Almost Lost It!!!

Serious thinking would be required to find out why we came so close to lose a match in which the required run rate for our opponents was more than 10 runs per over.

The tournament was out of our hands so the Captain Wicky made a strategy on popular demand, to give proper chances to everyone. Rizwan, Adnan and Bilal are to be tried up the order. And Ahmed, Amir Bhai and Junaid Bhai will be tried out in bowling more regularly. More over Bilal would be tried in Wicket Keeping, which was not to be in the current match.

Since the tournament committee didn't arrive therefore, we started a friendly match of 16 overs with our opponents. We were to bat first, therefore Rizwan and Nisar opened the batting. Rizwan got out early while trying to drag a ball from outside his off stump towards leg side, only to put the ball up in the air for an easy catch on the on side. Adnan failed to impress while trying to clear the inner field. Bilal went in next and place a few balls for singles but missed a straight yorker and was out bowled. Sameer Bhai went in next and alongwith Nisar built a match saving partnership. Both batsmen scored their 50s in good time. Aided by sometimes lose deliveries, they maintained a healthy scoring rate of 8-9 runs per over.

The bowling team also lacked penetration as they kept on experimenting with slow spinners, which was ideal for Sameer Bhai especially, as he cut and pulled for boundaries and also a huge six between long on and square leg. A little late but a welcome change for the bowling team was when they brought in a fast medium bowler who saw 2 wickets in his first 2 deliveries and he got the wickets of both Sameer Bhai and Nisar.

This was the ideal platform for Wicky and Ahmed to go in and start hitting boundaries from the word go. Ahmed couldn't last long, but Wicky kept up the good work, with not only strong shots but also hard running between the wickets.

We set a target of 171 runs in 16 overs for our opponents, which was a very good target. The highlights of our batting were responsible innings from three of our main batsmen Nisar, Sameer Bhai and Waqar.

Our bowling started with Anees Bhai and Waqar, who bowled well but only too rarely. Some shabby keeping from Rizwan didn't help either. The batting team kept on scoring at a comfortable rate of 10 or more runs per over, without giving any chances. Amir Bhai was the first change and he bowled a good first over. Sameer Bhai came in from the other end and tried to control the scoring rate, but both were not able to find wickets.

By the 8th over the opening batsmen were so set that they were pulling almost every ball quite effectively. Almost all the bowlers tried after that, were hit for a considerable amount of runs. Till Bilal was brought in, in the 13th over. He bowled his slow loopy deliveries not giving any speed to utilize. The batsmen had to find the power within to hit boundaries and by the 13th over, they were so tired that they didn't have any power whatsoever. Hence they gave the first chance on Bilal's bowling as a catch went straight to Anees Bhai, but was dropped.

The things proceeded with some hard shots from the batsmen and good fielding from us on the boundaries under trying conditions. Then came the last over with 9 runs required from it. A gettable score seeing that the openers were still playing. After a little discussion, the ball was tossed to Nisar to keep it as slow as possible. Well due to five slow loopy deliveries and some excellent and presence of mind kind of work from both Nisar and Rizwan, they lost 4 wickets and required 5 runs from the last ball.

The match was definitely not over.

The Last Ball

Nisar comes in, bowls a slow loopy delivery outside the off stump, the batsman smashes it over the covers, the ball is going straight to Amir Bhai, every one has their hearts in their mouths, ooo he drops the catch, the batsmen are running, they need 4 runs to tie the match, the ball is going towards the boundary, Amir Bhai fields the ball and throws it straight to the bowler, the batsmen are completing the 3rd run, there is a fumble, the batsmen are running for the 4th now. Rizwan gathers the ball and crashes it into the wickets. And there is huge cry of achievement from Rizwan, announcing that we have won the match.

We win, we win by 1 run.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The good was keeping our nerves under control and fighting till the end. Sameer Bhai who scored a 50 and bowled 4 cheap overs. Nisar who scored a 50 and bowled a good last over.

