My first Chepauk visit and a pleasant surprise!

[StatsRock]

Warning: If you are new to cricket, parts of this write-up may seem to cross the limits of human sanity. 21st of Dec, 1993. Evening. I was in class 12. I had been dreading the end of the year because once January arrived, it would officially mean the start of the mad mad sprint to the board exams. So I was just looking forward to the New Year break. I had one more exam to go on the 22nd before the new year break started. That afternoon I started studying Biology and had sped through the first 2 chapters at rapid speed. Deciding to take a break, I stumbled into the backyard. My hands were itching to do something cricket related. I stumbled upon an empty can of Supertone: To those who have never heard of it, Supertone was a blue liquid that added a bluish tinge to your clothes. It looks like the pic I've attached at the bottom, except that the can is blue in color. There was one big secret about Supertone every kid knew: you could produce good pace and bounce like a real cricket ball. It was ideal for the backyard since you could do the stuff of Ambrose, Warne and Akram and still not break any windows. And so for the next hour, I did bowling practice against a wall. The intention was to produce perfect late swing to hit the very edge of the wall that would send the little Supertone can deflecting into the 'slips'. I remember that little session pretty much every year. It was the end of my innocence, that rare moment of school life when I could knock away in my backyard for whatever passes off as cricket equipment. The rest of my life was all about courses, grades, entrance exams and career paths. And since then every year, on Dec 21th evening 3:30pm, at airports, conference rooms, cafeterias, drawing rooms, coffee shops, wherever I was, I would sneak away for a moment to be all by myself, away from private eye, to air-bowl an invisible Supertone can that hits good length and swings away to get a deflection...[And if I was among people who do not understand cricket, I roll my arm in slow motion, lest my bowling act is misinterpreted to be a gesture to assault someone]. After all, cricket is in our life blood - we cherish every little memory, sane or insane, that is fuelled by our craziness for this game! Fast forward to last week, I am sitting in Chennai and scanning cricinfo for the Ranji schedule. What luck, there was a Ranji game at Chepauk and what better day to observe Dec 21st than to be at the very venue of Visvanath's 97, Gavaskar's 166/172/236, Gooch's 127, Fowler's 201, Gatting 207, Jones' 210, Tendulkar's 165/136 and so on? And thus started my first visit ever to Chepauk. I'd been to Wankhede, Eden Gardens and the Hyderabad stadium(Ranji final), the good thing about Chepauk is it is not that strenuous a commute like how Wankhede or Hyderabad is. The Chepauk train station is right at the station gate, so once you board the train from the city, you reach the stadium in like 20 minutes. Unlike the other 3 visits, getting in had zero hassles: just march right off the station escalator into the Anna Pavilion Gate. (I had no idea why a Cricket Stadium would bear Anna's name, especially that Anna was a bleeding heart socialist who would have scorned an elitist sport like Cricket. But then in Madras, whether it is an airport, main road or Stadium, you got to have Anna's name somehow to escape the wrath of the ruling parties). The guard was friendly to visitors and directed them to the Stand. Unlike my Ranji final experience(some sh1tty stand was opened to public with a poor view behind midwicket), at Chepauk they allowed us the stand right behind the sightscreen so you get the best view possible :) There were about 200 people already, majority of them being Dads who had brought a son to the game. There was no policing of any kind and yet the people were well behaved: mostly watching in near silence, with brief exchanges of view in-between balls. MP were 211-3 off 60 overs when I went in, Jalaj Saxena batting on 108 and Naman Ojha on 10. The big mechanical scorecard was no longer