Father the best batsman in the world to play Cricket

Father’s Day

Everybody knows that their father loves cricket and what a coincidence! Today, Father’s Day coincides with one of the most important matches in the world cup cricket 2019 – India vs Pakistan. Fathers are not known to do much of the household work on Sundays as they consider Sunday only a day to rest and relax. And to add to this, a solid reason of India vs. Pakistan. So, it’s a kind of an entertainment cocktail mixed with rest, relaxation and chilled beer. A lot of debate is going on who is the best batsman on the Indian side from Virat Kohli to Rohit Sharma and the best batsman on Pakistan side from Shoaib Malik to Imam- ul-Haq to Babar Azam. The debate will carry on until the match results are out.

Cricket’s biggest batsman

India has produced some of the best batsmen in the world. Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh who just retired this week, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, and the list goes on. Each batsman has his own strengths and weaknesses. Some are good in facing a pace attack while some good in playing spin. Some are attacking batsman while some are defensive. It’s difficult to say who is the best to date?

Father the best batsman

I will say that the best batsman in the world to date is the one who inculcated the habit of watching cricket in the entire family. The answer everybody knows – Father. Father not only loves cricket but they are the best batsman to play cricket. Cricket matches are of 5 days or Limited over 50-day matches or the T20 matches. But the cricket match which father plays is for lifelong.

Fathers are the best openers

Any inning in a family is opened by the father though he has a partner standing on the runner side. As an opener, he faces some of the toughest bowlers in the world. The bowlers are of various kind. Normally the opposite side has 4-5 full-time bowlers on their side. So who are these bowlers and how our father faces them?

The Office

The office is one of the toughest pace bowlers who balls at speeds of 140 km/h. There are times when the father is able to play the office role quite well. He plays attacking fulfilling the job responsibilities given to him and defensive when the boss loses temper on him. He scores run whenever he gets an opportunity. On other occasions, he is able to ditch the bouncers thrown on him by some of his jealous office colleagues.

He knows how to handle the work pressure and in spite of all the stress scores centuries repeatedly. He is quite adept at playing on difficult wickets (when the company, for which he works, is not doing so well in the market) as well as batsman friendly wickets (when his organisation is expanding at a rapid pace). In his batting career, he keeps getting promoted regularly and winning several Man of the Match award regularly. But yes, after spending a full day on the pitch he comes back home quite tired.

Home – the first priority of any father

Home is like facing the medium pacers. The speed of the ball is not high but the swing is always there. Situations at home keep changing. There are times when the spouse is not keeping proper health and has to be taken care of. Father has to manage not only the office but also needs to be by the side of her bed. It’s like playing a dual role. He has to ensure that runs are scored continuously while also keeping your wicket as you are the last recognised batsman.

To score a century, he knows that every run counts whether it comes from a boundary or whether it comes by taking a risky run. Similarly, he knows that if he has to buy a home of his own, he has to save regularly by curbing household expenditure as well as increasing his earning capacity. He wants the best education for his kids. It is like scoring a six against the toughest bowler as that gives him maximum satisfaction.

Relationships

Relationships in a family are like spinners. You don’t know when the ball will turn. Fathers are not such good players of spin but their persistence helps them play this role very well. At times when there is too much pressure on the relationship front which impacts his spouse and kids, he moves out of the crease and plays the ball with the spin hitting a boundary or a six.

Then there are situations when he gets foxed by the googly thrown on him but still manages to play it defensively. He is not very comfortable playing spinners throwing the relationship balls but manages to bat well. He keeps taking singles giving chance to his spouse to bat knowing that she is a better player of spin bowling.

Family – fathers first love

This is one bowler which father loves to play. He square cuts and sweeps regularly to keep scoring runs.Spending time with his wife and kids is like scoring runs on every ball. He keeps the scoreboard ticking taking singles, doubles, fours, and sixes. Singles and doubles are like taking his kids out for movies and family for dinner. Sixes are like taking his family on a long 6-day vacation where he builds a sand castle with his kids on the beaches and treats his wife to a candlelight dinner.

Friends – the entertainment club of father

Playing with friends is like when Father is fielding along with his 10 teammates on the field. He dives on his left and right defending every scoring opportunity by the opposition. The camaraderie between the friends is visible on the field. He is hugged by his friends on every catch he takes and every stop that he makes. He throws the ball with full force on the wicket, to run the batsman out, knowing very well that his friend behind the wicket will field it even if he misses the hit.

The moment a wicket falls, the entire team gets together to celebrate. At times when father misses a catching opportunity and feels dejected his friends boost his morale by patting him on his back. Few of his friends  field in a position close to him while few field in far-off places like the third man. It is this cohesiveness that helps them win matches.

Retired Hurt

But in this long innings of life, there are times when a father gets hurt too and retires. My father got hurt in 2016 and never came out to bat again. All his records still stand in the family file and all his best playing matches still stay in our memory. To date, I have not been able to beat his record.

So before your father gets hurt playing a long innings just hug him on this Fathers day and tell him you are his best fan.

Read more such similar stories on my blog by clicking on the following link:

My Papa is the best and will always remain the best

The Journey of Life with parents by your side