BLACKBOARD » came up short and then a wild drive on 18 e

Hyderabad v Tamil Nadu, 1986-87, SecunderabadI played my first Ranji Trophy game when I was 26 [25]. I thought it was much delayed; I probably deserved it when I was 21-22. I had finished B.Sc Mathematics and my father pushed me to do engineering. When I was doing my engineering in Coimbatore, I came to Chennai every weekend to play first-division cricket. I was scoring a lot of runs, but there was no opening for me in the team.I had to wait quite a bit because there were others who made their debuts. But they never quite latched on to the opportunity and I got my go. At one point, I thought I might never make it. But, I was so hell bent on wanting to play cricket that I didnt feel like going to the USA to pursue my MS degree. I asked my dad to give me one years time and within that I would play in the Ranji Trophy. When that happened, he asked me What now?; I said, Give me one more year, I will play for India. And I did play for India.During the train journey to Hyderabad for my Ranji Trophy debut, whenever I turned around I would see someone or the other looking at me. My team-mates knew my father was a leading lawyer and I didnt come from a background where the Ranji Trophy meant a lot to me. They knew I used to drive my fathers Mercedes Benz to matches. Not that I was pampered, but people looked at it and thought: Oh god, this guy has got a lot of money. I just tried to read something on the train and make sure my nerves were settling down.There were a few good things about making my debut at the Secunderabad Gymkhana. It has always been a good pitch to bat on and was lucky for me after that match as well. But, captain Abdul Jabbar lost the toss and we saw Abdul Azeem score a triple hundred. We then saw Khalid Abdul Qayyum and Vijay Mohanraj also get a hundred. I remember one fast bowler, Immanuel Rajkumar, was also making his debut; he must have wished he hadnt been there.Those days few people had the Morrant pads, and Azeem was one of them. He played forward to a delivery from Rajkumar, and the ball ricocheted off the pads and went back to Rajkumar quite sharply. Rajkumar held it with one hand and appealed. It was so funny and we made fun of him. That kind of desperation was because Hyderabads score at that time was 500 for 3 or something. When my turn to bat came, I decided to hang on and play out 55 overs or so [on the second day]. I remember one moment when V Sivaramakrishnan was batting in the 90s, and he flicked the ball to mid-wicket to Azeem, who was their best fielder, and called for a run. He was really angry when I turned it down, but there was no run there. The next ball, Arshad Ayub went diagonally round the stumps and darted one of his faster ones - it must have been about 135 kph (laughs). He didnt offer a shot and the stump went flying. Sivaramakrishnan didnt say anything to me, and everybody in the team knew he was a fussy runner so nobody said anything. It was just his nerves in the 90s and he was looking get off strike. I dont remember how I got out, but its a surprise I got out to Bobjee (Narasimha Rao); it must have been a terrible delivery (laughs). I was dismissed for 81.I had never been to Hyderabad before that trip. I had read so much about the Charminar and seen photographs of it, so I desperately wanted to see it. But, once there, I felt totally disappointed; I could barely breath and move around. But, Hyderabad has been lucky in a lot of ways. I got a call to play for India in the one-dayers against New Zealand after the selectors saw me at the Fateh Maidan [Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium].When I got back to Chepauk, there was this manager called Santhanam in the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. When I met him, he said: its good you got out for 81. I was so upset because a hundred on debut would have been special, and asked him why he said that. He said batsmen who scored a hundred on debut for Tamil Nadu never played more than five or six matches. I actually ended up playing for a very long time [81 first-class games] - I made my debut in 1986 and retired in 1998.As told to Arun Venugopal Stitched Nike NFL Jerseys . Inter president Erick Thohir says in a club statement on Wednesday that Vidic is "one of the worlds best defenders and his qualities, international pedigree, and charisma will be an asset. China Jerseys .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. http://www.cheapnfljerseysfastshipping.net/ . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Wholesale Jerseys China . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. Cheap NFL Store . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. World No.1 Jason Day has vowed to use his spectacular late collapse at the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational as motivation heading to the British Open.Day was on track for a fourth win of the year and eighth win in 20 starts when he led at Firestone Country Club with four holes to play, only to implode.His stumbles allowed a surging US Open champion Dustin Johnson his second win in as many starts, rocketing the American to world No.2.Johnson matched his Saturday four-under-66 with another to soar up to six-under-274 for the championship while Day, who held the lead for most of the final round dropped four shots in his final four holes to crash out.Day missed a four-foot par putt on the 15th before butchering the par five 16th with a double-bogey seven.His tee shot went way left and ended up behind dense trees, a punch shot under them ended up in the right rough and despite a ruling of a free drop after a spectator moved his ball behind a tree Day then punched his third into water.His fifth shot went long and two shots later his championship was effectively over.Needing to finish birdie-birdie to force a playoff Days effort from the fringe on the 17th came up short and then a wild drive on 18 ended any hopes oof a miracle hole out.ddddddddddddHe finished with a two-over-72 to be tied third at three under with Jordan Spieth (67), Matt Kuchar (66) and Kevin Chappell (67).Scott Piercy (70) took second alone at five under.Im disappointed, but Ive got to try and focus on what I did great this week, move on, and try and get better for the British Open, Day said.I feel like my game is coming around nicely.Asked if he regretted his decision of going for the green with his water-bound punch shot Day insisted he believed it was the play but he just failed to execute it.I hit a good shot, I just didnt hit it hard enough, he said.Day had turned his last five 54-hole leads into victory but is now six of 13 all-time.Ironically it was a triple-bogey eight in the same hole, albeit in the third round, that scuppered Days hopes in the 2015 event.Adam Scott closed with a two-under-68 to finish at even par in a tie for 10th, his first top 10 since his WGC win in March.Matt Jones (69) was the next best Australian at two over while Marcus Fraser, Nathan Holman, Marc Leishman and Steven Bowditch finished well off the pace. ' ' '