. There might even be a "Whistle Podu" chant.
For once, Dhoni will be keen to play Rahane, who will most probably open the innings with Kevin Pietersen. Saurabh Tiwary could end up being Dhoni's wildcard floater. Expect Siva to invoke Jharkhand.
Random fact: This team unites Dhoni with his old buddy, RP Singh. And old mates, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda and Irfan Pathan. It's like asking, how many aging medium pacers does one need to change a light bulb? One: Ashish Nehra.
From CSK, Ashish Nehra has hopped across to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Yuvraj Singh is there too, in spirit. An injured Yuvi will deliver on all his media commitments, as he did with Delhi Daredevils (DD) previously.
After batting in the middle order for Australia in the World T20, SRH skip, David Warner will open again. His form will once again make or break this team. Eoin Morgan is bound to score more than he did recently for England.
Mustafizur Rahman and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, along with Nehra, will make for the best opening and death ball bowling combo with fries this IPL. If Rahman fires, especially against Pune, the Bangladeshi photoshop agents could prove to be quite obnoxious again. Will Kane Williamson get a game? How many? Will depend largely on Morgan's form.
Random fact: Dale Steyn will not be missed.
Steyn is now with Raina's Gujarat Lions. Will he roar? Yes. Will he go for runs? Yes. Will he run into AB again? Yes.
On the face of it, Gujarat appears to have more of CSK than even Pune. With Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum and the two Dwaynes, Bravo and Smith - this pretty much is the CSK core sans Dhoni and Ashwin. (Add James Faulkner and Aaron Finch, and this looks like a team packed with bullies for batsmen.)
But without Dhoni's leadership expect this new CSK mix to be not half as hot. Could end up looking like another Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) - flamboyant with the bat, but that's that.
Random Fact: In addition to the two Dwaynes, they have two Praveens, spelt differently - Praveen Kumar and Pravin Tambe. This could be Tambe's last IPL, just like they said last year and the year before that.
Take away Mitchell Starc and Samuel Badree from RCB, and you take away its bowling. And expect Shane Watson to open and close and control and take wickets. On a good day, RCB could score 300, with Gayle and de Villiers both scoring hundreds, and Virat close behind with a 90 (with no sixes and 17 fours); and yeah, with their bowling, they could still lose.
Random Fact: Varun Aaron has the ability to bowl six head high beamers in an over.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) - the only team that takes the IPL as seriously as CSK used to. Standby for stats from Siva.
Watching KKR is your best shot to see Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla play cricket. SRK will return to the Wankhede on April 28 when his team takes on the hosts. His kids will be a lot older. Chances are, SRK too will be far more grown-up when he chats up security.
Random Fact: Virat Kohli doesn't know it but even more than Sachin, he idolises Gambhir. If the two have another go at each other, you'll see where Virat picked most of his vocabulary.
Mumbai Indians (MI) - Defending champions play the first match in Mumbai, and going by their team, could well be playing the last one too, the finals on 29th May. Rohit Sharma opens for India but plays in the middle order for MI. Remember Rayudu? He'll be back. As too will be Bumrah and Pandya and Bhajji and a bus full of coaches and Anu Malik.
The luckiest man in Mumbai, Lendl Simmons, returns to rub it in - what a way to kick off the IPL, Simmons vs Ashwin, Simmons vs Dhoni, Simmons and no balls, one of those made for each other blends.
Random Fact: Sachin Tendulkar will take the best selfie this IPL.
As for what not to expect this IPL: Vijay Mallya will not be at the grounds. He will however continue to add to that blistering #IPL Twitter count during RCB matches.
Over to Ravi Shastri. Not quite the hunger games but by the look of it, the thirst games. How long before someone in the IPL says, "Why water, let them drink Pepsi."
After Zaheer Khan's appointment as Delhi Daredevils' captain, it's now Ashish Nehra's turn to lead his IPL team.
On the back of Zaheer Khan's appointment as Delhi
Daredevils' captain, it has now been revealed that another IPL franchise is
looking to a senior Indian medium pacer for leadership. Sunrisers Hyderabad
(SRH) who purchased Ashish Nehra at the IPL auctions this year, have decided to
make him their captain.
