The C division cricket NSG season came up in Term 3, with the B division season completing its run in Term 2. Fans of the game might be eager to know the match details, including match fixtures and selected 20 players. (Note : The fixtures are not final and are subject to weather conditions.)
I am Vidyuth, your intrepid reporter, and I aided the team on their journey throughout the C division. Let me share with you some insights into the games.
Players and match dates
I am proud to say that the following 20 players are part of the squad.
(In no order of merit)
Aadharsh Kathirvel (2A)
Anandan Suganthan (1F)
Arush Kappala (1B)
Atharv Pandit (1L)
Debarpan Datta (2J)
Ishaan Rawat (1L)
Kabilan S. P. (1D)
Kannan Jovesh Priyan (2F)
Kathir Satish (2C)
Kavin Sathia Narayanan (1L)
Kaviyarasan Harrish (2A)
Mahesvaran Aditya (2D)
Murugesh Raghav (2I)
Neil Chaturvedi (2A)
Nidhesh Madhavan (2E)
Ritesh Kesavaraj (2E)
Sanket Vatsa (1C)
Shreyas Arun Pawar (1H)
Soham Phanse (1B)
Vedant Nagpaul (2C)
Names of the above were included in this article with their consent.
Schedule
The following is the original schedule :
Match against St. Patrick’s on 18th July at Ceylon Sports Club
Match against Victoria School on 25th July at Ceylon Sports Club
Match against Anglo Chinese School on 3rd August at Ceylon Sports Club
(Postponed to 11th August)
Match against Victoria School on 12th August [semifinals]
Match against Anglo Chinese School on 17th August [finals]
Match against Saint Patrick’s on 18/7
I am ecstatic to say that RI won its first match today. Not only did we win, but it was by a margin of 36 runs. Captain Neil Chaturvedi of 2A won the toss and chose to bat. We have a fantastic inning from Mahesvaran Aditya of 2D, who scored 48 runs. The innings ended with a score of 110/4. Our team also performed impressively in bowling, taking 9 wickets and leaving the gaping opponents with a score of 74.
Match against Victoria School on 25/7
Will wonders never cease? Our team won by a smashing 92 runs, a-one-of-a-time NSG feat. This was possible mainly due to the efforts of Arush Kappala of 1B. Breaking his shackles, he whacked a half-century (67) which contributed to the total score of 155/4. However, the format of this match was rather different. Instead of the usual T20 format, a test match format was played. Our team won the toss and chose to bat first. We played 10 overs before letting Victoria bat for another ten overs, after which the cycle would repeat . The opponents were left with a score of 63/7. Today also happens to be a school holiday for RI’s 199th Founder’s Day. Hope you have an enjoyable holiday! (Technically, we are already qualified for the semifinals because there are only 4 teams in total.)
Match against Anglo Chinese School (Independent) on 3/8
Oops! Marred with inclement weather, this match is postponed to a later date.
Match against Anglo Chinese School (Independent) [Postponed] to 11/8
The outcome of the match against our perennial rivals turned out to be a loss. RI won the toss and chose to bat. The format of this game was the same as the last. We lost by an innings and 17 runs. I was not allowed access to any other information because it would be sensitive to disclose in this article.
Match against Victoria School {semifinals} on 12/8
I have two words to say. We won. VS won the toss and chose to bowl. The match format was repeated (again). Our Ishaan took 3 wickets, resulting in the opponents’ final score of 118 runs, 7 wickets lost. Aditya struck it again, obtaining a score of 62 runs, not out. Our final score was 129/6. This was probably the most intense match of all. To give you an idea of how stressful it was, ACS and Saint Patrick’s were having their semifinals match right next to us. When they’d finished their game early, they came over to watch our match for the last 20 minutes. What’s more, they were rooting for our opponents (I understood their tactics ; to have VS play against them in the finals). Even under pressure, we didn’t lose our calm and played on.
We’d made it to the finals.