there. Instead there was a small rectangular display that only showed the 2 batsmen and the operating bowlers. So I was not in the know about the team compositions. Jalaj was playing the sheet anchor, determined to make a big one. Ojha who had been in crackling form in Australia for India A, looked quite scrappy. After pottering a bit, he played an agricultural heave off Malolan to be nabbed at mid-on. This brought in veteran Devender Bundela to the middle. The spinning duo of Aushik and Malolan kept things tight for a while, with Bundela surviving a few close calls at silly point and slip. MP almost played like they had downed shutters. Tea was taken and the spectators moved to the very edge of the railing behind the sightscreen. The players were walking down into the dressing rooms which were right below us. We had the freedom to wander wherever we liked. I went out into the lounge area behind the stand, it was super clean and nicely maintained. The toilets was clean, not much different from the sporting venues I'd visited in the US. Well, TNCA is a pretty rich association and they'd done a decent job. If they could put up some nice portraits in the atrium, it would have a more classy look. I checked out the parking area from the lounge. There was a BMW, a Toyota, a Honda and a Swift. I looked to see if I could spot a sports car(Abhinav Mukund had purchased a luxury sports car with his IPL money, that guy needs a nice kick to start scoring runs like Murali Vijay. Sorry I will be harsh on him: he has made 2 test fifties, has dad and a bunch of uncles who have played league cricket - there is no excuse for him to not work his butt off to be a good test opener). There were a handful of guys working on their laptops, most likely journos. I stood by the scorer's table to peek at his scoresheet. It was a giant chart with the TNCA insignia. He was on the walkie-talkie with perhaps an umpire or someone from the dressing room, reading out the scores to cross-check. And that was when I looked back and noticed Hirwani in the last row. There was an elderly gentleman sitting next to him who appeared a bit like Ramachandra Guha. But I was not very sure else I would have talked to him. Once in a while, a Dad and son would walk upto Hiru and take a photograph. Hiru being an introverted guy, I was not going to disturb him. I bet he was enjoying bringing out memories of tossing in that googly to clean bowl Richards, or having Jeff Dujon flailing in vain to get stumped twice on this very ground. A bell rang to announce end of tea. A TNCA guy in blue shirt walked to us and gave a gentle reminder to return to our seats and not move around the sightscreen. We went back to follow the action. I was curious to test the theory that in the 4 metro venues, where the stadiums are close to huge waterbodies, there is a strong evening breeze coming in with the evening tide around tea. It certainly got a windy for a while around 330. But Balaji made no move to bring in some seam bowling. I felt a Bhuvi-Binny kind of bowler would have been useful to have in that period. Despite Saxena hitting the 1st boundary in 21 overs, MP was simply playing out overs. Balaji took the new ball. I learnt TN had gone in with just 1 pacer and 3 spinners, which was pretty stupid. MP played out the new ball without issues. Meanwhile, at the mosque on the west side, there was a loud call for prayer around 4.15 that could be hear across the stadium. The umpires decided to call stumps around this time. It was a very slow session, MP scoring a mere 39 runs off 27 overs. But nevertheless I was happy with what I got - watching cricket never fails to give fulfilment. We moved to the railing to watch the players return. TN players sat down near the rope as the physio joined them to lead stretching exercises. Majority of the TN guys had a stubble, so it took a while to figure out who was who. Balaji was doing a good bit of stretching even though he bowled hardly 10 overs. He removed his sneakers and I noticed he had really thin legs, no wonder he has such a light limbering run-up. The crowd watched the players in whispers, no one made any attempt to call out to them. WV Raman walked out to chat with the bowlers. He is known to be a pretty hard taskmaster but he looked quite relaxed that evening. Just then I noticed a guy in shades and a roundneck chatting with the scorer. A few dads went to take pics. I was going to ask them who he was, then I realised it was Badani. I stood at a distance as he chatted with the scorer and the journos, not sure if he'd like to be drawn to a chat.