Story c39_0823|Born to Fight for Success - A Journey with SA Redbacks, Innings 2 of WW Vs SA FC

[Highlander999]

You might even tempt me to start mine up again

 

[surendar]

( A Mixed Sunday )
​

April 19, 2009
Time - 5:50 AM​

The mobile phone of mine was singing some song. In the sleep, I did not realize it and pressed some button on my phone. Again, the song was reaching my ears.... Oh wait! " Idiot, take up the phone! ", my mind said. :siren Then I got up in panic that I missed my crucial training nets and thought that the time must have been some 7-8 AM.

"Hellooo.. :sleep ", I said! It was my club captain. He asked me to wait in one particular place before going and meeting my coach since he is having plans to meet the coach as a team and not individually in nets. "Ya ok fine, will be there in 10 mins! ", I said and then got a relief that I didn't miss my practice I hurried up and took the bike to my coaching place instead of walk. However I managed to reach the beach,where my coaching place is located, at 6:10 itself. I found that my entire team was waiting for me to join since I was the last person to reach. " You are becoming very lazy these days! ", said my club captain.

We had completely no idea on the mood of our coach. We just went in!

April 19, 2009
Time - 6:15 AM​

As soon our coach saw us as a team entering in, " Where was this team spirit, yesterday? ", he asked with sarcastic smile. :

Then, "Do you guys realized that no-one played a team role yesterday? Some people did not even turn up(aiming at our regular openers who missed their game), some people just went and went crazy further (aiming at me ), some people just went and hurried back to the dressing room (aiming at the collapse) and the fielding department... It was the MOST rusting field display you guys have produced! What are you going to do for the next game? ", he asked with the most angry tone.

I felt like, " Why this old man is shouting as if the world has gone upside down? " : By mistake, I smiled within myself and my lips moved a bit in smile which was noticed by my coach. " oooops, I am in trouble", I thought and the trouble came as I expected.

The coach came to me and asked, " Suren... get your pads on, and we are going to have a check on each and everyone's ability! ". I had no problems with it but, " Why me first? " is what my mind asked me.

A Crucial Test for my Character!

​

April 19, 2009
Time - 6:30 AM​

I got ready with my kits and took the guard for my practice. My coach asked my captain, " Whom do you consider in the team as our potential bowler? " and my capatin said, its Kumar. He was the lonely wicket taker other day too. So, the Coach asked Kumar to charge in towards me.

"I know he is our great bowler but this is not the time to test it.. That too why experimenting against me? I should have kept my mouth shut without smiling that time! :", I thought to myself. You may wonder, why this chap is always having many thoughts running around his mind. But this is how I am.

BRAVOOOOOO!

(I showed NO MERCY to the bowler in nets )​

So... I started to dig the ground with my bats! I meant, I got ready to face the bowler. Kumar started his runner up and he looked so fast in his runner up to me. The first ball of that morning I faced was a nice overpitched delivery around offside.. I got my chance! Yes, I only saw that red ball coming towards me. Other than that, nothing appeared to my eyes. As the ball pitched near my shoes, I just made a huge swing of my bat and managed to make a good contact with the bat and ball vanished to a long distance. Kumar got frustrated and got ready for the next ball.

The very next ball which came to me was a YORKER! I managed to read Kumar's mind and somehow I felt that the yorker will be next attempt for Kumar. Hence I tried to play Dhoni's shot but unfortunately, it did not have any impact. Ball stayed only near me since I was surrounded by nets in the sides. Third ball was also a Yorker attempt but it came as a juicy full toss and I just tried to play it straight. Hence I made no mistake in making the bat to contact each and every delivery bowled till now.

Offside - My Weakness???

(This time, it was BOWLER who showed NO MERCY)​

Kumar charged towards me with a beautiful out-swinger. I also swung my bat in the direction of the ball i.e. in offside. But I only managed to get a edge to it. After this I noticed my coach going towards the bowler and telling something. But I was not bothered to concentrate on those since I was worrying about the edge in my last delivery.