The bad was a mini top order collapse and Rizwan's keeping from which he recovered quite well and just in time.

The ugly, this was not a tournament match and hence would have been ideal to improve our tournament record.

Resilience Gives Us a Memorable Win

The tournament becomes open for us as we get our first win in the tournament.

Under the absence of our 3 main players Nisar, Amir Bhai and most importantly our captain Waqar, we knew we had to produce something out of our skins (both on and off the field) to keep ourselves in the tournament. Still trying to find our winning 11 after the going away of Sajid and Qadeer, we were hit by the vacation plans of Nisar and Waqar and injury of Amir bhai. Moreover towards the end of the weekend we found out that Abdullah was also not available because of his professional committments. Therefore we were short of 4 of our main players.

The first game of the tournament was not good for us as we lost with 7-8 overs remaining in the presence of our full 11. Therefore we knew that we had to find suitable replacements and the last 2 weeks saw frantic efforts from Bilal and me to create a solid line up. All efforts seemed to be failiing when finally Bilal with his brilliant PR skills (batting main bad patch hua to kya hua), managed to find 2 replacements. All thanks to Bilal and Abdullah for arranging for us two of his team mates in the senior league. Adnan, Khurram and Manoj came in to complete the 11.

The absence of Wicky meant that I was going to captain and hence felt the best way to go about in the current scenario is to attack with both bat and ball. We won the toss and decided to bat first.

Bilal was sent in because of experience as an opener alongwith Ahmed to utilize the 6 overs fielding restrictions. Bilal started confidently with a solid back foot defensive shot a little wide of point, but didn't follow up his solid shot with solid running. The fielder realizing his slackness threw to his 'non danger' end and got a direct hit to get him run out on the first ball. This put pressure on us from the word go since we anticipated Bilal to give a solid foundation while Ahmed took some chances. Anyways doing nothing for 19.5 overs is enough punishment, and hopefully he would make up for his missed chance, in the coming games.

Second in was our first guest player Mithun, who delighted all of us with his brilliant strokes taking maximum advantage of the fielding restrictions. Meanwhile Ahmed gave him a good hand and never wasted an opportunity to score. They both maintained a run rate of 9-10 runs per over, which was exactly what was required in the scenario.

Seeing Ahmed and Mithun's expertise in handling the quicker bowlers, the captain decided to bring in spinners. This was a good change for them since Mithun fell. Sameer bhai went in next and couldn't utilize his potential with the bat to the fullest. The idea was right to play over the fielders, and to some extent it succeeded as well but for the brilliant running back catch. Next in was Rizwan who showed his good placement skills for a boundary to the third man. But he couldn't last long as well, since on the next ball he tried to place the ball on the leg but couldn't put bat to ball and was found LBW. We were really reeling with these sudden fall of wickets. Adnan was next in to try and halt our descent into the dark abyss, and give Ahmed the much needed space to free up his arms. But Adnan couldn't manage it, as he played on.

This completed our middle order collapse and we had lost half of our team for something around 80. Ahmed was playing brilliantly at the other end and digging deep into his stamina reserves, but wasn't able to find a reliable partner. Defeat was staring us in our faces and I was already seeing the helpless side of captaincy. The plan from there onwards was to get maximum runs. Raju our second guest player was sent in, whom I thought was a lower order batsman. But his batting suggested otherwise.

A good partnership till the 15th over, resulted between him and Ahmed and both started scoring freely. Moreso Raju started hitting sixes at his leisure. He was confident enough to state that we will get 50 runs from the last 4 overs. He utilized his height to the fullest and stood tall to hit large elegant sixes to achieve his target.

This continued till around the 15th over. Ahmed, realizing the safety zone that the team was in at the moment, started taking a few risks for the team and played his first rash stroke by jumping out of the crease. He missed the line of the ball and was out stumped.

