MegaBytes vs BrownsTown: SF Game - Match Report - Rehan

Well well…..the lady luck continued her blessings upon MegaBytes as they easily went passed Brownstown with their heads high. What’s considered to be a high profile game, turned out to be a one-sided affair.
Brownstown had an early set back when they found out in the morning that their skipper Yasir couldn’t make it for this game. A substitute was called in, while Gautham was very generous to lend them one of his players to field till the substitute arrives. DCL committee did a great job in assigning two best umpires in the league (Viju and Samish) for this game, who supervised the game flawlessly.
MegaBytes won the toss and decided to bat first. Despite losing both their openers in 3rd over, they continue to play positive cricket and their batsmen keep on piling runs at a decent rate. Even the three run outs and two superb catches by Syed Akbari in the deep couldn’t stop them from getting to a decent total of 93. Praveen and Gautham played superb knocks. Goutham took full advantage of the lucky break he got when one of his shots went for a six after bouncing out of the palm of Mujahid in the deep. Matta started with a boundary and provided good support, while Aditya also rotated strikes intelligently. For Brownstown, Tariq was the pick of their bowlers taking 3 wickets.
Chasing a total of 93 is always challenging for any team against the strong Mbytes bowling attack but what Brownstown went through was a disaster. Goutham cleaned up their stand-in skipper Rehan Mallick in his first over. Brownstown never recovered from there, as runs are so hard to come by against a very disciplined bowling attack. Imran, Zia and Javed tried to bring some stability but MegaBytes bowlers continued to pick wickets while barely giving away any runs. Jeet was outstanding with the ball, claiming 3 wickets. He was very well supported by Goutham, Hari, Praveen and Binod. In the end MegaBytes bowling proved just too good for Brownstown.

For many, this game is considered as the last hurdle for MegaBytes towards the championship but it appears that there is a little twist in the tale as Juggs victory in the QF may be, just may be produce some excitement in the league. However Juggs have to see through RBCC first, before thinking of a show down with the extremely favourites ‘MegaBytes’.

MegaBytes vs Brownstown SF Game – A Preview by Rehan

I will take a leaf from Anand’s article on DCL web site published last year:
“This match up is more likely to occur in the playoffs than pimples blooming on a turbo-charged teenager's face”
Anand’s saying was as much true last year as this year and who knows for how many more years to come…….
This is Brownstown’s 6th year in DCL and their 6th clash with MegaBytes in Play-Offs (2 QF and 4 SF). For some reason the lady luck enjoys this game so much that she doesn’t want to take a chance till the Final and makes sure that these 2 meet before the big game.
MB leads the score tally in the previous 5 outings with the score of 3/2 (MB 3 – BT 2)
This year’s MegaBytes is much stronger and looked poised to wipe off any opponent (specially now with GLCC out of picture). One still feels that their destiny rests in the reliable hands of Goutham, Binod, Jeet, Hari and Raghu. But with the addition of Matta, Praveen Kumar and Aditya, they have a star studded team who have enough fire power to over come a few set backs. With a strong bowling attack backed by tall batting order, MB looks too hot to be handled and appears as favorites to take this game.
On the other hand Brownstown who had struggled much of the regular season with their team combination, have finally managed to place a full strength side in their previous outing and are expected to play the same outfit against Megs. They are coming from two comfortable run chases, albeit against much weaker bowling attacks. This will be a real test for their batsmen, specially their openers (who were phenomenal in both wins). For Brownstown Rehan Bukhari holds the key as BT will rely on him to fire with both bat and ball to claim an upset win.
Now that a GLCC/MB final is out of question, this is the most anticipated game for the DCL fans. Just like one of the fans pointed this to be more exciting than the Ind/Pak Champions Trophy game and one feels that the game of cricket will turn out as real winner, regardless of who wins the game……

