Captain's Knock

Well going down to the memory lane, trying to recall or think about an incident which perhaps is the sweetest one or one of the sweetest ones, always brings a smile to ones face.

There a few incidents, rather lot of them which takes me back to those carefree days.The one which I am sharing is the one which has always been fresh in my mind and hope so it would continue to be the same.


Well let me take you guys to my childhood days when I used to be a cricketer. I was in Class 9. As the vice captain of the team, I used to enjoy a lot of support from my captain, who also was a very good friend of mine. It was during a tournament, when our captain, got injured after a ball hit his toe. He was rushed to nearby clinic immediately where necessary medication was done. By the time, he had returned to the field, we had already won the match, thanks to a magnificent half century by one of my teammates. We were celebrating as well discussing the strategy for the next match, as it was the Finals.

Amidst all that discussion, our captain came in, and he broke a sad news saying that he would not be able to play atleast for next 15 days because, the ball had actually plucked off his toe nails. Our discussion came to a halt and we started wondering what to do. Tomorrow is the final and our captain would not be able to play because of a stupid injury. It was a situation of crisis. So now, as the captain was out of it, I became the stand in captain for the period till he would be out.


Next was the big one for me. I went in for the first toss of my life and I lost it. I was very disheartened at that and thought was a bad omen. And seriously it turned out to be one as we were given a target of 181 in 17 overs. Three overs were reduced, due to late start, due to some unavoidable circumstances. Now, chasing 181, in 17 overs was not a joke, that too when the pressure is constantly on you. Thinking about thousand things, I went to open the innings. My captain came up to me and said "I want a long innings from you. Stay calm. Play your game." That added an extra pressure on me.


I was always a superstitious guy on the field. One of the superstitions was that I do not face the first delivery of the innings. I am always at the runners end, which I still follow with all my dedication. So, initial overs of the match turned out to catastrophic for us as we lost three wickets within 2 overs. So the batsman who came in, I asked him to stay at one end and support me and assured him to take care of the rest.

And as promised to my partner, I took thing in my hands. I started my onslaught and scored a brilliant 89* to guided our team to victory. We won by 3 wickets. My brilliant innings earned me the man of the match award and our team the championship. That was the first I was leading my side and I led my team from the front. What a Captain''s knock that was. The best part about my innings was the execution of the lofted cover drive, which I learnt while playing cricket on the computer. I attempted that shot 4 times, and each time I cleared the ropes with ease.


That innings is one episode, which I guess would remain immortal in the dairy of my memory, because after all that was the first time I led my side, and with complete authority.


Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
Gurukul Grammar Senior Secondary School
Class of 2007