This brought us to the lower order. Amongst the lower order Anees Bhai played brilliantly and gave able support to Raju.

We did get 50 from the last 4 overs, infact more than 50 as the score was pushed near the comforts of 200. 200 would have been impossible had it not been for the 9th wicket partnership of Anees Bhai and Khurram. Anees Bhai tried to spank the bowlers and whenever he did get contact, it landed out of or close to the boundary line. Khurram also got around 11-12 runs for the team. First, by 'deliberately' missing the ball, which the keeper missed as well and it hit the keeper's helmet, getting us 5 runs. And second, by placing (err edging) the ball to the third man boundary. As they say, at this point time, you take runs as they come.

In the end we set a stiff but chaseable target of 211 runs to Star 11.

The horrors of the first tournament match was still in my mind when our opponents got 180 in around 12 overs. And hence our top priority was to attack and try and get wickets.

Anees Bhai and Mithun bowled the first overs. Few chances went down in the attack burst and the most to suffer was Mithun. Bilal dropped a sky high catch off Anees Bhai's bowling. These catches are never easy since the higher they go, the more succumb they become to winds. Raju dropped a sitter as well, probably not realizing the speed of the ball. Finally we got our first wicket with a catch in covers off the bowling of Mithun. Anees Bhai proved expensive in his second over with around 18 runs coming off it. Their batting was looking confident enough to get to the target.

We decided to change bowlers and I set the criteria to rest a bowler whenever he went for a few runs. A partnership developed between their opener and 1 down, and they started getting runs almost at leisure. The fielding restrictions were over but they still were managing to find a boundary or two. As per Bilal's timely suggestion, we introduced spin of Sameer Bhai, to try and unsettle them. Unsettled they did become, as Sameer Bhai bowled a tight line and didn't give any freebies. Raju got the important wicket for us in the very next over, with a great catch from Khurram in the slips. The ball was not travelling fast, but one has to control his fits when an important catch is coming towards him. Khurram controlled that magnificiently and took the catch tumbling down.

The next batsman didn't look convincing enough to me, so we decided to bring back Mithun in place of Sameer Bhai to try and unsettle him and get his wicket. Mithun responded magnificiently by getting us more than we expected i.e. the wicket of the set batsman.

Star 11, was down but not out, and hence we didn't want to give them any breathing space. In the next overs few bowlers were rotated, so that they are not given any chance to get a revival. Sameer Bhai responded magnificiently and took 3 wickets for us. In his last overs the bastmen did find runs from him behind the wicket and I am sure he would include that in his data bank, next time he comes in to bowl. Anees Bhai took a wicket as well in his second spell, shunning down the chances of any resistance.

Some lessons that we learned are

1. We have to improve our running between the wickets and must practice the standards of calling, relying on our partner if its his call and relaxing only after we complete our run.

2. Not to underestimate the benefits of nets and if possible arrange one every week. This would give us the chance of developing new deliveries and practice shots on which we got out. Also this keeps our lower batting order especially of Anees Bhai and me, to get a chance of middling the ball and hence contribute with the bat whenever the situation demands it.

3. Our keeper should close hands after the ball is in his gloves :)

4. We must control our emotions on the field. Offering a suggestion while pointing the mistake or just a suggestion without pointing the mistake can result in a much more improved performance.

5. Every bowler should know the areas where he can get scored off and where catches can land. He should place fielders accordingly as per their skill levels.

6. Plan and Utilize the first 6 overs.

7. Everyone should concentrate on their individual games and how to improve their skills with each match.

8. One must respect the senior players and learn from their experience, even if they are scolding or critical of you.

In the end I would like to thank Manoj for coming and would like to tell him that whenever I thought about giving him the next over, we went for plenty of runs in the current over. So I had to bring someone who can reverse the tide for us.

Finally I would like thank everyone for putting up with me for this match and responding positively and giving me their 100%. The tournament is open for us. We have to learn from our mistakes, respond to our captain Wicky's game plan and take our games to the next level. We have to win this tournament.