Match against Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) {finals} on 17/8
What better way to start the game than to win the toss and choose to bat. That is exactly what happened. For today, Arush and Aditya kick-started our innings. Within 1 over of the start, Arush took the chance to smash a 4. After that, both Aditya and Arush ran excellently and took numerous 2s, thanks to good reflexes. After a while, Arush whacked another 4. After another streak of runs, our spirit was put out when Aditya was bowled out. He definitely deserves the orange cap in our team as he was the most consistent batsman in our team. Every match, one could expect a 40 – 50 run total from him. Even though he was out, he walked off with pride. Now, it was Kathir’s turn to come in. Ever since I started observing Kathir, I noticed that he guarded his wicket very effectively. We started pushing for 1s and 2s. Out of the blue, Arush hit a 4. Then, Kathir hit a 4 a few balls after Arush’s 4. After another few balls, our innings of 10 overs was done. We had scored 46 runs.
The credit for our 1st wicket goes to Ishaan and Vedant. The delivery was bowled by Ishaan and caught by Vedant. Briefly after that, Vedant bowled a batsman out clean on the stumps. After this innings, ACS’ score was 68.
Now it was RI’s turn to bat. Sadly, this innings was the one that contained the most wickets lost for our team. After Arush and Kathir returned, Kathir was stumped out by the wicketkeeper after being outside the crease after failing to hit the shot. To be honest, the ball was really unpredictable. Once, the ball was bowled and it came bouncing up to the batsman’s face. This delivery was just as unpredictable. Otherwise, I’m sure that Kathir would have sustained till the end. Vedant came in now. It was not long till tragedy struck again. Tragically, Arush was stumped in the same manner as Kathir. But there was still hope. Neil tried to rectify the situation by pummeling 4. At this stage, wickets didn’t matter anymore. Runs were the only thing that mattered. That’s why Neil and Vedant ran for nearly every delivery. However, that had its own problems. Our ecstasy was cut short when Neil was run out. Then, Harrish came in. Again, after a few thwacks from him, he was caught out. It was time for Ritesh to enter. We had made the most out of every single ball. Combined with the fact that there were only less than 10 overs left, Vedant made use of 2 easy deliveries to hammer 2 4s. To put out the fire, Vedant was caught out and Jovesh came in. In just another few overs, Ritesh was bowled out and Ishaan arrived. Jovesh walked out after an LBW. The 9 down, Nidesh, came in. To rub salt into the wound, Ishaan was bowled out on the very last ball. Our final score was 103.
If we wanted to win, we had to plunder wickets. We endeavoured to do precisely that. We took 3 wickets :
Bowled by Arush caught by Ritesh
Bowled by Neil caught by Kathir
Bowled by Neil caught by Kathir
But it was not enough. In the 16th over, ACS hit a 4 when the score was 102. They won by 5 wickets.
Interview with Vedant Nagpaul (Vice Captain) about the NSG season
Vidyuth : Overall, how well do you think our team performed this season?
Vedant : I think we performed really well, just that those minor errors we had to fix we weren’t able to, hopefully we rectify them next year.
Vidyuth : Is there anything that you think our team could improve on?
Vedant : We could cut down on our extras and bowl more accurately, we could also rethink our strategies and field better.
Vidyuth : How hopeful are you for next year’s C Div season?
Vedant : I feel that we should be able to win next years C Div and B Div.
Vidyuth: Are there any insights that you have gained from being a Vice Captain?
Vedant : Yes, I learnt a lot about the sport in general, like tactics, e.t.c.
Vidyuth : Is there anything you have to say to everyone from the C Div?
Vedant : Come on boys, we got it next year!
Vidyuth : Good luck in your endeavours, Vedant!
Vedant : Thank you.
Thank you Vedant for helping me gain insights through your answers. You have assisted greatly in the writing of this article.
Conclusion
This season was definitely successful. We are proud to be carrying the legacy of this honourable CCA. In the past, we won against adult clubs. Now, we play against (no less difficult) other schools. However, carrying a title is not enough. We justify it. A cricketer who wins 60% of his games is considered great. Perfection may not be achievable, but we can put in our best efforts.
Quoting Kapil Dev,
“Taste success once, tongue wants more!”
The meaning could not have been more obvious.
Stay hungry. Stay foolish. For cricket.
Hoping I get selected for next year’s team.
Signing off, Vidyuth.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Ankit Rathi for taking photos of excellent quality during the finals. Thanks to Sanket Vatsa, Soham Phanse and Kavin Sathia Narayanan for giving me the scores and photographs for the matches I didn’t attend. Thanks to Vedant Nagpaul for answering the interview questions. Thanks to Neil Chaturvedi for sending photos of the scorecard every match. Thanks to everyone from the C Division for consenting to have your names in the article. This article would not have been possible without all of your support.
