Note: This may sound more like a eulogy than a preview. But then, the authors could not help it.
In many ways, 2019 marks the end of an era. A champion team, known as much for their personal warmth as their cricketing prowess, is taking the field for the last time. One of the only two teams to take a department sports trophy home in their very first year (HS17 for football being the other), HS14 is known for their fearless brand of cricket. Their first year feat has remained the stuff of spiced-up department legends, while they have continued to be the most prolific team in the history of the tournament.
Last Year’s Story: Finalists.
Now, when you talk about HS14, it is not just last year that they were in the finals. In fact, their last four years in the department have seen them making it to the finals every time. They were champions in their first two years, and were the runners-up in their third and fourth years, losing to PhD scholars and HS13 respectively. These finals were no walkovers mind you. They were gritty, fighting matches, which did not see a complete outplaying of HS14. You cannot be the most consistent team for no reason, after all.
They were grouped last year with HS17 and HS13. In their first game, they took on HS13, and suffered probably their only drubbing in Prem Ranjan tournaments, by 9 wickets with 15 balls to spare. Saba and Dileep did the destruction early on in bowling, and Dileep and Sannihit did the rest. In their second group fixture, they came back strong and sure, scoring a mammoth 155/4 against HS17, complete with a Biyas half-century, and then destroying the HS17 batting to take the match by a whopping 78 runs.
In the semis, they faced a daunting task of facing the (then) reigning champions to get to the finals. They took to the task and completed it with relative ease, defeating the scholars by 27 runs, ably assisted by Biyas’s reliable batting and Santhosh’s fiery spell. The familiar foes met again in the finals, and the Sangam populace was sure to be treated with some good cricket. Despite a good Santhosh innings, HS14 were restricted to 112/8 in 15 overs, done in by the ever-ruthless Saba and the artful Sannihit. In reply, some good old Dileep-Sanni magic guided HS13 to a convincing win.
The Team.
A team of few weaknesses, they boast of a varied, sharp bowling attack as well as a batting line-up with much depth and firepower, capable of taking opposition attacks apart. Nityanshu’s class meets Santhosh’s power hitting and the intelligent incisiveness of Biyas and Monish, along with good hitters like the wicketkeeper batsman Haridhar, Rakesh, Sukruth, Joseph and so on, in terms of batting. The bowling front is rich with a lot of options, with Santhosh being the pick of all with his fast and wily off-cutters. He is ably complemented by the crafty Biyas, the lethally accurate Nityanshu, the professional Aishwarya, the athletic Mounika and many others like Joseph, Haridhar, Monish and Sukruth. To go on to fielding, there are no butterfingers here – if the ball goes up in the air, rest assured it is a wicket, with the agility and sound judgement of fielders like Adithya Haneef, and ‘keeper Hari coming into play. The ground fielding is also quite impressive
If their skilful batters do not succumb to soft dismissals, like Nityanshu and Santhosh does at times, there are not much concerns in the department. Some of their bowlers, especially Biyas and Santhosh, tend to bowl juicy full tosses while searching for that yorker. In that case, their pace ensures that they will be punished for the costly error. The attack would be better off continuing with their usual stifling accuracy, rather than experiment too much. It remains to be seen whether they can channel their inner Jasprit Bumrah.
Player To Watch Out For.
It is tough to single out a player in this regard. But there are some batsmen who, on their day, can simply blow away the opposition. Monish Balraj is certainly one of them. A skilful player who has a wide range of shots, he has the ability to play all over the park. An ability to pick the ball early, coupled with power hitting makes dealing with him a formidable challenge for any bowling line-up. A towering presence in the middle order, he can be counted on for a final flourish or, in the case of a top-order collapse, an anchoring role. Monish will be keen to sign off well, and if his talent translates, their middle order, which is vital to HS14’s chances, will be formidable.
Prospects
Despite being slotted in the Group of Death, HS14 are firm favourites to make it to the knockouts, and some inspired cricket could see them top the group as well. Their quality combined with the fact that the stalwarts would want to part on a high makes them strong title contenders. Barring a huge upset, only the formidable Scholars stand between them and a truly memorable swansong.
Article by Avinaash R and Deva Nandan H
Article 19 