Winning is sweet but Revenge is Sweeter!

Our day started, this time, on the field trying to open our arms, practicing catch, warming up and middling. On seeing the team whom we were pitted against, our motivation to win increased further. It was the same team who had hit us a score of 300+ runs when the odds were heavily in their favor. This time the battle was even steven and we wanted to show them who they playing against.

We batted first and Nisar alongwith our guest player Amir, gave us a good start, with both batsmen taking chances and hitting boundaries in each over. Nisar was given a life and this time decided to make most out of it by scoring his and the team's highest score. Too bad he missed the century by 12 runs. At the other end Amir made the most of his height and pulled fericiously for boundaries and sixes. His boundaries at long on were a treat as well. Nisar was the first to cross 50 and Amir followed soon. Amir was the first to go, with a catch on the boundary, which was rather a lesson on how to catch a fly.

Wicky joined Nisar and didn't want to spoil the good work started by the openers and tried to force the pace.He couldn't last long and was out caught on the boundary. Nisar at that time would have been finding batting real hard and standing in the crease real difficult, but the good thing was that he didn't throw his wicket away and managed to find boundaries almost at will. Qadeer Bhai came in and initially didn't manage to find the middle of his bat a lesson for all the batsmen to practice on middling before every match. But a good bat that he is, he did manage to find it eventually and hit some good boundaries as well. Nisar while trying to keep the score flowing, was caught on the boundary and Ahmed went in next. He did hit a boundary but then was run out in the most strangest of circumstances. He was either trying to save himself from the throw (his version) or wasn't able to balance himself and was out of the crease (other's version). Bilal went in next and hit a boundary on the first ball, he looks good batting lower down the order, with the ball not swinging that much. Eventually we reached a formidable score of around 240 runs.

Anees Bhai and Sajjad Bhai started the bowling, with Anees Bhai keeping it tight. Sajjad Bhai was good as well but the batsmen did manage to find boundaries here and there. Anees Bhai took the first wicket with a good high catch from Nisar fielding at Mid Off. The 7 over attack by both of them, kept the run rate at around 6-7 which was just what was required. Amir bowled the first change and due to his height found bounce from the word go, which was a bit scary for both the keeper and the batsman. He kept the batsmen in check and took 2 wickets in his last over.

Amir Bhai came in the end as well and took a wicket off a good catch from Qadeer Bhai.

In the end the score was too high and with the good attack burst, the match was out of their hand. In the end it was just about keeping the pressure on the batsmen and raising their margin of defeat.

One last note, the captain did the wicket keeping for the first 10 or so overs. And did a good job at it. Since particularly Amir's rising deliveries were quite difficult to keep on. But he didn't keep on spinners so can't rate his keeping too high at this point in time. Since that would be the ultimate test.

Disgraceful Beginning and a Disgraceful End

I was thinking that instead of writing a match report, I should be writing a get together party report, since that would be most appropriate. ;)

Our typical day starts with half of our team in Jaguar Beauty parlour applying creams on their faces, rather than warming up and practicing. If things keep on going like this, I believe that very soon some padicure, manicure and facial services will be launched as well. Its quite ironic that instead of batting and bowling averages we worry more about maintaining the color of our face and instead of trying concentrating on the ball during fielding we concentrate on how to save our nails!

The match was played with Casuals whom we defeated by 70 runs last time. I think over confidence might have been our undoing this time as Casuals, taking the benefit of our 'casual' approach to the match, defeated us by 9 wickets with 8 overs to spare!

Nisar and Wicky opened the innings for us and Wicky started off confidently with a powerful pull to get him his first boundary. He seems to have all the shots in the book and one waits for a big innings. He couldn't last long as an opener since he edged a delivery and it went straight to his face probably scratching his nose. The impact would have been much worse then it looked since he wasn't able to continue and decided to send in Bilal. Nisar was not his usual self as well. He was not able to time his favourite cut shot and was dropped in the covers. He was not able to cash on the life given to him, and was bowled in the same over.

