The summer of '88 - Part 2

Contd. from this post...

The shock was that the entire ground was flooded with water. It was one huge pond there and not a cricket ground. The flooding was because of the rains I had mentioned in my previous post.

So, we just waited there for the umpires and opponents to show up. The umpires did show up, but the opponents did not. After waiting for some mandatory period, the umpires informed us that by virtue of being physically present at the venue and in the absence of the opponent team, we were given a "walk-over" to the next round.

We all returned happily to school, though the happiness was mainly around the travel in the luxury car and the fact that we could brag to people around us about our entry to the second round.

Our next match was scheduled in a couple of days' time and in the meanwhile, we came to know that all the other U-15 teams of our school had been eliminated in the first round itself! That came as quite a bit of shock to us, primarily because our school has always had a pretty good reputation in the cricketing circles. On top of that, the A team that was formed was indeed quite strong and hence all of us were in real shock.

Anyways, our next match-day came up and this time around the match was scheduled in the "nearby" ground of TI Cycles, Ambattur. Once again, we all set out in that great car and were once again presented with a ground in a rather bad state thanks to the rains in the interim period. Lady luck favored us again and this time too, it was only the umpires who showed up and not our opponents. We were through to the next round, once again due to "walk-over".

When the news spread to the less knowledgeable circles in the school that the U-15 D team was through to Round 3, there was a general admiration at this achievement. Those who had a more inquisitive mindset wanted to know the scores of the match and that was usually where we got busted. But, we didn't care and simply moved on.

Believe it or not, the third match was at the same venue after a couple of days and the story simply repeated itself. We were now through to the 4th round without even having to call heads-or-tails in the preceding three rounds.

At this point, we started becoming the laughing stock. We could no longer take refuge under this slew of walk-overs and wanted to play an actual match. I think we prayed at the wrong time, because the next match was against one of the best, if not the best, cricketing schools in Chennai. And adding to our woes, the rains started disappearing too.

Our 4th round match was scheduled at MAC 'B' ground. This ground is on the same compound as the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium at Chepauk, Chennai. We were now extremely proud that we got a match in THE cricket stadium of Chennai.

We reached the venue on time. And for the first time in 4 matches, we were greeted by an opponent team. The umpires also came around and we were all set for the match to start. I was always penned down for the final playing XI and that was the case this time as well. And I used to open the bowling for my team too, though I was always the one to bowl the second over.

The toss was won by our opponents and they opted to bat first. Or in local parlance, they wanted the first gaajee.

To be continued...