The Punter's technique - Part 2

      My Grandma's home used to be my second home since childhood as almost every weekend, every holidays was spend there, my two cousins both my age was one reason & delicious food my grandma used to make being the other. I was quite familiar to my cousin's friends as they were used to seeing me since childhood, The quality of cricket they played was a bit low compared to what my friends back home played.. This was a huge advantage for me as here I was somewhat like a top player to them, considering the way I played. There were some new faces among the usual gang, one of them became my worry particularly the way he bowled, his bowling brought me unpleasant memories, I used to get out to this guy in almost every match I played against him & unfortunately he would always end up in the opposite team, as that team would use him as their trump card against me. One day on a calm afternoon while I was watching tv switching channels too often, something caught my attention.. It was the Cable & Wireless test series with West Indies playing Australia being aired, Ponting was batting against Mervyn Dillon.. nothing unusual one would say. I hooked onto this match as the other programs seemed boring to me.. As I was watching Ponting play I began to observe his batting closely, the way he took stance, the way he got ready to face the ball & the shot selection, Dillon was not some 130k bowler, as I saw the scorecard bar his speeds read above 145k+ & I saw & observed how ponting faced those deliveries. He had a clam relaxed stance on Dillon's run-up, & as he approached the bowling wickets, Ponting had a high bat-lift. He seemed like ready to face the ball & when the ball was released, he judged its pace & placed a shot. So no matter what pace the bowl was bowled at, Ponting was there ready even before that bowl was bowled. Some technique this I thought & as some math kid who just cracked a complex problem, decided to test it out that evening.


      The match was about to start & unfortunately the speedster did'nt show up. I badly wanted to try my new batting technique against him but he just was not there. Anyways I continued with the match, the blokes were quite surprised with my new batting stance, I faced some bowls & discovered that this technique actually gave me a lot of time to play the shot, I had few troubles judging the slower ones & the spinners, but very quickly adapted to this change. I felt quite happy that night knowing that solution to my batting weakness may have been found & I was right. The next day saw me bashing the speedster's bowling to all parts of the ground with some simple sensible strokes. That day I cut short my vacation at grandma's home & returned to my place. And what followed after that could be figured out. I finally had learned to play the speedies & after that there was no looking back. I cemented my place in our Street XI & soon became one of the dependable player, I also went on & played for my school cricket team. All this because I followed the technique of one of the best players in cricket, second to Sachin. And so is the reason Ponting remains one of my favorite player.    

The Punter's technique - Part 1

     'What is it that makes you idolize ponting?' asked a friend who saw my profile picture in Facebook. "His batting technique" I answer with a smile. Every-time I answer this question, a faint pointer to the childhood memories pops in my head.

     Those were the days when a large part of my time was spent playing cricket, times when not a day went by without playing the game. I was lucky to have played with such a talented bunch of childhood friends in my street, most of them my age with some a year elder/older. 5pm-7pm was our playing times on weekdays after school, 3pm -7pm on Saturdays, 10pm - 6pm on Sundays (at a nearby playground). We were some 10 - 14 boys altogether including few talented bachhas. Weekdays would be practice & weekends would be betting matches against teams of other streets/areas. I was an all-rounder with average batting/bowling skills & inconsistent to go by, Somedays I would be the standout player & other days equally miserable. Part of the reason was my weakness against fast bowling. I just couldn't face fast bowlers, by the time I played a shot the ball would have passed the stumps or sometimes taken them out. It was due to my slow response in my batting that cost me my wicket. My batting was fit for street cricket where boys would'nt bowl fast for the fear of  bowling off direction which would hit passerbys or the slightest knick or shot would fly off to some home or end up breaking neighbor's window panes. But in the playground it was carnage, they would bowl with all the strength they've got & the ball would cruise by you often hitting the stumps. My team had some serious pace bowlers which enabled us win majority of the matches, we also had few very good batsmen who could play at anything you throw at them, so making it to the final playing eleven would be tough, I used to be a regular initially but as my batting form dipped my place in the team was up for grabs. So I had to improve my batting by somehow getting across my weakness which gave me nightmares.

     I was nearly replaced for a match but was given a chance considering my bowling ability which hopefully was not bad for a medium pacer. I was out first ball in that match, clean bowled by a fast delivery on the stumps, we lost that match very badly & I was blaming myself as i had the opportunity to win the game but walked away first ball. I announced to my friends after that match 'I will not play in the upcoming matches, please find a replacement for me'. The blokes tried to console me but i had made my decision & stuck to it for the next few matches. I took some time off as it was summer vacation & went to my grandma's place.