Sameer Bhai came in next and together with Bilal tried to build a innings. Bilal looked scratchy to say the least and fidgeted around in the crease with minimum impact. Sameer Bhai was slower than usual as well and their partnership was sucidal for us. In the first 8 overs we only had around 40 runs on the board. Bilal tried to up the run rate but of the first aggressive shot he played he was out caught 15 meters inside the boundary. Qadeer Bhai went in next and initited his classy shots from the word go. He hit 4 boundaries in the first over he faced. Sameer Bhai took a leaf from his book and hit splendid boundaries as well. In those 3 overs we had 43 runs.

Incidently due to the slow start it was now clear that we needed a run rate of 15 runs per over to reach the fighting total of 200 runs.

As usually is the case in such a scenario wickets started to tumble. Qadeer Bhai went after a splendid catch on the boundary. Sameer Bhai, Wicky, Amir Bhai, Ahmed and Rizwan all went quickly with few boundaries here and there. In the end Sajjad Bhai provided a bit of resistance and we dragged our way to 160.

If we had a chance of defending this score we needed top class bowling and fielding right from the first ball. Anees Bhai bowled the first over and kept the runs under 8. Wicky took the new ball to utilize his experience of playing with Casuals. But the benefit was mutual and their batsmen hit him freely. Anees Bhai's next over saw 3 boundaries and a very easy chance was dropped on the boundary by Ahmed. He either misjudged, was quite lethargic to come forward and take the catch or wasn't expecting the catch at all.

I guess the only solution to this is that we all must keep on watching the batsman right from the time the bowler starts his runup. This I believe could resolve almost all of our judgement problems.

Almost all bowlers were tried, Nisar was brought in early as well, but none seemed to make any difference. The shabby fielding display didn't help either and as many as 4 chances went down including a stumping. In the end they raced to the target of 160 in 12 overs.

Its one all with Casuals now. And we need our best performance next time we face them. We also need a bit of practice before we go in so that some of our out of form batsmen regain their form.

Came close and ...

... went through.

Man I waited so long to write the second line :)

Losing without a fight is like a punch on your face, losing by coming close creates a bit more discontent by the multitude of 'if-onlys' travelling in your nerves and making your 'Bhaija Fry'. While Winning because of an individual is good for the individual himself its winning as a team which has the greatest feeling of all. Everyone showing committment no matter what his skill level might be, backing each other up, sharing what to dos and how to dos, enjoying each other's success, giving a lending hand when someone is down and in the end enjoying the win together and relishing the moments and possibilities to come. Its probably today that we have realized to the fullest that a good team is the one, which is a team. Because we won as a team.

This time we batted first.

Batting
Although we lost a wicket a early and Bilal, our next man in, took some time to find his groove, but because of Nisar's splendid batting, the rot started (for the other team, which is a welcome new development) right from the start. In this match Nisar and Sameer Bhai opened the innings. Sameer Bhai went early as he played the ball a little early only to find a edge to the keeper. He faced 2 balls and scored 1 run. Bilal went in at number 3, his highest position after such a long time. While walking in he must have known that in a team with such a long batting line up nobody likes a show stopper. Thus he not only had to get in quickly but also had to fight the worst demon of all which goes by the name 'What if I fail'. Although he was not able to fire all cylinders from the word go but he did manage to keep giving the strike back to Nisar, who went about his business as usual. Nisar started from where he left off in the last match and scored another fifty for us, more importantly giving us a very solid start. His powerful cut shots three of which went for sixes, looked like he is slashing a sword rather than a bat. I am sure the bowlers who suffered at his hands, would have thought the same. He made 53 off 29 deliveries with three sixes and 4 boundaries.

