"THINGS HAVE JUST STARTED"

Saturday , the day i was so excited about on Friday. This was the excitement for the start of my cricket season. It was just a practice match but it was important for me to play well as i had to make a mark and prove a point to the captain of the previous team "YMCC" for which i played two seasons in the 5th division....... Now i play for "SRIDHAR CC" and its a 3rd division team......

"FRIDAY : Preparing for the match"

The excitement was killing me as my team's captain called me up and said that there was a practice match on Saturday ........ It was just a practice match and there was no pressure on me or my team ........ we just had to go out there and give it our best and for me it was a test....... I have always had thoughts whether I am fit to play in the 3rd division and many people have told me to think positive and go out there and play your natural game but when you need to prove a point to others and make a mark there is always pressure and this pressure can surely destroy your career. As i was preparing for the next day's match, thoughts kept on ringing ,some good and as always some bad....... these thoughts were increasing the blood rush and the excitement and the anticipation on the other hand were battling it out with those thoughts...... I know i play good and i have always admired my way of playing but when it comes to proving that, things i know become unknown and this happens all the time.........

"kits packed and all set for the match"

Excitement woke me up at 6 in the morning and i freshened up and kept on looking at the watch and waited for it to show 7.30....... I prayed god and left for the ground and i reached the ground by 8......

1st INNINGS
our team won the toss and chose to field first and i was all geared up and pumped up for the match to begin........ I was standing at POINT and the first ball was hit towards me and it was hit hard , I never wanted that to happen .... i stopped the ball threw it to the KEEPER ...... then the next over again the ball was hit towards me and this time i was confident enough to stop it but suddenly they started running and for a second i stopped thinking , I picked the ball and threw it directly at the stumps and got the batsman out searching for the crease with a direct hit...... Ya a direct hit and i was stunned too....... i never thought the day would start on such a good note ....... then came the time where my captain asked me to bowl and i bowl well and was really ready to make an good impression on my captain...... i did well by getting a WICKET for 10 runs....... the rest of the innings i fielded well and my captain was happy with the performance.....the opposition got out for 234 in 30 overs........

2nd INNINGS
It was our turn to bat next and we had some good batsmen in our team..... the openers went on to give us a good start and my captain looked at me and asked to get ready as i was going in next....... i got ready thinking all the time about how i will perform and suddenly a batsman got out and i had to go in...... i prayed again and went in , i took sometime to look at the field , my mind full of thoughts and the pressure building up in me ...... I had to perform to make sure i play all the matches in the season ....... there was a spinner bowling at me ... i took a single of the first ball and got to the non striker end...... the over got over and i had to face the music again and this time it was a medium pacer ...... I always enjoyed playing medium pacers but unfortunately i always got out to the same type of bowlers......
i played the first ball with a bit of tentativeness and without any foot work and i edged the ball to the KEEPER...... God i hate KEEPERS.. they rarely drop a catch..... everything was over , all the pressure all the excitement got over and i sat down thinking what went wrong ....... tentativeness that's what got me out.... The hesitation got me out and all the positive thinking is killed by hesitation and tentativeness.........
PLEASE PEOPLE ALWAYS THINK POSITIVE AND PRACTICE HARD ON YOURS SKILLS ....... LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE WASTED AND YOU ARE BORN TO PROVE SOMETHING TO THE WORLD , DON'T JUST BE A SPECTATOR , GET DOWN IN THE BATTLEFIELD AND PROVE TO THE WORLD THAT YOU ARE GOOD AT WHAT YOU DO...............
my CAREER is not over yet , i have more matches coming up and this time there will be NO PRESSURE , NO TENTATIVENESS AND NO HESITATION.......