Me, Myself and I : Part III

I have two principal ways of discovering the areas where I fail to see myself. The first is acknowledging the qualities in others that irritates me. The second is acknowledging the comments that have made me defensive. To discover what irritates me, I merely review my latest encounters, tries to improve myself or atleast makes a conscious effort to overcome that irritation, the next time. But I have more difficulty recognizing when I am defensive. I can sometimes identify it by the following actions of mine:

# I answer quickly.
# I feel an urge to say more than I need to.
# I explain, try to persuade and feel impatient when interrupted.
# I feel frustrated even if I appears to succeed, as if the damage has already been done.

I am incapable of taking the other people's comments any way but seriously. Their comments never seem to be light or funny.

When I see I am doing something wrong, a part of me wants to keep on doing it the same way and even starts looking for reasons to justify the continuation. I live form one tentative conclusion to the next, thinking each one is final. The only thing I know for sure is that I am confused, which is not a characteristic of a leo person. But that's the way I am.

Just when I think I have learned the way to live, life changes and I am left the same as I began. The more things change, the more I am the same. It appears that my life is a constant irony of maturity and regression, but my sense of progress is based on the illusion that things out there are going to remain the same and that I have gained a little control of my life and people around me.

I am definitely not responsible for my feelings, but for what I do with them. If I feel angry, I don't have to ask what I want to do because on the level of anger, the decision is already in place to make someone feel guilty. And on the level of my core (of heart), if I feel love, the decision is already made to act without harming. Therefore, the question is not what to do , but where within me am I looking.

My problem is that I am analyzing life instead of living it.

(cont.)

STMicro vs OPTO : Luminous Cup'06

Tournament - Luminous Cup (Corporate Cricket) 2006

Match : ST vs OPTO
Date : 25th Feb, 2006
Venue : Central Sectt. Ground
Toss : ST won the toss and elected to field

The 25th day of Feb, Central Sectt. sports ground, it was a day of scorching heat, even in the month of Feb. The stage was set for a thrilling encounter and both the teams were eager to show their supremacy onto the other. ST captain won the toss and elected to bowl first to put some pressure on the opponent batsmen.

OPTO's opener (Negi) started the match in a great style by hitting Nitin for a huge six over covers and took the initiative from the very first over. Rudola bowled some tight overs from the other end and Nitin also tried all the weapons in his kitty to stop the flow of runs. But to no avail, their batsmen started playing with some authority and STians were already feeling the heat. Rudola was able to get one of the openers in his last over and ended the spell with a respectable figures of 25 runs in his quota of 5 overs.

Our first change bowler Sudip, in pursuit of getting some quick wickets, erred in line and length and wasn't able to bowl those beauties for which he is known. He was very unlucky as couple of chances went down on his bowling and captain, for once, made a mistake of taking him off the attack and ST paid heavily for missed chances offered to Negi. He smashed, all other bowlers, all over the ground and made a very aggressive hundred. Narwal and Lalit bowled their heart out in those trying conditions, but were not good enough to stamp the flow of runs. OPTO made 192 runs at the end of 25 overs and ST had a taunting task at their hands to chase a very big total.

The ST's innings started in a bad way with our opener Vij getting out for a single in the second over of the innings, but Das and Lokesh made sure that ST didn't loose any further wickets for the next 6 overs. Their opening bowlers were bowling very well, but Das and Lokesh were upto the mark and as soon as they saw the opening bowlers through, they started playing in their usual aggressive manner. Both of them lost their wicket in pursuit of increasing the scoring rate. Bharat and Nitin steadied the ship for a while and added 40 odd runs in next 5 overs. But the dismissals of both of them in quick successions didn't help the cause.

Now it was the responsibility of Narwal and Lalit to carry the flag of ST cricket team forward. They both played really well and OPTO fielders started feeling the heat. Lalit after making a brisk 20 lost his wicket, trying to up the run rate. Mudit and Abhishek sacrificed their wicket for team's cause and ST were 120 runs at the loss of 8 wickets in 18 overs and still requiring 73 runs in remaining 7 overs. Harsh joined Narwal in the centre and soon started playing his shots. They both played very sensible and calculated game and the target, which at one stage was looking impossible, started to look achievable. Both of them ran very well between the wickets and hit every loose delivery for a boundary.

