Cricket – Dehli

Cricket.

In a secluded alleyway, an open courtyard, a large field, on a sidewalk, behind a temple, it wasn’t hard to find. Kids rotating their shoulders furiously before disengaging a ball–the action instantaneously followed by a small pop! Against the dirt. A crackling noise shakes the air, followed by nervous shouting and sandals pounding the ground at full tilt. The other team scrambles and screams while the two runners exchange positions once…and then twice, a desperate fielder hurling it indiscriminately towards the wickets, where the throw is proved inaccurate as the ball skitters uselessly to the side. The other team is pensive for a few moments, recognizing the loss, maybe muttering to each other what they could’ve done better, preparing for the next pitch.

The next batter picks up the heavy, unwieldy bat and adopts the standard position.

I am the next batter. Apprehensive, shifting constantly like a fish out of water, I look to Greer, then to the bowler. He runs up, doing all of those shoulder-injury-inducing motions before releasing the ball……almost reluctantly, as if suddenly realizing my identity, the guilt biting him at the last moment. No matter. As if I am paddling through a thick cream, the bat meanders slowly forward while I feel my head lift over my shoulder to watch the ball bounce off into the distance. Failure.

The previous day I’d asked our friend, Dinesh, many questions about the sport, which had resulted in an invitation to play with his son, also my age, along with the rest of the neighborhood. After a long train ride, a clunky auto-rickshaw journey, and a few minutes walk he brought us into his world…

We ate an extraordinary meal, talked and talked about the inner workings of India, until Dinesh’s son told us that it was time for cricket!

Like our previous failures with the Bedouins, we were out of practice….but this time simply because we never had been IN practice.

As the other team realized that competition was non-existent and they clearly held the upper hand, they used the opportunity to try different techniques and rear back their level of play. In the end, Slugger Greer pulled out 20 or so consecutive runs for a ‘victory.’

As with the Bedouins, we once again severed the formalities by pounding the dirt, choking on dust, sprinting, and acting like humans act given a ball, a bat, whatever–this time a new, unfamiliar combination of the afore. At any rate, cricket still qualifies as a pretty universal behavior not really prone to fluctuation over time…and is another ‘combo’ that helps unlock new paradigms all over the world.

-Leland