[it is my policy never to pester celebrities for photos or conversations unless they wanted to :) ] People were packing up, so I descended into the lounge on my way out. I noticed Badani coming with his son. I hesitated, then decided to go for it as he passed by. -"One quick question, Hemang..." -"Yes" -"What really happened in the 2003 final?", I ask, walking alongside him. The match in question is this one: http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/76/76920.html (Mumbai on their home ground are bowled out for 260 by TN, who then end the 2nd day at 223-4. On Day 3, Mumbai bring out their typical khadoos-ness and bowl TN out for 271, hammer 387 in 2nd innings scoring at above 4 an over, then bowl out TN for 235 in Innings 4, to win by 141 runs) -"Oh simple. It was poor bowling, poor batting from us. Vera enna sollanum(what else to say). We practically gifted the match away." -"You made a fighting hundred..We were in command for the 1st two days, then suddenly it went downhill?" -"Bombay needed to score quick and take wickets to win...and we bowled and batted poorly and that really helped their plan" -"They came out aggressively in the 2nd innings, with Jaffer and Shetty scoring 100s..." -"Oh, this aggression is all media hype. It was poor batting and bowling from us. After restricting them to a low 1st innings score, we should have taken a big lead but collapsed. And they were scoring at 4 or 5 an over in the second innings. Of course, there were a couple of bad decisions, I was on 54 when the ball hit me here(slaps his thigh). Badri and Ramesh had starts and made 40 and 67.." -"I thought Ramesh scored 90." [Well, as a statistics crazy guy I thought of trying my luck at correcting a Test cricketer :-)] -"It was 67 something", Badani insists. [i go home and check Cricinfo, it was neither - Ramesh made 85] That is when I understood - most competitive sportsmen blame themselves for losing, they very rarely admit that the opposition came out with a great effort. I saw this trend in Agassi and Sampras' biographies as well - they always find some reason why they lost instead of just acknowledging that the opposition played better. Badani kept on talking, clearly for a guy who made 56 and 105 in a reasonably low scoring final, the defeat certainly rankled and it felt nice to recollect it wistfully. By this time, we had walked out of the gates and he was already making his way to the parking area, still talking. I pause and say 'I have to go the other side'. He smiles and offers his hand and says "See you man, take care". Those were pretty large hands and probably why he looked quite competent and stylish at the crease. However, it is not enough to make good looking knocks, you absolutely have to murder bowling attacks to play for India on a longer basis. I didnt have the time to ask him about his 162 in the 2000 Ranji semis where Sachin scored that glorious 233, or that century against McGrath/Fleming at Pune or his days at Santhome High School when he used to hammer attacks in the company of Sadagopan Ramesh and Sriram Sridharan, other Test players from his school. But hey, it was quite a nice visit. After all, practicing backyard swing bowling with a plastic can to chatting with a Test cricketer on that very day 21 years later is the stuff that fairy tales are made of :-) PS: In my hurry to make it, I didnt realise the low charge on my phone. So unfortunately I could not take any pics but I sure will be attending more Ranji games next month. My earlier post on Ranji Final 2013-14: http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=308696