FCL-2009 Final Game , EVEREST vs FUSION -FUSION won

It was a nice evening, warm weather, both teams and spectators slowly assembled, Both teams started warm up practice. Umpires arrived after some interviews and picture session, captains (Gowtham and Azeem and umpires (Phil & Ganesh) went for a toss.Toss won by FUSION & they elected to bat.Fusion went on slow pace 10 over 26 runs for no loss , but next 10 overs 9 wickets fell.Binod along with others (SATYA,GOUTHAM,RAMESH,RIAZ) did themagic (wkts) & Team (for run outs & catches)The initial partnership by opening pair is what saved FUSION from their batting strength (Malik 20,Nilesh 22). It was very nice to watch some of Nilesh and Mallik shots and some shots can be awarded to support they got from outside.The next batting line up crumbled for EVEREST fielding, bowling and keeping, except some good play from Nizar,Azeem.(NITYA,NIZAR.MUJAHID.AZEEM.MASROOR.JESTINE.AKHTAR.AMINULLAH.RAMESH)So, there were clean bowled, runouts ,caught etc..what ever we need in a cricket game. That becomes the end of first innings FUSION 68/9 in 20 OVERS.Complete Score sheet can be seen at http://www.fordcricket.org/Both Fusion and EVEREST are very confident from the begining.Azeem did lead the team very bravely into the field even for the low score they made (as compared to our normal games) .That is what every Captain has to do. Fight till the last ball with a complete team effort. FUSION entered the field started bowling ,with excellent line and length.But EVEREST team had a firing start, except for wickets they maintained the score on par with Fusion all the time. As we see in all games, there can be only be 1 winner and this year FCL-2009 it happened to be FUSION.EVEREST, did fight till the last ball after losing their TOP TOP order batsmen (Vinod, Binod,Gowtham) for FUSION pace (i.e. AZEEM,AMINULLAH,JESTINE,MUJAHID,MALIK)It was a unfortunate for YL to get out for almost a 6 ,where in Jestine took a excellent catch at the boundary line (He wears glasses and there is less light at the end, too)There were very good catches from Fusion Ramesh,Azeem and Ambuj from EVEREST from what I remember it was not easy straight 45 degree or 90 degree steep raise of scores from both the teams. It is was a roller coaster ride.At one point it was like FUSIOn was good and some times EVEREST. ( Even Until they had Ambuj at the crease).Even a very good score given by Tapinder and Riaz didn't help EVEREST. It was worth seeing Tapinder 's game.In the end with FUSION bowling attack, EVEREST got all out for 49.

Summary:Fusion beat Everest by 18 runs in a 20 overs a side game.Fusion - 67/9 in 20 oversEverest - 49 all out in 16.5 overs

Man of the Match : - Azeem (4 wickets for 7 runs)

Semi Finals - Predictions by DevanathReddy GopiReddy

MegaBytes VS Brownstown -
MegaBytes is full of STARS and Brownstown is full of PERFORMERS
BrownStown
They are equally good in both target setting and chasing.Megabytes
Meggs are good in Target setting but Very very poor in chasing.
TOSS will be Crucial -
Game will be decided by toss..if brwonstown wins the toss and decides to bats first they will be in FINALS for sure :)Brownstown Bats First - 98% chances for brownstownReasons - MegaByts is very weak in chasing..watched couple of games (vs GLCC and Strikers).They are not good in chasingMegabaytes Bats first - 50 - 50 If Megabytes bats first game will be very intresting..(it will be like watching GLCC and RBCC game again)Last but not least - Brownstown will get more support from spectators

RBCC vs ? Juggernauts or Indus - I think it will be very tight match,RBCC looks very good in chasing.My VOTE is for RBCC.I will give my exact predictions once i know the winner from Juggs and INDUS game