The fifth ball was pitched around off stump and came straight to me. I tried for a cover drive but it was a flop. :brickwall I was decieved completely. It was like McGrath's delivery. I should agree that it was a quality delivery bowled. " But why did I miss this? ".. Well I had no answer for that.

The next delivery was a good length ball in offside which I tried to play straight. It went in vain too. I did not make any contact with the bat. " Next batsman! ", the coach said.

Well, my time was over. I really kicked myself for the poor end to my crucial practice session. When all the guys were playing, I was asked to run in the beach for running practice. :getyou I noticed that running practice was given only to me.: And after running, I was given a catch practice. " He is drilling me too much! ", my mind said to me but I can't help it. After all the guys finished, the coach came and spoke to each of us.

" You know what you played today? You were just seeing the ball alone and trying to hit it freely. This may get runs for you but it won't develop your character and style. You do have to keep an eye on the fielders around you, the delivery which is coming towards you and play some sensible cricket. Take your time to settle down rather than trying to charge straight away from Ball 1. You did other way, i.e. You charged like beast at first and then went clueless at last. Understand the team's situation, your role in the team rather than trying to enjoy the atmosphere alone. Those offside weakness is because, your mind is not clear about what you are doing. You have a great capability, and you have to mature-up in your game-play. I tell you this because, you are one of the leading run-scorers of our club. You can very well survive here with this kind of ability. But when you move up higher, you are likely to struggle! ", said my coach to me.

Those looked like golden words to me. Already I think too much and this added flavor to it. It was around 8:30 AM when all the things got over. I came back home and made a clear decision that I should not think too much today since it was a Sunday. Hence I called up my friends and made plans for a movie and the shopping mall. Everything got arranged and the things went as per my plans.

I came home back only at around 9 PM and then had my dinner. I relaxed with my family a bit and was watching TV programs. It was around 10 : 30 PM where I felt so sleepy. I said Good night to my family members and went to my room. I switched on the AC. I felt too tired but since the room was not chill, I felt like checking my mails before striking the bed.

April 19, 2009
Time - 10:45 PM​

The MOST Precious Mail.

(I cannot BELIEVE my OWN eyes )​

The very first mail in my INBOX was from TNCA. What????? TNCA --> Tamil Nadu Cricket Association?

I eagerly clicked on the mail. I was asked to come for the practice session on Tuesday by TNCA. W.V. Raman, coach of Tamil Nadu have sent this message to me.....

:what :confused: :what :confused: :what :confused: :happy :happy :happy​

" Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhh ", I shouted and members in my entire building were taken aback by shock and they started to wonder what happened. I informed this news to my parents. They said, " Excellent! But lets not tell this one out until you get a better news i.e. state level selection". I also felt that they were right. Hence I told them, " Ya fine! ".

I went back to my room. I was jumping near my bedroom door, jumping near the computer, jumping on the bed, jumping below the bed... etc etc. I was doing all crazy things with excitement. I wanted to tell this news to my coach first and want to verify whether any of my club mates got this mail. But I felt it was too late to call. Hence I thought to make all those the next day.

I did not switch off my monitor. I turned off the screensaver and kept my monitor with that mail enlarged. I was not able to close my eyes for sleep. I was in some 10th WORLD.

With the day starting off in tensed way, and afternoon in tired filled happy way, the night is ending with an unexpected delightful way! What a Mixed Sunday it has been to the career of a person so called, Mr. Suren Ram.......

 

[saladguy]

Good luck for your 'trial'. I agree with your coach. Don't play agressively from the very beginning. Play safe and then once your settled you should try playing more risky shots

Great work as usual Suren

 

[Left_Hander]

Thank you leftie and nice to have you in following this story as well. One of the great readers/writers which this story forum has got for a long time :hpraise

I don't know if you could call me on of the great writers of the froum, but I would agree with you on the reading . Stories like this made my look mediocre. I guess I rushed mine, whilst it looked like you spent a couple of hours on each update with all of the graphics like the headings and that e-mail for example.

Congratulations on your selection for the trial. I wonder if Tamil Nadu will think differently than your coach about your batting approach (That rhymed...).

