MCC - Agony, ecstacy and tale of missed opportunities

Despite being the second team for the entire season, MCC was pushed away from the finals by the dogged spirit of United.  Certainly very disappointing for MCC, but I saw plenty of positives in this young and vibrant team through the season as most of their games were so compelling, entertaining, although sometimes tainted with controversies.  But, at the end of day, MCC played brilliantly through the season and my reflections from this season will not be complete without penning a few word of praise on  them.

Heroes, Sandeep and Shaker

First of all, MCC was one of the teams which embraced the need to have participation from every player in the team.  It is one of the teams which had dedicated sets of batsmen and bowlers and seldom did they step into the roles and responsibilities.  Casen example of how Sandeep and Shaker had very specific roles in the team.  Although they are very capable all-rounders, in the spirit of participation, they reduced their quota of overs to accommodate the new comers. Shaker  did very little bowling and infact many times did not even bat.  That is very commendable.  Others might say that they had enough for their own in the other league. But that does not matter for the Regal participation where I wish everyone of those folks, who sacrifice their time away from their family, to get to participate every time they drive to the ground.

Secondly this is the team that introduced a 14 year old sensation and, more importanly, molded him through the season by nurturing his skills.  What was mind boggling is that this boy has never bowled before and to see that he achieved so much in this season is not only because of his abnudnat talent but also because MCC took it on themself to encourage talent. Take a bow MCC.  You made all of us at Regal proud with this gesture.

Captain Charming Zubair

Thirdly, their captain, Zubair, is yet another of those unsung warriors just like Lakshmi from United.   Despite abundantly talented in his batting as he showed, smacking three sixes in an over in a match, he rarely tried to promote himself in the order.  Although I don't agree with his decision to bat at #10 in the vital semi-finals just shows the Regal spirit where the captain always puts team above him, just as my dear captain Jagdish used to exemplify.  For that matter, I don't think he also used his bowling capacity to bowl his full four overs in any game. Another Regal spirit exemplified by MCC.

Attit, Madhav, Vinay and Sailesh

Coming to the bowling unit.  We had such fresh, young, energetic bowlers in Sailesh, Vinayak, Madhav, Prasson, Simeon, Atiti and Rahul who got full support from the MCC think-tank as they were given chances in every game to bowl.  Although these bowlers, apart from Prasson and Simeon who were rewarded with wickets,  did not get to shine too much in a game, it was for everyone to see what a nice bunch they are, always smiling and carrying themselves friendly even outside Lindsay.  I certainly loved this bunch of fresh breath of air to Regal.


Coming to some of the memorable moments of the season from MCC.

Who can forget the 200+ game between them and the wonderful Warriors. Despite Avinash creaming a staggering 75+ within no time,  Sudeer and Kumar, by single minded dedication with min-boggling running between the wickets, chased it so comfortably. It must be reminded that this boy Sudeer ran 170+ runs that day.  What a game and probably will remain as one of the high scoring game to beat in years to come.

Rahul and Simeon

Then there was a classic against Knights,where I was privileged to umpire.    Am sure that Knights still can't comprehend how they slipped that game.   Simeon who came in as 11th and stayed to finished the game told me that that was his first ever innings in a cricket match.  What can I say about that?  Cool as a cucumber attitude of Rahul,who smacked two beautiful straight sixers and Simeon's beyond age coolness will remain etched in my memory for a long, long time.  Very rarely you will get to see such a performance between a #10 and #11 in any format of the game.  Classic at Lindsay indeed.

Avinash

Another riveting game, that was marred by a controversial walk-over against United.  This was again a game that MCC came from behind.  This was the fist time I got to see Avinash in full flow.  Those three sixers in an over will remain in my memory for sometime. It is not everyday you will see such clean, sweet straight hitting with so much poise and elegance.

Ultimately MCC lost by not having good, consistent middle order batting.  As Tigers and United have shown, the top order partnerships is so, so vital.  Sandeep and Avinash , although had yet another stellar batting season (Sandeep 449 runs with a strike rate of 125;  Avinash 361 with a strike rate of  136) ), could not stay too long to steer the team to great total, especially in the last few games.  Am sure that they are  hurt.  But, again, in a knock-out game, before a blink of an eye, things can happen as Sashi showed the other day.

Prasson

Prasson, who I was previleged to be his first victim, was a revelation as he was very consistent and I think he also made a 50+ within no time in a game when MCC was tottering.  A great find.

Overall, lots of positives with this team.  You guys played well, encouraging team participation. Although there were certain controversies through the season, you were certainly the team to beat and just lost your day for one day and the rest is history.

Congrats folks and especially Zubair for captaining a very talented side very well indeed. 

Last but not the least, I must hats off to my dear Sandeep, who very nearly debuted in the league as a Knight when I was the captain, and just have to say that you batted brilliantly again and also showed your team spirit by sitting out in the field most of the time.  Like that attitude and your passion for cricket for which obviously you have to thank your supporting wife and parents as well.  

To each of you MCC member, best wishes for the rest of the year and a wonderful cricket season next year.



