#3's tour of Kodai - Day 2

Day 2 - 21/05/2006

One thing that completely permeated every aspect of the tour was “the Upendra factor”. If we thought the boys from Katpadi constituted a fan club for Narendra, they couldn’t hold a candle to the entire town of Kodaikanal. And add the presence of Deepa (“Anu” to Kolangal watchers) and you’ve got screaming fans lining the streets. Well, almost. From Sundar Anna, to the opposing team members, to the owners of the house, to the teachers at Sriram’s school, to the general public, they all wanted a piece of the action. The pair of them got stared at, pointed at, and were dragged off to be photographed everywhere they went. The lady who cooked and kept house for us even got a large contingent of her family to dress up and come over for the photo op. The small screen certainly makes stars down here, and don’t let anyone tell you different. God help us all.

Woke up, showered (well, some of us did), pulled on soiled uniforms and we were ready to set out. Hui naturally came in to the XI, but who was to be left out? Well, Palanivel Rajan had taken care of part of the problem. Turned out Anand wasn’t allowed anywhere near the train the previous night as pretty much the entire DMK from Chennai was traveling to his funeral. No Anand, then, sadly. And what Palanival Rajan had started, Tony finished. Even a nuclear explosion couldn’t have gotten him out of bed after the revelry of the previous night, and we left the room with exactly eleven players. Problem solved. Incidentally, he never did turn up at the ground and we later learned that he only woke up at three in the afternoon.

I suppose I do have to report on the game, don’t I? This was a cricket tour, and this is a cicket blog. Ok, ok, here it is. But it wasn’t pretty. As agreed, the toss was academic and we put them in. Sundar Anna walked out to open, along with the top scorer from yesterday. Vik and Joy actually bowled rather well, but it made no difference whatsoever. They spent the first couple of overs running sharp singles, but then the boundaries began. In his second or third over, Vik, our best bowler, bowled one on a nice length, swinging slightly away and Sundar Anna calmly moved on to the front foot and sent it sailing over his head for six. Vik started clapping even before he had completed his follow through, and fears of that century were becoming very, very real.

Joy however provided a double breakthrough. He got Sundar Anna lbw (attempting and missing a rather ambitious shot) and one more, yet another ‘sitter’ by iii (kneeler, actually). Upendra followed up with one in his first over, and at 67 for 3, even given the high run rate, we were doing spectacularly well. That was as good as it got. The fourth wicket partnership tore into us. They started by consolidating and picking up the singles, before slamming Narendra and Lex for a few. By the time the spinners came on, they were ready. They hammered anything and everything to all parts, and if not for the unique outfield limitations, they would have got even more. We reverted to the quicks, with Vik in particular bowling a fine second spell, and we started picking up wickets as the slog was on. But when the no.10 batsman walks in and plays an exquisite cover drive off his first ball, you sort of know you’re outclassed. Hui came on to bowl the last over, and promptly produced the best over he’s bowled for #3, hitting almost perfect lengths. His fifth ball looped nicely, dropped on a dime, spun past the batsman’s swinging blade and knocked middle out of the ground. It was a thing of beauty, and a rare high for us. They didn’t even bother sending a batsman out for the last ball, and finished on 230 for 9 in one ball short of 30 overs, with one guy getting 89.

Sriram and Ramesh opened, our only chance of making something happen. The bowler bowing the second over started with two wide deliveries, bowled one legal ball and then bowled six more wides on the trot. But he’d done more than enough with that one ball, because it induced an edge off Sriram’s bat that was safely taken at slip. Ramesh was bowled early on as well, and on that outfield, the game was pretty much up. Hui was promoted as a pich hitter and completed a decent match for himself by hanging around and not looking totally out of depth. Kishore, batting with a runner, and Indrabeer were the only two who had anything close to a decent tour with the bat across both matches and got a few runs, but it was dismal overall, really. The main highlight being that when iiii walked out with a runner as well, Kishore was still in. So, two batsmen, two runners, and superb confusion all around. It was a hoot. In the end, we didn’t even last the distance, being bowled out for 77 well within our quota of overs. Much happiness and photography followed, and we were off, promising we’d be back, and that we’d put up a better show next time.

