Hello and welcome to this new edition of CricketQuota where we sit down with a fan of the game for a conversation.
This week on the newsletter we have Manas Deep.
Hi Manas! Please tell our readers a bit about you? Who are you? What do you do? Of course, when and where did the cricket bug bite you?
Hello! I am a school junior of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who fancied himself as India's answer to Wasim Akram . My Cricketing journey did take me till University and national corporate level, however any hopes of becoming Waz were dashed when I was told I was " flighted fast " bowler at best! My playing dreams having come crashing, I still dream of participating in international Cricket by donning the Umpire's hat someday.
What were your first impressions? How old were you?
I must have been around 7 years, when I scored some 20 odd runs in a muhalla level Cricket match against the bowling of some very senior bhaiyyas ( obviously bowling slower to me ) to win my team the game .
Mohalla games eh! Many a careers have started in the tiny gallis of our mohallas! Anyway, moving on, let us get into the specifics. Who was, or rather is, your favourite batter?
Sachin Tendulkar , without a question. Those who have any doubts, watch that 18 year old scoring 2 centuries in the tour to Australia in 92 at a time when most senior pros we're finding it impossible to play the Aussie pace attack. The desert storm being my favourite Sachin inning among the many other great ones Among women, the choice has to be our legend Mithali Raj .
and what about bowler? You did mention Wasim.
Wasim Akram , of course ! The 1992 WC final being one of my all time favourite spells of his. Once again, an Indian is on top when it comes to the women - who else but our very own Jhoolan Di !
A match that you will never forget. The place. The people.
The 2007 T20 world cup final . Watched it in my Engineering final year days with my mates in the hostel. Enough said.
Oh well. I did the same. WC Finals in the hostel mess. Enough said indeed. What about the tragic moments? Biggest cricketing heartbreak? Got any or is it cricket is the winner?
1996 world cup semi final and that Sachin stumping - I do believe he could have still won the match for us .
Alright, pick your best desi Test team. Preferably with people you have seen or followed.
Gavaskar/ Sehwag/ Dravid / Sachin/ Kohli/ Laxman/ Dhoni/ Kapil/ Srinath / Zaheer / Kumble
Interesting. How about your Ideal commentator?
Although my favourite is Mark Nicholas, the man for action filled moments has to be Ian Smith - that 2019 world cup final commentary is unbelievable.
Manas, have you ever seen a match live? Tell the readers about it.
2011 World Cup, India vs SA at Jamtha, Nagpur . The joy of having seen SRT score a century was short-lived , as we had a shock middle and lower order batting collapse and some really poor bowling cost us the game in the last over . Dale Steyn with his 5 for (some of them gifted to him by us) was the MOM .
An encounter with a cricketer?
Was lucky enough to get a 5 minute one to one chat time with my school senior (Dhoni), the very next day after the trailer of his biopic was released. Will remember that forever.
Your favourite cricket writers
Rohit Brijnath, Vijay Lokapally, Gideon Haigh, Sharada Ugra .
Podcast - 22 yarns with Guarav Kapoor, 81 all out by Sidvi, Edges and Sledges . Youtubers - RobeLinda, Jai Galgali , Amit Sinha .
One overrated cricket opinion
That Virat Kohli is a great captain
One underrated cricketing opinion
Inzamam was as good if not better than the others of his time
Thanks for reading!
that is all for this edition. Let us know what you make of this new segment on the newsletter.
Reminder:
If movies, music, and podcasts are your thing, check out our other newsletter
and
Join our Discord server for some extra fun
Any typos you came across were totally on purpose :)
If you have read all the way here then do subscribe.