Narwal lost his wicket when ST requiring another 35 runs off 20 deliveries to win and it seems that ST challenge would be over soon, but Sudip, the last man in, played some unbelievable shots and hit 3 boundaries in as many balls and took ST team ever so close to victory. Harsh, while trying to clear the fence, lost his wicket and we lost the match by a narrow margin of 13 runs with 3 balls still to be bowled. It was a great fight back by our batsmen. It was a great game of cricket , played with lot of intensity and passion. Both the teams gave their best and the better team, on the day, won.

Brief Score Card:

Bowling: O R W
----------------
Nitin - 3 22 0
Rudola - 5 25 1
Vij - 5 36 3
Sudip - 2 24 0
Narwal - 5 34 1
Lalit - 5 38 1


OPTO : 192/8 in 25 overs


Batting : Runs Balls
---------------
Vij - 01 (02)
Lokesh - 11 (26)
Das - 15 (16)
Bharat - 14 (11)
Nitin - 20 (16)
Narwal - 56 (39)
Lalit - 20 (14)
Mudit - 00 (01)
Abhishek- 00 (02)
Harsh - 22 (14)
Sudip - 16* (08)


ST : 179/10 in 24.3 overs

Man of the Match : Yogender Negi (OPTO)

RESULT: ST lost by 13 runs

STMicro vs AMEX GIO : Luminous Cup'06

Tournament - Luminous Cup (Corporate Cricket) 2006

Match : ST vs Amex GIO
Date : 18th Feb, 2006
Venue : Central Sectt. Ground
Toss : ST won the toss and elected to field

The 18th day of February, Central Sectt. Ground , it was a breezy morning with little bit of moisture on ground and lot of dryness and hardness on wicket , looking like a beauty of a wicket for batting and some help for seamers as well.

The morning wicket in this knock-out match was conducive for bowling. Said that, it still needs good balls to take wickets. Nitin Sharma & Mohinder Vij did not disappoint the captain in their opening bowling spell. In his fiery spell of 4 overs, Nitin was a little unlucky to bag any wicket, but his aggressive bowling which included a near fatal bouncer set the tone for the kill for the other bowlers. Vij on the other hand with his accurate and intelligent off spinners maintained the pressure. This was followed by an equally miserly spell by Sudip Basu & Abhishek Lal who bowled some real quick over between them and taking 3 & 2 wickets respectively. Rajesh Narwal bowled his quota of 5 overs and ended with 3 wickets.

The opponents scored only 122 runs in the allotted 25 overs. The fielding was upto the mark and keeping was equally good.

ST's batting was once again opened by Bharat Bhushan (captain) and Lokesh Pandey. After yet another early dismissal of Lokesh, in-form Sabyasachi Das joined Bharat. They were playing beautifully when Bharat got out after a quick 27 of 22 balls. Das was joined by the dependable Narwal and they took the score of ST to a zone of safety. Das got out , when less than 25 runs were left, trying to hit over mid off. He scored a good 25 of 29 deliveries.

Mudit Bhargava joined Narwal, but got out when just couple of runs were required for victory. Puneet Chawla joined Narwal who ensured there were no more hiccups and ST completed a comfortable victory by 6 wickets with almost 5 overs to spare.

Rajesh Narwal was adjudged the Man of the Match for his all-round match winning performance.

ST had yet again reached the Semis - 5 straight victories to reach this stage. Once again, this match showed that we are coming up as a team and we are in a position to lift our games and do a justice to our potentials and prove that we are a good team.

Brief Score Card:

Bowling: O R W
----------------
Nitin - 4 11 0
Vij - 5 19 0
Sudip - 5 16 3
Abhishek - 4 14 2
Narwal - 5 32 3
Ankur - 1 11 0
Das - 1 08 2

AMEX GIO : 122/8 in 25 overs


Batting : Runs Balls
---------------
Bharat - 27 (22)
Lokesh - 09 (13)
Das - 25 (29)
Narwal - 37* (44)
Mudit - 07 (08)
Puneet - 01* (03)


ST : 123/4 in 20.1 overs

Man of the Match : Rajesh Narwal

RESULT: ST won by 6 wickets

STMicro vs Cargo Alliiance : Luminous Cup'06

Tournament - Luminous Cup (Corporate Cricket) 2006

Match : ST vs Cargo Alliance
Date : 11th Feb., 06
Venue : AAI Ground, Palam
Toss : Cargo Alliance won the toss and elected to bat

Another day, another match , another opposition but same ideas. 'Relentless' is the only word that could describe ST Cricket Team's attitude on field. Ready to play under any conditions, against any team, on any ground with the same passion and commitment. The team was without their premium batsmen such as Das, Mudit, Vij and equally important bowler in Abhishek, but the team was full of confidence and self belief. The stage was all set for the first knock-out match of the tournament with odds against our team.