Lunch at the school again, but no meditation point chilling this time, as half the guys were headed back to Chennai on the night train. The specter of rain had loomed large over both matches, but as with all other things, it just fit neatly into place it stayed away just long enough began to gently drizzle as we completed lunch and made for some enjoyable rain football post lunch. By the time we got back, batch 1 was all packed and ready to go. Good byes and last minute upendra snaps done, they were off. They apparently had a fun drive down, but I’ll leave it to someone else (Wretch? Beer?) to write about that.

Booze scored by Tony this time. He had to do something, we weren’t going to let him spend an entire day chilling without leaving the room. A more chilled but equally enjoyable night, where we were entertained by the truly inimitable T Rajendar among others (somebody post the youtube links, these guys need to see that shit). But as the evening wore on, we realized that the late Palanivel Rajan wasn’t done with us. Frantric phone calls were flying between Kodai Rd, Kodai and Chennai as we realized the tickets for these guys weren’t confirmed and the rush of politicos meant that the EQ scene was also tough. Classic ‘call Kishore’s mom’ scenes ensued and all the guys finally got berths, though on the next train which was a couple of hours later. They passed the time cutting at the station, I’m told, so all’s well that ends well, I suppose.

#3's tour of Kodai - Day 1

Day 1 - 20/05/2006

Woke up bleary eyed, shaking off the mists of sleep in a hurry with Sriram’s warning that the train would stop at Kodai Road for just two minutes hanging heavy over our heads. Having woken up, we then learned that the train was about an hour late. As we were to later discover, the cause of the white dhoti brigade, newly elected DMK MLA Mr.Palanivel Rajan was on the same train as us and had suffered a heart attack somewhere before Dindigul, leading to the delay while this emergency was attended to. He later succumbed to the attack, may his soul RIP. This unfortunate event was to affect our tour in unanticipated ways, but more on that later.

Disembarked at Kodai Rd. without any hassles, piled into the van and set off up the hill. I can say without hesitation that it was by far the least intoxicated ride up that hill that any bikganger has ever undertaken, with even cigarettes being banned by the rather stiff van guy. This didn’t dampen the enthu, though several people used the van drive as an opportunity to catch up on more sleep, and as we were already late we reached our destination without stopping anywhere significant. Got down from the van, picked up our luggage, and then we saw it. The Slope. A 300 metre stretch that from that moment on punctuated every decision we made regarding leaving the room and returning to it. It pretty much ensured that if we left and returned once in a day, wild horses couldn’t drag us out again. All thoughts of quickly nipping down to seven roads etc. were banished.

The first trek to the house was downward, but we knew full well that we’d be coming back up, with the kit, in about an hour’s time. Oh well, what the hell, we set off. On the way we saw one lodge where we hoped we’d be staying. That’s because it was called Babes Palace. I kid you not, Babes Palace. It wasn’t where we were staying though, we were staying further down the dreaded slope in an independent house. Initially we went in the ground floor and stashed our bags in a couple of rather run down looking rooms, and some rather nervous glances were exchanged. Soon, however, the upstairs floor was cleared and we moved into three rooms and a hall that lifted spirits a bit. We had the run of the place, and once we were supplied with some nice tea and idlis for breakfast, we changed into our brand new team uniforms and set off up the damned slope again. We had made the acquaintance of Sriram’s coach and our host for the trip, Sundar Anna. He let us know we were really late by this point, as we had to finish the game by a certain time and peak season traffic in Kodai didn’t help. A mixture of cabs and bikes finally got us to our Captain’s alma mater, Bhavan’s Gandhi Vidyashram. We entered a picturesque little ground, dotted with trees on one side and with a road running on the other. The pavilion actually had tree trunks and logs for seating, apart from a few stone benches. The outfield was very heavy though, and had a stream (canal? gutter?) running around it. There was even a ditch on one side of the wicket that counted for 2 runs if the ball got stuck in there (remember 2s rule on top T?). Boundary hitting here was definitely going to be a problem for us. Not so for them, as we soon found out.