Brownstown vs Gladiators - QF Game

For the first time in the whole season Brownstown team played with the same combination that had won them last year's Final. I know Viju must be looking at heavens asking why us !!! But there is also another first-timer for Brownstown in this game. They were also playing their 'first ever' game at High Meadows in 2009 season. While Gladiators hold little 'home' advantage as they played their PQF game on the same venue, it didn't bother Brownstown much as they consider HM1 as one of their lucky grounds ....... Gladiators won the toss and decided to bat first on a wicket that looked like it will crumble as the game progress. Their openers started off with a bang, scoring 20 runs in 3 overs without any loss. Bodhen was on on song and played some scintillating shots. Yasir immediately turned to his ace bowler Rehan Bukhari who duly obliged by taking out Bodhen in his very first over. An unfortunate run out of Raja Gumbar followed by skipper's wicket brought a complete halt to the brisk scoring. Naeem tried to stabilize the innings but lost his wicket soon after break, triggering a middle order collapse. Gladiator's innings folded in the 20th over setting Brownstown a target of 74. Gladiators must be disappointed for not playing out the complete quota of 25 overs. Rehan Bukhari and Mujahid took 3 wickets each, while Bodhen and Naeem lead the scoring with scores of 16 and 11 respectively. Brownstown's opening pair again provided a watchful but solid start. Viju rotated his bowlers cleverly but was unable to get an early break through. Satish troubled both openers consistently and was finally able to get the break through parting a 26 runs opening stand. Two more wickets fell quickly and soon the momentum of game started to drift away from Brownstown. Raja Gumbar's canny spin bowling got rid of Rehan Bukhari after break, leaving Brownstown with 32 still needed with 5 wickets down. However it is ever reliable Javed along with Rashid who steadied the Brownstown's ship and saw the team through to the required target without any further damage. Satish and Gumbar were the pick of the bowlers for Gladiators. If Viju had one more Raja and Satish in his squad, then who knows what the end result might be ............
A word of appreciation for the two umpires (Vikas and Murugan) who supervised the game patiently and almost flawlessly.

