My Journey to become a Match Winner in Cricket

Match # 5

I was called by my friend on Saturday night. He asked me if I wanted to play a tournament match on Sunday morning at 730am. It had rained that night, and I was still recovering from my soreness in Saturday’s match. This call was unexpected as I had made up my mind to rest the next day. I was hesitant in my response, and my friend insisted firmly. I didn’t have a good reason to say No to him, and I agreed.

Hurriedly I planned my next day. Gathered my wet clothes out of washing machine and kept them under the fan to dry. Gathered my bottles and specs, arranged for some left over food which I can have in the morning before the match, and planned to sleep asap.

I knew that a sleep of 6–7 hours wont be enough for me to feel rested the next day. I also wanted to meditate in the morning before the match so that I can feel focused. But I simply didn’t have time. So I just slept.

The sleep wasn’t of a great quality either. I woke up multiple times before my alarm would ring. Finally the alarm rang at 515am. I woke up but was feeling tired and sleep deprived. So I slept again by hitting the snooze button. Next I woke up at 620am. I was startled. This had thrown all my plans in the dustbin. I could only manage to eat the left over food, had a quick shower, wear my clothes and gather my Cricket kit and then rush for the ground in a hurry.

I reached the ground 20mins late than the reporting time and sat in the parking. I guess it must have been the wrong ground since I couldn’t see my friend there. I waited in the car and attempted to meditate. I wanted to meditate so that my focus was up and sharp.

Later I got a call from him to come to a ground which was a kilometer away from where I had parked. I rushed there. Our team was fielding. I was immediately asked to pad up in my keeping kit. I did that straight away. It was a 30 over match. I started keeping. I was focusing on the ball. Feeling the ball as it hit my gloves.

Keeping wise the match went well. I took 2 catches on spinners, which are considered difficult, and saved atleast 8 runs by diving to leg side wide balls. I find wicket keeping easy and feel very confident when I do it. I reason i believe is my sharp focus, my excellent catching, my sharp reflexes, and the years of effort spent on catching and wicket keeping during my college and school days. My reduced weight also makes it easy for me to move swiftly now, which only helps my keeping.

But I must admit, that by 20 overs mark, i was feeling tired and exhausted. I could still carry on but in a depleted state. That is never good for a high intensity situation like a cricket match.

By the time the inning was over, I was completely depleted. I still hurried up, had some electrolytes to replenish myself, and padded up quickly. We went to bat inside the field. I was opening up with a batsman whom i didn’t know. But I could make out of his body language that he was confident in his game. He offered to take the strike, but I said I will face the new ball. I have been doing this lately to fight my fears, by pushing myself to take the lead.

I took my stance, scanned the field, noticed the gaps, and took a leg stump guard. There was no chalk available on the ground, which was very poor of the umpires. Talking of Umpires and umpiring- it has been poor throughout the match. I had to beg the umpires for clear edges, which is a clear testament to their poor skills. I think that the umpires lacked both skill and focus. This was to go against me in the match. I just didn’t know at that time.

Anyways, coming back to the batting. I had noticed the gaps, but didn’t mentally visualise them. I just thought that I have practiced and I will play my shots. The took a side on stance, kept my head still and towards the bowler, and got ready to face the first ball. I was seeing the ball clearly. The ball was in my slot, on the off side, but i didn’t go hard at it. I don’t know why. I just tapped in the covers as it slowly rolled to the covers fielder. Normally I would take a run, and it is very much possible as well, but the non striker just refused. I wasn’t in a mood to run. I knew it has his confidence towards his game where he didn’t need singles to score heavy. That kept me on strike. I was thinking why didn’t it hit the ball hard. I knew the answer deep down.

I have always been fearful of getting out. And in that fear, I don’t hit the ball hard enough. My bat speed is poor and I don’t bend enough to take my head close to the ball. My back leg also doesn’t bend, thereby affecting the balance transfer, and reducing the power in the shot. Good thing is that I am not tentative. There is some intent and thus I hold my shape and play a solid defence or an average shot, but never a poor poke. I need to work on this and become better. More on this later.

I played a few more strokes but almost all lacked power. I had scored 2 out of the 8 balls I had faced. Then in the 3rd over, I watched the ball. It swung in the air, pitches at good length around middle stump, and nipped back towards my pads. I made a half hearted poke, in a futile attempt to flick the ball, and missed it completely. It hit my front pad around the knee roll. The ball was definitely going down leg side. But here is where the poor umpiring came to haunt me. Umpire raise his finger, presumably as he saw me getting hit in front on the stumps, but didn't give heed to the angle and line of the ball. I wasn’t out, but umpire’s decision is the final decision.

I walked towards the dugout, dejected! It felt like a long walk.

On reaching the dugout, I started to reflect on what had gone wrong, and ofcourse what went well.

