IPL: The Injuries Premium League
Ancient soldiers were qualified great warriors if they had suffered injuries on the front side of their bodies. It was on the premise that only cowards would flee the onslaught and get hurt on their back. Then, I can pride myself as a brave and lucky cricketer vis-a-vis the injuries I had sustained.
When I joined high school, there was an announcement for the school cricket team selection and I promptly reported for selection. Seeing my dour defence and zero stroke play, the PT master made some calculation and declared I was ‘in’.
In the first match itself, my captain, who won the toss, asked me to pad up for the number one slot. ‘What a honour!’ I thought until I walked to the crease and spotted the bowler taking his run up from the boundary. Seeing my petrified face, the fielders chuckled, “Don’t you know the name of the bowler?” adding insult to injury.
I could decode why the PT master rooted for me. A night watchman was badly needed to see through the initial spew of fire from the dragon bowler and there I was! The bowler delivered his first ball at a breakneck pace and I successfully defended it without comprehending the head or tail of it; not with the bat but with my chest.
My heart seemed to stop momentarily and lest I should be branded weak- hearted, I took a few deep breaths and decided to continue. I batted for an hour scoring—rather scratching—four runs and our team won the match. Reaching home, I removed my vest and noticed a ‘colour xerox’ of the cherry red leather on my chest. The mark remained for long and faded only after several rounds of hot water massages, Iodex application and sermons from my parents.
In another match, an opposition batsman who was thrashing all our bowlers impartially, lofted one of the balls sky high and it started its parabolic descent towards me standing on the deep square leg fence. As my team watched with bated breath, I ran to the ball and fell down even before catching, nay flooring, the ball. I sustained a cut on my chin and lost my memory for a clear thirty minutes. The injury though, was on the anterior of my body!
A couple of months before my marriage, while I batted in a match, a ball landed on my nose and twisted it by a few degrees, thanks to its flexible cartilage. Luckily, it returned to its position after some days of physiotherapy. The nose, you’ll agree, is on the front of the body.
V Viswanathan
Email:vishyvaidya@gmail.com