Ford Cricket League 2009 Finals in Canton

Quarter finals

GLCC vS RBCC

RBCC beat GLCC in thriller

Megabytes Vs Strikers

Megabytes beat Strikers

Gladiators Vs Brownstown

Browonstown beat Gladiators

Indus vs Juggs

Tie match

Play offs round up - by Rehan

Rank	Team	Why
1	GLCC	GLCC still heads the table in the after math of the first round of play offs. Most of the GLCC folks were watching the RBCC/Greens game very closely. I am sure this hard work will pay off when they face RBCC in the QF game. On paper GLCC appears to be clear favorites and no one is expecting any surprise here but just by looking at the last two games that RBCC had played, GLCC can't afford to be complacent. RBCC is a team who is showing a lot of mental strength and must be felxing their muscles to cast the biggest upset of DCL 2009. However GLCC is a seasoned compaigner and will most likely come out as winner.
2	MegaBytes	Gowtham's MegaBytes will resume their journey to the title when they face Strikers in the QF. Strikers team is known for their hot and cold performances. One day they take the breath out of one team, the other day they produce an unbelievably flat performance. MegaBytes are a clear favourite to take this contest but I have a feeling that Strikers won't let them move forward without a fight. MegaBytes is a team full of Star players and any one can come out as a match winner with both bat and ball on any given day. A lot of people are expecting some magic from Gowtham and Binod to see their team through, so let's se......
3	Gladiators	Gladiators finally took the revenge of last year's QF mishap against team Lions with a comprehensive win. Shaik and Gumbar again lead the pack with both bat and ball. Outstanding bowling performance by Shashi and Reddy wasn't enough to restrict the strong Gladiators batting line-up as Glads managed to reach a healthy total which in the end proved enough. Gladiators used 8 bowlers in their defence of the total, which shows the strength in their bowling arsenal. Next up is a team whom they missed out playing in the regular season so it ends up the way Viju had predicted earlier as "It will be for all the marbles". The last time these two met in a play off, Browstown survived with a last ball win by 2 runs !!!! You can make your own predictions for this game. Surely Viju will come up with a plan to get rid of Brownstown's stubborn opening pair and it will be interesting to see how he uses his strong weapon of quality spin aka Mr. Gumbar. However i predict that it will be a contest between Brownstown's pace barrage of Rehan B, Mujahid and Javed against the big hitters Raja, Viju , Sankar and Naeem.
4	Juggernauts	Well it didn't surprise many when Juggernauts nailed down Cougars without much fuss. Juggs bowling lived up to the expectations when they bowled Cougars out for a mere 56 (lowest total off all the 6 games played). Even though Juggs lost 5 wickets while chasing, it was still a very comprehensive win. Next up is Indus which may not be an easy opponent to face. The pundits are expecting a cracker of a game and the outcome of this game is not be easy to predict. Anand and co. needs to take out Raj and Nitya early. Their batting also needs a lift in their performance against a disciplined Indus bowling attack. I will give Juggs 60-40 to win this game
5	Brownstown	Brownstown finally showed some glimpse of a defending champion. 'Bracket Contest' shows that their were quite a few predictions in favor of Falcons and rightly so, but Brownstown is known for peaking at the right time. It is however early to make this claim but they have certainly stirred up the tournament with their comprehensive win. A disciplined performance in the field followed by a solid openeing partnership is not what many (including themselves) expected. Every bowler chipped in with wicket(s) while giving away few runs. Fielding was also sharp with as many as 4 became victims behind stumps. Aravind and Rajeev tried to lift the score by playing some big shots but lack of support from the other end didn't allow this to happen. Brownstown openers see through the dangerous Rajeev and Sriknath with caution which resulted in the drop-jaw performance from the rest of the bowlers. A 50 runs opening stand pretty much sealed the deal. Next up is Gladiators who are playing top-class cricket and are blessed with quality fast bowlers along with 'Raja'. Brownstown holds the advantage though and are 60-40 favourites for this game but it all depends on how their bowling fare against a strong batting line-up.
6	Strikers	As expected Strikers took care of the STARS with ease. STARS failed to impress throughout the play-offs and their continuous slump finally resulted in their exit. Strikers are a team with energy and power. On any given day, they can surprise any team. Having shared the night tournament trophy with Falcons, they certainly have the confidence and momentum with them to face the huge chanllenge posed by Mighty Megs. Tushar, Parthiv and co. will have to produce a gem in all departments to produce an upset victory.
7	RBCC	RBCC showed their mental strength in chasing a decent total against a desciplined bowling line-up. An early top order collapse didn't produce any panic in the focussed RBCC camp. Venkat and Naveen were outstanding with the ball, while Rajesh and Praveen showed the depth in RBCC batting line-up. It was a close game all the way to the end but Rajesh and Praveen never lost their composure and saw their team through comfortably. GLCC camp was watching this game closely. They should do their home work well and need to make sure that they do not allow any such partnership going in their QF game.
8	Indus	The only survivor of the Pool Y team, that is team 'Indus' is now looking very dangerous. Looks like the knee blow (ghutne se) from Nitya to his team mates did the trick and charged them up to produce an sterling performance. Team Bridges finally fell off the bridge as their famous bowling duo failed to trigger a collapse. Naveen was the lone fighter with the bat as the early fall of Aditya and Phani resulted in a modest total. Raj Sehgal showed what an asset he is to the team with a brilliant display of resolute batting. He was well supported by Sagar. Indus team is playing like the cornered tigers and if they continue this momentum, they are poised to cast more surprises. Anand's Juggernauts needs to roll up their sleeves to face the challenge now posed by Indus. This will be a very interesting game to watch and not an easy one to predict.

Match summary - Nithya

Indus (72/5 in 19.4 overs) beat Bridges (71/9 in 25 overs)

Bridges arrived with 10 players. Kishan asked Azeem if they can field a player from Gladiators, who were playing in the adjacent ground. Azeem duly accepted the request. Bridges won the toss and elected to bat first. The very first ball of the innings was hit for a boundary by Joseph. After 2 overs, Bridges were around 11 without loss. But suddenly, against the run, they lost 2 quick wickets. This brought Aditya at the crease who lasted all of 2 balls, being caught at the boundary by Pramod. Phani soon followed to an excellent catch by Milind who was standing up to Akshat. At the break, Bridges were 38/6 and soon they were 47/8 with only one wicket remaining. This is when Naveen decided to hit out and with Bala, he added 24 valuable runs. Amidst all the tension, Milind got injured while attempting a runout reducing Indus to 10 batsmen. The Indus innings started badly and from 27/1 they were reduced to 28/4. This is when Raj played his rescue act yet again and Indus managed to win comfortably loosing only 1 more wicket in the process and with more than 5 overs to spare.