In the current World T20, Nehra has been extremely vocal with his opinion, as was evident when he was seen speaking to MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya before the decisive 20th over against Bangladesh. Whether or not his advice was heeded is still unknown but that has never stopped Nehra from giving his two cents. Turning 37 next month, the old workhorse might well be in the twilight of his career, but it's obvious he still has a few tricks up his short sleeves.
Zaheer Khan last played for India over two years ago. Previously, in IPL 7, he only played half of his franchise's 14 matches. Now in his 38th year, the old fox has been made Delhi Daredevils' captain, with the backing of former teammate, and DD mentor, Rahul Dravid.
Ashish Nehra made a surprise return to the India
squad for the Australia and Sri Lanka T20 series, and was subsequently picked
for the Asia Cup and World T20. Before this, Nehra last played for India in the
2011 World Cup semi finals against Pakistan. He opened the bowling with Zaheer
Khan in that match. Before his latest comeback, Nehra's last T20 for India was
more than five years ago. Since his return in January this year, Nehra has
already played 14 matches for India. (also the maximum matches one can play in
the IPL group stages).
SRH coach, Tom Moody, commented on Nehra's
appointment, “We have been following his progress closely. He has been unbelievably
consistent. In three out of the four matches in the World T20 he has very
similar bowling figures – twice he has bowled his four overs for 20 runs and
once his three overs for twenty runs. It's as if he was born to play Twenty20
cricket and go for just 20 runs”. A closer examination of Nehra's figures show
that he has gone for less than 30 runs in nine out of his previous 14 matches.
Ashish Nehra has his own ideas when it comes to
captaincy. Not a big fan of technology or social media, Nehra has gone on
record to say, “I think smart phones are making people less smart. As I have
said before, I still use my old Nokia phone. In our team dugout, I will expect
the players to uninstall facebook, twitter and whatsapp. This way they will
apply themselves on the games and not on the apps...I have just learnt that's
what they call them”
In the current World T20, Nehra has been extremely vocal with his opinion, as was evident when he was seen speaking to MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya before the decisive 20th over against Bangladesh. Whether or not his advice was heeded is still unknown but that has never stopped Nehra from giving his two cents. Turning 37 next month, the old workhorse might well be in the twilight of his career, but it's obvious he still has a few tricks up his short sleeves.
Zaheer Khan last played for India over two years ago. Previously, in IPL 7, he only played half of his franchise's 14 matches. Now in his 38th year, the old fox has been made Delhi Daredevils' captain, with the backing of former teammate, and DD mentor, Rahul Dravid.
For years, Zaheer was team India's bowling captain,
setting fields for various captains and chatting with bowlers from his fielding
position at mid off. Reacting to his appointment as captain, Zaheer believes
that nothing will change - “I'll still be fielding at mid off and talking to
the bowlers”.
In addition to Dravid, Zaheer will renew his association
with India's former mental conditioning coach, Paddy Upton. Welcoming Upton’s
appointment as DD’s head coach, Zaheer was honest in his assessment, “Some of
the decisions DD have taken in the past...they have chopped and changed way too
often...they have also exposed a mental fragility. Someone like Paddy (Upton) will
help them overcome...”
Most experts are sceptical but cricketer turned
commentator, Virender Sehwag, was bullish as usual: “Go Nehraji old is gold”
and “ZAKS old is gold 2”. Shoaib Akhtar disagreed, “I have to disagree...my
producers have told me too”. Sehwag had the last word, “Of course...you are
not...agreeable guy”
Thanks to my friend, Bhaskar Khaund,
for inspiring this post.
(However
plausible this may sound, this is largely a work of fiction.)
Still life with Amit Mishra.
This story is inspired by Amit Mishra's run out on 8th May, 2014.
Before Walter Mitty’s secret world and Mungerilal’s dreamscapes, there was Amit Mishra. A stationery object, unmoved by the futility of movement, a master of the Zen of Pause. An inspiration for artists, among others, U2’s Running to stand still.
In a way, Gauti was pleased, his friend was doing well enough to be his companion on tour. Four years after his Test debut, Amit Mishra would make his. Between them, 171 runs and 7 wickets.
