CRICKETING IN OUR MOHALLA

There is no word Mohalla in the english language but can be imported from the local vernacular to mean a closely clustered residential area with heterogenity in population and the possibility of many languages being spoken. The presence of many children palying around is a characteristic of such a place.

My father purchased for me a cricket bat some where in 1975 and it was a priced possession for me for many years. It cost Rs. 3.75 and was purchased from Rakhra sports - commercial street. It was a small bat apt for a 10 year old and it used to be in great demand with my friends both at school and in the neighbourhood and a darling to many eyes. My bat was a matter of discussion and cynosure at many levels. I dont know how I lost it. Some friends at school courted me into parting with it and I possibly lost track of it. It could have been kept in a musuem as I feel there is no other cricket bat in the entire history of cricketing that must have drawn so much attention from every one around and touching it for many was a rare sceptre. I dont know what was so magical of that bat of mine. It must be lying some where unnoticed in some house but I can recognise it even today if I were to catch a glance of it.

Every boy playing cricket in my Mohalla wanted to be in the Indian cricket team and nothing short. What a lofty goal and every one played the game sincerely and with utmost involvement befitting a world cup. One thing is sure. All that stood between them and the Indian cricket team were their parents who would encourage anything but cricket. Parents want their children to study and not play cricket. Of the many years of aspirations of many children and their prayers, we did send one person to the Indian squad in Venkatesh Prasad the fast bowler who used to live near our place. Venkatesh Prasad must remember he represents the aspirations of a vast genre of youngsters who wanted to play for the country. My mother used to care a damn for anything when it used to came to education of her children. She would disrupt our cricket matches coming straight into the feild and yelling at me and my brother to come home for lunch and reminding us of the exams few weeks ahead. What an embarassing thing. I had to convince her that all the academic work were in tandy and explained to her all the chapters I had learnt and only few chapters which I would be studying this evening. I had to request her to leave us alone so that the match could progress and we could win the match or whatsoever. This is the style in which my mother operated and may be for good. She used to leave after lot of grumbling and ado.

The bowler would take a run-up nothing less than that of Imran khan and a bowling action imagined and imitated from some world cricketer or an action of some key bowler seen in the pages of the newspaper. Some passers-by would comment of the high politics in the selection of cricket players because it was widely felt that this lad must be touring the west-indies this season. By mistake if this comment fell in to the ears of the bowler he even felt heartened and emboldened to stretch even more and give his utmost. One of the deliveries would hit the leg of the batsman and there was a huge appeal for an LBW. No one knew at that time what LBW actually meant. There were many versions and pictures. Some said if the ball hit the leg the batsman must be out for LBW because the literal translation of it means Leg before the wicket. Children studying in convent schools brought out their version of what it means. They said it means Legs before the wicket and the ball must strike both the legs and not one and the ball must stike below the knee and not above it. There was huge argument and many a matches were disrupted and sometimes cancelled midway because of the dispute of what LBW meant. Some elderly observers in the fringes would try to mediate at times and bring harmony among the warring sides taking some live case studies and convincing the lads. I get scared of these three alphabets LBW even to this day because sometimes matters were settled after a physical bout spreading first from between two people gradually towards the entire lot with blows and punches exchanged at random and few peace loving people like me running away fro the scene and watching the wrestling and boxing in the middle of the pitch. Gradually the wickets and bails would become weapons not to mention the bats. Enough is enough we got rid of LBW from our very scheme of things. This means getting a batsman out in our Mohalla even Andy Roberts cannot because along with the bat there was free use of the legs the choice depending on the level of desperation.

The captains of the teams did exactly what was done in international matches. Rubbing the ball on the thighs vehemently before it was presented to the bowler.This he did relegiously for every delivery and advising the bowler how to bowl. To become a captain in our place you must be better than others in cricketing jargon. You must have a rough idea of what backward-short-leg means. It was very often not the position mentioned in cricketing annals. That doesnt matter. He used to always set three slips and a gully because the commentators of international matches start out with the refrain "three slips and a gully". Our captains forgot that they were playing with a soft ball and three slips and a gully were a wanton wastage of resources. Time and again there were many gaps in the feilding freely used to get runs by the batsmen but this pious norm was not to be broken. Not to forget the umpires. People who were not selected to play are chosen at random to become umpires. Some were keen to do this job using six peices of small pebbles to count the number of deliveries the bowler was bowling.This used to be the most dangerous job because the umpires cannot be totally impartial and must be moderately partisan. Be it with run-outs or caught-behinds or what-so-ever. Our umpires largely relied on public opinion in the way they went about their jobs. Many -a-times the umpire had his index finger lifted signalling an "out" only to back down when he sensed fury from some quarter.

But our place was unique for one thing. The scorers decide who should win the match. Five and five need not be ten at our place- it can be fifteen. Very often hooligans usurped the scorers job and decided before-hand who should be the winner. There was no disputing with them by the very nature of their persona and many a tale of their exploits going the rounds. If any team wants to win a match they must make a veiled representation to the scorers about their desires and incur their soft-corner. Ultimately this is what mattered and you simply cannot remove the scorers who operated at our place as in the absence of their co-operation no match can be played that reaches some logical ends.