Match summary - vikas bijjam

RoyalBlues (83/5 in 24 overs) beat Greens (82/10 in 24.1 overs)

Royal Blues won the toss and elected to field. Greens started out slowly and were 26/3 during the break.
However, Greens opened up themselves after 17 overs and tried to manage a respectable score of 82 all out in 24.1 overs.
Chasing a low score and despite loosing their first 5 wickets in the first 10 overs, Royal Blues (with a gigantic batting order) never panicked.
With sensible/remarkable innings from Praveen Gujja (17 not out) and Rajesh Ineni (23 not out), they reached the target sparing 1 over.

Predictions by -Ajay Kodali

Its well know thing that any team into playoffs have tremendous potential and from here onwards nothing is labeled "luck" or "upset", all these teams are good teams and better teams win on a given day. These are my predictions in one liner; some may not match with my preferences or your preferences so please excuse me. I wish good luck to all teams. Last 4/5 years DCL witnessed one surprising team from pool-x that reached semis, only time will tell who that team is this year.

Strikers-Stars
Strikers - Good bowling strength and batting watch out for Uday and Kapil...
Juggernauts-Cougars
Juggernauts - Bowling and batting strengths against Cougars
Gladiators-Lions
I will go with Gladiators 55 to 45 chances for Lions
RoyalBlues-Greens
RBCC - 60 to 40 chances for Greens
Bridges-Indus
Indus will come out as clear winner lessons from previous matches.. Indus need to take care of Phani and Adi
Brownstown-Falcons
Winner: Brownstown
90 to 10 chances for Falcons.

Pre quarters - Game changing bowlers, "batsmen" may take lightly- Jagan

Any team that’s not giving wickets to these guys is guaranteed a win {just my opinion, no counters please :D)
Brownstown
Yahya Akbari-Syed
Slow left arm bowler maintains a tight length
RBCC
Praveen Gujja
Reminds me of the great Mohinder Amarnath
Strikers
Ashok
Has a very deceptive slower one.
Bridges
Deepesh Naidu
Line and length is his forte, varies his pace with same action.
Gladiators
Sreedhar Ambu
Has very productive off-cutter/spinner.
Indus
Milind Kulkarni
Bowls slow, some of his low full tosses are very dangerous and tempting resulting in wickets.
Falcons
Piyush
Watch out for him
Stars
Yogesh Mittal
Bowls with lot of energy.
Greens
Ezhil Vivekanandan
Hit me please kind of bowler and its going to be miss hit 9 out of 10 times.
Juggernauts
Anand
Can bowl six different balls in an over.
Lions
Shashidhar Reddy
capable of running thru the line up

My Favorite Cricketers - DCL 2009 by Jagan

Nithya - Indus

Mr Gilly of DCL, makes umpire's life easy.


Yasir - Brownstown

The way he encourages youngsters in his team makes him special. He never changes his voice with the out come of the match, "Shabash .. shabash" echoes the ground no matter its "win" or "loss" . Great to have him in DCL. Sorry more than one liner.. L


Vikas Bijjam - RBCC

I have only one sentence for him, a "Must watch Talent in DCL". Great all rounder.

Visha Patel - Gladiators

Always smiling and take it easy type, wonderful left arm medium pacer.

Raghu Tadi – Mega Bytes

A silent killer and most under rated all rounder.

Aditya Bommaraju – Bridges

Yuvaraj Singh of DCL ? or Shewag of DCL ?

Rajesh Chintapalli- Cougars

A great all rounder with no nonsense

Bala – Juggernauts

DCL Thunder, I call him Jonty.

Poorna Chandra – Greens

Game changer anytime. Great hitter of the ball and I don't have to talk about his bowling.

Kondal – A2C2
Slow and steady wins the race, no no pardon me … takes the wickets.

Raghu Kurapati – DarkHorses

Excellent all rounder, MVP of 2004 finals.

Kothandaram Sethuram – Stars

Upcoming star of DCL

Parthiv Mehtha – Strikers

Owners pride neighbors envy, Onida of DCL.. lol

Ambuj Mathur – VisionPhoenix

One of the top wicket keepers in DCL

Srikanth – Falcons
Everybody talks about his bowling, watch out!! he is one of the best clean hitters of T-ball.