We met the opposition, lost the toss (which was not filmed in any way whatsoever) and fielded first. Tony played in this game, a welcome comeback from injury, and Hui sat it out. Vik and Joy shared the new ball, and the first few overs reminded me how long it had been since I had kept wickets. Improved a bit later, but Bulavar was missed. We started off ok, then we dropped a couple, with Narendra and Ramesh failing to get the measure of things and the openers made us pay. Anything marginally short was powerfully dispatched, and the score rattled along. Lex came on replacing Joy and bowled some nice tight stuff, picking up one opener and inducing an edge from their one drop which I held. At the other end, the old fox Narendra had also picked one up, with Joy breaking our jinx by holding a skier. But repeated trips to the boundary and into the water was making the ball heavier and more slippery, and our spin attack, so often our trump card, was rendered ineffective. This was to prove decisive in both games, as we failed to check the run scoring even though we did pick up several more wickets. Sriram in particular managed to get several of their batsman holing out in the deep. Tony made amends for a dropped catch by getting rid of their top scorer, one of the openers, with an almost identical catch, and they finished up at 168 for 9 off 25 overs. The only other incident of note in the field involved, inevitably, iii. A cracking pull shot dipped on him at deep square leg, and made full on contact with his knee, producing a sharp knocking sound and leaving him on the floor in agony. We feared the worst, but thank heavens, he was hobbling about again in a bit and even took the field. Trust iii to sit still.

Special mention must also be made here of the cheering squad, led admirably by Jake. Her voice screaming “we want another one….” is still ringing in my ears, and she’s certainly putting in an early bid for the fan award for season 2. And she doesn’t even live in Chennai.

When our turn to bat came, Ramesh padded up with Indrabeer, who finally, in his fourth game for #3, got a chance to bat. And he looked easily the more comfortable of the two, a testament both to his good play and to Ramesh’s uncharacteristically scratchy effort. Ramesh was dismissed early, and Kishore at one down continued his good form from the Loyola game. Beer was also dismissed after an innings that clearly established him as a potent batting weapon for #3 in the future, but the outfield told on us, and inability to find the boundaries meant the asking rate climbed rapidly. Sriram went in at four, as usual timed it sweetly, and struck one mighty six. But his next attempt stayed within the field of play and was well caught. We had to try to score heavily and as a result lost wickets regularly until Joy walked in and played a bit of a blinder, cracking several boundaries to finish on 18 not out, our top score. One six zoned in on a van parked on the adjoining road and broke a window. Luckily no one was hurt, but by the time we finished (90 for 9 off 25, for the record) the van guys were trying to enter the school. We sat back and let Sriram and his school guys handle it, the watchman and one of the Staff counterblading them until they left. Not even a single rupee changed hands. Wow.

Well, normally after a game, we would troop off to respective homes to shower and maybe meet up later. But this was KODI. Ha ha. Here, the match is followed by an excellent lunch, served in the school canteen, and a walk up to this amazing spot called Meditation Point. That’s the rocky area in the photos, which has a spectacular valley view to rival any tourist spot in the town. And this is within Narahoo’s school campus. The dogs. After some oms, some silence and a rather silly (though long and detailed) discussion about how we could turn the electrified fence into a barbecue grill, we went back to the entrance via the school flower garden.

Yes, we were tired after the match, but did that stop us from playing full court, five on five basketball? Of course not. And some football thereafter? Nah. Who are these sports freaks? Bikang? You’ve got to be joking.

Back to the house, some guys went off to the lake, etc. and some of us went back down the slope. Which means that we then settled in the room and didn’t even dream of leaving it again. Sriram was dispatched on Sunder Anna’s bike to pick up booze. And when he returned, we dug in with a vengeance. What a bash! Two laptops playing music on speakers that we carried from Chennai (we even had two sets of speakers), cricket match on TV, oms, aziz, dancing (with the wretch around, can dancing be far behind?)….. we rocked the joint. Sundar Anna was going to captain the team the next day, and he challenged us that he would score a hundred off us if we let them bat first. And so it was decided the toss would be academic.

As some of the guys started to turn in keeping the match in mind, Tony, Quai, Kishore and me continued into the wee hours, giving Lodd an education in the music of Van Halen. What can I say, bikes, it was a classic night, where we ended up eating chappatis with chutney and sugar. A true bike event.

What a long post. But what a long day.

#3's tour of Kodai - Prologue

Let me begin by apologizing for the neglect of this blog over the past couple of weeks - I had actually taken my computer along to Kodi with grand plans of live blogging etc. but it ended up functioning mostly as an oversized mp3 player. Having finally gotten around to it, I'll report on the tour in the form of a 4 part diary, and put up installments as and when I can. So here we go with part 1.

