8th sector ground
Eighth sector, considered the mecca of K. K. Nagar cricket by many pundits, was the official home of the Star gang. Many of the star members had to sign a contract to play there, much on the same lines as Tendulkar's with Yorkshire. People from allover were signing up and considered it an honour to play with the elites of Murugesh anney, Siva anney, Sundar anney, Vijayan anney, Palani anney, Logu and others. The game starts promptly at 4:00. The senior side was captained by Sundar or Logu and their counterpart from the Juniors also varied from Iyer Balaji to Ram to Lawyer at various points in time. We also had a commentator in Nerambadi Venky who wanted to be the next Harsha Bogle. Iyan was a long time spectator from commentator box (Venky's house) before he turned into a star opener for the junior team.
The games were a fifteen, eighteen or twenty overs depending on the light conditions.
Captain Iyer Balaji was a shrewd leader. If he wins the toss, he asks me to open. If he looses, he hands the ball to me. And I didn't mind that a bit. Infact as an allrounder I deserved it. I was the then Irfan Pathan of 8th sector. Iyer had a lot of faith in me and I responded aptly with a flurry of 2Gs, 3Gs and boundaries or a handful of wickets in my opening spell. Ok if you are still laughing, I swear I never had to bribe him the "Otha rooba" for the "aatu kal soopu" or for the "kenathadi sithal".
The game thus begins with pressure building up as it proceeds. Everyone got a fair chance as the captain rotated the players by retiring the batsmen after a few overs.
Each day saw controversies about wides, no balls, scoring and other bad umpiring decisions. Sometimes the controversies end when Murugesh explains the situations with his immense "logic" drawing parabola's and hyperbole's to indicate the direction of the ball... He also makes sure that nobody gets a by-runner if he is not hurt inside the game. Sometimes it required the wisdom of Sundar to give a fair decision based on the arguement of the two sides. Sometimes Logu's gentlemanly gesture stopped the problem. But the game never ceased as we reached an agreement one way or the other.
The finishes were always nailbiting with Hari's towering sixes or Priyath's big innings after an initial slump. Venky added spice with his aggressive attitude and walk-outs abusing the captain for not giving him a fair chance to prove his mettle. Jackie was the Robin Singh of the team. Mookan was another poular opener. Lawyer was one down batsmen who was always on a lean patch. We also had Azhar (kutti hari) who was stylish and considered a prodigy. Kunju was the paceman with a late order role to play in the batting. Venky was the regular keeper in the begining of every game only to be replaced by Iyan after a catch drop.
The Exnora kuppa thotti was the gallery for the players. Some came just for the cigarettes and Pan parag. We also had celebrity visitors like Selvaraghavan of Kadhal Konden. Our own Ballu and Kadir were keen spectators.
Although we won almost all the games. There was no shortage of excitement every evening. A fond memory. This prepared us for the Flood light matches where we lost invariably because of over overconfidence.
Here is the Senior Team. Have a look and tell me if this is funny or not.
Sundar
Palani
Logu (c)
Vijayan
Murugesh
Siva
Palani Jr
Ajayan
Chandra
Raja
a few others.
The games were a fifteen, eighteen or twenty overs depending on the light conditions.
Captain Iyer Balaji was a shrewd leader. If he wins the toss, he asks me to open. If he looses, he hands the ball to me. And I didn't mind that a bit. Infact as an allrounder I deserved it. I was the then Irfan Pathan of 8th sector. Iyer had a lot of faith in me and I responded aptly with a flurry of 2Gs, 3Gs and boundaries or a handful of wickets in my opening spell. Ok if you are still laughing, I swear I never had to bribe him the "Otha rooba" for the "aatu kal soopu" or for the "kenathadi sithal".
The game thus begins with pressure building up as it proceeds. Everyone got a fair chance as the captain rotated the players by retiring the batsmen after a few overs.
Each day saw controversies about wides, no balls, scoring and other bad umpiring decisions. Sometimes the controversies end when Murugesh explains the situations with his immense "logic" drawing parabola's and hyperbole's to indicate the direction of the ball... He also makes sure that nobody gets a by-runner if he is not hurt inside the game. Sometimes it required the wisdom of Sundar to give a fair decision based on the arguement of the two sides. Sometimes Logu's gentlemanly gesture stopped the problem. But the game never ceased as we reached an agreement one way or the other.
The finishes were always nailbiting with Hari's towering sixes or Priyath's big innings after an initial slump. Venky added spice with his aggressive attitude and walk-outs abusing the captain for not giving him a fair chance to prove his mettle. Jackie was the Robin Singh of the team. Mookan was another poular opener. Lawyer was one down batsmen who was always on a lean patch. We also had Azhar (kutti hari) who was stylish and considered a prodigy. Kunju was the paceman with a late order role to play in the batting. Venky was the regular keeper in the begining of every game only to be replaced by Iyan after a catch drop.
The Exnora kuppa thotti was the gallery for the players. Some came just for the cigarettes and Pan parag. We also had celebrity visitors like Selvaraghavan of Kadhal Konden. Our own Ballu and Kadir were keen spectators.
Although we won almost all the games. There was no shortage of excitement every evening. A fond memory. This prepared us for the Flood light matches where we lost invariably because of over overconfidence.
Here is the Senior Team. Have a look and tell me if this is funny or not.
Sundar
Palani
Logu (c)
Vijayan
Murugesh
Siva
Palani Jr
Ajayan
Chandra
Raja
a few others.
posted by APAM NAPAT at 7:25 PM
8 Comments:
cool one dude....but one of the most senior players "Saar" is not mentioned....He was considered the worst of the whole lot of those idiots.....
also once priyat was arguing that his shot for six went to the ayyappan temple, and moorthy was saying, "amam da, ball poi ayyappan kai'la ukkandhuchu, poojari than eduthu kuduthaaru".....
I came to this blog through some other site.....I am also from K K Nagar (7th sector).... I was wondering where the 8th Sector Cricket ground is?? Enaku theringu ayypan koil used to be 8th sector ground...Is there any ground for 8th sector?? Just curious...
gd,
you must be really old. Ayyapan koil ground was called billa ground because billa shooting was taken there before the koil was constructed.
i remember that....never been to 8th sector much....jus pass on the ponnambalam salai.....
may be if u tell us your name we can identify some common ground. u know 7th sector had a team. Raju, Cheenu used to open. Then there was Ramesh, Shakeel, Manish .... any of them u know. What does GD stand for. Dhayavu seidhu adha sollungalen pls.
Sorry to reply back late...gd stands for Gnanadesikan....May be 7th sector had a team, but not a cricket ground.....Andha ground le MAK school le kattitaanunga....Btw when and where did you go to school....May be I might have known you....I went to MAK..Passed out 12th in 1996.....
gd,
doesn't ring a bell to me. You are junior. But convey my regards, to Iloeu, uloveme,sweetlove sisters.
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