Cricket and my Dad
If there's one thing that may be universally true for all Indians, it might just be their love for Cricket. A person from a non-cricketing nation may not think much of the sport. I've heard (and controlled my wish to punch them) phrases like "Cricket is not even a real sport" and "I don't even consider Cricket a sport" during my last 9 months in Budapest. While you may not think much of it, know that there's a land with 1.2 billion people where Cricket is bigger than god and bigger than any religion.
I was born and raised in this land. Growing up, I learned to enjoy every century Sachin made, every boundary Sehwag hit, every test match Dravid and Laxman played and every batsman Kumble and Harbhajan dismissed. Even today, my heart chokes on every milestone Dhoni achieves for the cricket team, every target Kohli chases successfully and every wicket Ashwin takes. I cry when India loses in a World Cup event and I celebrate when India beats Pakistan in it (11 - 0 in World Cups. Never forget).
However, the fondest memories of cricket are from my childhood days with my dad. I must have been 6 or 7 years old. My dad started teaching me how to play cricket. These memories are probably the oldest ones I have from my childhood. Every morning, he would wake me up early in the morning. I had school at 7:30 in the morning and my school bus usually came around 7 am to pick me up. My dad would wake me up at 5:30 and take me out for cricket.
In a country obsessed with cricket, every father takes out his son right from day he starts walking. My dad did the same. Unfortunately, my memory goes back to the time he started playing real cricket with me. My dad never believed in going easy on me. Many fathers would sometimes go easy and let their kids win. My dad never did. Ever since I could remember, my dad threw the fastest and hardest deliveries at me.
My dad would tell me "In a team, there are 10 wickets to dismiss. You may consider yourself a team and I will dismiss you 10 times. Your job is to not get dismissed 10 times today. Once I dismiss you as a team, I will bat and your job will be to dismiss me once, if possible. In the end, the one who scores more, wins." I never won.
Every morning, he would wake me up and we would go for cricket. For the longest time, I would be dismissed 10 times and he would score those runs with ease. He would hit boundaries and make me fetch the ball. He would throw the balls so hard that I was protecting myself half the times. I would imagine myself to be the Indian Cricket Team. The first batsman would be Sachin, followed by Ganguly and Dravid, all the way down to Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad. Surprisingly, they were all equally bad when I played as I were them. Some got caught, others run out. Most of them just got clean bowled. Back home, my dad would also mock me sometimes in front of mom. Sometimes I would say "Dad, go easy" and his response was always the same - "Sachin played for India at the age of 16. He never said 'go easy' to the other team. No one will go easy on you in a match."
It made me extremely upset. To fail everyday. To try my best everyday and get the same result. Little did I know, this was all a part of his plan to make me better. To push me to get better at it. After months of getting me out at will, it started getting difficult for him to dismiss me. We played for 1 hour and slowly, I started managing to bat the entire hour. The number of wickets he could dismissed started coming down. From 10 to 7... 5... 3... to 1. By the time I was 9, he knew he had done enough and I went on to play with older kids in the block. I never thanked him for it. I never realised how much he did for me over those 2 years.
I realised the impact of his training in school one day. I was in 3rd grade and somehow my "PE" class timing was the same as a 5th grade class in cricket. That day, I decided to play cricket instead of football. It was 3B vs 5. We got to bat first and I went to start batting first. This was the day I realised how well my father had trained me. When my senior came at me with the fastest delivery he could manage, I found it so slow that I felt I could sleep for an hour before hitting it wherever I wanted to. I batted so well that even the seniors were awestruck.
Over the next few years, I moved towards Tennis and played cricket only for pleasure. However, the difference in my cricket skills against other kids my age was always visible. As long as I played cricket, I played with kids much older than me. I wasn't shining among them but they presented me with a challenge to get better. Sometimes I shone among them too - I'd hit a few quick runs in the last over or take crucial catches on the field.
One thing I'll never forget will be the days I spent playing cricket with my father. I will always cherish them. The new bats and balls he bought me, the cricket pads and other equipment. He loves cricket more than me. Sometimes I think he was disappointed too when I chose Tennis over cricket eventually but he never showed it. He didn't know much about tennis as compared to Cricket. So he couldn't help me much but every time he saw me play tennis, he tried to help me with whatever he could.
