In conversation - More than just cricket!!

When I think of Raghu, the word that comes to mind is understated. For good reason. He’s not one to charge in or confront you—he prefers to let his cricket do the talking, which, conveniently, it does most of the time. That efficiency is kind of his thing.

From the days we used to chide him for morning walks and treks, Raghu has consistently done what works for him, ignoring all other expert opinions. He remains our best off-side cricketer by some distance, and a few of his aerial shots deserve a pause button. Add his deceptively cerebral seam-up bowling, and what he brings to the team quietly becomes a very large bonus.

What stood out in my chat with him was his honesty and the quality of his suggestions. The reassuring part is that we’re already implementing most of them—clearly, he’s been right for a while. Enjoy the conversation with the ever-insightful Raghu.

1. Raghu, your offside play is one of the best we have going. So is your walking down the pitch and lofting the ball. These are two very difficult shots to execute considering our maidaan dimensions. How did they come into your game? 

First thing i realised after coming to Maidaan cricket is that having an offside play means you will be compared to the Dada of Maidaan offside - CP and you wont have much to show for it. Also i realised that i dont have the time / skillset to hit across the line or hit on the up so the only way to score runs is to get to the pitch of the ball as much as possible. So i am happy when Hari is in my team because with him behind the stumps you are always worried. Ofcourse it is a lot easier to walk down when Samir is behind the stumps!

2. ⁠You don’t bowl enough. Does that rankle you?

Arjun always the asks the right questions. Hell yes. It bothers me a lot when i don't get to bowl. Much of it is self inflicted with persistent shoulder injuries that i picked up over the last couple of years. Ofcourse one cant be like Satya whose entire life revolves around bowling that he wont do any shoulder workouts (like the elite bowlers) in the gym  with the fake trainer.

But as a suggestion, it will be good to have 6 bowlers bowling every match. There are enough folks who want to bowl but some captains are so focused on winning that they wont bother with trying anyone other than the trusted folks.

3. ⁠We see you as a reticent cricketer. You clearly have other priorities? 

I enjoy maidaan cricket as much as the others. If i am not traveling, i make it a point to come over but yeah maybe i dont prioritize Maidaan cricket over everything else. To me it is a great way to get distracted from the day to day and freshen up. 

4. ⁠What do you enjoy most about maidaan cricket and what do you hate the most?

Enjoy the camaraderie, bakchodi, in-game sledges, attention breaking antics, competitive spirit in all the matches, thats what gets most of us back week after week. Also it is amazing, how much everyone knows about everyone else's game like Chaitanya cant play full on the legs or give an early "one for the over" when Arjun is bowling or Kishore's famous dead bat 1st ball which infuriates HK so much or Vicky who might be tiger on the on-ground fielding but starts fumbling high in the air balls.

Hate is everyone's pet peeve that no one wants to do anything about - Starting on time. And sometimes the competitive spirit takes over so much that we dont pay attention to make it inclusive to people who want to contribute but lose interest because there isn't much for them to do at all.

5. ⁠Your running between the wickets is outstanding. Whom do you enjoy having at the other end and who will you try and avoid at any cost ? 

 As much as i tried i realized i couldn't score as many runs in boundaries so decided that i could make myself useful by running hard and try to be as close to 100% strike rate. Also given that we dont really do a lot on the field (except if we are bowling) there is added incentive to run hard and get some workout done. But i guess it is not something that everyone enjoys so have to be careful about who is on other end. Like this one time when Ahaan and me ran 3 runs and then Ahaan had to take a break after that. Decided i should not push the older runners after that.

Usually most of the boundary hitters are not interested in running quick singles but increasingly with lower scores throughout the current season there is more emphasis on keeping the scoreboard ticking. Enjoy running with Kiran, Hari, Ahaan, Vicky, Pranav, AK Sir. Never try running those with Satya and Susmit (only these guys come to mind right now).

6. ⁠We all know you have a temper but you seem to rein it in!!  True or false.

Whats the point of being in maidaan without going back to one's baser instincts. Letting go once in a while is what makes Maidaan tick for all of us so that we can make fun and dissect in the days/weeks to come.