Ashraf Rajguru
Great teacher of the game.

Spiders

My man Jadhish, very energetic.

Ghutne Se...on Indus - By Nitya

Jagan asked me for an article for his blog, specifically for the Dil Se series. When Rehan conceived the Dil Se Series, it was intended to recognize all those great guys of our esteemed league who are underrated yet effective. Now, I have been part of Indus right from its very inception, and even then I had to literally scratch my head hard to think about someone in my own team, who qualifies for at least one of the superlatives that Rehan was looking for when he started the series. One need not be an astronaut to grasp the fact that none of us are underrated (we are an overrated bunch of losers) none of us are effective and lastly but more importantly, none of us can even pretend to look like a "great". I realized that it would take me ages to do a 'Dil Se' on any one individual from Indus, so I decided to do a 'Ghutne Se' on the whole team that is Indus.

First of all, a lil bit of history about the team. As the name suggests, Indus is a team of old laggards whose great ancestors formed the Indus valley civilization. For the historically challenged, it is a team comprising of individuals who migrated from the Indian subcontinent all the way to US...India, US...Ind-us, now u get it...Our first year in DCL was way back in the summer of 2001. Our performance was so horrific and so anti-Christ that before the next summer we had to confess our sins in the confession box, where the priest pleaded the Lord to forgive us, for we did not know what we did last summer.
The Lord smiled on us in the summer of 2002 or so it seemed before the 'Hand of God' moment of DCL brought us crashing from the heavenly plateaus of being a DCL finalist to the lowly craters of being just another semi-finalist. Only this time, the 'Hand of God' involved no hand when there should have been one. Vijay and Jagan were witness to this cataclysmic event. We were jumping with joy on our battered limbs when suddenly we heard 'KNAT A KNOW' in typical South-Indian-American accent. Now before all the South Indians jump on me, let me warn you , I am a south Indian myself...South Indian, South Indian...bai bai...wokay...
Even after 7 years, the 'KNAT A KNOW' ki goonj still encircles and occasionally bombards the labyrinth of my ear, just as the 'thappad ki goonj' did to a certain Dr. Dang about 23 years back. It didn't help that the Lord of the goonj embraced me the next time we met and apologized for his goonj. Since then, we have been overwhelmed in 3 Quarter Finals and a Pre-quarterfinal and we are still searching for our moment of truth, that elusive place in the DCL Finals.

Now, allow me to introduce you to the members of the team. I will focus primarily on those who are eligible for the playoffs, Bridges, you are not allowed to read any further...

Azeem - The captain of the ship. He is the gentlest person in the team, Harish from Gladiators (previously an Indie or Indusite) can vouch for that. He is an emotional person and wears his heart, liver and intestine on the sleeve in the playfield. He is very good in pressure cooker situation...probably all the valuable experience in the kitchen during his bachelorhood comes to the fore. The team realizes it and makes sure that he is always under pressure by the time he comes to bat. I have to go gentle on him, otherwise he can make sure that I always bat under pressure and I am not that good in the kitchen, infact I suck big time.

Milind - The very first captain of the team, the team owes its name to him. A good bowler and a very good batsman with very few runs and even fewer wickets to show. Someone from GLCC once mentioned that they were afraid of Milind the bowler. I guess, they used to overestimate his slower ones to be too slower for their own comfort. Last year when I marshaled the team, I ensured that his bowling career suffered the same way as my long time aspiration to become an all-rounder did under his astute captaincy. Then, Masters happened, followed closely by Harsha and the rest as they say is Geography.

Sagar - Very good fielder and the leading bat of the team since the last season. He would have done a pretty good job in the US immigration department, for anything at a couple of feet distance on every side of him has to deal with him first. A good batsman upfront, he is well adept at driving, especially when he is behind the wheels of his new Mazda 3. His best movements are usually in the form of warm-ups before the game when he, in tandem with Milind, does the 'punjirithanji konjikko munthiri muththoli chindhikko' dance routine from the jiya jale song in Dil Se. It has to be seen to be believed.

