| The sporting hub of Jakarta, Gelora Bung Karno, witnessed the arrival of a new sport this weekend with the inauguration of the cricket facilities on Saturday. Two invitational teams faced-off under lights to celebrate the memories and contributions of Dhiraj Nagpal, JCA’s longest serving treasurer who had sadly left us in June.
Many senior (veteran) cricketers dusted off their cricketing gear and came together on Saturday night to relive memories, discuss weight-loss programs, lament the state of cricket currently & show glimpses of their glory days of cricket. Bunty Nagpal led one team of players a lot of whom had been or are still a part of WPP India XI, which was the cricketing home for Dhiraj for many years. William Noronha led the other, relatively more youthful side. Lack of coins prompted a ‘card-toss’ which was duly won by Bunty who chose to bat first as the Lights started taking effect. Avakash Lohia opened the batting and immediately show-cased the importance of reach (be it business, social or limbic) as his hits initiated the first tests of the size of the ground. At the other end, Subhash, who played most of his cricket before helmets were conceived, was understandably confused on how to put them on and this prompted several cosmetic interruptions. Some misfields ensue as the lights play their tricks on unsuspecting eyes, a few catches are dropped, as this would serve to re-assure Dhiraj that nothing has changed much here on the ground Lack of a score-card and age-induced fading of memory means that this match report will be riddled with several discontinuities and puzzling lack of coherence. Bear with me as I resume with when a very young Sampath Kumar comes in to bat and takes a liking for an even younger Deepak Singh. Boundaries are pushed, some shattered as Sampath lets loose. A sublime, 6 over extra-cover stands out in a galaxy of many hits as Bunty’s XI end their innings with a huge 200+ score. The mid-innings break prompts more nostalgia with discussions continuing on how it all began at the JCA and verves to how Dhiraj through his years of financial prudence (Sindhithrift) ensured we had enough money to spend getting this ground ready. Quite aptly, Afie, the General manager of Cricket Indonesia presents a trophy to recognize Dhiraj’s contributions to the development of the game in the country. The second innings resumes and Bunty’s XI re-live Dhiraj’s truly empowering, democratic style of captaincy where every member of the team has a say in the field setting in every ball of the over. 200+ is a lot to chase and Willy’s XI are not able to make a strong start. Anwar Pasha’s bowling skills are discovered as he claims 3 wickets from 4 balls, missing a trick. With the inevitable win looming, Dhiraj decides to shower the game with his blessings as rain pours down but spreads very slowly across the ground, much like how Dhiraj would have walked to mark his bowling run-up Thanks to all who attended and the many who passed on their best wishes. |
