The Promising star

The House matches

    When Kani was studying in Class III, the students were segregated into various houses to represent them in sports and games events held inside the school. Houses were nothing but the sports team under which those students would play and earn points for the team to claim the winner's trophy on the School's annual sports meet which happens once in a year. 

    There were four house teams in their school, namely, Ashoka, Sivaji, Kamaraj, and Sastry. Each house had a house captain and a housemaster, to motivate the students to play for their respective teams. The house captain posting keeps on changing year after year, as, only Class XII students used to be the house captains. 

    Kani belonged to the Ashoka house and his house was led by the housemaster named Mr. Pon Pandiyan. He was a charismatic leader who constantly used to motivate the students to take part in sports and games. The one thing to mention about the Ashoka house was their discipline. Whenever they had house march past, the Ashoka house students used to come first only because of the presence of the housemaster. He was very friendly with the students during his interactions with the students and Kani liked him very much. During that time, cricket matches were held as a part of the house matches. Kani loved these matches because these kinds of matches make him build up his confidence in the game. Only Classes from IX to XII play these matches. There were two categories: seniors (for Class IX and Class X students) and super seniors (for Class XI and Class XII students). Kani missed one of the house-matches when was he was studying the ninth standard because of a family tour.  

    When Kani studied his tenth standard, he got a chance to play in the house matches. Each team should play 2 matches and the team which wins both the match will be declared as the winners and they claim 10 points for their home side. Kani's team had many talented players like Siva Ganesh, Prakash, and Vishwa. The trio Kani, Prakash, and Siva Ganesh were in good form at that time and they looked tough for any team that played against them. Prakash was the captain of the team at that time and Kani played the role of vice-captain. During the first match, they played against the Sastry house. The Sastry house gave a tough fight for Kani's team. Kani's team came to bat first. Kani opened the innings along with Siva Ganesh. Kani struggled during the initial overs. But Siva Ganesh kept cheering on him. He used to play loft shots by coming out of the crease and motivate Kani by saying, "Come on, Mari! Easy!". Kani got more and more confidence in seeing his batting and he rotated the strike for him to face a greater number of balls and runs came for the team as long as they batted together. The team managed to post a total of 60 runs on the board at the end of 10 overs and after that, the Sastry team came for batting. The first over was bowled by Kani. He bowled it so cool and confident in a contained manner. The Sastry house batted well that day and at one point in the match, no one could predict which team would win at that moment. Then happened the turning point of the game! The batsman stroked the ball towards Kani and they thought of making two runs for that stroke played. But Kani was a little quicker in the filed at that time, and he made the batsman get run-out. After that run-out, the Sastry team found difficulties in the run-chase, and finally, Kani's team won the first match. The next match was played against the Sivaji team. The Sivaji team had defeated the Kamaraj team in their previous match. Kani's team as usual came to bat first and they scored 65 runs in that match at the end of 10 overs. Next, came the Sivaji house for batting. They played slow and stable innings that day. Kani made a crucial run-out in that game to dismiss the opponent batsman, named, Afridi. He also picked two other wickets in that game and missed a hat-trick in that match due to midfield by his team player. Soon, Kani's team registered their victory in the game and they were very happy after that. Kani was happy for his team as he believed that it was possible only because of the presence of his team friends and he shared the victory with everyone in his team. 

