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25WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,JANUARY21,2016
SHAHIDJUDGE
MUMBAI,JANUARY20
SNOW FELLunusually thick andfast inthewintermonthsof
2000,reducingwhateverlimitedvisibilitywas available
atnight.Butthatcouldnotbeusedasanexcuse.SurinderSingh Bhandarihadto
keephiseyes peeledforany unnatural movement. He hadre-
centlybeenpostedtothe mountainouster-rain just a few kilometres
off the India-Pakistanborder.Itwas morethanayear
sincetheKargilWarhadended.ButBhandari,whowasamongthe
soldiersstandingasthesec-ondlineof defence,recallsthatthe
dusthad-ntquite settled.
Justayearearlier,Bhandariwaslearningthetricks of
thetrade.Wartimestipulationnonetheless quickened his training
processandthe then22-year-oldwas sentto
defendtheborder.Oftenhedrememberhisfriendsfrom his village during
that time. But heknew theonlyfriendthatmatteredat themomentwas
theAK-47he brandished. Andoften hedhaveto usethat friend.We
hadtofire severalroundsof warningshots intheairandalsoa
fewsomemetresawayfromanyillegal movementwe sawon theotherside,he
recalls.Weall made ita pointtoshoot faraway, butvisibilitywas never
thatgoodduringthosewinternights.Still,IdontthinkI
everkilledanyone,he adds.
Thosequestionsstillcometohis headtothis day, 16years later.
Buttheyno longer
dominatehis thoughts.Now,at 38,Bhandari
hasfounda senseof solitude.He serves
theArmyasanathleticscoachattheArmySportsInstituteinPune.Moreimportantly,hismindisoccupied
indevising thetrainingsessionsfor his three students Nitendra
SinghRawat,TGopiandKhetaRam allofwhomhave qualifiedfor themarathon
atthe RioOlympics.
Thelasttimethree Indianmen qualifiedforthe marathonof
thequadrennialevent
wasbackin1960, atRome.Sincethenthecountry hasstruggledto
putforwardrun-nerstocompeteinthe42.195kmraceat
theOlympics.ButBhandarihasbroughtupthreeinonego.
Rawathadalreadyqualifiedfor Riowhenhe beatthe 2:19 qualification
time at theWorldMilitaryGames inOctober.Andat theMumbaiMarathon
overthe weekend, the29-year-old established a new
courserecord,beatingthe legendary RamSinghYadavs2:16:59.Gopitoo
beatthe qualifica-tionmarkinwhatwashis
debutmarathon,andsodidRam.
Bhandari explains the proud walk heboastedassoonas
hesawhisstudentscrossthefinishline.The triohad
donewellforthemselves,but atthe sametime,theyhadlifteda
heavyburdenoff
theircoachsshoul-ders.Somepeoplekeepsayingthatjustbe-causeIman
OlympiandoesntmeanI canbea good coach.
Theboyshaveproventhemwrong,he mentions.
Afterspendingthree yearsin Kashmir,theSubedarof
theGarhwalregiment who
hadjoinedthe army ongeneralquota,de-
cidedto switch tothe servicessports
pro-gramme,andtooktorunningthe 5,000and10,000metre events. Infact,
atthe 2008BeijingOlympics, Bhandariset the nationalrecordinthe
latterevent,clocking28:02amarkthat stillhasn't beenbeaten.
NowthathisstudentshavequalifiedfortheOlympicGames,he looksbackat
hisownlifeandfindsthathewasalwaysmeanttobeasso-ciated
withathletics.HailingfromGhandiyalvillage,situated2,200metresabovesealevelinUttarakhand,thegeographydidwelltomouldhisbodyto
supportathletics.
We had towalkat least10kmup
anddownhilltoreachschool.SometimesIusedtogetlate,so Ihad toruntobe
ontime.Steadilythe lungs also got big so the stamina im-proved,he
says.
Butjusta yearafter hesethisstillun-beaten record,his ownrunning
career wascutshortbecauseofstressfracturesonbothhisankles. Itwas
disappointingbecause I
nevergottohitmypeak.Iwasforcedtore-
tirebutthesportwasallI knew.So Igotintocoaching,he states.
