Rewind to last year’s friendly match. “I could have hit more sixes. But I decided not to as she is my student”. As Joe sir made this claim after his incredible hitting off Aiswarya’s bowling, everyone burst into laughter. What makes the friendly match special is that it brings out the light-hearted, relaxed selves of our professors. As another friendly match approaches, let’s hope we get to witness more such moments.
For some of the students, the match is an opportunity to show their professors that they can dominate them, at least in a cricket match. For instance, Banoth Santhosh, captain of HS14, was very excited to play the Friendly match and was hoping to hit Bhandari sir to all parts of the ground. What materialized, however, was a first ball duck. To make matters worse, it was Bhandari sir himself who took the catch. As Bhandari sir threw the ball into the air to celebrate the wicket, perhaps, Santhosh must have learnt the hard lesson that our professors can give us a tough time even in a cricket match.
Bhandari sir, Arvind sir, Joe sir, Milind sir and Santhosh Raghavan sir are the regular players of the Faculty team. Arvind sir opened the batting in last year’s tournament with Arafat, a post-doctoral fellow in the department. Bhandari sir, Milind sir, and Joe sir batted down the order. A stand out player from the faculty team is Ravi sir, a member of the office staff. Ravi sir is a genuine all-rounder who can strike the ball at a good rate and also do a neat job of completing his full quota of overs. Bhandari sir and Arvind sir too bowled a few overs.
What’s striking about the faculty team is that they play the match not just for the sake of it, but are strongly committed to winning it as well. Most of the professors reach the ground well in advance and give themselves some practice before the match. Bhandari sir, who captained the faculty team to victory last year, was completely involved in the match situation. He rotated his bowlers and positioned his fielders efficiently, all in an effort to win the match.
This year’s friendly match is less than a day away. The match shall happen on Thursday, at Sangam ground at 7 45 PM. Be there to be a part of this special match. Hopefully, we will take home some beautiful memories.
Biyas Muhammed
Article 19 