Avoiding their place in the sun

Spend as little time as possible out in the middle” was the advice given to the Collage Club side before match against Delhi Police Cricket Club (DPCC). On Monday, that bit of advice made complete sense for all matches being held across the Capital, in the DDCA Hot Weather tournament. On the day of the Summer Solstice — that time of the year when sun stays out the longest — the mercury read 45 degrees, while Delhi’s club cricketers slugged it out amidst the swirling dust clouds.
Most teams that won the toss fielded first without even considering the wicket, making the most of the relatively milder morning conditions. “Keeping in mind the fitness level of our players, we decided to field first since it becomes hard to field in such a hot temperature,” said Ravinder Singh of Roopnagar Club. Delhi’s hot weather season may have been designed to boost endurance levels, but the players paced themselves, committing as little energy as possible.
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In the match between Collage and DPCC, fielders were rotated and on several occasions would get off the field, fill up on glucose water, rest under the sanctuary of the roofed pavilion and reluctantly head back onto the field.
In the match between KG Colts and Roopnagar Club,the seamers — sureall as it seems — bowled spin. All these measures provided only some relief as bowlers generally bowled halfheartedly, fielders moved around listlessly and dropped catches by the dozen.
Apart from their playing patterns, players took precautions to ensure their complexions were spared the effects of heat. With face and arms slathered in white sunscreen, a cold wet towel around his neck and sunshades wrapped around his eyes, a KG Colts player was just the prototype to beat the heat. “I need all these things when I step onto the field since my skin reacts to heat. And moreover, these things provide comfort.” Bermudas and slippers remained the customary uniform of the players in the pavilion.
If wasn’t only the fielders who felt the intense heat, the batsmen too cut many ends. They scored as much as possible in boundaries, keeping the running between the wickets to a minimum. Collage opener Mukul Dagar scored 44 of his 50 runs from fours while KG Colt’s Saurabh Srivastava hit the bulk of his 117 runs from boundaries. “It is an exhausting job to run and score because one gets dehydrated very quickly. The heat accumulates and the body starts cramping, which is a tough situation to face in the middle,” said Srivastava.
The best option though, was to not get under the sun at all. Rameez Nemat, the regular Collage opener, who has been in excellent form this season, decided to stay inside the pavilion and let Abhinav Kataria go out to bat. Sitting under a fan, with his feet up on a stool, Nemat watched the batsmen in the middle. “I want to give the other batsmen a chance to bat as well,” he said, tongue firmly in cheek.
Eventually though, the situation forced Kataria to get out into the middle and help chase down the target. Under his able guidance, Collage trotted to an eight-wicket victory, but there was nobody for Kataria to celebrate with. His teammates preferred to cheer from the cool confines of the dressing room, away from searing heat.
Elsewhere, umpires Promod Sood and Moidin, on their own devised a way to shelter themsleves and the U-19 hopefuls in the trial match that was being played at the Bharat Nagar grounds on Monday. With the sun beating down heavily, and the boys complaining, umpires decided to take a break of roughly one hour, with only 10 overs bowled in the second innings. Subsequently, they took drinks break every ten overs or so.

