Random Thoughts of a Cricket Loving Blogger

I have been wanting to blog for quite some time now, no excuses for not writing in, just that work and a hectic timeline have kept me away. A few moments of inspiration is all that the writer requires to pump him up. Last Night a customary drive past the Gennext Cricket Ground was all that was required to give that nod to the fingers and the keyboard. It was well past nine and I decided to halt for a few moments at the ground. Knowing that there would be no one there except two friendly canines who meant no harm other than the friendly lick. Perhaps they were well aware that the blogger was there to spend a few moments. Perchance if they had the abilities to mouth a few words, they might have said, "Good Evening TBK, What brings you here at this hour?" They did have that kind of quizzical look on their faces.

I took my customary stride, and placed myself in the Spectators Gallery, in the company of all the hundreds of mosquitoes who were quite excited at the prospect of tall flesh and blood. I was not willing to give in to their stinging demands, wanting to spend myself in contemplation of what goes around this ground when it is buzzing with activity.

There is a net session happening, a bowler marking his run up, the coach is all eyes, pushing him to run in faster and release the ball. There is so much romance in every step that a bowler takes, so much of music and rhythm. The gentle steady run up, an eye towards the stumps. "Oh Dronacharya My eyes are fixated only at the stumps and nothing else." Everything else seems non existent for Arjuna the studious pupil. So much for concentration and focus. The Batsman at the other end has just one intent to smack the ball right from the middle of the bat. There seems nothing more pleasing for him than hearing the ball strike the bat and being punched quite nonchalantly.

In the midst of all this the coach seems quite intent to get the very best out of his pupil, whether its bowling the right lengths, Swinging his arms to and fro to get that run up right, the steady run to the wicket, the jump and the final delivery. Suddenly the Blogger can hear that voice of "Well Bowled"from the Coach, or "Pitch it up further up my boy" There is also that encouraging word for the batsman to run harder between the wickets.

If you are lucky enough, you can also catch the Legend stretch his strong arms and legs a bit. There is no better pleasing sight to the eye than catching him take a sprint around the ground. If you are luckier the legend may ask the blogger to run along with him. "Set the pace as per your comfort levels. Lead and I will follow"Those are very comforting words from the legend. The legend is as human as anyone else. He plays with his daughter and seeing her run around the ground, frolicking , mirth and laughter gives utmost joy to a legendary father. Passion calls and the Legend derives joy out of counseling a attentive pupil. Words of advice on how to grip the ball perhaps, the attention to detail on the slow run up and finally the release of the ball.

There is so much of joy and happiness on this ground when it is active. There is peace that remains in the still of the night. Perhaps the ground itself might need a much required rest after all the pounding it gets during the day time. The Ground is left with all the positive vibes that get generated during the working hours and so the aura gets maintained in the stillness of the night. There has to be purpose to all that has transpired. The Young Bowler, The Aggressive Batsman, The Alert Wicketkeeper all seem epitomes of focus and concentration. If all that could be converted into classroom hours as far as academics is concerned, then we would be left with nothing but all round brilliance as far as Arjuna is concerned. That is the intention and Goal of Gennext Cricket Institute,to churn out thousands of Arjunas.

The pesky mosquito buzzes past the ear, one more leaves behind a itchy sting to awaken the monk blogger out of his deep meditation, Its well past eleven, two hours of contemplation on the aura of a ground and a institute. Blogger is left inspired and the reader wants more, an ideal situation to be in, much like a Cricket Captain who is in a happy situation of choice to choose his team from a very talented bunch of individuals, who to choose and who to leave out? To cut the long story short I have been accorded a rare kind of independence by Ashwin and his entire team, that brings me very close to the game that I love with all my heart. Thanks Ashwin for being around. Gennext Cricket Institute makes a Cricketer a better Cricketer. It has made TBK a better blogger