Sweet revenge...

Ever since i came to this prestigious college,NITT,my only concern was my academics..Right from the moment i woke up to the moment when i retired for bed,everything was somehow related to studies..I toiled hard for three years,didn't commit to anything else but only my studies..My friends would always engage themselves in extra-curricular activities and win lots of prizes..I kept sticking to my plan and followed it day and night..Eventually i was awarded for my dogged determination..I got a dream job,amazing academic record,enviable projects..I was happy...But deep down inside i knew i was kidding myself..I knew that my life was not supposed to be that unidirectional.My friends used to tease me "That anyone who can toil as hard as shishir can have a good academic record..so he is not a big deal.." blah-blah..I knew that these guys are stupifying themselves by having such a notion..They used to tell me that "Shishir you can just study..you can't do anything else.."..I knew they were wrong..Because i knew i was much more than that and not only that , i had in me to perform much better than them in their chosen field...Its just that i gave up everything i was ever good at to do well academically right after class IXth..I used to tell that i used to be very good at sports at school and still i am very good,they would laugh at me and make comments on my ever-increasing belly..I remember those days when i used to be so good at quizzes and sports..I remember those days when i was the undisputed king in Table Tennis and Cricket..So i had a burning desire to prove all these people wrong..I wanted to win the events at college level just as they were..And i knew it that i will pull it off!!!

I came pretty close to achieving it in last year "Wisdom Cup".But it was not to be.What on the earth can one do if the best bowler in college(Manish Chaudhary) gets smacked for a last-ball six to knock us out from the semi-finals..Bad luck-thats all!! We got one final shot at it this year..This year the wisdom cup saw the participation of 40 teams in a complete knock-out format..Boy and it was one hell of a tournament!!

Match 1 :
Our first match was against PG Gultis.Well that was the easiest match of the tournament for us .We had a rollicking start with Vivek blazing his way with a quick fire 50 odd..We ended up scoring 88 of 10 overs.I didn't get a chance to bat.But i did do what i am very good at.I bowled two overs for five runs and had two prized scalps.

Match 2 :
We started the match with a distinct disadvantage.Our captain,Manish, and Ronnie both had gone to their homes .So we played a depleted side against the second year Oriya team.We had a disastrous start when vivek got for a golden duck.Pati somehow steadied the team and i scored 8 crucial runs to take our team total to 69 of 10 overs.In bowling,i bowled my heart out.I got hit for a six in my second over.Boy that pissed me off!!And the next ball i bowled a scorching yorker to shatter the woodwork.We bundled out the team for 61 and i ended up with match-winning figures of 3-14 of 3 overs.

Quarterfinal:
This match was against Giri,the college opener's team.We batted well to score 78 with pada hitting some lusty blows.I got out to a golden duck.My first over was a bowler's nightmare.I bowled 5 fulltosses in the first over.Though i got the prized wicket of Giri and conceded just one run in the over,i was very disappointed.I more than compensated for it in the next over when i bowled the dream maiden over and got another wicket.Bad light stopped the play and we won the match next day in my absence, as i had committed to CRY class,but not without some pathetic performance.

Semi-final:
This was the big one.It was against our boycott second year juniors.It was supposed to be the match of the tournament and as they had claimed ,"They had come to hand-out the most embarrassing defeat we will ever have".Our batting flopped again with the exception of pada and we somehow managed to score a respectable 67 of 10 overs.The first over was again horrible.I sent down four full-tosses , but conceded just one run and got the key wicket of "Tiwari" , brilliantly caught by pada behind the wickets.But then my bowled the best two overs my life , cleaned up my own "pota" all ends up and ended up with the proud figures of 3-13 of 3 overs.The match was marred by a small fight between pada and one junior named rana.That shameless junior was making such dirty comments on the seniors that pada lost his patience and had it not for us that junior would have got a beating of the lifetime .They were bundled out for 47 but it was much closer than that.The kind of support that they got and the hooting made it really challenging for us.But eventually we overcame them .

Final :
The final of the tournament was a complete "paisa-vasool" encounter.We batted first and were in a very disturbing position after having lost the three key players of our team with hardly 20 on the board.Then pada made a bold decision and sent me in.I knew if i can do well,its this role only.In all the previous matches i was sent at such a position where i was supposed to hit every ball.Unfortunately,i am not pretty good at hitting.I combined well with jv and we had a decent partnership before jv got out.I stayed a bit longer but just when i was planning to cut-lose i was decived of a slower ball.I scored crucial 16 runs.Thanks to a decent performance by the tailenders we managed a score of 76 in 15 overs.Our batting had disappointed us one again.It was now left to our bowling to make amends.But it was always going to be a very tough task.I opened the bowling.First three balls were dot balls.I erred by bowling a full-toss of the fourth ball and was smacked for four with arrogance.I was fuming.I sent down a scorching beamer and was hit for two runs.With this i had already bowled the most expensive over by me of the tournament-7 runs.But i was not ready to give up that easily.The next ball i put all my effort , amazed him with my face and shattered his stumps.It was a sweet revenge that was made a bit dirty by me when i showed him the middle finger on his way back.The match was evenly poised,then tilted in our favour before they hit two sixes in two overs.We were down and out.Meanwhile i bowled two very economical overs.In the last three overs,they needed 14 .I bowled the 13th over.Gave away three runs but got one much-needed wicket.Pati bowled the next over and gave away 4 runs but took two crucial wickets ,including that of the danger man.So it boiled down to 6 balls 7 runs and 2 wickets.Pada bowled the first ball as dot ball.Next ball the batsman ran crazily after touching the ball.I sent the ball to pada and he was run-out.5 balls,7 runs,1 wicket.The next ball again the batsman touched the ball and set away straight for single.Pada removed bails in time to seal the victory for us.We all went crazy .We were dancing,shouting and having the time of our life.

For others,it was just another victory.But for me it meant much-much more than that.It was a dream come true for me.It was a signal to all those who doubted my non-academic capabilities,it was a re-inforcement of the faith in my abilities .I don't think people will ever doubt me after my wisdom cup performance(15 overs,12 wickets,52 runs)..But the quest doesn't stop here.I am hungry for more!!