Mama – I’m coming Home

It’s been 8 years and the excitement of returning home is that much greater. I can still remember the smell of the lush green outfield and I can still remember every six I have hit in this ground. Every ball I played in the last innings I played in this ground is firmly etched in my memory. A slow 35 punctuated by only two fours amidst a batting collapse was probably the only time I had applied so much in my entire career. However, the run rate had fallen so much during my painstaking existence that even a late charge from Subha was not enough to secure a win against what was a strong and solid batting line up of our Swaraj Sangha seniors.

Our makeshift home, the FE Ground has treated us in great fashion and most of our players had already accustomed themselves with the uneven bounce and slowness of the pitch.  We had won the last match by 50 runs and the match before that with only one wicket down. When you are playing this well, shifting your home ground is not a preferable option, not at all. But then it’s CMDA, the ground half of our team members have grown up playing in. The ground that probably brings out that extra 10 % from everyone in our team, the ground which irrespective of the time gap will seem like familiar territory to us.

On the flip side, we will be pitted against the only team which probably knows CMDA better than us, a team which understands the pulse of the ground as much as we do and enjoys playing there in the same way we do. However, the landscape has changed completely since the last time we met. Their mainstay in both batting and bowling Buku has been snatched away from them and if his form stays anything like the previous match, homecoming will be sweet for all of us. Moreover, the culmination of players from Techno India has also added an extra dimension to our team and the commitment level seen in our team is unparalleled.

At the end of the day, the result of such a high voltage clash is generally decided by who comes with a stronger mindset. In this respect we have a team which has seen people coming to play with a fractured finger and a stiff neck just because we did not have any replacement for them. We have seen a bowler come back from being hit for four sixes in an over to bowl excellently in his second spell. We have seen a fielder dive full length to take what can only be termed as a stunner.  So mentally we are as strong as ever but there is a chance that even they are, so here’s to wishing that may the best team win.