At the other end Bilal took a few pages off Nisar's book and seemed to be finding his rhythm. But as is usually the case with him, he got too confident and tried to mimic Inzamam, when he came down the pitch on the first ball he faced from the spinner. Inzamam usually hits it for a six while Bilal got out stumped. He made 13 off 11 balls with 2 boundaries. Qadeer Bhai our guest player for today, went in next and made batting look so easy that even I thought that I can score a 25 ball 50! He made 68 off 31 deliveries with 3 towering sixes and five boundaries. He got a few chances but in the end he made the most of them.

Rizwan came in after Nisar got out and his weakness of spin deliveries was exposed. But with Qadeer Bhai playing so well at the other end, he had time to settle in. I think Rizwan can do well to realize that on cement pitches he won't be finding big spinners. This allows the batsmen to safely hit through the line or even across the line, as if the ball is just a slow straight delivery.

Knowing well that there was still plenty of batting to come and playing for the team, he decided that he can take a few risks and took a back lift to hit a lovely boundary off his legs. He didn't last long after that as he got run out while trying to steal a single right under the bowler's nose. He made 15 runs off 16 deliveries with 1 boundary. Wicky came in next after Qadeer Bhai and Ahmed came in after Rizwan. Both came almost together to the crease. Ahmed and Wicky's partnership is something which we all enjoy not only in anticipation of the free hitting which both are capable of, but also of the gimmicks going on in the centre. Ahmed trying his best to convince his Captain with his shots, while Captain trying his best to make Ahmed run as fast as he can and as often as he can.

Our last three batsmen, Wicky, Ahmed and Sajjad Bhai gave a splendid batting display by taking the match well into the comfort zone for us. They scored 55 runs off 27 balls with 1 six and 6 boundaries, and a whole lot of fast running ;)

Bowling
The score was a huge one for any team and we had comfort in the knowledge that just a few good overs can secure the match for us. Once we came in the field we did realize that due to the size of the ground there were a lot of huge gaps for the batsmen and we just had an advantage of maximum 20 runs.

A good start was provided by both Anees Bhai and Sajjad Bhai. Sajjad Bhai was a little expensive early on, but soon was able to find the weak spots of the batsmen and exploited it to the fullest. In his 4th over he just gave a single run off the bat. In the end both Anees Bhai and Sajjad Bhai bowled 4 overs each on the trot and gave away only 64 runs. Amad and Wicky took over the affairs of bowling and soon found out that with the ball getting old and the batsmen pretty well set it was not very easy. In the next 2 overs 27 runs were given, with the batting almost near to their required rate of 11.5 runs per over. Wicky, probably seeing the batsmen well set, wisely started switching the bowlers quickly.

In his next over he took 2 wickets on consecutive deliveries with one of the openers and the other, whom he said was pretty dangerous and was capable of taking the match away from us. That nailed the match for us and the remaining overs were just normal proceedings. Amad took 1 wicket as well off a good well judged catch by Nisar.

Of the batting team, one of their openers showed tremendous fittness and little technique to bat out all 20 overs. We tried our level best to unsettle him in whatever means possible, but were not able to get him out till the last ball. It was good that we pinpointed and exploited his weakness and neutralized his threat completely.

Junaid Bhai bowled the last over and impressed everyone with his speed. He is developing into a good bowler and hopefully very soon can be a reliable asset for us in the bowling department.

Fielding
The ground was huge and required awareness and hardwork from everyone in the field, which was duly provided by our team today. Although a few catches were dropped initially but we didn't give away any free runs today. Also we realized, first hand, why everyone says that 'catches win matches'. At a time when the match might have gone out of our hands we took two important catches in one over and almost nailed the other team to the ground. Rest was pretty easy.

Our normally safe keeper also dropped two half chances. I am sure he would work out his mistakes and realize that in a close encounter these catches might have been the only thing between winning and losing. But sometimes good deeds of some can wash the sins of few.

