Gully batsmen v/s pro bowlers

What happens when armchair cricket experts walk up to the pitch to face an IPL leg spinner and a Karnataka pacer?

My friend Denny, who played for a first-class cricket team in Gujarat, said I was “crazy” to return to the nets to face two of Karnataka’s finest bowlers — Shreyas Gopal and Prateek Jain. Shreyas is an IPL leg spinner, and Prateek, a Karnataka pacer.

I had played at the district level as a right-hand batsman when I was 19 but six years later, I doubted my ability even to defend a ball coming at a decent pace of 120 kmph.

But why was I doing this? My colleague Prathik, a district-level spinner, and I wanted to know the difference between commenting idly about a bowler and actually facing him.

‘Arey! He should quit cricket. Even I could have taken this wicket!’ — Most of us, with no better qualification than gully cricket, have snapped at the best of cricketers and accused them of giving away crucial games.

Here, my experiment made me nostalgic and nervous. But frankly, getting an opportunity to play cricket as part of my job, and that too with star players, sounded like a win-win.

Before the final playoff, Prathik and I decided to get our rusty selves back in form, some form, at the Karnataka Institute of Cricket near Halasuru in Bengaluru.

Day 1 began with a warm-up session which was as tough as a rigorous workout at the gym.

Srinivasan M K, our nets coach, instructed us to pad up, and we were at the nets in no time to face a pace attack from cricketers in training aged 15 to 21.

Prathik and I had to face six bowlers in an over, which means, no two balls were alike. These bowlers had a significant amount of pace (90 kmph) but their line and length weren’t as polished as those of seasoned bowlers.

Back to basics

We were missing most balls, and when we did connect, we were far from the sweet spot of the bat, and Srinivasan took notice. He told us to go back to the basics and focus on studying the ball — from the point of release to the point of contact, observing the seam, modifying our footwork while playing round-the-wicket bowlers, driving the bat straight, and closing the space between the pad and the bat.

It helped — we went from playing one out of six balls to hitting every ball by the end of the day. But we had to face professionals a week later and it looked like we were up against something much more formidable.

The challenge with batting against these bowlers was that their bowling was slightly erratic. We ran the risk of being hit by a bouncer or an unplayable full toss if the bowler missed his grip over the ball.

On one occasion, a ball from a different net zipped past my head.

On another occasion, a bowler charging at Prathik let go of the ball too early and it hit the top of his helmet before ricochetting off.

Each time we left a stray ball, we realised how difficult it was to master the art of ducking when a seasoned pacer charges at 140 kmph. And, well, I returned home with four blood clots on my right arm on Day 3.

Srinivasan pointed out the gaps in our batting: “You just need three good shots to play any delivery bowled at you, and practise those three shots thousands of times.”

Practice is key as we saw the gap between bat and pad closing on the fourth and last day at the nets.

We took a two-day break before facing Prateek, the pacer who has played Ranji, Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy matches, and Shreyas, the spinner who has scalped the prized wickets of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in IPL multiple times.

Final day

On Sunday, we returned to the academy and saw Prateek and Shreyas preparing as if they were going to bowl at Tendulkar or Kohli. To see them put in so much practice just to bowl to rookies like us was both inspiring and unnerving.

At 135 kmph, Prateek could aim and smash the wickets. We saw his form as we put on our mitts. Shreyas bowled googlies at a wicketkeeper standing inside an adjacent net.

Junior cricketers and their parents gathered with their phones out to take pictures of them bowling.

I got into the nets with my colleague Prathik, and the game began.

Since we were not playing on the cricket ground, hitting fours was out of the question — we had set no such target for ourselves. All we wanted to do was to defend.

The first over was embarrassing for both of us, and it was followed by a second and a third that weren’t any better. We were regretting the 48-hour off we had taken from our net practice.

Head coach Irfan Sait had told us that his academy was open every day of the year, come rain or storm, and a great player was one who played consistently. His words came back to us.

Shreyas and Prateek bowled hard and fast at us. A flurry of balls swung by and struck the wickets, sending them flying in all directions. We took long breaths when we survived many close calls, and escaped unhurt.

A little later Irfan revealed to us that Shreyas and Prateek were bowling at just 60% of their potential, well, because we were amateurs.

Thanks to our abysmal performance, Prateek slowed down his pace further, and Shreyas bowled in a straight line. We could eventually face a couple of balls.

Game must go on

We mingled with the bowlers between the overs. I showed them a couple of bruises I had sustained during our practice. What we considered a major bump on the head was a small niggle for them.

Prateek said he was bowling despite his toenail being completely ripped off. Shreyas showed a pinky finger in which he had suffered five fractures.

This brought up the topic of sports-related injuries and also how India, as a cricket-crazy nation, has a habit of only registering the highs of a player and forgetting the pain they endure. “Almost no player is immune to injury. Every athlete has some degree of discomfort while playing,” Shreyas said, and Prateek nodded.

“Missing a catch at point may look silly on television, but if a ball comes at you at over 100 kmph and lands only a few feet away, you have little chance of catching it without getting hurt. It appears pretty straightforward on the screen, but in reality, it is anything but easy. Yet, players do it,” he explained.

With every ball, we became more confident and asked them to bowl at their normal pace. Prateek came at me at 121 kmph, the fastest he had bowled to us that day. It received a sluggish defensive shot.

As we wrapped up our day, having played four overs each, Prateek told us what Srinivasan had: “For every ball bowled, a batsman today has at least three or four shots. The pitches are often batting-friendly, and a ball at any length and pace can be flicked to the fence. There are a lot of mind-games involved.” Mental toughness is essential for
professional players, he emphasised.

This again sparked a conversation about how people scorn out-of-form players.

“It’s not uncommon to hear accusations about why certain players are on the field when they are unable to give their best. It has happened to every great Indian cricketer, from Gavaskar to Tendulkar to Dhoni, and it is happening now to Kohli. But a lot goes on behind the scenes that the general public isn’t aware of — for one, athletes don’t typically play without pain. People should be more forgiving of minor hiccups. We are all flawed beings,” said Prateek.

Life is equally hard off the field. “I am not sure if I should be telling you this, but I once got death threats in my social media inbox because I got Kohli’s wicket,” Shreyas began, adding that grit and perseverance are a must to keep playing at the top level.

Prateek explained: “During a series, we could be playing one match in the sweltering weather of Chennai, and the next in the biting cold of Delhi or Punjab. Acclimatising while travelling from one place to another demands a lot.”

As we were cooling down, we asked how much time they spend on fitness and practice. Whether or not they are playing a match, they spend three to four hours in the gym daily, combining it with frequent net practice.

We sheepishly asked Irfan what he thought of this experiment. To our surprise, it had given him a new perspective.

“As a coach, there have been numerous times when I ask batsmen to play a delivery in a certain way. But if I were in their place, perhaps I wouldn’t be able to do it,” said the coach who plays cricket professionally.

We were exhausted and bruised as we left the academy but came back with fresh insights about the game India lives and breathes.