The Monkeys are Blitzing - Part 3 : highs and LOWS

Editor's Note : The reason so many people start their day reading the newspaper from back to front is probably because sport highlights human achievement and triumph, while the front pages are often a treatise on man's numerous failings. That's Earl Warren's thinking anyway. Whatever the reason, sport, much like music and poetry, has the ability to touch the human soul. Little wonder then that so many hundreds of individuals organize themselves into amateur sports teams to engage in pursuits that have little material gain. Blitz is no different.

Having received our Cricbay schedule, excitement pulsed through the group. In order to hit the ground running, Hardik had lined up a couple of practice games for us. The first of them was against a powerhouse team known as the Hattrickers. But, a fairy tale beginning wasn't ours to be. We came up second best despite putting up a tough fight anchored by Mountu's effort with the bat. Knowing it was our maiden game, one of the Hattrickers, Chakri, put in his 2 cents. He said we had what it took to make the Platinum cup while cautioning us that we were in the same group as The Kings - one of the strongest teams in bay area cricket. To top of the bitter-sweet nature of the day, Barry sustained an injury, keeping him out of the first two games. It was a big loss as he was the Monkeys' only known triple threat. But we had to work with what we had and believed we still had a strong and talented team. Filled with expectation, we eagerly awaited our Cricbay debut.

The Monkeys' first encounter was against the Chargers. Bankim and Akshay played the part of 'statsgurus' during the first season, providing us with valuable information on our opponents. I was a bit nervous given that this was my first 20 over tennis ball match and felt that I needed to lead by example. Lady Luck was to smile on me that day as the coin fell in our favor. Choosing to stick with our strength (it still remains), I opted to field first. Whether it was nerves or inexperience or a combination of both, our bowlers felt it and put in a below par bowling performance. The batting strength of the Chargers exacerbated the situation and we were staring at a huge score at the half way mark.

I gave the team a pep talk stating that we could chase down the target comfortably if we batted sensibly and applied ourselves. However, harmonizing thought and action wouldn't be something we'd achieve that day, losing our opening game. But the loss was not without its proverbial silver lining. Puneet, opening the innings for us, carried his bat compiling a fine 50 in the process. A new star was born.

Losses in our first couple of games notwithstanding, the energy levels were high as we headed into our game against the Raiders. Barry was making a comeback, but Rushabh, a bit down on confidence, chose to sit out. Missing our spearhead, we decided to give Avi a go at filling in the role. I was not completely sure about Avi then, as he was prone to bowling beamers and bouncers, and many of the umpires were quick to give a no ball even for a good bouncer.In his first full spell for the Monkeys, Avi bowled his quota on the trot. Bowling his heart out, he had the Raiders on the back foot. Avi's roar, after rearranging the woodwork was heard for the first time that day and to this day, he remains the most passionate and fiery Blitzer that I have seen. However, our inexperience showed as the Raiders hung on to claim a well fought victory. Amidst the gloom however, another star was born.

For the rest of the season, wins were few and far between. We learned from our losses and improved, but we were never quite "there". Mountu and Barry were turning out great partnerships, Kasat was Mr. Efficient and Hardik and I were trying our best to maintain our reputations as hitters. Puneet continued to impress, while Avi's pace was increasing by the ball and everybody was contributing their bit to the team. Our most memorable victory in the first season was against the Kings(http://tinyurl.com/l4staz), which remains our best victory ever.

One off wins and multiple losses took their toll on the team, with confidence slowly, but surely ebbing. On many occasions, the team management had trouble fielding a XI, and we had to beg and coax people to sign up. I have to commend Hardik for always keeping his cool, and must admit that my level of tolerance was much lower than his. His work behind the scenes for the Monkeys went unnoticed, but I would like to take this moment to express my gratitude to our first manager.

Tired of losing, the team's mantra had to change. It had to go from playing for fun, to playing to win while having fun. There had to be a feedback loop between winning and having fun. Hard decisions had to be taken. The performance of the team had to be assessed. New talent had to be recruited to push us to a higher level. An afternoon of light conversation with Puneet, Avi, Hardik, Shireesh and Mizzou would turn into one of our most important discussions.

Content : Arun

Editing : Rahul