Before Walter Mitty’s secret world and Mungerilal’s dreamscapes, there was Amit Mishra. A stationery object, unmoved by the futility of movement, a master of the Zen of Pause. An inspiration for artists, among others, U2’s Running to stand still.
Amit Mishra was not always like this. He was far worse. A
love for sport was discovered at an early age by accident. When he was yawning
at the boundary and a fierce flat-hit lodged itself in his outstretched arms.
Amit Mishra was cranky, the ball had broken his breathing patterns – he had
reluctantly mastered the merits of breathe-in, breathe out, during yoga. His
favourite Asan, the Shavasana (Corpse-asan) where you lie flat on your back, arms outstretched, doing nothing. As per the yoga teacher, Shavasana
was a wind-down after the somewhat more rigorous Surya
Namaskars.
Not for Amit Mishra. He wanted to start class with the Shavasana. The only time he showed any
enthusiasm was when he eyed the mat with a sparkle in his eye; soon to be
doused. 'Flat on the mat' was a rap song, Ma’ Odumbe, his Kenyan friend would
sing for him. Of course, his full name was Maurice Odumbe, but Amit’s love for
minimum-effort drove him to circumcise his name.
When everyone’s idea of a beach holiday was Goa, Amit Mishra’s
was The Dead Sea. Fearing his family would bully him into water sports, Mishra
stuck pictures of Thai beaches on the Jordan brochure. Once there, Amit Mishra even dragged his yoga
mat into The Dead Sea attempting the Shavasana.
He wrote in his diary that day, “Shavasana
& Dead Sea, these are a few of my favourite”
When the family posed for photographs, he
demanded deadpan expressions. This joke was lost on everyone including Amit
Mishra. However, deadpan was one of his favourite expressions – his buddy,
Gauti, had used it whilst ordering pan fried pizzas, saying, you guessed it, “Deadpan
pizza for Amit Mishra”. At first he
sulked, but when Gauti told him it was a joke, he laughed a tad, fast retiring
to his stupor.
There was also a misplaced love for the shot put. What drew
Amit Mishra to the sport first were the confines of the circle – yeah, I can
stay there all day, he muttered. The tough part was lifting the shot and then
hurling it. He asked if he could perch on the shot and be hurled instead? To
his credit, he was the only enlisted-athlete (forgive the expression) who was
never-fouled for leaving the circle. What
endeared him to the shot put even more was the knowledge that it had been part
of the modern Olympics since 1896 – he loved all things old, as in his mind he
equated them to immobility.
His friendship with Gauti meant cricket would soon be thrust
upon him. Gauti loved to bat, but even more than that, he loved to smash
spinners – especially left arm spinners. For a while, he made Amit Mishra bowl
left arm spin. That backfired. The ball would invariably be bowled towards mid on - the
next best thing, Gauti taught him leg spin. Gauti was ambitious, and wanted to
smash other deliveries too, the googly and the full toss were added. And post match interviews.
It took a few dismissals for Gauti to realise he had created
a Mishraenstein. Gauti asked him to concentrate on the full toss. But such was
his friend’s accidental guile, the googly would come out instead.
In a way, Gauti was pleased, his friend was doing well enough to be his companion on tour. Four years after his Test debut, Amit Mishra would make his. Between them, 171 runs and 7 wickets.
Two years’ later on Independence Day, Amit Mishra combined his love for
flying kites, shot put and flighting the ball by doing this:
From 2008-2010, he was chasing Harbhajan Singh. Seeing as it
was becoming increasingly difficult to replace him, he decided to become him.
 |
| Not one to be his own man, the IPL brought him new opportunities, to be someone else's man. |
In spite of himself, Amit Mishra has
represented India, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Haryana, India
Blue, Sunrisers Hyderabad. So much flux and changing of jerseys has scarred
Amit Mishra. He still turns up for SRH matches in DD jerseys. However, he has
stopped turning up for DD matches. The change in jerseys and logo was the last
straw. A traditionalist, Amit Mishra once said, in the long run, it’s
the short run that counts.
However plausible this might sound, this is a work of
fiction.
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