Dedicated to my current Cognizant Premier Cup Cricket team – The CKCC !! The blog is completely about this unit, how I was drafter into it, the players we have, the camaraderie we share,the moments we have cherished and the memories I have made together with them these four odd months.

 

Spoiler Alert: This article will be devoid of many cricket-related phrases or statements. This shall purely be generic with lots of leg-pulling and self-bragging about this team’s explicit and wonderful bonding. So, anyone looking eagerly for an intense cricketing article, I have to apologize for disappointing you.

Note: This is my first year with this 3-year old team. I have not asked for any detail about its history to anyone. This blog is solely from my perspective and how I have understood the happenings by myself.

1. Why the name Chennai Kings Cricket Club – The CKCC?

We all work from Chennai and we call ourselves the kings (god knows what a king has to do with cricket!). Maybe we were inspired by our famous IPL legend Chennai Super Kings and rightfully wanted to retain the enigma. Why does it end with “Cricket Club”? Are we sort of any cricket academy? Aren’t we just a collection of like-minded cricket-hungry fanatics who have come together for sheer thrill of playing? I do not know.

All I know is, I find this name enthralling. It is plain, worthy and prudent. “Kings” gives me pride, so do my teammates.

‘Seductive power of common vocabulary’

2. A Chronicle of the team

The Cognizant Premier Cup’s (CPC) inception was in 2006 and in 2008, a team named Cognizant Super Kings, The CSK (Ring any bells?) was formed. It had almost the same set of players the current CKCC possess. In 2014, a new team with around 80% of the then CSK players was constituted and they christened themselves the Chennai Kings Cricket Club.

3. What is a TEAM?

One of the acronyms that I absolute relish is of a TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves More. Which legend would have derived at this genius? Whomsoever it is, he deserves a special mention, for the acronym imprints the very idea so aesthetically.

4. What is our TEAM like?

We have an opening batsman who bats like Chris Gayle but does not know how to play a proper front foot defense. He smashes the best bowlers unforgivably but fails to understand how a proper cover drive is played. We have around four genuine fast bowlers in our squad but rarely do they care about intricacies of swing bowling. Yet when they bowl, the red cherry does wonders, dancing to the tunes they play with their fingers. They are an absolute treat to watch in action. 90% of our team consists of all-rounders who can smash the ball at will and roll their arms over if the team needs services. We have an angry young captain who is nothing short of a “copy-book-cricketer” and only wants the best from every individual. He despises half-hearted commitment. He growls, he shouts but we have yet to dismiss him, because we know what a team man he is. He is ours, we are his. We have a genuine leggie, an orthodox left arm spinner, a line-up of left handed batsmen who can cause discomfort to any bowler – YES, we are not short of variety.

(Un)fortunately, not many in the team have played cricket at a standard level. We play great cricket undoubtedly but we haven’t seen or been-at top-level games. Yet, that is the beauty of this unit. We defy the odds. We realize we are not the best in business but we also remark that if the day belongs to us, we can beat the best of teams in Cognizant or outside the circuit. We are proud of ourselves. We are kings.

Ironically, some of our best players do not work with Cognizant or are not in this CPC team. They should be called mentors but we call them fellow kings. They are an indispensable part of our cube. They do play with us in other corporate tournaments but they make sure the contribution is 100% be it any match any day anywhere for anyone in the team. They complete us. The unsung heroes.

5. How has this been for ME?

Personally, moving to this team was a harder choice for me because I was introduced to CPC by another team whom I joined last year as soon as I stepped into this company. We were the runners-up (the losing finalists) in 2015 edition and that is why it was tougher when I wanted to switch teams. I did not know if I can find any better team than my previous one(that surely was a talented bunch of players) and I was honestly apprehensive in making the shift. I am not going in detail about how smoothly I have molded into the CKCC fold but I will sum it up by stating – I regard this move to be a wise judgment. Reason? I always consider three things to be important for anyone irrespective of their professions – Capital, Contacts and Experience. These three factors determine who we are as a student and how much we take/learn from any lesson in our lives. When I rate my decision based on these ingredients I will say with a smiling face and a content heart that I have succeeded and benefited immensely.

We may not be the best cricket-team, but who cares? We play we win we party. We play we lose we learn and we still Partaaayyyyyy!!!!!! Cricket is just one surreal part of this family. The game has been the best teacher. I may or may not win the CPC with this bunch, but this unit has already won my soul with it’s demeanor. I love these freaks and will be grateful to everyone in CKCC who has helped me become who I am and what I do today and also in the coming years.
With Love,

Fellow king (LOUD ROAR).

– Yes I love you all fellow Homos. I meant Homo-sapiens, no double entendre. PERIOD.

Standing from Left to right: Saravanan G, Rangaprasad (captain), Shyam, Niranjan, Ramprabhu, Satheesh, Saravanan CS (wk), Rafiq, Raje, Sundara, Jeyanth, Deepak, Thiyagaraan CS (vice captain)

Sitting from left to right: Ilango, Gowri, Roop, VP Sudhakar, Arivu

Bending down, in between: Abdul