AnotherthreeyearsspentattheNationalInstitute ofSports(NIS)in
Patiala,Bhandaribecame a certified coach andwas postedback
totheArmySportsInstitute inPunein2012,where hisown runningcareer
started.
Incidentally, his first students wereRawat,Gopiand Ram,along
withNaveenKumar the 3000 metre steeplechase
bronzemedallistat the2014Asian Games.Itsa strongbondhe
shareswithhis stu-dents.It goesbeyondthe
coach-studentbar-rier.Wereactuallygoodfriends, heasserts.Imstill a
recentathlete. Im38 andRam,whoistheeldestis33.Sothereisntmuchofa
generation gap. That waythey
dontfearmeliketheydfeareldercoaches.Theytreatmelikeapeerandthathelpsme
understandandhelpthembetter,headds.
Thetrio,liketheir masterbefore
themwerealsoonce5,000and10,000metrerun-ners.Soonthough,theydecidedtomaketheswitchto
marathonrunning. InBhandarihowever, theyfound a comfortable
mentortoworkwith.
Nowthatthe threehavequalifiedfor theOlympics,
Bhandarihasfoundhimselfrun-ningshortof time
tocontemplatetheques-tions thatpokedhis mind. Before
theruninMumbai,he trainedthetrioat thehighalti-tudefacilityin Ooty
forfivemonths.Weregoingto continuetraininghere
tillMarch,whichiswhatwasearlieragreedupon.Afterthatwe'llhaveto
figuresomethingelse out,
he explains.
NITINSHARMA
CHANDIGARH,JANUARY20
Rupinder Pal Singh scored twice frompenaltycornersto setup Delhi
Waveriders5-4winoverhosts PunjabWarriorsat theHockeyIndiaLeague on
Wednesday.
The Sector 42 hockey stadium inChandigarhis where
Rupinderhonedhisskillsduringhisgrowingupdaysandthe25-year-oldreturned
home after fiveyearstoguidehis teamtovictory.
Rupindersteammate YuvrajWalmikiputDelhi ahead witha
quickreverseflickfrom
inside the box in the ninth minute. MattGhodes restoredparityfor
thehosts,guid-ingthereboundhomefollowinga deflectionof
teammateSatbirSingh.
With the scores tied 2-2, it wasRupinders turnto showup.
Thisedition oftheHILhaswitnessedaflurryof
goals,thankstotherulewhichmakesafieldgoalcountastwo.Withfield-goalscorersrulingthe
roost,Rupinder showedthat goalsfrom
penaltycornerscanstillenddecidingthematch.
Hescoredhisfirstfollowingadeflectioninwhat wasDelhis second
penaltycorner.Rupinderwouldagainplayhispartinthevis-itors next goal
when hisraspingshotwaspartially parried by Warriors
goalkeeperTristanClemons andMark Pearsondid therest. The penalty
corner specialist thenaddedhissecondinthe final
quarterwithalowdrag-flickthat racedpast Clemons.
Ialwayswantedtoplayatthisstadium,saidRupinder,who wasadjudgedthe
manofthe match.
The Warriors fought back, withChristopherCirello scoringthe
thirdgoalin
thesecondquarter beforeMark Gleghorne
converteda penaltycornerinthe lastquar-ter. But their inability
to convert threepenaltycornersin thelast twoquarterscostthermthe
match.
Delhi Waveriders benefited from thepresenceof MandeepSingh
andTalwinderSinghupfront as theduo regularlycreatedchances.Theyalso
workedalongsidecaptainSimonChildto mopup
anylooseballwhentheWarriorsattacked.
Our focus has been on the forwardsworkinghardindefencebecause
whentheoppositionattackstheforwards arethe firstline of defence.
Mandeep andTalwindershowedthattodayandassistedChildwell,
DelhiWaveriderscoachCedricDSouzasaid.
THEMARATHONMAN
Frontline to backroom, Bhandari makesseamless transition as
wards corner glory
SURINDERSINGH BHANDARI
BHARATSUNDARESAN&SRIRAMVEERA
MUMBAI,JANUARY20
Bahutgussaaarahatha,hesays.Kudhpe?you askhim. Helooks upat you,
shakes hisheadand thentrying hisbestto lookandsoundmenacingbellows,
Uspe.