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A ever-green Regal Champion champion fashions an easy victory for United against MCC in the 21015 Regal Semi-finals

MCC 87 all out in 19.3 overs (Sandeep 19, Zubair 15 n.o,  Sashi 5 for 14, Ali 2 for 19)
United 88 in 17.1 overs (Arvind Sundar-Rajan 27, Javed 22)

Just happened to see the score card from the semi-finals between MCC and United.   Awesome is the word that came to my mind to find out who shaped this fantastic win for United.

Here is a Regal verteran who has been struggling through the season.   He was smacked all around the park time to time by various opposition and frankly was beginning to question as to whether he can an effective bowler as he was before.  For someone who has been such a good, consistent batsman,  he was finding himself to be in no-man's land most of the time and frankly has not made the big scores like he used to do.  To cap it off, he had ignomy of walking out of the field during the last game between the two teams.  Couple of weeks back, he would have been thinking that this was the worst Regal season for him and what a turn around in a day.

Sashi

Look! what he did in his game.  He got five wickets for almsot nothing and that too against a very formidable full capacity MCC team and that too in a semi-final.  If this is not a champion performance, then what else can it be?  Am just talking about our Sashi Bhusan, who when it really mattered, had come up with a such a steller performance to steer his team to the finals.  I was so happy to note that he fashioned this win since he is one person who I want to perform well even against my team. Congrats champion on a great performance and am so happy for you and your adorable daugther who would have been so excited to hear your performance that day.

United was at the bottom of the table with two remaining games in the league and now they are in finals. Am sure that a few of the United folks would have pinched themselves to realize they are in the finals.   Although this was fashioned mostly by team United efforts, a few individuals stood out for their brilliance and steady-mindedness

It is for anyone guess that the first and foremost is Arvind Manjegowda, who with his sheer brilliance and flamboyance gave substance and confidence to the team when it mattered most.  He played three outstanding knocks towards the end, two of which I was privileged to witness as an umpire.   I will always be proud of his accomplishments as a past captain of him, which I consider as a great previlege.

Next comes Ali, who is my best new comer of the season. He was literally unplayble at times and consistently got top order batsmem, knocking their stumpts out or hurting them with great well directed in-swingers.  Ofcourse the entire United unit bowled admirably in the first six overs and  if you look at their last three wins, they literally choked the top order.  This was a big, big factor for their wins at the death.

Javed also came and rescued the team at the fag end of the league phase with great bowling and admirable batting performance, which befets a champion batsman like him. He is so pleasing to the eye and gets tons of runs, almost without being noticed with his great footwork.  Very dependable.

Arvind Sundar-Rajan

 But there were quite a few unsung heroes as well.  

Top of the list is Arvind Sundar-rajan for whom I have nothing but praise.  He is such a smart and canny cricketer and by keeping wickets at the top order, he did exceptional service for the rest of the middle order.  Mr. Dependable.

Lakshmi

Last but not the least,  a great and inspirational captain in Lakshmi, who sacrificed his chances and ensured that everyone in the team get enough rotation to be part of the team.  Trust me! It is not an easy job.  But really he did so well and his calm demeanor and ever present smiles makes a big difference to the team attributes. When you have captain like him, the rest of the team flounders around him like a flock of sheep with a can do attitude indeed.  That matters indeed in a team game like cricket as shown by their wins from behind.

Lakshmi obviously own a lot of thanks to Roshan,  who was right behind to support the captain and nudge him with finesse when the game going was tough.    Rest of the folks like Srini,  Amandeep (who is such a revelation with his all-round skills) and Ravi chipped in well right through the season as well.

Overwell a team that remain united were rewarded with yet another finals.

Coming to the game:

MCC batting first made only 87 and were all out in 19.3 overs.  I did not expect this from this full capacity MCC side.   Looks like only Sandeep (19 in 23 balls) and their captain Zubair coming in at number 10 (15 off 17 balls) made some contribution.   Sashi had remarkable figures of 4 - 0 -13 - 5. Yes indeed, five wickets and those wickets are Sandeep, Shaker (first ball LBW), Prasoon, Sukesh and Madhav. From the look of the score board, it looks after a decent start and then Sashi havocked the batting with wickets almost every ball.  Ali, one of the finds of this season, got two crucial wickets in the tormentor in the last game, Avinash and Adrien at the top order.

Chasing such a low score can be challenging, especially in a semi-final.  This is where the maturity and assurance of Arvind Sundar-rajan came along.  Lot of teams go for the top order blitz, but United has shown the way that a measured and calculated batting in the top order is key to make in-roads as we coast through the league phase.  Arvind stayed almost till the end, scoring 27 invaluable runs off 43 balls and was ably supported by Bhuvanesh (13 off 26 balls) and Javed who remained unbeaten with 22 off 22 balls.  Am guessing that the winning run were scored by our hero, Arvind Manajegowda as they won with nearly three overs to spare.