The passing of a wrestling legend

Underneth the jamun tree inside the Chandgi Ram ka Akhada in Civil Lines, is a mounted photograph of the man in all his glory. The photograph was taken after he won the Mahabharat Kesari title, the ultimate triumph in traditional Indian wrestling. The six-footer is posing on one knee with a mace, the weapon of Lord Hanuman, balanced effortlessly on his shoulder. Chandgi Ram, the legendary wrestler and coach who died early Tuesday morning of a heart attack at the age of 72, stares out past the mourners straight into the training room of his akhada.
While the menfolk have left for the cremation at Nigamboddh Ghat, the women are silent. Many of them are wrestlers themselves. Chandgi Ram not only coached, he housed and fed a number of chelas (students), including 25 women and until a couple of years back would organise ‘dangals’ for them at the Kashmere Gate maidan. Kamlesh, the oldest amongst them at 26, says: “Guru hi nahin, voh pitah samaan the (He was not just a teacher, but a father figure)”. Two girls walk in carrying their kit bags, back from a tournament in Nainital. One of them, Pushpa, is overcome with emotion and sits silent in front of an old photograph of her Guru locked in combat with Dara Singh.
After his cremation, the men slowly start filing in. Broken noses, cauliflowered ears and bull necks abound. One of them walks in swinging a fractured leg. The muscle belies the fact that there is serious wrestling talent present. Guruji, as Chandgi Ram was known, coached seven Arjuna awardees, all of whom are present. Sushil Kumar, the Olympic bronze medalist, too comes to pay his respects.
The akhada itself is in a serious state of disrepair. The roof of its training area, a large hall-like structure is covered in brambles and has cracks along its unplastered walls. Inside, the equipment is rudimentary — a training mat and a few sparring bodyforms.
The heart of his akhada, a mud pit where students still sweat it out, is an anachronistic relic in an age of gym machines that target each muscle specifically. If the akhada is rudimentary, the tools are spartan. Training has been put off for the day. The pit is empty, and the students restless. But they are ready to get back on. Jagdish Kaliraman, Changdi Ram’s eldest son, says: “My father used to say that God has sent him for one purpose, wrestling. One of his students was forced to come for training a day after his wedding. Training will continue as usual, that is his legacy.”

Kicking football one day flipping burgers another

Bawi does not get much chance to practice for his side Delhi Cantt. Practice sessions at the Hari Nagar Sports complex are held on Sundays, the only day he doesn’t get off from McDonalds. “Sundays are rush days no one can get an off day on that day,” the midfielder explains before the start of the DSA Division A match against Youngsters FC at the Ambedkar Stadium.
Bawi, 23 came to Delhi five years back from his hometown in Manipur to live with his relatives in Munirka, ostensibly to study. “I filled up the form for the Public Administration course from IGNOU, but never attended any class,” he says. “Coming to Delhi I had to do three things — study, work and play football. I only had time for two. My parents weren’t going to send me money, so I had to work, and football was not negotiable so I played,” he says.with a chuckle
A few months after slumming it with his cousin, Bawi decided to move out and currently lords it with two others in his Rs 3000 rented accommodation in Vikaspuri. There he joined the Lengtong Club, a club comprising other North-Easterners as well some Burmese expats. Soon a friend who plays for the Uttaranchal Heroes, a club that plays in Division A of Delhi’s football league, got him a trial in that club. After a year, Bawi moved to the Delhi Cantt club.
When he isn’t playing, Bawi will usually be in the kitchen of the McDonalds, Vikaspuri outlet. “I make burgers,” he says. “For the first month I was mopping the floor and on toilet duty. Now I am a senior, so I work in the kitchen and sometimes the counter.”
His manager supports him and gives him an off-day whenever the football season begins and agrees to move his mid-day shift to a night shift for when he plays for Lengtong. “He is a big soccer fan. Some times he jokes with me saying, when you play for the Indian team, I will say you once worked for me!” However timings become difficult to manage during training sessions and Bawi says the practice session he had with Delhi Cantt before the match on Monday was his only he had in the recent past.
While he says his dream is to play professionally, Bawi adds his Rs 22 an-hour pay cannot be a long term proposition. Although Hindustan Club showed interest in him early this year, he missed a hastily called trial which was called when he was in the middle of playing a local match for Lengtong.
In Bawi’s match for Delhi Cantt against Youngsters FC, the latter team won by a solitary goal struck in the 25th minute by Rajinder Singh. In an another match, Moonlight and Veterans FC settled for a 1-1 draw.Rameez from Moonlight scored the first goal in the 20th minute while Anish found the equaliser for Veterans in the 22nd minute.

(I did'nt carry a camera for this match, so couldnt take a picture. Renuka Puri took an action shot that came in Newsline)