A DREAM COMES TRUE.... MANNAVA SRIKATH PRASAD

Popularly known among Cricketing Circles as M.S.K. PRASAD was born on 24^th April 1975 in a small village called Medikondur of Guntur dt. To Mr. Ravi Prasad and Mrs. M. Kamaladevi.M.S.K’s own Story…… Due to my fathers employment in AGMARK (Agriculture Marketing Dept.) in Guntur we had to shift our family from village to Guntur.I joined school (Kendriya Vidyalaya, Guntur) in the year 1980. In first standard. I used to be very active and agile in games. I was equally good in studies. Seeing my interest in sports one of my unforgettable friend Muneer Ahmed introduced me to a coach Mr. K. Purnachandra Rao of district sports authority stadium. The first question he asked me was which Dept. in cricket do I like the most. My instant answer was wicketkeeping. He was very happy to hear that since there was no wicketkeeper in his coaching camp. He immediately admitted me and started concentrating on me a lot. He liked my sincerity and soon I became his favourite student. After 3 months of coaching I was selected in the under 12 Guntur district to participate in the state selection matches. In one of the matches I effected 6 stumpings. The chairman of the state selection committee ran in to the ground and lifted me on his shoulders. The same match was witnessed by Mr. N.Venkata Rao, our honorable secretary for Andhra Cricket Association. On that day he announced that this boy is going to play for India in future and he is going to make Andhra Cricket Proud. His words gave immense confidence & inspiration. I have been living with dreams of playing for India. I literally started living in the ground putting hundred and hundreds of hours into practice. It was a tough decision when my parents asked me to choose be tween cricket and studies when I was in tenth standard. Generally in Andhra only those people would take up sports who are very poor in studies. Society here always looks down upon the sportsmen. But still the spark in me always told me that I am going to represent India and serve the country for a long Time. So I told my parents that cricket is primary and Studies are secondary for me. Though it was difficult but still my parents happily welcomed my decision and started encouraging me. I also got full support from my elder Brother Srinivas and younger sister SudhaRani.>At 16 years I became fairly popular among the youth in south Zone. I was rated among the top 10 young cricketers in 1990. I was given scholarship by the board for having represented Andhra in all the junior age group (U-12, 15,16 19,21,23) beforeI made my Ranjidebut. A season later I made my Duleep Trophy debut I got five catches and scored 40 and 4 in that match.Meanwhile I joined India Cement Limited in Chennai, Where I got tremendous encouragement from Management and players. Our captain Mr. V.B. Chandra Sekhar gave me enormous encouragement. He always used to give me valuable tips and tell me that I am India material. My proud moment came when I first got selected for India ‘A’ for SAARC Tournament held at Bangladesh in 1997. Due to the absence of regular openers our coach Mr. K. Srikanth asked me whether I can open against he likes of Md. Zahid (quickest Bowler in the world), Azar Mehmood, Aquib Zaved, Khabeer Khan, and MD. Hussan of Pakistan. I immediately replied him back “yes I well open” next day in the match Pakistan got all-out for 240 in which I have taken two catches and effected two stumpings. When we started chasing I opened with Bombay’s Wasim Jaffer. Unfortunately our team collapsed to 25 for 6 wickets but I remained not out on the other end. Then I had a good partnership with Sairaj Bahutule of 120 runs. But soon we lost all the wickets on the other end but I carried my bay through. That day Srikanth told me that I possessed perfect basics and oneday I will become a very good wicket keeper Batsman for India. I also toured Pakistan with K.Srikanth for a test series. I was the highlight of the final Test, which we won at Karachi both the innings we were struggling at 50 for 6 when I went in to bat but I responded positively with 58 and 64 in first & second inning respectively and finally we went on to win the Test Match. After this match Srikanth told the press that Prasad is now ready to play for India. Meanwhile on May 22^nd 1997 I got married to my childhood friend and classmate Prasanthi, who was then doing her 4^th year Medicine.The happiest moment of my life was when I first got selected to play for India. It was a triangular one day series between India, Bangladesh and Kenya. I made my debut against Bangladesh on May 15^th 1998, in Mohali. Indeed it was my dream day. It was also a dream day for Andhra Cricket association because I was the first player to represent India since its inception 50 years ago. Along with my parents, wife, coach the person who was most delighted was Mr. N. Venkatarao. The honorable secretary of Andhra Cricket Association. So this is my little dream which came true. I always believed in hard work. I used to believe that hundreds and hundreds of hours that I used to spend on field would definitely be rewarded because I am a firm believer in God. Today I am happy after playing 6 Test Matches and 17 Oneday Internationals. I also believe that this is only a beginning of my career, I have a long way to go in career. I dedicate what all I have achieved so far in my career at almighty’s lotus feet.