    During his Class XI, there came the house matches once again. But this time, Kani played under the super-senior category. The team captain during that period was Ashok, who was Kani's senior at that time. Also, this time, players like Siva Ganesh and Vishwa were not there and it stood as a slight drawback for Kani's side. Their first match was played against the Kamaraj team. The Kamaraj team had many power hitters at that time. This time, they played a 12 overs game. Kamaraj team won the toss and they came to bat first. J. Harish opened the innings for them along with his senior. J. Harish was basically, a football player but he also had good cricketing skills with him. The scores kept raising on the board. The captain then called upon Kani to bowl an over. Kani made his impression at the first delivery that he bowled to J. Harish. He was clueless to answer for that ball. Soon, Kani bowled a splendid yorker delivery to dismiss J. Harish. Then came the dangerous batsman Gokul, to the crease. He was Kani's senior and a power hitter who also came from the same football background. He was striking the balls very hard and his wicket was crucial for Kani's team at that moment. Kani came to bowl his last over. Gokul carefully played his balls. He just kept his anticipation of hitting lofty shots for some point in time. But out of his control, he played lofty shot in Kani's last delivery of the over. The ball went in high in the air and a fielder named, Nandhan, was standing underneath the ball. Kani shouted at him, "Catch". But he dropped the catch. After getting new life, Gokul started to accelerate the team score from thereon. He even smashed two gigantic sixes in Nandhan's over. Finally, Gokul's team ended up scoring 110 runs in 12 overs. Kani's team came to bat next, the openers were dismissed at the initial overs of the game. Then, Prakash came to bat. But he too didn't manage to keep his wicket in the game. The captain then sent Kani to bat. Kani was a little nervous in that game but he never showed off that outside. The just flicked the ball to midwicket on his very first delivery that he faced in that match. The moment he played that shot helped him to build up his confidence and he then started off to settle in that match. On the other hand, the batsman played fantastic innings along with Kani and they took the game from thereon. They counted runs from every ball and took one and twos in each ball of the game. The opponent captain was clueless and all his efforts to break the partnership went in vain most of the time. At last, the batsman who played so well along with Kani got dismissed and soon, the opponents got into the game ferociously. Kani's team captain Ashok then came to the crease. He struggled to meet the ball with his bat and finally, he pushed the ball towards the third man direction. He asked Kani to come for the second run. But there was no possibility for the second run. Kani ran for his captain but he lost his wicket because of the captain. He made a poor look at his captain and went off. As Kani walked back after his dismissal, all his team members game him a standing ovation for his fantastic batting performance that he displayed on that day. Kani scored 25 runs in that game and all those runs came from ones and twos but not from boundaries and sixes. His botany sir, who was watching the game from the dugout said that his wicket was the turning point of the match and he even said to him that he should not have gone for the second run. Kani nodded his head as he was full of sweating and he could not give him a reply for what he said at that moment. He then started to watch the match from the dugout. Kani's captain felt guilty after that and soon he too lost his wicket in the game. Kani's team needed 14 runs to win from 3 overs. But there wasn't any recognized batsman in their batting order anymore, at that moment. Finally, Kani's team lost the game. 

    But Kani won the hearts of many people after that game. Even the opponent players like Gokul and J. Harish came towards Kani and appreciated his performance in the game. Kani's captain also had a good impression on Kani, after seeing his sensible innings in the previous game. 

    Then Kani's team had their next match against the Shivaji team. It was a 10 overs game The Shivaji house was equally strong but they played the game with little frustration that as they couldn't cope up to win the game against the Sastry team in their previous match. Kani's team came to bat first during that match. Kani was sent to bat as an opener in that match by his captain. Kani played a responsible innings in that match. He batted so well and he even played a beautiful shot in fine leg direction for a boundary in Poorna's over. Poorna was his senior and he was the captain of the opponent team in that game. Kani was dismissed by one of his class friends in that game named, Dharani Vasan. He bowled a low-kept short pitch delivery, for which, Kani got out for an LBW. Finally, Kani's team managed to score 60 runs in 10 overs. The opponent team came to bat next. They never had the intention to win the game and it reflected in the way they batted. They just played the game for namesake.  On the final ball, the opponent team needed 3 runs to win the match. Kirishikesh was at the strike at that time. He played the ball toward the third man and ran for 3 runs. But he got run-out in his second run and finally, Kani's team had a consolation victory.    

    The house match earned Kani good respect among many of his senior cricketers. Apart from cricket several other field events and track events were also conducted for the school students during the house matches. 

    The athletic events were quite exceptional to mention. The finalists of the athletic games run during the time of sports day event, held at the school, and the winners were felicitated with medals and trophies. It would be a lovely experience to see those running, sprinting, and their spirit for the game. 

    When Kani happened to study his third standard, there was a Class XII student named, Murali Krishnan. He was a fantastic athlete as no one could match him when it comes to running. On the event day, Murali Krishnan, who represented Ashoka house for the relay game. He was standing at the fourth leg-tun position. The game started soon and the students raced like a bullet! When the baton came to the hands of Murali Krishnan, he dashed like anything that before all others reached the halfway mark of the destination line, he completed his run by coming first. Also, in other events like 100-meters and 200-meters, he came first. Kani was mesmerized by seeing his stellar performances. 

    Another person named, Tychicus was also quite remarkable. Tychicus was called by a pet name by his friends named, the 'Cheetah'. He played for Ashoka house in house matches. Soon, the annual sports meet was announced in the school. Kani was studying in Class XI, during that time. The 100-meter dash was about to start soon. Tychicus had a good competitor at that time named, Gokul. Gokul belonged to the Kamaraj house. He was a strong man with a good physique. But on the other hand, Tychicus looked very lean by his appearance. As an illusion, the object looks not the way it appears in some respects. Not to judge a book by its cover! These lines sometimes can also suit in our life. The race began. At first, everyone thought Gokul would come first because he went past Tychicus by a greater margin. But eventually, Tychicus speeded up and finally, he beat Gokul and came first. Also, during hurdles and 200-meter dash, Tychicus came first. Everyone had a great nail-biting moment, during that incident happened. Kani would never forget this incident in his life. 

    Kani's former school Principal, Mr. Adhi Narayanan used to say that getting a prize is not important but taking part it more important. Win or lose, must come from fair. The true game spirit showed with some positive intent, in the sense, how we carry out things in our life means a lot more than that day's win.