Cargo Alliance won the toss & elected to bat on a batsman friendly wicket. Our opening bowler Nitin bowled his heart out in a spell which could only be termed as a fiery spell . He bowled consistently at a speed more than 130km/hr and finished his spell by bowling 5 overs on the trot giving away just 19 runs and picking 1 wicket on the way. Ashish supported him well and gave away only 18 runs and picked 2 crucial wickets.

Sudip and Lalit came as first change bowlers and they truly backed-up the good work done by our opening bowlers. Lalit bowled 5 disciplined overs giving away 12 runs and taking 1 wicket. The bowler of the day was indeed Sudip who not only bowled miserly , but also picked 4 wickets in quick time. He bowled like masterly craftsman weaving his magic spell. Jeswani in his only over picked 2 wickets without giving any run and Cargo Alliance were bundled out for 80 runs in 19.4 overs. It was a commendable show by all our bowlers and fielding was also upto the mark when it was needed the most.

A great self belief & hunger to win saw commendable performances from there on. Bharat once again rose to the occasion & build the innings. He played like an artist, meticulously planning his innings. Each & every shot & every single that he took was carefully measured. Hash got out after making quick 5 runs. Then Jeswani joined Bharat and got out after scoring 3 boundaries in 1 over. ST was 30 for 2 at that stage. Narwal got in next and while he gathered runs playing each ball with great precision, Bharat on the other hand stuck to the task. He kept on rotating the strike. & never let any bowler dominate him. In the end , ST won the match without any more hiccups with Bharat making 40 runs off 32 balls and Narwal making 19 runs off 16 deliveries.

A great team effort saw ST through winning the match comfortably. The seniors & the new comers are synchronizing very well. Having played together for last 2 months , all the players are working in good synergy & look ready to take on any opposition in the coming matches.

Brief Score Card:

Bowling: O R W
----------------
Nitin - 5 19 1
Ashish - 5 18 2
Lalit - 5 12 1
Sudip - 4 19 4
Jeswani - 0.4 00 2

Cargo Alliance : 80 in 19.4 overs


Batting : Runs Balls
---------------
Bharat - 40* (32)
Harsh - 05 (04)
Jeswani -13 (09)
Narwal - 19* (16)


ST : 81 in 10.4 overs

Man of the Match : Sudip for his 4 wicket haul

RESULT: ST won by 8 wickets

STMicro vs DENSO : Luminous Cup'06

Tournament - Luminous Cup (Corporate Cricket) 2006

Match : ST vs DENSO
Date : 29th Jan., 06
Venue : AAI Ground, Palam
Toss : DENSO won the toss and elected to bat

It was a quite a hot and dry Saturday afternoon and DENSO won the toss and elected to make first use of the wicket which was looking like a belter. ST team was playing the third match of the tournament and looking to win this match convincingly, to secure a higher rank in the overall list of teams reaching the knockout stage.

ST Micro started the innings with their most trusted new ball bowler (Jeswani) along with Ashish Rudola, a quick leggie. Captain Bharat gave them relatively attacking field. Both the opening bowlers stuck to line and length from their respective first over and bowled some real beauties to unsettle the opponents. Ashish picked up a wicket on the very first ball he bowled.

ST's wicket keeper (Bharat) contributed for next two dismissals with one outstanding catch and a good stumping. Ashish bowled miserly and picked up the first 5 wickets to fall. Abhishek and Sudip came in as the bowling change. They bowled some tight overs and Sudip picked his first wicket of the tournament in his second over. Abhishek also picked two wickets in his quota of 5 overs giving away only 20 runs. Sudip picked another wicket in his spell and Ankur picked the last wicket to fall, with the help of an outstanding catch by Lalit.

With such a small total to chase , ST captain decided to sent two of his most attacking batsmen in the middle. Lalit and Bharat were sent in to complete the formalities , but there were no sign of nervousness or rustiness in their approach. The required total was achieved in just 7.4 overs with Bharat smashing 42 runs off 20 balls and Lalit making 19 off 18 balls. Bharat really looked in awesome touch and hit 8 fours in his short innings. ST lost 3 wickets in pursuit of winning the match as quickly as possible to better their net run-rate. In the end, it was turn out to be a one sided match with ST dominating the match throughout.