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Brilliant update as usual Suren bhai. Good luck for the trials and this story looks very real. Great gfx of the email, nets and yourself. Good luck for the trails and lets hope you play for Tamil Nadu along with Badrinath.

 

[Highlander999]

Bah, this is making my old diary look like nothing. Fantastic work Suren bhai. Good luck with the TNCA practice session. Also what game are those training nets from?

 

[brock.crowley]

lovin' this, just out of curiosity, what do you get the graphics from like the non ingame guy?

 

[Roofrom50]

haha this is brilliant I love the graphics, ecspecially the out of game guy (ie. you)

 

[Left_Hander]

haha this is brilliant I love the graphics, ecspecially the out of game guy (ie. you)

Agreed. The picture of Suren taking a walk after he had the dream about playing for India, reminded of Virtua Tennis 2 for some reason.

 

[surendar]

:happy Thank you guys for the most wonderful comments and views :happy

Good luck for your 'trial'. I agree with your coach. Don't play agressively from the very beginning. Play safe and then once your settled you should try playing more risky shots

Great work as usual Suren

Ya.... Also I don't know whether this aggressive nature can turn as a drawback to the career We will have to wait and see

Bah, this is making my old diary look like nothing. Fantastic work Suren bhai. Good luck with the TNCA practice session. Also what game are those training nets from?

Thank you, Tom. Nets session is from Cricket 2002.

lovin' this, just out of curiosity, what do you get the graphics from like the non ingame guy?

Agreed. The picture of Suren taking a walk after he had the dream about playing for India, reminded of Virtua Tennis 2 for some reason.

You are right, Leftie. Well, this story has some history which I did not tell you. I played a tennis game and at a first look, I was impressed to it. I decided to start a career story on tennis game in Other Stories section and also sometime in the middle, I collected pictures for that. Then, well i thought again. I thought, why not a career in cricket .. When there are some legendary cricket diaries here in this forums, why not we try that? I was bit scared about the story line in which i should go. I was thinking about this for quite a long time i.e for storyline. Even in office, in the breaks, i used to google and think about those.

Finally I broke the shackles around myself and gave a attempt and kept my fingers crossed. In the event of these happenings, I don't want the tennis pictures which I had, to go waste. Hence I made a try of using that here. Am very glad that you members/readers liked my different try :happy

Thank you once again for encouraging me to continue further and further. Thanks a lot :onpc

 

[surendar]

( A Day with TNCA )
​

April 21, 2009
Time - 6:00 AM​

This time, even without alarm ringing, I got up at 5:30 itself and stayed in the bed without sleep till 6. After the mail from TNCA, my normal life activities like food, sleep became less due to the excitement of being called by TNCA. At the same time, there was slight tension in my mind whether I will get selected to represent the Tamil Nadu team.

It was 6 in the morning where I finally managed to put aside the thoughts and got up from the bed. I made a call to my coach and all he told was, " Be confident, you have capability and hence you can do it! Good luck ". With those confident words as a good sign, I got ready and left my house with my parents wishes too to the Chepauk stadium where I was asked to come.

My First Step in TNCA!

​

April 21, 2009
Time - 7:00 AM​

The stadium was very nearby from my home. I did not find any difficulty in reaching the stadium on time. I stepped into the chepauk stadium with little bit nervousness.

As soon as I entered in, " Where do Tamil Nadu cricket members take the practice sessions? I got this mail from TN coach, Mr.Raman and I was asked to meet them",I asked the security! He showed the right direction and I met Mr. WV Raman.