The strong Paki contingent led by Asif Iqbal had arrived in India for a full Test series. Indian public was thirsty for blood and revenge after the Pakis had trounced the Indians only a year back on their home grounds. This was a different ball game as it was India's turn to enjoy the home advantage. The first test at Bangalore was drawn and the second test to be played at Feroze Shah Kotla ground. The squad comprised of the flamboyant Imran Khan, Zaheer Abbas also known as the Asian Bradman and the ever-dangerous Street Fighter- Javed Miandad besides Mudassar and the lanky medium pacer Sikandar Bakht, funnily too skinny for a fast bowler. I decided to watch the match and took a train to Delhi to stay at my cousin's place. Once I reached at my cousin's place in Ashok Vihar, I was simply astonished to see the level of excitement. There was a gang of 40 guys who were all clustered in a group. The tickets had been bought a fortnight before the match. They were all geared up to be there at Feroze Shah Kotla the next day. Next day, we hired a Tonga and saw the walled city sleeping under the quilts of silence from the backseat. Finally, we reached our destination, our own Kotla, the venue for that day's match. We were simply aghast to see a crowd of 10,000 already lined up in queues. Notwithstanding the chill and the cold weather, I too joined them to get my share of the spectacle in front of the entry gate. A huge push and pull and finally we were able to get seat. It was about six in the morning and pitch dark. The only thing we could see was the flashing teeth of Seetharamiya, the famous groundsman. We could hear people talking about cricket, the cricket strategies that they should adopt, Kapils' latest move and Mudassar's action to counterfeit it. Not just that, Imran Khan's alleged affair with the then beauty queen Zeenat Aman. Soon time passed and by 10 am the stadium, which was meant for a seating capacity of 35,000, was jam-packed by near about 40-45,000 people. Anyone venturing to enter the Stadium after 10 would have to face the wrath of the public, as they would start throwing banana and orange peels on people arriving after 10. Chants of Kapil- Kapil reverberated in the air. People from all walks of life, whether the young boys of my age, children, or elder people, all desperately wanting to wish him luck, to touch him, to congratulate him, to shake hands with him and some even to touch their big fella's feet. Crowd cheering and shouting out Kapil's name was reminiscent of the Chandra-Chandra chant in the Eden Gardens, which used to stifle the opposition. Kapil had become a household name in a span of just 2 years. Every single person talked of him so confidently as if they knew him personally. The hero stood upto everybody's expectations too. With just three runs in hand, the Pakis had to lose their first wicket and kudos to our own Kapsi (As fondly addressed by his team -mates) A mere ten runs more and lo, the second wicket too gone. Whether it was the opening tremble of Majid Khan who got out for a duck or the nervous nineties of Wasim Raja, who went back to the pavilion for 97, nobody could stay in forever, with Kapil at the bowling end. Javed Miandad was castled plump in front of wicket by Karsan Ghavri. Soon enough Asif Iqbal was gone after offering same kind of resistance by scoring a fifty. Imran too was bundled out cheaply. Pakistan could barely score 250 odd runs. That day was certainly Kapil's. You call it his lucky day or yet another day in cricketing history when he emerged as a hero. My visit to Delhi was certainly successful one. I saw my hero in action in spirit and form. Moreover, not just me, the whole country saw their hero live and bubbling with a killer instinct to fell the Pakis apart. He certainly is a hero with a capital H. I came back as a happy, satisfied man. My only regret being that I could watch only a day's match and not the entire series.

