The Conversation - The exuberant Shapeshifter !!!

Its a serious miss on my part that I had never featured this champion of maidaan cricket earlier.  We know how lazy some of our cricketers are that they will show up as late as possible after numerous calls to their wives, mothers and grandmothers. And here we have someone that does not even live in Palladian anymore but comes to play like its the Call of Duty!! 

Its almost impossible not to like Harsha. Absolutely gives everything out on the cricket field but there is no devious bone in his body. I was almost apologetic when I reached out to Harsha asking him to respond to my questions. 

Hope you enjoy reading about what makes Harsha so special....

1. Has anyone called you " THE HULK". You have this soft as butter personality and then once you are switched on, you get into BEAST mode. Is this only in cricket or otherwise?

Oh dear (facepalm)!  What a way to start my interview?  Thank you!

Not HULK but close friends troll me with “Kane to Kohli transition” taunts.  Let me clarify.  They do not mean skill or performance.  Their only reference is about insane aggression.  Not a good reputation to have, isnt it?  

Unfortunately this is part of my personality I guess.  But I want to offer more insights.  

Firstly, I like to treat others the way I want to be treated.  No, not love, but with sportsman respect!  And in places like our Maidaan, it is even more important because everyone comes to have fun and want to walk away with only good memories.  So my first attempt is always to show respect so others are uplifted after any interaction.

Now coming to the second part, this one is tricky.  It is more a struggle inside me and has nothing to do with others.  What you call as BEAST mode is mainly a focus-struggle happening between my ears.  For example: I do something silly like missing a runout, drop a sitter, or mistime at a loose delivery!!  I get really upset with my own focus and in the process act like a BEAST and unfortunately drive people away.  This is more a defense mechanism to cope with my weak focus at times I guess.  Oh btw, a similar version gets activated when I feel someone is not being respectful to me or my teammates.  That shit I cannot and will not digest😛.

For people that resent me… please know that I am working on it.  Meanwhile please cooperate by not attempting to bully or de-focus me or my teammate(s).

2. You can be quite the talker. Whom do you enjoy banter the most with and whom do you try and avoid it with? 

Contrary to popular belief, I am actually super mindful on WHO to troll and who not to.  And also what to troll about.  In general I mostly banter with easy going personalities (while secretly wishing them the best success).  Also I banter with players that genuinely know that I do not intend any serious harm.

Coming to WHAT I troll about… that is selective too.  With some (that can take it) I keep reminding them of their past errors and (try to) get inside their heads.  With others I give general banter nonsense mainly as a distraction and prompt them to make unforced errors.  That is all.  

And yes of course, I am very mindful not to cross the line.  I also consciously avoid it with a few select players that take the game result a bit too seriously.  Nothing wrong in their approach but like I said before: I prefer not to give anyone unhappy memories, especially in a Maidaan like fun setup.

3. How do you motivate yourself to drive to the maidaan especially after a long international flight? 


This one is simple.  I love the game, and it is even more joyful when playing with people that carry similar passion.  Plus our Maidaan folks are really special.  High achievers, high self respect, very positive ego, and generally good people.  

Let me also remind you.  Folks living in Sobha Palladian might take this for granted, but after my relocation back to India/Bangalore, I have NOT met a more joyous and humble bunch of people.  I really mean it.  THIS is the beautiful bunch we all like to spend time with.  Don’t we?  So yes, it hardly matters if I am coming off a long international flight or have a really long ride from home…  I come here to take part in this joy and carry good memories.

PS: Scratch all this crap.  I come mainly to get my weekly frustrations out by trolling people.  That is all!  It is too risky to expose my HULK side at work, right?

4. You love a battle and especially against the best in the opposition. Is that a true assessment or do you treat every bowler on merit. 

Yup!  I love situational battles.  For example: facing HK when our chips are down is probably the best battle one can ask for.  I have successfully failed 99% of the time.  Hey wait!  But this also means I have been successful 1%.  And I will take it as a big personal win.

Similarly, facing Shiten’s crafty-cutters, Arjun’s high-rising pacers, Satya’s never-say-die attitude, Dhruv’s gentle-variations, Sameer’s rocket-like shooters, Sushmit’s deceptive-bowling, Aashish’s outside-off yorkers, Chaitanya’s body-line setup, KG’s give-no-pause-to-batsmen rapid, Vikram’s casual-looking deception are other solid challenges we get to face.  It is just awesome!

Again it is a separate matter that I have lost most battles 🙂.  And please let us not talk about that and move on.

5. If you were to choose 5 players that you would love to have on your team who would they be and why ? Also do you think you will make a good captain?

Like anyone, I want to increase my chances of success… so without a doubt it would be our NextGen super stars who are already making a huge impact on every game & its outcome.  Since I can only pick 5, it would be Ayush, Ahaan, Pranav, Eshan and Vedant.

Just pause and analyze their strengths… 

Ayush’s pace, precision and confident trashing plus his calm demeanour is a serious asset; 

Ahaan’s towering sixers which will grow only higher and longer in days to some; 

Pranav’s all round game, presence of mind and his overall read of the game situation is second to none; 

Eshan and Vedant have shown terrific glimpses of what amazing game they possess.  

I wish to see more of it consistently and certainly be on the same team so we can win together.

What was the second part of the question?  Aah captancy!  I generally avoid this topic but you now made me all nostalgic brother.  Now you have to put up with this regardless of whether you care or not.  I was very fortunate to have made the youngest captain in Osmania University’s history.  Btw it was a heavily debated and a controversial decision because I never underwent any sort of cricket training.  But God bless my coach, he took the risk and supported me.  That really catapulted my confidence.  Anyways I ended up taking our team to finals… twice in three years.  We even won the trophy once against arch rivals JNTU.  That trophy is still on display!  So yes, I think I make made a good captain.  But let me come clean here.  All that is in the past and about two decades ago.

If you are referring to leading at Maidaan: a very different mindset and a far superior people management skills are essential.  I do not possess such qualifications.  Plus with my constant work travel it is super difficult to make hard commitments, which would be unfair on my teams.  So no, I cannot make a good captain sadly.  

I also think our Maidaan is now prepped for NextGen captains with “one” senior member as the vice-captain for consultation.  Good for Maidaan and for our NextGen.

6. Everyone loves Harsha. True or False ...

False and I am ok with it.  My job is to make the opposition weaker and not to win a popularity pageant.  So come prepared to hear more trash talk from me at the next game.  See you there!