Although there is nothing bad about winning but there is a danger of over confidence and cockiness and also inability to work on our weaknesses. But let us all give the philosophical thoughts a rest and enjoy the 60 runs win as I am sure that over confidence won't be the case for us. It was a good day for us and was a day when we not only came close but went through ;) Enjoy Team Agility.

Smelled Victory but could not taste it...

The title does say it all except for the marvellous chasing done by our batting. They should guts, determination and a little bit of maverickness. The bowling side was not weak and was continuously trying to exploit our weaker areas and most of the time, till the last 2 overs actually, we had answers to all their questions.

The match this time was played in Salmiya ground opposite City Centre. The only thing good about this ground was the view though. We decided to field first and this time Wicky showed a bit of innovation by asking Nisar to bowl the first over. Nisar took the challenge well and went for only 3 runs in the first over. Amad started bowling with Nisar. Nisar's second over was a bit expensive with him getting hit for a six twice. Amad bowled a total of 4 overs with the ball crossing the boundary 4 times and him taking a wicket.

Wicky came in the middle and bowled his heart out and with some good pace. I think he looks more threatening bowling fast and for variation he can work on movement and length. His clean bowled with the middle stump uprooted out of the ground was just simply classic. About 2-3 chances were created in his over, each with a degree of complexity though, and discussed in detail in the fielding section. In the end he took 2 wickets.

Abdullah bowled 4 overs in the middle and was hit at least for 2 boundaries /sixes in each over. He didn't manage to find line, length and/or rhythym.

Sajjad, our guest player for the match, bowled 3 overs and bowled well but again was not able to control the boundaries. Ahmed came to bowl in the end and took 2 wickets with the help of good catches from Nisar and Abdullah and long off and long on boundaries, respectively.

Finally Sameer Bhai bowled the last over rather safely. In the end we went for 203 runs. In the hind sight rotation of bowlers in the middle might have prevented the score from crossing the 200 mark as Abdullah's 4 overs proved the most costly of all the bowlers.

Fielding
Ground fielding was much better this time with no free runs being given to the batsmen. Catching was a bit of both the worlds since there were 4 taken and 5 dropped. The dropped, though, all had a degree of complexity in them and with analysis and a solution for each I am sure we can prevent from this happening in the future.

The first catch went towards Bilal at point and was a bit high. Catches at point are never easy mainly because of their speed and angle. Its very difficult to decide from the word go where your hands should be to pocket the catch. It requires reflexes and agility. I think we should identify a permanent member of our team for this position and let him develop expertise required to field in this position. I think Bilal can be the ideal person for this position. Other options can be Abu Bakar, Wicky and Ahmed.

Second catch which went down went so high in the air that it was almost scary. Rizwan came a bit late to take it, since he was in 2 minds whether he or the bowler should go for it. I think the keeper should always go for such catches, since he has the safest and biggest pouch in the whole field. Obviously this requires a bit of practice for the keeper and Rizwan should keep this in mind next time we go for fielding practice and ask someone to help him with it.

Third catch fell between the bowler and long boundary. I was there at the boundary and at first was in doubt whether to go for the catch or stay back to stop the boundary. Finally my natural instinct took me to the ball and in the end it fell short. So it turned out to be the usual result of such confusion, I wasn't able to either catch the ball or stop the boundary. This is one of the usual cases that our fielders on the boundary are faced with. My solution would be to train 3-4 fielders on the boundary line and they should pratice accordingly. The ground rule during matches and pratice should be that one who is nearest to the ball must go for the catch and the one who is near to him should back him up in order to stop the boundary. The philosophy being, attack is the best defence. I think that me, Abdullah, Nisar, Ahmed and Sameer Bhai can all be tried and reserved for boundary fielding. The thing to remember for boundary fielders is backing up. Since anything can happen in an uneven ground with lot of stones.