CRICKET AT THE CROSS ROADS..... By D.G.Bradman

‘This year,’ Wilfrid H. Brookes wrote in his Editor’s Preface to the 1939 Wisden, ‘ I have been favoured with articles by several well-known cricket personalities. Mr. Don Bradman readily agreed to help and his views on important points of present-day cricket are sure to prove of widespread interest.’ The previous year, 1938, Bradman had captained the Australians on their tour of England and, with his century in Australia’s victory at Leeds, had helped ensure that they retained the Ashes. The Editor Of WISDEN has honoured me by asking for a contribution from my pen. He has left the subject of the article to me, but in doing so has helpfully made suggestions regarding various phases of cricket which are today the cause of much discussion. As I looked through those suggestions, I conceived the title of this article. It is intended to convey a meaning but not to be misunderstood.No matter how much we love cricket and desire to regard it as a friendly pastime we cannot possibly disassociate its future, at least in the first-class category, from the cold, hard facts of finance. Nor can we blind ourselves to the fact that at this very moment public support for cricket (possibly excepting Test cricket, around which there is special glamour) suggests either that cricket is becoming less attractive or other forms of entertainment are gaining ground. It is a state of affairs calling for very serious consideration from player and legislator alike. I am all in favour of ‘hastening slowly’ and have admired the peaceful but purposeful way in which cricket has for so long been administered in England. Nevertheless, I cannot help feeling that with the quickening of modern tempo, the more Americanised trend which is demanding speed, action and entertainment value, it behoves all of us to realise we are the custodians of the welfare of cricket and must guard its future even more zealously than its present. No matter what we may desire individually, we cannot arrest nor impede the tenor of everyday life whether it be in business or sport. With such thoughts uppermost in my mind, my reflections are intended to convey the impressions gleaned by an Australian who will naturally view things from a slightly different angle to the average Englishman. Also my opinions are based upon experience in the middle allied to contact with administrative officers and the public.

Excerpts rom WISDEN ON BRADMAN
Edited By GRAEME WRIGHT
Published by HARDIE GRANT BOOKS
12,Claremont Street
South Yarra 3141
Australia


The Inevitable Punting

Cricket Punting has been going on for almost two decades but it's only in the last five years that betting as a commerce, has gained acceptance among businessmen. With so much of money at stake, match fixing has almost become inevitable. Anyways, fixing is not our domain, our endeavor being to impart information to our surfers thru a series of articles to be disseminated on our site every week. We are aware that a cricket enthusiast is not conversant with the intricacies/ rules of the games, so we have conducted a survey and have some interesting bits of info to share with you on the subject. A punter would normally gain access to a bookie thru a mutual friend and that friend would take guarantees for the new punter for a certain amount viz: Rs. 25,000 or Rs. 50,000. But the need for the guarantee is only at the time of introduction and the limits on the amount are soon forgotten and waived off once the relationship between the bookie and the punter is established. There are some top bookies known as principal bookies, who appoint sub-bookies, who in turn canvass to broad base their customer/ punter base.Odds are generally floated two to three days ahead of the series. The odds on series are in place only till the commencement of the series which effectively means that bets on series result are not accepted after the ODI series takes off. It is not just the ODIs but also the Test matches, which figure in the scheme of things of a bookie/punter. However, ODIs by their very nature attract placement of greater business as opposed to a Test match which is a generally a slow affair. This business is conducted in a very fair manner and thanks to a very strong networking among the bookies/ sub-bookies, a punter gets black listed, the moment he defaults on a payment. They have their own ways of applying pressure in order to recover their payments.