[PBN]

Excellent read. Thoroughly enjoyed it. :two_thumbs_up:

[Cricketics]

Dude very well written. I read the whole thing and enjoyed it. It's my dream to go to India and visit different stadiums around India and witness different Ranji matches. I am glad people are still enjoying going to domestic games. Hopefully more people will do. Some people just go to kill time to watch the game, and then there are mad fans like me who are far away from India and can't visit for own reasons. Keep writing.

[diga]

nice post...

I checked out the parking area from the lounge. There was a BMW' date=' a Toyota, a Honda and a Swift. I looked to see if I could spot a sports car(Abhinav Mukund had purchased a luxury sports car with his IPL money, that guy needs a nice kick to start scoring runs like Murali Vijay. Sorry I will be harsh on him: he has made 2 test fifties, has dad and a bunch of uncles who have played league cricket - there is no excuse for him to not work his butt off to be a good test opener[/url']

small clarification.. Mukund has been the top scorer in Ranji until Yuvi overtook him http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ranji-trophy-2014-15/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?id=9513;type=tournament

[maniac]

Great Read :two_thumbs_up:

[BeautifulGame]

Have the opened the new stands for public? Or is it still closed?

[StatsRock]

nice post... small clarification.. Mukund has been the top scorer in Ranji until Yuvi overtook h im http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ranji-trophy-2014-15/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?id=9513;type=tournament

Mukund has seen what test cricket is like way back in 2011. Hence I expected him to be scoring gallons of runs in Ranji with plenty of big hundreds in the period 2011-14. He was actually more prolific in the 2008-2010 period. Though he is doing well I'd really want to see him plundering runs like crazy since he is a test discard

[StatsRock]

Have the opened the new stands for public? Or is it still closed?

I dont know which stand this is - just not familiar with the layout of Chepauk.

[Sidhoni]

Very good read :nice:

[The Dark Horse]

:two_thumbs_up: you need to writr more such articles

[tweaker]

Very good write up.I just hope I can write like this.

[tweaker]

:two_thumbs_up: you need to writr more such articles

+1

[StatsRock]

Guys, thank you for your comments. Will be happy to write on any other matches I see. After all, who wants to miss the chance to watch a game live at the stadium? :winky:

[Old guy]

Awesome read ..if u do not mind I think u should add this to article section :)

[Shivaji bhonsle]

Very nicely written. Hope you write more. Great to hear things like this from genuine cricket fans.

[BlueBee]

Nice write-up. TFS! :nice:

[youngindia]

or his days at Santhome High School when he used to hammer attacks in the company of Sadagopan Ramesh and Sriram Sridharan' date=' other Test players from his school. ']

I Can fill in a bit here since I was there...there was another test player in Aashish kapoor.. t kumaran who played a few ODI's and state players like s sharath were also there. at the time i went in, we were at the u 14 level.. I used to bowl to or bat against badani/kumaran regularly in the nets....I spent a whole day trying to break his(badani) face because he asked me what I was practising during exercise..i was no sloth but I didn't like the exercises especially since i was slim at the time and it was taxing for me ....one ball nearly did it but he managed to hook it at the last second..he certainly had more time compared to others at that time, he used to bowl in first two and bat around the middle...he was a bowler first but very handy with bat,..he had handy pace for that age but it later turns out the coach ruled out bowling because of his height the captain at u14 level was ravindran john...he was regarded the much more promising batsman. infact when badani and john were selected for the city schools,i could hear the assistant coach saying "it is only for his(badani's) allround abilities and his batting alone won't do" i followed some of their scores as they later made it to state u 14...infact john and badani were making crucial partnerships and growing in stature...when i saw ravindran john on return , he was a different player altogether,.he was chargin senior bowlers and thrashing them...badani was also growing but not at the same rate...shows what opportunities at the right time can do one thing that badani didn't show at senior level was a fearless ability to take on matchwinning roles...it is a mystery considering he always had it but at the india level he freezed and failed to see it through kumaran was also a bit nippy..but he was annoying when i batted , in that he bowled a lot of no balls and i frankly didn't appreciate a bowler bowling from 18 yds instead of 22...it was not a surprise when he didn't turn out to be an international bowler aashish was a star opening bat for the senior team...his off spin was a utility contribution... he made 300 in one school match! Coaching as you may know was done by rao...there was a senior coach durailingam who ahd links at the state level..but i saw him only occasionally..During chats to us, he was severe in his comments on srikkanth especially...he wanted us to follow the example of boon and marsh by taking singles santhome had a strong level of competition and cricket that i am still grateful to..a few other teams were good in the city like st bede's, gill adarsh,don bosco ....but other schools were damn bad....non existent technique also too many batsmen as well... barely i saw a bowling coach...infact i was once given advice by a member of the indian women's team since durai had invited them there to use their facilities!

[Old guy]

Can u share the time line ? Year when u were in under 14 ... It's always interesting to see how domestic cricket is from inside :two_thumbs_up:

[sandeep]

Enjoyed reading it. Thanks for writing it.

[youngindia]

Can u share the time line ? Year when u were in under 14 ...

I joined the coaching in the summer of 1987...months before the first world cup in india you could say john and badani were in the state u14 in the year 1988.