Very disappointing performance by MCC and I feel sorry for them.   Such amazing talent.  Yet when it mattered most, they could not group through.  Possibly because most the MCC members are also busy with the first division league.  Although Sandeep and their captain did their bit, it was just not enough against a smart and professional top order United batting.

Well done United and hard luck MCC.

Anyhow, we are now onto a cracker of a finals between Tigers and United.  I will try my best to be there to watch another memorable Regal finals.

Go Regal

2015 Playoffs between United and Warriors (September 12, 2pm onSaturday)

United convincingly beats Warriors 

Warriors 107 for 9 in 20 overs;  United 108 for 4 in 19 overs

Batting first, Warriors made only 107 for 9 in their 20 overs.  United bowling and fielding was top notch with their opening bowlers Ali and Navjot being impeccable.  Ali continued to bowl his banana in-swingers with the new ball and it is indeed hard to play him with the new ball as Sudheer found out today.    There was some brilliant fielding as well. Sashi running out Vishwa after a good fielding off his own bowling, Kamal getting run out of a deflection from the bowler's hand at the non-strikers end and two good catches by Amandeep to get rid of batsman who were beginning to do well. United catching played big part in their winning today.  

For Warriors, both Kamal and Vishwas were playing well but ended up being run out under very unfortunate circumstances.   Captain Sunny tried his best to fight out and hit one glorious straight bounard which was top notch shot.  Towards the end,  Javed bowled brilliantly, enticing the batsman with lovely flighted spin bowling which was a treat to watch as a straight umpire.   Ultimately with great bowling and fielding, Warriors were restricted to 107.

Chasing was not that easy for United as Warriors re-grouped well and bowled brilliantly as well.  It was credit to their bowling and outstanding team spirit that United could move to 37/3 in 10 overs.  Prem bowled excellently and Javed who came one down had a torrid time.  But the good thing that Javed did was to play the waiting game as he was contend on getting beaten and knocking here and there. Very sensible play.  TJ also bowled two outstanding overs with the new ball and had opener Arvind at sea.  Arvind  , who was instrumental in getting United to the play off in the last game against Lions by scoring 50+,  played very sensibly.   I think that he did great service by keeping his wicket in the first few overs when the bowling was top notch.  Goes to show how vital is to give a good opening batsman who understands the need to respect the bowlers when it is needed. Just when he was beginning to get going, he was LBW playing across which brought in my favorite Regal cricketer, Arvind Manjegowda, who stayed right till the end to seal the game.

As I said, the game was evenly poised when United needed 77 in 10 overs.  This is where the brilliance of Javed shown through. After playing the waiting game so well, he began to open up just when needed. He played some brilliant inside out shots which is not an easy one to play. But he played them so easily as he stuck a few boundaries and also egged Manjegowda to go for ones and twos.  When the game was still evenly poised with United still requiring 50+ to score with 7+ RPO, both batsman was dropped almost within a space of an over. Those catches were extremely costly and the unfortunate fact is that they were regulation catches with the Manjagowda being dropped by a skier behind the bowler.  Although I don't want to name the poor fielder, he is someone who plays the game with so much pride, passion and spirit and would have got that vital catch of the game 99 times out of 100.  I felt very sorry for that fielder since he kept on muttering that he had let down his team.  I don't think so, having watched him over the years. It is just that things happen in a game of cricket and some days are not your day.  Although it must hurt today, I have to tell my dear friend that you are a champion and that such moments are part and parcel of the game.  

Coming to Javed, he was increasingly confident and began to play wonderful shots all around the park and that shot off Sridhar was a stand out. I thought that Javed was taking a short arm swing at a short pitched ball and the ball may probably go to the thirty yard, but the ball sailed over mid-wicket for a great sixer. He is one batsman I would like to watch bat every day because of the grace and timing. 

Of Course there is no question as to my player of the league which is the one and only Arvind Manjegowda who duly clubbed two sixes of the last two balls of the game, one an enormous swing over mid-wicket and the winning six over cover.  Although we tend to think of him as a swashbuckler, he is also a very sensible player who knocks the ball around when needed as he dug out a couple of good yorkers by Saurav who bowled with lots of spirit,  But the beauty of Arvind's batting is the time he has to play and more importantly how the ball always find the middle of the bat.  

United won with an over and 6 wickets to spare.  Remarkable considering that they were at the bottom of the table with two games remaining in the regular season.  Although they have to thank my man for the big turn around, it has to be said that United always has the  spirit that never gives up and that showed up well and truly today.  Congrats United. 

What can I say about my dear Warriors.  They played right through the season so well and  although it has to be said that they were let down by their fielding in the last few games.  But they will hang up from the league this year with pride since they were one of the teams to beat until the middle of the season.  Sorry folks

Overall a close game which could have gone to the wire if Warriors held onto those crucial catches, although it must be said that United has many other capable batsman in their lineup in case of need. 

With Tigers already in the finals, United will play MCC in the semi-finals.  Expecting a cracker of a game.

Good luck to the teams who are still in contention and at the same time, hard-luck to the rest of the other three teams. 

Last but not the least, thank you Regal for being part of our lives..

A few moments for the game