The last catch which I wanted to discuss was a flat and powerful shot which went directly to Sameer Bhai's chest. And the faster it went in the faster it came out. Since these catches are at eye level, therefore it is very difficult to judge their speed, and second issue in these catches is whether to take the catch fingers up or fingers down? We need practice for these type of catches as well.

There was a missed stumping as well off Abdullah's bowling and I think Rizwan would know better the mistake he made there, and we all are confident that he would learn from his mistake and not repeat such a mistake.

Incidently the batsman who was their highest scorer, got the most breaks. In the end he got 4 chances and if just one would have been taken, then outcome of the match would definitely have been different.

I think if we can arrange a one hour fielding session once every 15-20 days then it would do us a world of good. Groups of 2 can be made for the first half and they can practice as per their particular role in the field during matches and work on their weaknesses. Roles of each can be identified by the Captain. In the second half everyone can practice together as in a match situation.

Batting
Highlight of the match was our batting though, which went against all odds and almost chased down the score. Nisar batted wonderfully once again showing his mettle and why we rely him to score big and give us a solid start everytime.

The batting was opened by Abdullah and Nisar and they got us off to a flier, which was required if we had to come close to the target. We were scoring at almost 12 runs per over, till their bowling decided to test us with some spin and short pitch stuff. Abdullah was the first to go while trying to run the ball to the third man. Sameer Bhai went in and started a good partnership with Nisar. He hit one six off a spinner which was wonderful to watch, it seemed so effort less that it almost looked like he was blocking the ball. Too bad he couldn't continue since he too fell to a short delivery.

Nisar, who was joined in with Wicky, then showed brilliant skill of adaptation to the new line and specially the length which the bowlers were bowling. Wicky was at the other end and both had decided how to go about maintaining the required rate. While not trying to hit the ball hard they caressed and showed the bat to the ball to hit it for boundaries and sixes. At that time after finding and executing the solution to their strategy we were confident of winning the match since the required run rate was in check and plenty of batting was to follow.

But we suffered from the twin disaster of almost back to back dismissals of Wicky and Nisar. Which put us on the back foot. Still the target was achievable. Ahmed and Sajjad came in and did well initially to make the required 10 or more runs per over. But towards the last overs Ahmed couldn't find an answer to the short pitched ball above his stomach height and thus was unable to find either boundaries or doubles which were required at that point in time. In the end both he and Sajjad got out and there was too much to finish for Bilal and Abu Bakar.

Anyways the team played really well and apart from a few dropped half chances, we were always fighting hard and giving the oponents a tough time. Hopefully with the development of safe catching we would be able to win matches more consistently.

Me and the June 15th Match.

Awwwww. I had a wonderful time bowling. My run up, action and grip all went well. I had earlier researched (and posted on this blog as well), that while bowling my head should be on the left of my left arm, my wrist should remain cocked up (and no jerking) and after the jump my left hand should come down as fast as possible. The run up if its fast will result in a faster delivery.

This time I also didn't try to complicate things by trying varieties and only bowled out swingers at good speed. The wind was to my aid as well and I think I found movement both in the air and off the wicket as well. In the 24 balls I bowled I brought only 2 inside the batsman. Bowling with a new ball is always fun since it gets me movement both in the air and off the wicket. I think I would continue to bowl in the same manner next week as well and only after that I will try to work on bringing the ball inside the batsmen. But would want to work on that during practice.

There were two dropped chances off my bowling and the one which wicky dropped I was really pissed off seeing that since I expected that simple catch to be taken, especially from the captain.

The batsmen were very good as well. And it was hard not to be impressed by them. As per Amir Bhai's indication and my own analysis I was bowling full to one and good length to the other. The one that I was bowling full to, I bowled just one on the good length and on the leg and he hit me for a huge six. I never knew that this ball can be hit for a six. But then I learned my lesson and kept on bowling full to him.

Didn't get a chance to bat so nothing to write home about.