South City Premier League-A Prayer Gone Wrong

 As I stepped on the field, my heart thumping faster than ever. I hope the prayer had worked because only God could save God's Own XI now.

For the readers of my previous blog, My Experience In The SouthCity Premier League, you may know what SPL is but for those who don't know here is a short overview. SPL is my gated community's cricket tournament in an IPL like format with Auctions, Opening Ceremonies, Unboxing, Exciting Matches and most important of all lots and lots of food.The tournament is held for men and women. After our requests, SPL was back this year with a Boys Tournament and me and my friends got to be at the centre of the action. Firstly I would like to give a huge shoutout to all the organisers who spend their valuable time organising, planning and working on all the matches. The amazing thing about SPL is that even the youngest and the oldest people participate from Mantra to Vijaylakshmi Aunty.People participated as families. In some families, they were in the same team in others they fought against each other.

Why unboxing was special?

Usually in the boys cricket tournament, we just have a colour code for our teams but this time we had our very own jerseys with our names printed on it and flags which made us feel like IPL players. We even had team owners and the Men's team of the same franchise cheering for us. We also had mentors who were like coaches and the whole shebang was just marvelous.

As we headed into the day of the unboxing, we felt excited. I was part of the Kerala team, God's Own XI Once our team was called there was an immediate uproar with our team owners playing the traditional Chenda Melam. Our team sparing lots of auction points said that they would bring an elephant next time to the unboxing. Imagine If there is an elephant in the room is it really the elephant in the room?(Did you get idiom joke??) After enjoying the vibe, we headed to collect our jerseys and it felt like an armour for a knight ready to head into battle. 

League Matches

Our team,God's Own XI, proved to be one of the strongest team in the league matches. We were unbeatable winning both matches by huge run rates. We even beat Friends Of Southcity or as I like to call it Nirmay and His Minions because Nirmay completely carries his team. Our semi-final expedition also proved to be quite similar with us reaching the finals in spectacular fashion.

While our team was in a brilliant campaign another team was quietly making headlines. My dad's Delhi Dhurandhars who were the underdogs who no one even thought about but their combined team efforts lead them to win 5 out of 5 league matches and the semi-finals by comfortable margins. Their team was not filled with star players but it was a team filled with all players giving their best effort. Initially everyone said they were a strong bowling side but they proved everyone wrong by playing well in batting too. 

Twist in the League

In the end it was amazing to see the Utkala Warriors cheering for every team.Apart from them going to the semi-finals themselves, they let all the other teams do the hardwork for them. Their path to qualification came through in the Jalikattu Juggernauts and Bengal Pioneers match though everyone thought one of the playing teams would be the ones who qualify.The formula for their qualification was like:

Did you understand the formula ? Well even I felt the same way when I found out Utkala Warriors qualified because of a match between Bengal Pioneers and Jalikattu Juggernauts and the winner was Utkala Warriors.

Highlights Of The Tournament

1. Rajagopalan Uncle's 5 Wicket Haul
2. Sarthak's 70 in 30
3. Mantra's Wicket Against Nirmay(Wicket Of The Tournament!!!!)
4. Delhi Dhurandhars Win All League Matches Comfortably
5. Smitha Aunty's Finals Half Century
6. Shaurya's Hat-Trick
7. And Of Course My Wicket Of Sai Kulkarni

Finals

The Women's Finals happened first between Maratha Warriors vs Gandaberunda.The coolest fact was that they scored more runs in the finals than the men's or kids category even though they had lesser overs(10 overs). They posed a mammoth score of 108 as a target while the mens category set 91 and the kids 56. The Maratha Warriors won.

Mens Finals-Delhi Dhurandhars vs God's Own XI

Boys Finals-God's Own XI vs Friends Of South City

 On the morning of the finals I called my grandmother and I said, "Patti, can you pray for me and for my dad ?" "Why what happened ? ", she replied. I said, "Well our finals are today and we need as much luck as we can get. Tell god that God's Own XI must lose in the men's finals but win in the kids finals. You will get it right won't you ?" "Of course I will.", she replied and cut the call.

 
As our top order collapsed our team couldn't hit more than 55 runs and we had a huge hurdle in front of us if we wanted to win the trophy. When I was bowling, the pressure got to me as Who wouldn't be scared to bowl to Nirmay? Seeing me tensed,My friend,Mukul,on the non-strike end for the opposition showcased incredible sportsmanship and helped me calm down by telling me to stick to a particular line and length and adjust my field setup. At the end, we lost but the experience was amazing.  

My dad's team also managed to choke in the finals and lose their streak of winning back-to-back matches. The whole crowd was quiet as the match was never over until it was over. Though they scored well, the magical touch of the Dhurandhars was missing. The match was quite close and ended with a last over nailbiting finish. Though the Unbeatable Dhurandhars lost, I was happy that I got to keep so many of my dad's trophies at home.

Prayer that went Wrong

Once I reached home, I finally called my grandmother and complained to her, "Patti! Did you get the prayer wrong?" I complained. "God's Own XI lost in my category but won in the men's tournament,the exact opposite of what I asked for!" She replied, "No,I know I got it right." My grandfather interrupted, "Imagine if she had accidentally prayed the other way around ?" I angrily cut the call.

Had my grandmother gotten the prayer wrong or was god just confused ? "TV umpire to director. I have a review for mistake in prayer. Please roll the footage backward please."