Cricket is one of the things that bring me close to my dad. Over time, we have had our differences on a lot of things. We still may not agree on several things but when it comes to cricket, we will still sit down, side by side and watch Kohli hit those boundaries and Ashwin take those wickets. Even now, we discuss Cricket for at least 2 minutes when we talk on Skype. Being in Budapest, I've realised how much Cricket means to me and how much it brought me close to my father.
I was born and raised in this land. Growing up, I learned to enjoy every century Sachin made, every boundary Sehwag hit, every test match Dravid and Laxman played and every batsman Kumble and Harbhajan dismissed. Even today, my heart chokes on every milestone Dhoni achieves for the cricket team, every target Kohli chases successfully and every wicket Ashwin takes. I cry when India loses in a World Cup event and I celebrate when India beats Pakistan in it (11 - 0 in World Cups. Never forget).
However, the fondest memories of cricket are from my childhood days with my dad. I must have been 6 or 7 years old. My dad started teaching me how to play cricket. These memories are probably the oldest ones I have from my childhood. Every morning, he would wake me up early in the morning. I had school at 7:30 in the morning and my school bus usually came around 7 am to pick me up. My dad would wake me up at 5:30 and take me out for cricket.
In a country obsessed with cricket, every father takes out his son right from day he starts walking. My dad did the same. Unfortunately, my memory goes back to the time he started playing real cricket with me. My dad never believed in going easy on me. Many fathers would sometimes go easy and let their kids win. My dad never did. Ever since I could remember, my dad threw the fastest and hardest deliveries at me.
My dad would tell me "In a team, there are 10 wickets to dismiss. You may consider yourself a team and I will dismiss you 10 times. Your job is to not get dismissed 10 times today. Once I dismiss you as a team, I will bat and your job will be to dismiss me once, if possible. In the end, the one who scores more, wins." I never won.
Every morning, he would wake me up and we would go for cricket. For the longest time, I would be dismissed 10 times and he would score those runs with ease. He would hit boundaries and make me fetch the ball. He would throw the balls so hard that I was protecting myself half the times. I would imagine myself to be the Indian Cricket Team. The first batsman would be Sachin, followed by Ganguly and Dravid, all the way down to Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad. Surprisingly, they were all equally bad when I played as I were them. Some got caught, others run out. Most of them just got clean bowled. Back home, my dad would also mock me sometimes in front of mom. Sometimes I would say "Dad, go easy" and his response was always the same - "Sachin played for India at the age of 16. He never said 'go easy' to the other team. No one will go easy on you in a match."
It made me extremely upset. To fail everyday. To try my best everyday and get the same result. Little did I know, this was all a part of his plan to make me better. To push me to get better at it. After months of getting me out at will, it started getting difficult for him to dismiss me. We played for 1 hour and slowly, I started managing to bat the entire hour. The number of wickets he could dismissed started coming down. From 10 to 7... 5... 3... to 1. By the time I was 9, he knew he had done enough and I went on to play with older kids in the block. I never thanked him for it. I never realised how much he did for me over those 2 years.
I realised the impact of his training in school one day. I was in 3rd grade and somehow my "PE" class timing was the same as a 5th grade class in cricket. That day, I decided to play cricket instead of football. It was 3B vs 5
Over the next few years, I moved towards Tennis and played cricket only for pleasure. However, the difference in my cricket skills against other kids my age was always visible. As long as I played cricket, I played with kids much older than me. I wasn't shining among them but they presented me with a challenge to get better. Sometimes I shone among them too - I'd hit a few quick runs in the last over or take crucial catches on the field.
One thing I'll never forget will be the days I spent playing cricket with my father. I will always cherish them. The new bats and balls he bought me, the cricket pads and other equipment. He loves cricket more than me. Sometimes I think he was disappointed too when I chose Tennis over cricket eventually but he never showed it. He didn't know much about tennis as compared to Cricket. So he couldn't help me much but every time he saw me play tennis, he tried to help me with whatever he could.
Cricket is one of the things that bring me close to my dad. Over time, we have had our differences on a lot of things. We still may not agree on several things but when it comes to cricket, we will still sit down, side by side and watch Kohli hit those boundaries and Ashwin take those wickets. Even now, we discuss Cricket for at least 2 minutes when we talk on Skype. Being in Budapest, I've realised how much Cricket means to me and how much it brought me close to my father.
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