This is a very good sign for ST team in this edition of Luminous cup with all their bowlers in good rhythm and all their batsmen in relatively good form.


Brief Score Card:

Bowling: O R W
----------------
Jeswani - 2 10 0
Ashish - 5 14 5
Abhishek- 5 20 2
Sudip - 5 16 2
Ankur - 2 10 1

DENSO : 72 in 17 overs

Fielding : Bharat 1 catch, 1 stumping, Lalit 1 catch

Batting : Runs Balls
---------------
Bharat - 42 (20)
Lalit - 19* (18)
Jeswani -05 (04)
Das - 00 (02)
Narwal - 01* (01)


ST : 73 in 7.4 overs

RESULT: ST won by 7 wickets

STMicro vs ABN Amro : Luminous Cup'06

Tournament - Luminous Cup (Corporate Cricket) 2006

Match : ST vs ABN AMRO
Date : 7th Jan., 06
Venue : Venkateshwara College,
Toss : ABN AMRO won the toss and elected to bat

It was the second match of the Luminous Cup, and the target of the team was to have a convincing win, so as to confirm a place in the Knockout round. The stage was set, a relatively smaller ground with a pitch which could be termed as a Batting paradise.

ST opening bowling pair (Rajesh Jeswani & Nitin Sharma) started pretty well. Specially Nitin's just short of the length bowling caused lots of trouble to both the opening batsmen, but he was a bit unlucky not to pick any wicket. After 3 overs each, the opening bowlers were replaced by Abhishek and Vij, both of them started off with some good attacking bowling. In his second over, Vij was able to run, one of their openers, out with a direct hit. As the overs progressed the batsman were gaining more and more confidence on a true batting wicket.

After 3 overs each, Captain replaced them with Sudip (playing with an injured finger) and Ankur. Again the start made by both the bowlers was good. ST bowlers were wicket less, but still the bowlers were able to restrict them to a run rate of around 5 runs per over. With an aim to break the threatening partnership, Captain bought Rajesh Narwal into the bowling attack. But by this time the batsman were in supreme command, and they punished him severely for his poor line and length. At this stage, super-sub Ashish replaced Sudip. Ashish picked his line and length from the very first ball and got 2 quick wickets. Inspite of the fall of two quick wickets, the run flow continued. ABN Amro batsmen scored some 100 runs in last 8 overs and made a mammoth 197 runs in their quota of 25 overs.

ST now had a tough task of chasing 198 runs in 25 overs, and losing in-form Bharat in the very initial stages of the match didn't help the cause. Das then joined Harsh, and both of them played cautiously. But Das also fell after scoring just 7 runs. The need of the hour was to make some quick runs without losing more wickets and Nitin Sharma was given the responsibility of doing so and he did a fantastic job by scoring a quick fire 46 runs off just 27 balls. Harsh who was playing very cautiously at the other end, also made a valuable 24 runs before losing his wicket.

Rajesh Narwal also gave away his wicket after scoring just 9 runs. Lalit now joined Rajesh Jeswani. Both Lalit and Jeswani played some lusty shots and thrashed the bowlers all over the ground. The required rate was nearly nine runs an over , but these two dragged it to almost 6 runs an over. Jeswani contributed rapid fire 34 runs off 17 balls studded with 3 massive sixes , one of which might have landed on to one of the cars moving on Ring Road :-).

ST required 29 runs off 4 overs , but Jeswani and Mohinder Vij fell in quick succession. Lalit also lost his patience and wicket after scoring good 30 runs from 21 deliveries. In the middle now were Abhishek and Ashish, and we needed 22 runs off 2 overs. Couple of twos and a brilliant six by Ashish in the second last over eased the things for the team. Abhishek made the remaining six runs off the first two balls of the last over and finally we were able to register a yet another thrilling win with 4 balls and 2 wickets to spare, a victory which we will cherish for a long time.

Brief Score Card:

Bowling: O R W
----------------
Jeswani - 4 31 0
Nitin - 3 11 0
Vij - 3 20 0
Abhishek- 4 34 0
Sudip - 3 21 0
Ankur - 2 13 0
Narwal - 3 32 0
Ashish - 3 29 2

ABN AMRO : 197 in 25 overs

Fielding : Vij 1 run-out.

