This particular format of the game has a charm of its own.
It has a distinct earthiness (both literally and figuratively, as will be
explained later!) and uniqueness around it which makes it very challenging even
for seasoned veterans. For starters, the rules of the game are mostly self-
made! Thus, the pedigree to which they vary depends on the guile of the players
you are playing with, mostly. Add to that bits and pieces of ingenuity ( three
misses and you’re out, no running between the wickets, etc.) and you have an exhilarating game in
anyone’s back/front yard that you won’t
feel like leaving unless its way past bath time and you hear that dreaded ‘Dara, baba ashuk bolbo’ from your mom!
Basically, it is
short cricket with under arm bowling without any restrictions as regards the
over limit. The thing that is to be noted is that the size of the boundary has
to be really small. As with any short cricket game, the boundaries on all sides
are traced out by the players’ sandals (shoe is considered too luxurious for
this format of the game) or pieces of bricks or even in some cases, red lines
chalked out by the bricks. The last option can be quite deceitful at times!
The best part about this game is that one rule that has made
this game so beautiful- One tip, one hand. Basically it means that at any given
point of a time a batsman can be given out and booed/sighed (depending on how
important he is to the team) if the ball that he just hit takes one bounce of
the ground and then, is in any of the fielder’s grasp before the ball crosses
the boundary line. The point is, however, that the grasp should be a single
handed one, without the support of any part of the body. And only one touch is
allowed. Sounds simple?
Apparently it seems
simple enough but then owing to the lack of umpires, hotspot, DRS and what not,
most of the catches taken in this manner
create quite a hue and fuss regarding the cleanliness/fairness of the catch and
play is halted. As in almost everywhere in our country, the biggest problems
are solved by our right to vote, it’s the same thing here that decides the
batsman’s fate. Another aspect of this game is that the boundaries are hard to
come by. I had faced some of the bowlers in my time that could spin the ball
either way using the same grip. The clay surface did not help one bit and as a
result of a combination of all these entities, it is very challenging to
score. Mostly the batsmen were prey to
defensive shots as the fielders jumped hither and dither to grasp the ball with
added enthusiasm.
I have a penchant for
this kind of cricket because as a batsman, it brought the best out of you. It
taught you subtle techniques, like placement, wrist work, and the most
important of them all- self-control. The
batsman is constantly encircled by fielders with the usual mutterings and sledging
and it makes it all the more difficult to concentrate. Footwork is primary and
so is temperament since the matches usually don’t have any over restrictions.
As for the bowlers, they always have an upper hand in these types of games. One
should know how to make a legit under arm delivery and the fielders will do the
rest. Spin or no spin. No matter how bad the bowler is, all he needs to know is
how to pitch in a full toss after four dot balls! That does the trick in most
cases because it tempts the batsman to free his arms and in the manner, lose
his wicket. I would say, the game is a pretty balanced one
and unlike the other formats, it’s the bowlers who have an upper hand on any
kind of pitches which is again a rare thing in India.
These days however, the para cricket scene seems to have been
revamped and I see kids/biggies playing short cricket with much vigour but
haven’t seen under arm cricket in a while. I haven’t an idea if it is as
popular elsewhere as it was in my native para. The thing is that once you start
enjoying this particular format, you will be playing it for days, as it
happened in our case. I miss those days and I am proud to have had a fair share
of this beautiful game that not many will probably have experienced in their
entire lifetime.
