Six n over!!!

Wasim Akram is one of the very few cricketers(He is the only one who comes to my mind) who have consistently hit a six of the last ball of the innings. How many of us can boast of such an achievement? Not many. But I can and I am very proud of it. Let me brief you a little. I don't want to beat around the bush, tell you all a long story and put everyone to sleep. So I'll get straight to the point. This cricket match took place in the picturesque town of Manipal in 1999-2000. Twas a hot and sunny afternoon. You'd think what got into us that day to play in the energy sapping heat. Well thats what cricket crazy Indians will do to get a kick out of competetion no matter what the weather conditions are. The opposite team batted first and set us a decent target in the 12 overs a side match. Runrate of around 8 or 9 i guess(don't remember the target score*). We batted well right through till the last 4 or 5 overs during which we lost some quick wickets. All this time I was cooling my heels in the pavilion while Sukhadev was fighting it out in the middle holding one end steady. These last 4 or 5 overs were very eventful. There was tension, anxiety and restlessness among our teammates. We needed 12 off the last over. The runs off the first five balls read 2,1,2,1,1 which left us with 5 to win off the last ball of the match. Now our corner of the ground was getting restless and lets be honest. No one would have thought that we would pull off a win. The onus was on me to deliver as i was facing this final delivery. The restless teammates, the ever pressurising opponents and the nervousness of having to pull of something as big as this was taking its toll on me. My palms was sweating a lot and was going weak in my knees. Sukhadev was constantly trying to keep me focussed and he along with a few others in the team were a calming influence. Hats off to them and especially Sukhadev. He had done a commendable job at batting right through the tournament. I decided that come what may I will give the ball a mighty heave and leave the rest to God. I took guard almost midway through the pitch. All the bowler had to do was bowl a straight one or just outside my reach. But i guess he was riding high on confidence. He hadn't conceded a single boundary in the entire tournament. Then it was THE moment. He bowled a knee high full toss and i gave it a whack with all the energy i could muster and saw the ball sail dead straight towards the boundary. I didn't even know if we had won when all of the 30 something of our supporters and teammates stormed the pitch. There was pandemonium and chaos all around. I was mobbed and gheraoed and in the melee i lost my footwear :( . It was ony after about 5 minutes of non stop cheering that someone told me that it was a SIX. What an ending it was! I am more than happy to join Wasim ;) in making this a reality atleast once. Last but not the least, this win is dedicated to the completely professional and close knit unit whose never say die attitude helped us win that tournament. Cheers to all the maites.

PS: We were knocked out in the first round the very next year :(

* about me not remembering the target, I would like to quote one Mr. Dasi aka Subhash.H.S (one among the many team mates instrumental in us winning the cup), "the legend is greater than the trivial facts like what the target were... i too have forgotten.. guess we could ask roshi for it.. he'd remember..even if were 200 in 12 overs.. the truth is that.. it was the six off the last ball, and we got there!!"