Nizar - An all-rounder in shape, size and attitude. Not sure, if it is the reputation enhanced by the word of mouth, but when he comes to bat, at least 4 players are exiled to the confines of the boundary. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he has an unusual aversion for anything which is round and covered by seam, as his every swing is intended to send the object crashing out of the park. The purpose behind the method less madness appears to be to put the fear of God or Death in the minds and hearts of the opponent, depending on their inclination. I am not sure about the opponents, but we make sure that we arrive in seamless pants.

Masroor - Once upon a time, one of the opening bowlers of the team along with an extremely capable batsmen possessing rare genre of footwork and handiwork, which cannot be traced anywhere in the coaching manual. Then one fine summer, he went to India, got bowled over and got married, returned with a paunch and since then his bowling lost some of its zip. If he gets going, he is quite capable of sending the ball to every nook and corner of the ground. Imagine setting a field to a batsman when the batman himself does not know where he is going to hit the ball.

Madhu - The one with the long arm, long legs and an even longer name. Uses his height to great effect to extract bounce with his sharp turning off spinners. The only problem is that we practically field with 9 players in the over prior to Madhu's over. Because of his long name, it takes Azeem about an over to let Madhu know that he will be bowling next.

Anand - Anand along with Nityanand makes Indus a "happy" place to be in. A steady batsman and a capable bowler. Sometimes he is so steady that the scoreboard appears to be steady. Likes to earn his wickets and dislikes taking more than 3 wickets.

Jestine - The workhorse of the team, a devastating bowler on his day. He thinks of himself to be a better batsman that what his captain thinks about his batting abilities. He always has his hopes high on being 'just in' to bat, but the captain sends all his hopes crashing by handing him the score sheet at the start of the innings. Sometimes, he tends to be very hard on himself as every seemingly mistake on his part is accompanied by an earth shattering 'shaaaaaaaaaaaaa'.

Pramod - Shetty bhai...An 'open' person to be around and an 'open' batsman, the one who never 'opens' the batting. Only the Indus members and some of the Cougars ( if they happened to pay any attention to our nonsensical ramblings ) know about his 'open'ness. Possessesing all the strokes in his repertoire and a lovely batsman to watch, but only in the nets, coz he hardly seems to score any runs in the matches.

Raj - carried the burden of the team in the whole of Pool Y and took the team to the playoffs almost single-handedly. Since this is his first year with the team, we made sure that he felt comfortable and at home by allowing him to do what he has been doing all these years with Thunderbolts - waging a lone battle. In case anyone is wondering about the mystery behind all the goody goody stuff written about him, well there is a reason behind it, there always is...I cant risk being on the wrong side of him as he is quite capable of forming his own team or to be precise, reviving the 'Thunderbolts'.

Akshat - The baby in a team full of oldies and hence always bullied around by everyone. He always seems to be on some mystery diet, though the effectiveness and the efficiency of the diet is transparent to everyone but himself. He is a bundle of energy with his child like enthusiasm, takes lots of wickets with his fastish shooting offspinners. He can bat pretty well and tends to show a great deal of footwork, the only thing being, his feet are sometimes at the right place at the wrong time and many other times, at the wrong place at the right time.

Akhtar - Has all the strokes in the book and plays them with a lazy elegance much to the chagrin of his own teammates. He is unlucky that the playing rules allow only 11 players to play the game. He is a mind reader in the sense that he reads the opposition very well and plays according to the situation which usually tends to benefit the opposition.

Nitya - Egomaniacal and narcissistic...thinks highly of himself as a batsman, but rarely ever delivers the goods...which led Azeem to take over the responsibility of gatorade and water on himself. Did a good job of pretending to be a good fielder before he broke his back doing absolutely nothing. There are rumours in the team that he might be jacking up his scores while entering them on the website. Even then, he rarely manages to reach double figures. He successfully managed to fool the DCL Committee, which awarded him the decent player of the league and handed him a bottle of champagne as a reward for his pretension. Now, who awards liqour to a decent person, well, come to think of it, gotta give credit to the committee, for only a decent person can manage to keep liquor as a memento...hmmmmmmmm....you wish....