The Good

1. Great Wicketkeeping. Saved 8 runs at least and took 2 catches. Everyone was praising me with the effort. They even offered me to keep permanently for their team. I would consider it as a highlight of this match
2. I could keep for 30 overs and still was gunning to go to bat. This speaks of my new fitness levels. I am happy with the progress
3. Whatever balls I played, i didn’t feel jittery like i used to do in earlier days. My technique has improved. I hit an off drive and it was applauded the non striker as good shot. I will take it as an highlight.

The Bad (Areas of improvement)

1. I need to play straight. Playing across the line makes me miss the ball and increases chances of LBW. This esp true for slowish medium pacers and on mat wickets.
2. Bending the back leg. I am not bending enough. This is making me play the from a distance and far from my body. I am compensating it by playing late, but as a result i can connect but the shot lacks power
3. Keeping Head still and not fall forward. I got out as my head fell towards the off side and i missed the ball. I need to improve this. It will come with improved focus and fitness.
4. Go for the shot! I have been not hitting balls powerfully. A part of it is technique, but i think a big part of it is the mindset. Deep down i don’t want to get out and hence I am tentative. This leads to a poor bat flow, and doesn’t trigger my body into action like I do it in nets. In nets I am not afraid and much more confident of my game. Thus my body reacts naturally with an intent to hit. In the match since I am tentative, I m not able to use the explosive movement which is necessary to give the shot the power.
5. Fatigue management- i need to manage my rest and recovery better. This time thought i was able to play, but during the batting , it felt as if my muscles didn't have energy for explosive movements. Wicket Keeping is a very tiring job, thus I need to make sure I am well rested before every match. This means atleast 9 hours of night sleep, a body massage, cold shower, ice packs, a recovery session in pool, having good protein, and loading body with carbs.

Ok, so here are my next steps

1. Get a double grip on bat

My GM 606 is a lovely bat. Light weight and good ping. But it is not suited for big hits due to the weight and high middle. I used the NB bat which is bottom heavy for hitting. But it is a tad heavier.

Lately I have observed that the GM handle is too thin for my liking and that is causing my left hand grip to become loose. I can’t hold the bat as strongly as I would like. So thinking of putting a double grip and experiments how it goes. Hopefully it will improve my grip strength and thus improve my bat speed and power

2. Work on Balance Transfer

This would mean, bending my back leg. Front leg bends, there is no issue. but it is the back leg which doesn’t. I would also have to step a little more forward to enable this movement. This means moving my heads towards the ball and going for the shot with positive intent. This should make my punches stronger.

3. Hitting Balls in Gaps

I need to work on visualisation of gaps and plays in accordance. At the moment I just look at the field and then go in my own zone. I need to do a better job at finding the gaps. There were 2 shots which went to fielders, which could have been fours. If i can develop the habit of hitting in the gaps, then I can improve my scoring and become a better batsman.

4. Better Pre- Match routine

I need to sleep early, atleast 8–9 hours. I need to eat enough protein and carb. Stay away from intoxicants of all sorts. Meditate for 30mins and visualise myself batting and hitting my shots. Also to do some meditation in the morning. Getting up early to give my ample time before the match. This means shutting all noise and focus on match.

5. Practice playing with a new ball more

First 9–12 deliveries are crucial. The ball is new and hard, it swings, it bounces, and it skids. Combine that with the slowness in the wickets, and it becomes a challenge.

I have been practising with old balls or at best semi new, on a astro turf. The balls comes easily to the bat and the bounce can be trusted. This not the case with mats as the balls keeps low, there is odd bounce, and speed is variable.

Thus practicing in simulations of new balls will help me. I should do it more

6. Getting the feel of the wicket

I must use the keeping opportunity and the first 5–6 balls to understand the nature of the wicket. I need assess the if the ball is coming on the bat, if the surface has bounce, or is it slow. I need to watch the ball till the keeper.

This has been missing from my approach and will improve with time.

7. Game plan

I have observed that when I don’t have a game plan, I am clueless and become more defensive. I am need to bat more as per the match situation, and have scoring plan in the head. Without that, I am would find it difficult to score runs. I cant be aggressive if I haven’t got the thought in head. I need to experiment with it more.

8. Leads with the shoulder

In the previous few matches I feel that I am opening up too much which playing shots. Whenever I have tried to keep my shoulder side on, i have hit the ball cleanly more often than not. I need to practice this in the nets and become better at it

9. Bring the pull shot out of wrap

I have not been playing the pull shot purposefully. But I think, i need to start to do it as I am clueless on short balls. My bat speed is not good, I have also got hit and more importantly I am not anticipating a bouncer. I need to practice in the nets. Make a mental map, that a ball pitches beyond a point on the pitch shall be dispatched by imperious pull. That would also demoralise the bowler

10. Practice cuts

I am not playing the short of length balls too well. I mostly poke or miss them. Need to step up my backfoot game. For now it is not a major problem but I need to improve with time if I am to become the best batsman in the country.