Anticipation was at fever pitch as we made final preparations including lightening the kit down to one bag. At a team meeting the previous day we had identified ways of selecting the XI for each game from the existing squad of 14 - disucssions that were to ultimately prove unnecessary. As the evening wore on, we suffered our first setbacks - Venkat dropped out and Anand had sudden work pressures which meant that he could only try and join us on Sunday morning for the second game. Certainly solved some of our selection problems, but created worse ones by weakening the batting considerably. Nevertheless, the spirit was high, cutting was procured and we met at the station amidst droves of white shirt - white dhoti types, another factor that was to impact some aspects of our tour. Who would've thought?

The train ride was incident free ( Kodai veterans will know exactly what i mean ;-) ) and was livened up by the distribution of #3 T-shirts to all players and fans. Aziz, cutting and general camaraderie prevailed, only slightly tempered by the knowledge that we had a match the following morning. Some new nicknames were established, including 'Lex' for Rajesh who some felt looks like the young Luthor in the 'Smallville' TV show. We settled down for the night, knowing that whatever the next few days had in store, we were going to have a blast.

#3 - Going places.

Oh my, so much to post, so little time. So Wretch says that #3 has arrived. Having arrived, one might say that the next step is to go places. Ok, so we will. We'll go to Kodi. Hahahahahahaha, that's right ladies and gents, #3 is off to Kodi for a two match tour!!!!!! And this is no distant plan, this is bloody reality... tickets booked, acco arranged, ground and opposition all lined up!

Here are the details... in another Sriram ignited intitiative, (what on earth is this man doing to us???) #3 is playing two games against local opposition in Kodi, set up by Sriram's coach at his old school, Bhavan's Gandhi Vidyalaya, at the school grounds. A squad of 14 players (Narahoo, Kataan, Kishore, Jubbs, Druck, Joy, Narendra, Vik, Hui, Anand, Indrabeer, Rajesh, Tony and Venkat) and, unbelievably, 7 supporters, dare i say fans, (Wretch, Lodd, Deepa, M-Lux, Self, Quai and Jake) with a potential eighth in Supraja (Mrs.Captain to the uninitiated) will descend upon the quaint hill station and play two mtches on the 20th and 21st of May, with a small contingent staying back on the 22nd too. Bikang? Initiative? You better believe it, baby.

Overseas bikes, i eagerly await your comments.

Tough match!!!!!!

Season 2, Game 1 – A New Hope (taa taaa, ta ta ta taaaa, taa....)

Number 3 vs Smart CC.
Loyola College 'B', 7 May 2006.

#3 174 for 4 (Narahoo 54, Ramesh 33, Druck 26*, Kishore 21*) beat Smart CC 89 all out (Vik 3 wk, Ramesh 3 wk, Joy 2 wk) by 85 runs.

OK, season 2. Is there any point to all this? Are we killing ourselves in this blazing heat for any reason at all? The answer, my friends, is blowin' in the wind, and is an emphatic and overwhelming YES. Read on, read on, and you'll see.

The first game of season two was also the first true home game for members of our team, specifically Zeb and Indrabeer, famous alumni of Loyola College. The dancers were back, taking the place of the Bangalore bound iii and the unavailable Arjun. And no sooner did Narendra walk into the ground, than he was surrounded by fans. For you poor foreigners, who do not have access to the wonderful TV show 'Kolangal' let me enlighten you. Narendra plays a psyched character named 'Upendra' in this show, who has recently acquired a gun and is on the run from the cops. This seems enough to give him cult hero status amongst college students from far flung regions such as Katpadi.

The other team assembled and they looked pretty fit, giving rise to worries that this was another Rookies like team. Time would tell. Kishore proved to be our lucky man, as we won the toss and decided to bat first, a decision influenced by the fact that only 8 of the opposition had turned up meaning that they would be three fielders short. The only complication was that regular opener Kataan had returned from Mumbai just that morning and was delayed, so Narahoo padded up to open with Bulavar.