Everything that starts, ends up ending somewhere. For now, this article seems to be heading towards its end. Lekin Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost....Before concluding, let me tell you that even though this writeup was intended to insult and humiliate anyone and everyone, please dont take it to heart, as this didnt come straight from the heart, it came straight ghutne se......

Dil Se - By Ashraf Rajguru about Ajay Merchant

Silent Assassin & Sharp Shooter – Ajay Merchant
The DCL Founder, i believe if not then definitely one of the Founders of DCL League - which was started in the 90’s, Ajay Merchant has been the creator of GLCC (Great Lakes Cricket Club) team and the pillar of the many a victories and championships acquired by GLCC and other teams (Chrysler) before that. I feel it’s appropriate to recognize this person who had a major share in starting DCL league which so many people enjoy today playing Cricket currently and who is the proud owner of highest number of DCL championships (to my knowledge). GLCC has the privilege of having the talent and resources of Ajay Merchant as an opener along with other Ajay (who is currently leading the Cougars charge), a fielder and a great thinker and mentor. Having the two Ajay’s open for us was similar to having M&M’s, every one of us wanting more and more of them.

When you talk about GLCC you generally think of the Vijay’s, Srini’s and the Samish’s, but Ajay M has gone unnoticed performing week after week throughout his career span with DCL of 14 years. I’m sure he is delighted to have Happy Memories of DCL Victories along with the showcase of the Trophies at Home, indirectly assisting him to also get permission from the Home Boss to play for one more year every year. He has been an integral part of the GLCC core for a long time and will continue to do so irrespective of his age.

For those of you guys who still can’t recollect Ajay M, just think of guy who has the flourishing cover drive in the DCL league, if that doesn’t compute then think of the guy with the Orange cap in GLCC team I know that’s easy. He mostly keeps a low profile being reserved but is a very humble and helpful person. In many of the victories – he has single handedly stood against the fearsome formidable attacks. 8 times out of 10, Ajay has provided a stable openings platform allowing other batsmen to play freely where he would anchor one end, Megs will testify to his approach in the 2007 Finals where he single handedly stood against their Attack which consisted of the great Jeet, Ranga, Gautam, Raghu & Binod. He has continued to be a useful bowler providing breakthroughs whenever needed, but has not been bowling enough these days. Ajay Merchant is a hardcore Team man ready to do whatever is needed for the team.

One striking feature of Ajay in the field is that he provides excellent fielding support (like a cheetah) in the field, putting some of the younger Team members to shame with his diving and catching. His Mantra “Catches wins Matches” has made GLCC strive better in the field.

There have been instances where I have been a witness to some DCL members in the past pointing out Ajay's slow play but what would they know to have so many trophies in their showcase. I feel bad for them. It’s been Ajay’s resolute Temperament that no one has yet been able to get under his skin on the field. There have been too many incidents where Ajay has made GLCC proud and will need hours to recount them. Ajay has tremendous experience and knows which shots to avoid when playing with t-ball. Even though he possesses every shot in the book, he plays only the ones that give him high returns with low risk. Most teams make a mistake of assuming that he doesn't have enough BIG shots to score quickly but who needs the Big strokes when you can milk the bowling like his sweetly timed drives on both sides of the wicket.

Ajay was also made honorary Chief Guest in the Night Tournament conducted by Hamid and Rehan Mallick in 2008.

Some of the memorable moments:

Ajay was the spearhead of GLCC batting in the years 2003 and 2004 when GLCC won back to back cups. In that time, he played through (25 overs or the whole innings) numerous times. He along with Ajay C are my best opening pair in DCL history.

Ajay's 17 was the top score for any GLCC batsman in 2004 finals. Taking on the best bowling attack in the league - Megabytes. He made sure that GLCC reached a respectable score after a top order collapse.

Then again in 2007, he stuck to the wicket for 17 overs to see GLCC through against some hostile Megabytes bowling.

GLCC vividly remembers some of his breathtaking catches that have triggered the opposition collapses. He is especially dangerous when he has missed out on his batting.


Ajay - We look forward to many more special innings from you and Special Thanks to Mrs. Ajay Merchant (Hetal) for allowing Ajay to continue be a part of us.