by Chaitanya Halgekar
From boy to man
With two set batsmen at the crease and 07 wickets in hand, BCC Macche were all set to dominate the death overs today at the Union Gymkhana against Belgaum Sports Club in the Nitin Shirgur’s Belgaum Premier League.
BCC Macche scored more than 10 runs in the 18th over and it looked impossible to stop the batsmen. In such a critical situation an average captain would as ask an experienced bowler to bowl the 19th over.
However, despite of having plenty of options available, BSC skipper Girish Nadkarni gave the ball to Swapnil Yelve, the left arm spinner. Yelve is still in his teenage years and does not even feature a full grown beard or mustache.
It was incredible to see the trust Nadkarni had in his young left-arm spinner. The young lad didn’t disappoint the captain and bowled fabulously. He restricted the batsmen using pace and length variation. The gamble worked and Yelve was applauded by everyone present at the stadium.
Those six balls offered Yelve a massive lesson and helped him to grow from a boy to a man. Maybe that’s cricketers grow up. May be that’s how captains grow up as well.
Nadkarni was asked about this gamble at the post-match ceremony. He replied by saying, “This has been the case with us so far. We have a lot of young talent and we will always give them the opportunity to perform.”
Eventually, BSC did manage to win that game but the biggest prize was secured by Yelve who showed temperament beyond measure and maturity of highest level.
Today’s Result-
1. Belgaum Sports Club Vs BCC Macche- 1. Belgaum Sports Club won by 04 wickets.
2. Union Gymkhana Vs Super Express Roadways Vijaya- 2. Union Gymkhana won by 20 runs.