i
My Brewing Romance
with Cricket
Better than any Love Story
X
Shashank Kumar
IDEA PUBLISHING WWW.ideapublishing.in
ii
Publishing-in-support-of,
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Printed in India
iii
About the Author
X Shashank hails from Patna in
Bihar. He holds a B.Tech in
Electronics & Instrumentation
from Vellore Institute of
Technology, Vellore. He is
currently into Business
Operations/Analytics working
with ZS Associates, Pune as an Associate
Consultant.
The enormous love he has for Cricket – a game that
he has worshipped since advent has pushed him to
pen down his first book.
Cricket holds a sacred space in his life and has been
a source of optimism for him in tough situations. It
has kept him grounded and stable in various
scenarios life has thrown him into.
You can reach out to him on:
Email: [email protected]
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/shashankkumar13
Twitter: @tweetsshashank
iv
About the Book
X This book depicts the life of every 2nd kid who has
grown up watching and playing cricket. The book
appeals to the psychology and mindset of a cricket
fan and provokes him to create an analogy between
characters in real life versus the happenings in
cricket.
This book is a prime time example of a person who
has grown up devoting much of his time to his
favorite sport. As a kid, he has been fascinated
wildly towards this game and has managed to carry
forward his zeal till date.
He has been able to connect his dots of life with the
bits happening in the cricketing world. He sees
cricket as a source of energy which has kept him
aloft in tricky situations of life.
He has depicted each event which has left an impact
– small or big in this book.
v
CONTENTS
X 1. The Onset 1
2. The Emotional Connect And the
Teacher
7
3. The Defining Moments 15
4. The Dhoni Saga 31
5. The Biggest Sources of Inspiration 57
6. IPL – A dream Getting Realized
for Many
83
7. The Undying Romance 89
8. A Thank You Note 105
Shashank kumar
1
E
1
The Onset
X
The saga between the cherry and the willow
ver since childhood, you dream big. Your
dream revolves around the various dots
trying to connect in your surroundings. You see
the aircraft flying high up in the sky and you
dream of becoming a pilot. You watch a 90s
Bollywood movie and you figure out in your
My Brewing Romance with Cricket – Better than Any Love Story
2
mind that you have to become the lead hero.
There are “n” number of things which you see
transpiring and your dream keeps fidgeting
between them. As a child, there is something
special which fascinates him so much that he
carries forth the passion as he grows up and
pushes himself into the rigors and ordeals of the
world.
Cricket has played that part in my
upbringing. It has an essence attached which has
always pulled my chin up in various aspects of
life. May be it has something to do with being in
our cricket crazy nation. A toddler picks up a
plastic bat facing throw downs from his father
and that is where the journey begins. As a kid,
there was always an aura of excitement around
any cricket match India played. From school to
the other people around you, the match day had
more freshness embedded than any other
normal routine day. These were the times when
most of the people you met were seen inquisitive
about the match. These were the times when we
had so much time that we used to sit back an
hour before the TV just to listen to pre-match
show and wait for the toss to happen.
India has always been a crowd puller for
this game. Our economy might not be the best in
the world; still we have managed to fill in the
Shashank kumar
3
seats every time India has played at home. One of
the major reasons for our love towards this game
was also that we were not doing well in any
other sport. I might be wrong but it also can be
attributed to the publicity other games were
unable to garner. Hockey, as our main sport was
on a path downhill. In those days, Olympics
featured once in 4 years and all we could manage
was a bronze medal. Naturally, you follow
something which gives you tinge of happiness
every now and then.
As a kid, fascination was not limited to the
technicalities of the game. It was not just about
sixes being hit or wickets tumbling. It was about
the Indian tricolor fluttering all across. It was
about crazy folks sitting in the crowd cheering
up for their country with the loudest ever human
pitch. It was about various cultures coming as
one to support one cause. It was about the
emotions attached to each victory and defeat. It
was about the fire crackers going on after each
special victory. Cricket gave us reasons to
celebrate Diwali at any time of the year.
It gave us a sense of patriotism. Those
were the times when we did not have the
internet. We did not have our own personal
computers to play video games. Social media
platforms did not exist. All we had was the
My Brewing Romance with Cricket – Better than Any Love Story
4
television. We had time to play our favorite
sport. This also paved way for the integration of
my love for cricket.
We watched our heroes play and tried to
ape their batting stance. As a kid, we all have
aped Sachin’s stance at least once. We have aped
the bowling actions of most of the fiery bowlers
in the world. We all thought ourselves as one of
the best in the business. We were not batsmen or
bowlers. We were all-rounders. We touted
ourselves as someone who could hit centuries
and at the same time take a five for in every
single game. We all had a run up equivalent to
that of a Shoaib Akhtar. We had a self-belief that
for fast bowling you got to run in and deliver. It
has nothing to do with the arm strength and the
body position. We all used to count in and tally
the magnitude of runs and wickets we have had
so far in our kitty. I swear, each one of us must
have hit at least five double tons as a child. Yes,
matches played on terrace count in as well.
The “Britannia” or the “MRF” sticker on
our bats gave us a sense of happiness which
most materialistic things in the world failed to
offer. We all used to collect those playing cards
coming as freebies with the chewing gums which
existed during that part of the century. I think
the entire revenue of “Big Fun” was not because
Shashank kumar
5
of the chewing gum but the playing card which
came along with it.
Happiness was buying a brand new tennis
bowl with the green fluffy skin. Mind you, each
ball was made to suffer until and unless its skin
got peeled off and till the time it developed
cracks and stopped bouncing.
We all have collected the biscuit wrappers
during world cups for the scratch card that could
have paved way for something big during World
Cups. Unfortunately, it did not. The most it gave
me as a kid was another pack of biscuit. The
hope did not die and the cycle used to repeat.
We all have dreamt to represent India.
Sadly, for most of us the dreams died down as we
grew up. This was the age when it was more
about cricket and us. It was more than the stars
of the game. It was a relationship that we shared
with the game. Of course, we were always there
to support our team. I would say more about us
as individuals and cricket because at that point
of time not much cricket was played. It did not
have a jam packed schedule. This added spice to
the love we had for this game. The dosage was
just perfect enough to keep up the passion for
the game.
My Brewing Romance with Cricket – Better than Any Love Story
6
Over the years, I have seen myself shift
gears from being a high school/college brat to
moving towards the formal shirts and trousers
with polished shoes. Somewhere the energy has
drained. Routine has etched into the daily
ordeals of the life. Somewhere somehow I miss
those days, those evenings. Checking scores on
“Cricinfo” has become the penchant to follow
your passion. There were times a decade back
when sitting back and watching each delivery of
the game was a ritual. The advent of T20 has also
been responsible for emptying the glass which
was full of passion – the passion to watch and
play.
Somewhere inside the deepest corners of
my heart the dream remains with heart beats
offering it the life line to survive.
X