The first few overs were marked by a steady flow of extras, and the openers were looking pretty comfortable in spite of the bowlers working up a decent pace. A needless run out put paid to Bulavar's innings and Venkat at one drop missed a straight one and was bowled. Around 50 was on the board in decent time, but two quick wickets set us back a bit. Ramesh had arrived by now, and walked in at two down. And then the fun began. Sriram responded to the introduction of spin taking 18 off one over, with one six and three fours. and he piled it on from there, raining boundaries all around the wicket and even running a sharp two to the loud applause of the audience, particularly the Upendra fans. He kept this up and crossed his fifty (#3's second) as they came into drinks at 96 off 13 overs. He was looking good for plenty more but was bowled in the second over after drinks for a 54 that had gone a long way towards demoralizing the opposition. I walked in next, and gave Ramesh enough support to take his score to 33 and the team along to about 130 before he was caught at point. So all the recognized batsmen back in the pavilion, the field closed in and the opening bowler was back on. But if it was iii and Narendra who demonstrated the improving middle order capabilities in the rookies game, it was the turn of D and Z this time. Kishore and I managed an unbeaten 40 plus partnership, with both of us remaining not out on scores of over twenty, helping the team finish on a fantastic 174 for 4 off 25 overs. And with Kabir, Narendra and all the others to come, we were disappointed that the full 30 weren't bowled.

Easily our best team batting performance, but what would we do in the field? The answer took fifteen deliveries. We had already pegged that this team would probably rely on just a few batsmen, and Vik got things rolling by picking up one of their main players with his first ball, a faint snick snapped up behind the stumps by Bulavar. The batsman hung around and protested he hadn't hit it, but it seemed pretty straightforward to most of us. And things only got better when Joy picked up two in his first over (including a Jonty like airborne catch by Venkat at point) and Vik picked up two more in his next. Our new ball attack had decimated the opposition to 3 for 5 within three overs! Game over, one might say, but one had to keep reminding Kabir and Vik that the game isn't over till the last ball is bowled ;-)

The incredibly tight fielding performance continued... smart high catches from Vik and Joy and Ramesh's now almost mandatory 3 wicket spell kept things speeding along. And then the captain tossed the balll to Narendra, who didn't disappoint his fans, ending an annoying ninth wicket partnership by splattering the batsman's stumps, to the loudest applause of the day from his fan club. He even obligingly struck a gun pose, something that might soon come to equal the famous "Bebeto baby" celebration. Hui came on for a spell after a while and bowled with some nice control. He was rewarded with the final wicket, another smart take by Bulavar behind the stumps, and that was that. 89 all out, and a whopping 85 run victory. The after party was a big one, trust me, and involved a Michael Schumacher victory, a projector, two bottles of Scotch, Tequila, Egg Dosais.... enough said.

#3 was supported at the ground by the Wretch, balajing Satish Kumar, and the legion of Upendra fans.

In season2, Game 1, #3 was: Ramesh, Bulavar (wk), Druck, Narahoo (c), Kishore, Joy, Narendra, Venkat, Hui, Vik and Kabir.

Season One - The Awards Show

Good news. Season two starts in two days, on the 7th of May, 2006. Bad news, that makes for a really short off season. No nets, no relaxation, no fitness, but, encouragingly, much enthu for new season.

As part of end of season wrap ups (and i hope the captain will chip in with his two bits worth), i thought i'd start a thread which will get everyone's interest and participation.

And so, presenting, the SEASON 1 AWARDS....... all pl free to add your own categories.

Season MVP : And the winner is... Kataan.... a fine all round performance, effective bowling, a strong run of scores at the beginning and end of the season, major contributions to both wins, and mostr importantly, the one and only "magic ball"....the only issue is that this exempts him from individual skill awards

Attendance Prize : To Narahoo and Zeb, the only two who managed to play all matches. Special mention for Zeb, as he managed this even taking into account birth of Nayge.

Bowler of the season : The winner is Narendra, for consistent wicket taking and generally effective performances.

Batsman of the season : Tough one, with the captain in contention, definitely, but for high impact performances, in spite of limited appearances, i'd say the award goes to Venkat. Feel free to chip in with opinions, everyone.

Fan Award : While i feel that anyone who actually showed up for our games deserves an award, the truly dedicated fan awards go to Lodd and Wretch, for being there, keeping the faith, and most importantly providing cheer (though sometimes silent), refreshment and amazing spirit. Thanks, guys.

Ok, done with the straight ones. It's up to you guys to come up with the more offbeat ones, cricketing and otherwise, and to debate and discuss these. Enjoy.