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Vintage cricket right through
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It was memorable stuff, watching Kerala cricket's golden oldies doing an encore 25 years later, says K.PRADEEP
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UNMINDFUL OF creaking joints, stiff shoulders and heavy legs they trooped out once again. Some of them had not stepped out in their cricketing whites for long. For many others it was one of those rare occasions to pull out their cricketing gear from the drawers, armed for another battle on the greens. The aches and niggling pains were forgotten once they took up positions on the field. And when the first ball was hurled, striking the bat with that familiar thud, it was like being back to those glorious days, when cricket and, life itself, was so different.
It was not just another of those `exhibition' matches in which the oldies decide to test their physical endurance and burn out some of the extra calories. The occasion was special and so were some of the men in whites.
The Mattancherry Youngsters Cricket Association (MYCA) decided to bring together players who played in the 1978 edition of the Lakshmanan Memorial Cricket Tournament, as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the event. A match was organised at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in which two sides, Tripunithura Cricket Club (TCC) and MYCA participated. TCC, which finished runners-up in the inaugural event, fielded almost the same combination that took the field 25 years ago, while MYCA comprised veteran players from various clubs.
"Are you the oldest in the team," P. Ravi Achan was overheard asking T.K. Madhav, as they walked out for the toss. One of Kerala's most successful allrounders, Ravi Achan, who played a crucial role in TCC's success, did not take the field despite being coaxed quite a lot by his team mates. He led the side to the field and then retired to the cool shade of the pavilion. Madhav, the former fast bowler, who has the rare distinction of having represented Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the National Championship, must have lost some pace but was still accurate right from the word go. "I must have exerted myself a bit too much, especially trying to scamper for that quick run," Madhav says after he limped back, straining his hamstring while batting. This was after some spirited show on the field that included a stunning, diving attempt for a catch at covers.
Unbelievable was the nagging, persistent left-arm spin of Anil Doshi and the two catches in the outfield held by O.T.Jayachandran. The ebullience of wicketkeeper M. Soman, guiles of Satheesan Thampuran and the dogged batting of P.Nizar was also seen in bright flashes.
What made TCC a formidable force in the 70's and 80's were its brilliant fielding and an exceptional bonding between the team members. It was this bond that brought all of them together once again. The club's most successful skipper V. Achuthankutty very often only had to make the bowling changes, as the fielders knew exactly where they needed to move. This was evident again as T.S.Mahadevan, V.L.Manickan and K. Santhosh, went at the batsmen with that unflagging persistency. The fielding was near perfect, except that the heavy legs and stiff backs often made movements a bit slow. And when they batted there were those huge hits by P.Balachandran, solid drives from Sudhir Varma, the delicate touches of Dileepkumar and of course one square drive towards the close of the innings by K. Kelappan, which bore the stamp of class.
Numerous photo sessions, a yummy round of lemon and curd rice, handshakes all around and it was time to pack the bags again. Even as the golden oldies trudged out of the stadium one wondered when they would be invited to pull out the bats and pads once again to give a taste of cricket camaraderie, which is long lost.
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