We were playing a game of Cricket. My dear friend Abhishek was batting, on strike.
He was a useful all-rounder for our class team. Could bat pretty well and was a decent bowl. He used to be a little arrogant. Always puts himself first. Wanted to win at all costs, by hooks or by crooks.
Let’s get back to our match, which was in a tense situation. We were chasing. Our seniors had set us a competitive target of 139 runs. We usually play 12-overs-a-side-match and run-rate exceeding 10 was a norm.
We were 5 down for merely 48 runs. Fifth over was in progress. It was a short ball. Abhishek tried to hook and unfortunately edged. Ball lobbed high-up in front of the bowler, a little towards right. Bowler settled nicely under the ball to complete a simple catch. But suddenly, Abhishek came running and collided with the bowler, catch was missed.
He told with a straight face, "I was completing my run". Though he knew, ball was not on the path batsmen ran for runs. It was evident, Abhishek had deviated his path while running. It was a deliberate act preventing bowler completing the catch. It sparked heated discussions. Game was halted for a long duration. At end, it was decided he would bat on.
Everyone knew, Abhishek cheated. Everyone thought, he will be punished, will get out soon. As kids, we used to believe, “Jo bhi Be-imaani karega, use Bhagwan saza denge (Cheats will be punished by God)”.
Contrary to everyone’s belief, he went on to score 60-odd runs, won match for us. He might get punished some other day but who cares.
He was a useful all-rounder for our class team. Could bat pretty well and was a decent bowl. He used to be a little arrogant. Always puts himself first. Wanted to win at all costs, by hooks or by crooks.
Let’s get back to our match, which was in a tense situation. We were chasing. Our seniors had set us a competitive target of 139 runs. We usually play 12-overs-a-side-match and run-rate exceeding 10 was a norm.
We were 5 down for merely 48 runs. Fifth over was in progress. It was a short ball. Abhishek tried to hook and unfortunately edged. Ball lobbed high-up in front of the bowler, a little towards right. Bowler settled nicely under the ball to complete a simple catch. But suddenly, Abhishek came running and collided with the bowler, catch was missed.
He told with a straight face, "I was completing my run". Though he knew, ball was not on the path batsmen ran for runs. It was evident, Abhishek had deviated his path while running. It was a deliberate act preventing bowler completing the catch. It sparked heated discussions. Game was halted for a long duration. At end, it was decided he would bat on.
Everyone knew, Abhishek cheated. Everyone thought, he will be punished, will get out soon. As kids, we used to believe, “Jo bhi Be-imaani karega, use Bhagwan saza denge (Cheats will be punished by God)”.
Contrary to everyone’s belief, he went on to score 60-odd runs, won match for us. He might get punished some other day but who cares.
What did we learn of this incident? Expecting a lion not to
eat you because you are a vegetarian is foolishness.
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