Batting : Runs Balls
---------------
Harsh - 24 (36)
Bharat - 01 (06)
Das - 07 (07)
Nitin - 46 (27)
Narwal - 09 (11)
Jeswani - 34 (17)
Lalit - 30 (21)
Mohinder - 00 (00)
Abhishek - 19* (14)
Ashish - 10* (04)

ST : 198 in 24.2 overs

RESULT: ST won by 2 wickets.

STMicro vs EXL : Luminous Cup'06

Tournament - Luminous Cup (Corporate Cricket) 2006

Match : ST vs EXL
Date : 7th Jan., 06
Venue : Central Sectt. Ground, Chankaya Puri
Toss : EXL won the toss and elected to bat

New Year, New Tournament, New Team (Team ST is participating instead of STCT/STCL) and New Opponent, but the match was played with same Passion, same Intensity, same Discipline and same relentless Attitude. With a relatively tougher pool to start off, ST needed to continue its good run from the last tournament.

ST opening bowling pair (Rajesh Jeswani & Nitin Sharma) started miserly. The very first over saw the lightening brilliance of ST's captain wicket keeper who stumped the batsman off Jeswani. This was followed by some mediocre display of fielding when Narwal and Mudit, two of the better fielders of the team, dropped catches which should have been taken. Jeswani was the unlucky bowler on both occasions. Bharat finally took a good catch off Nitin to end the partnership. Sudip fielding at backward point position got injured trying to dive for a difficult catch and had to sit out for the remainder of the match and Super-sub Ankur replaced him.

After 4 overs each, the opening bowlers were replaced by Narwal and Lalit who continued to bowl tightly. Narwal took 4 wickets which included a hat trick (wicket no. 7, 8 and 9) and Lalit took 1 vital wicket. Abhishek Lal was the 5th bowler to be used and he took 2 wickets. At one stage EXL were 93/9 with some 4 odd overs left. But some good hitting from one of their batsmen, saw them post a respectable 129/9 in 25 overs.

Bharat and Lokesh started the chase cautiously. Just when it seemed Lokesh was regaining his touch again, he was bowled off a yorker. In-form Das joined Bharat. These two took the score from 19/1 to 109/1 by the end of 20 overs. Bharat and Das batted with the same confidence that they had shown in the previous matches. Both of them showed caution which was a little unusual from their natural games but given the conditions, it was the need of the hour. The track was not playing true with odd balls keeping low. Both of them paced the run chase in an excellent manner and it seemed that ST will drive home with a 9 wicket victory and shed all the bad memories of the past matches with relatively better teams.

But Lady Luck had other plans. She had written a thriller and that too an extremely dramatic one !

With the loss of Das , who made a classy 37, opened the flood gates in the 21st over. Narwal, not living to his reputation, came back to the pavilion without opening his account and Lalit got out on the very first ball to a dubious LBW decision. The very next ball saw Bharat playing a bad shot and getting bowled for a well made 55. Nitin Sharma get bowled off the last ball of the over and ST required 19 of 18 balls with 4 wickets in hand. Abhishek joined Mudit , but Abhishek got run out while trying to steal a non-existent single and the score stood 11 off the last 2 overs with 3 wickets in hand. Jeswani while trying to clear the infield get caught at mid-on. But Mudit didn't loose his composure and Harsh partnered him well to score the winning runs, without any more hiccups.

Victory at last .... ST won the match with 2 wickets in hand and 2 balls to spare. The beginning is with a bang and we played like a team, a cohesive unit, inspite of the fact that this was the first match for this newly stitched team.

Man of the Match - Bharat for his 55 runs and brilliant work behind the wicket

Brief Score Card:

Bowling: O R W
-------------------
Jeswani - 5 24 1
Nitin - 5 25 1
Narwal - 5 21 4
Lalit - 5 19 1
Abhishek- 5 34 2

EXL : 129/9 in 25 overs

Fielding : Bharat 2 stumping, 2 catches, Narwal 1 catch.

Batting : Runs Balls
-------------------
Bharat - 55 (63)
Lokesh - 10 (17)
Das - 37 (44)
Rajesh - 00 (02)
Lalit - 00 (01)
Nitin - 00 (01)
Mudit - 10* (12)
Abhishek- 05 (04)
Jeswani - 03 (02)
Harsh - 04* (04)

ST : 130/8 in 24.4 overs

RESULT: ST won by 2 wickets.