The Conversation - Unravelling it slowly!!

We all know how tough it is to earn a place in this bunch at the maidaan. There are countless examples of brave souls who turned up in full armour once, never to be seen or heard from again. It’s not that the group is unfriendly — they just expect everyone to be maidaan-ready from Day 1. And if you ask me, that’s almost an impossible standard to meet.

And then came Ronnie. Or Naren. Or Ron — take your pick. He joined the maidaan group, probably because someone told him this was the place to be. Never turned up for a game, and soon enough, was ceremoniously kicked out. That, it seems, lit a spark. Because what followed was nothing short of a comeback story.

From that point on, Ronnie rose from the ashes like a man on a mission. He’s taken every bit of feedback, every constraint, every wisecrack in stride. He takes his game seriously, stays deeply involved, and when he unfurls those trademark drives, you can’t help but wonder where all that power comes from.

It’s a real bonus having someone like Ronnie on your side — the kind of guy who always has your back and will do whatever it takes for the team. It may have taken him a while to show us what he’s capable of, but today, he perfectly embodies why we turn up at the maidaan every weekend.

Enjoy his responses that are deadpan and witty as can be. 

1. You were a reluctant cricketer at best and needed some serious cajoling to keep come and play. Looking back how do you describe your journey at the maidaan?

For starters it was large amounts of FOMO and curiosity that made me join the cricketing group (Raghu, Kishore & you played a big role) in getting me started. 

However, I was removed by Viki from the WA group due to inactivity which I realized in a party and decided to seriously show up and kick some ass.

First few months I was a deadweight, mostly hogging lot of deliveries, trying to hit elegant shots (something I still try and do) pulling my team down inadvertently. My utmost sympathies for my captains Dhruv, Satya, Shiten, you some of the people who believed in me at their own peril.

I kept failing, but I kept showing up. That’s all. With each day some of the more gifted players came over and whispered some advice or the other in my ears Sameer M, Samir R, HK, Hari, Manoj, you I just listened.

With time, I started to recognise patterns everywhere and also most importantly started to enjoy the banter and jokes, camaraderie, the underlying tension, the snide remarks and that made me turn up. It soon became a habit where I started planning my weekend around the game and started to identify shades of wet ground to a point where I find it hard to stay at home on weekends.

Just as I started to look beyond the fights and unwarranted macho-ness and realise there was a true bond of friendship and camaraderie, even brotherhood (ok lets not push it). Suddenly I wasn’t making the same mistakes, I was living on the ‘edge’ (my feet were moving, my bat became horizontal, edges started to find me, I started to step out) and just like that I scored runs and helped my team.

Philosophically Cricket can be likened to a time machine where everyone warps to their childhood avatar and time-travels, this is why I think people show up.

2. What is the story behind the white glove(s)? Then the new shoes. 

I felt if I am going to play cricket each week, should invest in some accessories too. Plus its always easy to blame the current shoes every time you slip while fielding and/or a drop catch. White gloves soon followed, I looked at Chaitanya, HK they were all using gloves and I thought what I cant make up in skill, lets atleast match in accessories. Plus Amazon always runs best deals, so am not complaining.

I am scouting for a stump camera and haw-eye to completely remove subjectivity from Maidaan, a few Chinese vendors of mine and startups (read Raghu) have been fed this consumer trend for product development. 

3. We have some clean hitters at the park but some of your shots are outrageously good. Have you made any changes to your game to go long? 

I was long told by the wise men (you, HK, Manoj) to go cross-bat on short deliveries, I did that and it helped a bit. My squash practice also helps in driving good bat speed. I have made attempts to play behind the wicket (Hari, HK’s tip)  and gotten bowled while doing so as well, but I guess that’s whats fun about Maidaan. There is no limit to innovation and interpretation of rules.

4. At best you will say a few things and shy away but now we see a different Ronnie who is bringing it on. Whom do you think your first scrap will be with? 

Ha ha! I was scared of entering Maidaan at first and for the first 2-3 seasons I just thanked god for making it home alive! But over a period, you get hooked onto winning or siding with your team. Its then that things get interesting, when you put your team ahead and start with safe, polite comments before being mildly offensive to downright offensive.

I am big on fairness so every time I see that being lopsided I do step in and voice myself. But still have a distance to go before I start holding the proceedings at random and getting personal, but as I learnt in Maidaan, never say never.

5. Describe a perfect day for you at the maidaan? 

Initially it would start with non-zero contribution days for me with the bat and no catch drops, soon 5-10-20s kept happening so it came to a well balanced contest

a. I think in my mind defending a low/moderate scoring total outweighs innings where everyone whacks obscene amounts. I think recently Raptors defended a total of 100, where 8/11 batsmen scored boundaries, Dhruv, Dinesh and Vikram did really well, I caught a skier. That a good one.

b. Also one where we scored 100 and lost, some strong middle order batting from Susmit, Vicky keeping the score-board ticking and a finish by Satya, these are examples of a really well balance match

6. Can we expect Amazon to start sponsoring a cricket team at the maidaan? Or at least sponsor an MVP cheque?

a. I was shocked to know that we still buy cricket balls from Lal Rakhra, I have given a lot of grief to the Sports team because of this

b. I keep seeing a lot of players with DSC shoes so atleast some of them may have tried and tested Amazon

c. I think Amazon can play a bigger role in Maidaan cricket, overall sports equipment in Gym, clubhouse which I can consult Manoj on given he is MC and all now