Playing It My Way: My Autobiography Read Online Free PDF Page B

sympathy to the bowler, it was one of those moments that are difficult to explain. It was not an act of charity exactly. Rather, it was a good ball and I knew I had been comprehensively beaten. The keeper fumbled the take and the bowler looked distraught at the missed opportunity. He had done everything for the wicket and deserved the dismissal.
    In the semi-final of the Harris Shield against St Xavier’s in February 1988, a three-day game, we were 84–2 when I went in to bat at number four, with Vinod Kambli, an extremely talented youngster in Mumbai’s cricket circles at the time, already at the crease, having gone in at number three. We immediately plundered the St Xavier’s attack and never let up all the way through what would become a record-breaking partnership. With the Azad maidan being an open ground and a very big one, the opposition had to run long distances to retrieve the ball after a hard-hit boundary and we found ourselves singing songs and enjoying ourselves in the middle of the pitch. It was our way of switching off while batting together for long periods. At the end of the day we were both not out, with Vinod on 182 and me on 192, and, needless to say, Shardashram were in a commanding position in the game.
    The following morning, we both made our double centuries and then just kept on batting – despite Achrekar Sir wanting us to declare the innings. At one point he sent our assistant coach to the boundary to instruct us to declare. We could hear him scream our names and shout instructions, but we pretended not to hear and tried not to look in his direction. He kept at it for ten minutes before he realized that it was a futile attempt and returned to the dressing room. We just wanted to carry on batting and enjoy ourselves in the middle.
    At lunch we had reached 748–2, of which I had contributed 326. As soon as we left the field I was informed by the assistant coach that I was in serious trouble. When I asked why, he told me that Achrekar Sir had wanted us to declare in the morning and I had disobeyed him by carrying on. Sir was of the opinion that we had more than enough runs to declare, and if we weren’t able to bowl the opposition out for less we did not deserve to be in the final. I decided to declare right away to save myself from Sir’s ire that evening. Vinod asked me not to, however, because he was not out on 349. He pleaded with me to give him one more ball so that he’d reach 350. I said that it wasn’t my call and we needed Sir’s permission to continue. So I rang Sir from a public phone next to the ground and the first question he asked was how many wickets we had managed to take before lunch. That was Sir’s style. He was well aware that we hadn’t declared and hadn’t taken any wickets, but he wouldn’t say so. I informed him that we had batted till lunch and that I was about to declare. With Vinod pleading beside me, I quickly mentioned to Sir that Vinod wanted to speak to him and handed over the phone. But Vinod was scared of Sir and ended up not saying a word about batting on for another over.
    I duly declared the innings and, despite having batted for a day and a half, went on to open the bowling with the new ball and bowled a lot of overs in the innings. I did not feel the least bit tired; all the hard work in the summer camps had started to pay off. I started out bowling medium pace, then changed to off-spin when the ball was semi-old and leg-spin when the ball had lost all of its shine. Vinod too bowled very well and picked up six wickets as we dismissed St Xavier’s for 154 to make the final.
    That partnership of 664 was the highest in any form of cricket in the world at the time. Coming in the semi-final of the Harris Shield made it all the more significant in the local cricket community. It gained us both a lot of recognition. We had become quite a pair and what made batting with Vinod fun was that I never knew what he’d get up to next. In one match in the same