Redemption

"Bangera is not playing today!" exclaimed Vasanth, a cricket enthusiast in my class of Mechanical Engineering. Bangera was the Dhoni of our cricket team and his absence was a big void, even in the illustrious team of my class, 'Mech C'.

"You want to take his place?" he asks me.
"Sure. Stitch ball or tennis?"
"Tennis. Its Mech C v/s Printing. We can't afford to lose this match."

Cricket was the favorite pass time for 18 somethings in our class of 'Royal Mechanical' engineers. They would arrange matches with other classes and the results were duly reported on the blackboard in the class on the next day.

But even I had no idea what I had gotten into until we started playing.
Either team had a person dedicated for keeping a scoreboard on a piece of paper. Every detail was calculated. Run rate. Runs per wicket. Strike rate. Fielding mistakes. They debated immensely on who should umpire.

"Why are we doing all this? Isnt this just a game?"
"No. It is a matter of pride. As I said we can't afford to lose this. Want to bowl first over?"
"Sure"

Six.
Six.
Six.
Six.
Four.
Six.

34 runs in the first over! I thanked God for the lone boundary in my over to save me from total humiliation of 6 sixes which can be devastating for any bowler.

I was rebuked. Condemned to the lowest batting order.
Still, the team had not lost hope. They loved challenges and the first over had made the game exciting.

At the end of the first innings, we had to chase 165 in 15 overs.

The openers did a good job. But then there was a collapse which took us to the final over with 4 runs to win and 3 wickets in hand.

Dot.
Dot.
Dot.
Wicket.
Wicket.

Damn it! Only one ball left and 4 runs to win! There it was. An opportunity to redeem myself.

"Just knock it somewhere and run!" Vasanth's shout out from the other end brought me to reality. The bowler was really fast had taken 2 wickets in the same over. And, he had a hat trick chance!

The pressure was immense. A loss, and it would have been humiliation.

I begged for a trial ball to get my eye used to the speed. Denied.

I took a survey of the field as a message to the bowler that I was going to hit him.

Took my stance and a deep breath. He was running towards me now. My eyes focused on the ball. Suddenly, everything became clear. The cricket ball was the size of a football.

The ball was released. Time slowed. The trajectory of the ball was clear. I pulled.

It is a Six!