A very very bad day in Cricket!!!

Today is a day that I would not forget in the near future. It is due to such a sorry figure that I cut today. And that too in the most unexpected of places - the cricket ground!
To give you somebackground...I had always considered myself to be a decent cricketer - a batsman and of late doing pretty OK as a wicket keeper too. A predominantly bottom-handed and a backfoot player - which makes me more of a 'single-taker' than a 'six-hitter'.
I had always thought that my defence was solid and never even thought that I would miss dead-straight balls.

All this until today morning, when I was beaten 5 balls straight. All dead-straight, slightly over pitched and medium-paced balls. 5 balls beaten in an 8 over match!! That over turned out to be a maiden over. 1 over with no runs scored - in an 8 over match!!

Anyways , we were chasing a huge target (85 in 8 overs!). 6 overs had gone by with just 40 runs, when I walked in - as the last-but-one batsman. I had clear instructions - "Play the full 8 overs. Get as many runs as possible. The team that loses more closely might make it to the next round!". Play the full 8 overs, that I did. But get as many runs as possbile, I did not.

The 7 th over was the fateful over that I mentioned earlier. Some non-descript bowler bowled the first ball which I defended confidently (on the back foot as usual). But the next ball was a straight ball, pitched up slightly. Pitched up enough to make me go on the front foot - to drive it of course. Half way through my drive, I got greedy and swung my bat harder to get a boundary. The ball, eventhough pitched up slightly, was not 'over-pitched' enough to drive. Or so it seems now, as I never made contact with it. I swung the bat a millisecond early and missed it completely.

The third ball was also a straight ball. Again pitched up slightly, looking dangerously simple to play. I played it on the front foot and again missed it completely. Beaten second time consecutively by the same ball!!. Oh! Why did not learn from the first ball.

After missing two consecutive balls, I braced myself for a similar ball and decided firmly not to go forward and play it. Instead, I decided to block it firmly. "Damn the singles. Let me first connect the balls with my bat. That would give me confidence to play shots of the next balls". That is what I thought until the bowler let the ball go for the fourth time that over.

The fourth ball was a simple ball on the off-side, not too wide or not too close. But, it kept low. For these kind of balls, I know that I have to go across the stumps and play the ball down. "I know" is the correct word, as I never do it when it comes to actually playing such balls. I tried to slash the ball with my foot firmly in my stance position - that is with NO footwork. As the ball kept a bit low, a bit quicker aided by my 'excellent' foot work I missed to connect the ball. I ended up being just a spectator of the wicket keeper collecting the ball.

I had missed 3 balls in a row! My team mates in the pavilion started shouting advices for me. I felt the first drops of sweat in my palms. I decided to play the next off-side ball with better foot work. I even raised an arm towards the pavilion as if to say "I know what I am doing"!

The fifth ball, to my joy, was the same off-side delivery. I jumped at it and moved across the stumps this time. But alas, the ball kept low. Very very low. And I missed to connect again! I should appreciate the wicket keeper who collected the ball eventhough it was only inches above the ground.

The shouts and the cries in the pavilion had become louder by now. I did not dare to look that side anymore. I was literally praying to god that I should at least touch the next ball. God was busy attending to some elses' prayers, I suppose.

The last ball of the over was the same as the first ball, and I missed to connect again! I think I have real short memory, that I forgot what I decided two balls ago - to play solid defense against such balls. May be my ego had some part in this, as I very badly wanted to hit a boundary - just to prove that I can make up for the lost deliveries! I was not to make up anything. Instead ended up getting beaten by the sixth ball too.

Thankfully the over got over and I went to the non-striker end.

I am still not able to believe that I was beaten 5 balls straight in a match.

I am still doing some soul-searching or rather technique-searching to find out why I missed 5 balls in row. I sure do not want to end up in the same state again.

Never again. I promise, to myself.