Suren : Hello, I am Suren Ram and I received a mail from TNCA that I had to meet you today.
Mr. WV Raman,TN Coach : Yes Suren, I remember selecting your name from the list. So, do you know why you are here for?
Suren : Yes Raman, Its for state level team selection right for the upcoming domestic season?
Mr. WV Raman : You are right. But this time, the short listed candidates are very few in number and you are one among them. Since there can't be appointing many members into the state level, we are having our eyes on only few.
Suren : ( ****** Increasing my tension because Raman have said 'only few'! ******) Hugh Sigh... I will try my best!
Mr. WV Raman : So, you are ready for the practice?
Suren : Yes, just give me few minutes time and I will get padded up for practice nets.
Mr. WV Raman : No, no need of changing of costumes.
Suren : " What this guy wants me to prove without pads and gloves like a beach cricket or what? ", my mind said to me.
Mr. WV Raman : Here is the ball!(giving me a 30-50 overs old ballLets see how your bowling is..
Suren : (With a shocking state I replied,) I am a PURE batsman!
Mr. WV Raman : Yes I am very much aware of it. Here is the ball, you do whatever you know in bowling.

Why in THE HELL Should I BOWL?

​

April 21, 2009
Time - 7:30 AM​

Well I took the ball from Raman's hands. I thought for a while, " What should I bowl now? : ". I need my local club coach with me is what I felt. I was bit clueless about the things happening. I was about to press the panic button in pressure as I hardly know to bowl.

Ok, let me go with the leg spin since I have tried few of those during my school days. I took that ball and started my runner up casually and delivered my first ball ( after ages : ) to one of the net session taking players.

I was surprised. The ball got released from my hands and went straight towards the stumps. The batsman just defended it. " The ball was supposed to spin in some way right? ", I asked myself. It had no turn but the ball went somehow straight to the stumps which batsman defended it.

I looked back at the coach.. " Good job, carry on! ", he said asking me to bowl the second ball. : This time, I was applying bit more force while releasing the ball. The ball went as a low full toss and it appeared like a yorker attempt right in the block hole. It was fortunate that batsman who played it made my delivery to look impressive. But the next ball which I bowled was smashed. I tried to spin the ball but its not coming only.. Hence batsman just blindly smashed. Again I was trying my wrist to twist in some position to deliver the ball, but it pitched near the offstump and went straight to leg stump. It looked like googly though I did not intentionally attempt it. Somehow it came. :laugh

I bowled like these for some time in nets and coach finally said, " Enough and lets have a discussion after you relax for sometime ".

Can You believe? I bowled in NETS!

​

April 21, 2009
Time - 8:15 AM​

I went to Raman's seat after having some water. " Here is what you bowled, see this.. ", he said to me showing his laptop computer. I went and sat next to him and got wonder-struck.

The computer showed the simulating model of mine and depicted how I released the ball while bowling on average and it also showed some ratings below in the screen. After seeing that I cannot believe that I did not bowl that badly!

"Well, not that bad with the ball. You can be a good part-timer if you improve in certain areas. I gave you the ball to bowl because, I just want to see how you can gain a control over some unknown thing. Suppose when you face some sudden unexpected scenarios like say, taking charge of the team in absence of captain from the field, you should not feel like uncertain about it but rather try having complete control over it before you step in to do it. Thats why I want to observe how you utilize the scenario and I had to say, You have done pretty well. With bit more practice, you can be a good bowler too. ", Raman said to me.

Well this surprised me. " I can be a good bowler? : ", I thought in myself because it did not make sense to me that I had to cultivate something new which I was not even bothered to concentrate. What was he trying to do with me? Does he want me to forget batting and become a bowler?

" Well, incase if you are wondering what's happening around you, it's just a test to your dynamic factor in you! Incase you had said that you won't bowl since you are a batsman, I would have said a good bye to you that time itself. But interestingly, you took up the thing and gave a brave attempt. Well done, You have to come here at 6PM this evening. We will have 2 hours of batting practice. Then your destiny will be known! ", Raman said to me.

I felt myself good for not denying to bowl in nets like how mind wondered. If I had done that, may be I would have created a bad impression on me in my coach. I left the coaching camp with joy and called up my coach and said all the things that happened.

" You are 99% selected for Tamil Nadu, my boy! ", my local club coach said to me. I felt it so nice to hear and went home happily and took rest the whole day.

Will I know my Destiny?

​

April 21, 2009
Time - 6:00 PM​

I went to the same Chepauk stadium for my evening practice. As soon as I went in, I was taken by surprise to see many guys like me with determination taking up the practice with WV Raman. As soon as Raman saw me, he told me to go to the indoor nets there.

" You can go there, there will be guys from OUR team(Tamil Nadu) practice.. Go and mingle with them and start practicing! ", Raman said.

" OUR??? Does this imply I am selected for Tamil Nadu already? Why this guy is sounding so mysterious to me! : ", I wondered while I walked to that indoor nets.

I went in and introduced myself to those guys. I said that Raman wants me to take a good batting practice. I padded up for the practice. I was sitting and waiting since already there were other guys having a batting practice.

Finally, the BAT in my hands!

​

There were two bowlers in my nets. One was right handed, Yo Mahesh and other was some left handed bowler. I have read plenty about this Mahesh who is one of the best quickie for Tamil Nadu. I was unfortunate to face the best straight away.

Again, my mind was trying to gather some thoughts but this time, I dominated my mind and asked my mind to just shut up! I made it clear that I should be defensive and play just the basics of stroke making. I executed my plan as I thought.

Many quick deliveries were being fired at me, but I maintained my patience level and was contented with the good forward defense. I did not try anything than defending the ball. Coach also joined us soon. As soon as I entered, Mahesh bowled one quick yorker that decieved me completely and struck my pads. Have this had happened on the field, I am pretty sure that it would have been an easy LBW. I kicked myself for getting distracted a bit after Raman came in. Next delivery was also a same one from Mahesh but this time, I made a bit advance from defense shots and had a go with leg glance shot and I was so happy that the contact of the ball with bat was pretty good.

A Cautious Practice infront of my TN Coach!

​

WV Raman was constantly taking some notes on a book as he was continuously monitoring me. Some good bouncers and short pitched deliveries were also bowled by the other left arm pace man. I managed those by getting onto the backfoot and stayed on the defensive side.

On the whole, I did not attempt any aggressive shot in my nets session that day. I finished my whole practice and Raman called me privately. I also went and was having a bit fear that I did not play any promising or aggressive strokes.

" Well, after seeing you in the nets for around 30 minutes, one thing is clear i.e. you are good in executing the basics. The stroke making and shot selection are ideal but you like to be a defensive player? ", Raman asked me.

:laugh I laughed in myself. I was thinking how good if my local club coach hears this. " Not exactly defensive.. but I don't want to take any risks without knowing the bowler's nature. After getting familiar with the bowler, I would really like to have a go at the bowler and will try to confuse him! ", I answered Raman.

" Thats pretty good. Well, I also need to tell you one important thing. I don't know how you will take this! ", Raman said.

My worries increased as I started to think that Raman would say something negative in my selection to TN team. I was praying in my mind. :upray

" As soon as we observed you this morning in the nets, well..............( long gap )", Raman continued.

" What that hell, can you tell me quickly! ", I wondered.

" You have been selected to represent Tamil Nadu. ", Raman said.

" :happy :happy :happy :happy ", in my mind/heart and I felt so happy to hear those words from Raman. I was asked to come on Saturday i.e April 25th to finish all the formalities of signing in the contract. Once again I expressed my happiness to my new coach, Raman and left the place with me flying on some 9th cloud. :happy

I called up my coach immediately and told this. He was also so happy to hear. I went home and told this to my parents, friends, relatives and to everyone. All were so happy to hear this news.

With so many things happening around Mr. Suren Ram, it will be interesting to wait and see how well he is going to adapt himself to this role(which is definitely higher by one step in his life) and move forward.

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Brilliant stuff again Suren, felt like real. This is becoming more brilliant day by day. Congrats for getting selected in the Tamil Nadu side and enjoy playing alongside Badrinath..

 

[surendar]

Just thought that I would share the small animated signature which I made for my story,

Hope you members like it.

 

[saladguy]

Well done in being selected mate and I hope that in a few years you will make the India team!

Top work Suren.

 

[treva]

Another brilliant update. I love the use of the nets and graphics from Cricket 2002, very innovative. Nice to see Suren get into Tamil Nadu. Look forward to more chapters Suren...