AyushDubeyis10,around44tallandisinthe fifth standard. He
bowled23 oversacross twodays
whenPranavDhanawadeproducedthegreatestinningsever
playedinthehistoryof
thegame,numericallyspeak-ingthatis.SarthSalunkeishalf-an-inchtallerandisAyushsclassmateatAryaGurukul.Hehadopened
thebowling at KalyansWayleMaidaninarguablyoneof
themostlopsidedsportingencountersever,andbetweenthemthetwo
diminutive pacers bowled halfoftheovers.Apartfrom gettingangryat
him,Ayush thescrawnierof thetwo alsore-vealshavingaskedtheir
tormentorto givehisteama break.But tonoavail.
Baskarna. Aurkitnamarega?Itoldhim.
Butheaskedme togobackandsaidJa,jabowling kar. Aur bahut maarna
hai.Incidentally, Ayush nor Sarth, both
U-12cricketersatbest,weresupposedtoplaythatgame.Not only were they
notinthe sameage-group orleague,they werenteventheright
size.Neither hadplayedin a matchwhere bowlerscouldbowl
morethannineoverseach.Theyhadntbowled ona pitchlonger
than16yardsthe normfor under-12matchesorhelda full-sizedballin
theirhands.
But their bowling figures will remainetched infolklore
fromhereon as muchasDhanawades1009off 323ballsthat
pushedthereachesof cricketingimaginationto newhorizons.Notto
forgetthedimensions oftheodd-shapedvenue,theutterlackof
competi-tionandthe25chances22catchesandthreestumpingsthatthe
15-year-oldsurvived.
By thetimewe headtoKalyaninsearchof thestories behindthe epic,
10dayshavepassedsincethebusytownship,some40kmaway
fromMumbai,turnedinto thecyno-sure of the cricket world. The
previous
eveningincidentallyhad seenthe
MumbaiCricketAssociation(MCA)throwagalafelic-itationfor the
rickshaw-drivers son, wherehehad beenhonouredby
presidentSharadPawar,evenif he kept referring tohim asPravin.It
wasthecrowningglory ofa weekthatsaw Dhanawade turninto a
worldwidephenomenon, withhis posters adorningmoststreetsaround
hishometown, andhisrags-to-riches tale being told and
retoldaroundthe globe.
Thedusthasnowsettledon his epoch-breakingfeat,and lifehas
returnedto nor-malin Kalyan.Most ofthose postersexcepttheone
outside KCGandhi EnglishSchool,have nowbeenreplaced with
theroutinefare of political standees.Butthe aftermathofthe
humiliatingdefeatbyan inningsand1382 runsstill rankles at
AryaGurkul,anupmarket institutionlocated up a craggyroad andin
themidstof otherwise prole-tariat establishments in Kalyan
EastsNandivilivillage.
CoachYogeshJagtap cantstop ruingthefact that he couldnt go in
with his full-
strengthteam,principalV Srinivasanisin theprocessof organizinga
sessionforthe play-ingXI with a counsellor whilethe
9thand10thstandardboys,who Dhanawadewouldhavefaced ideally,
arebaying forpayback.
Sir ek rematch karao please. Hum phirdikhayengeusse,one ofthem
tellsJagtap.Hesimplysmiles asif tosay,If onlyI
could.Funnilyenough,therag-tagoutfitmadeupunder-age kidsfrom5th,
6thand 8thstan-dardsthatdideventuallytakethefield, andgamelyso,
seems theleast affectedby thedramaticoutcome.Maybe theyrenotyet
oldenoughto realizeits enormity.
SIZINGUPCRICKETSFIRST-EVER1K
Dhanawades playground
KalyansWayleMaidanis whereKCGandhiHigher
SecondarySchoolsPranavDhanawademadean unbeaten1009againstArya
Gurukul.
Dhanawadehit129foursand59 sixesat
therectangular-shapedgroundonwhichleg-side boundariesmeasure
32yards and30yards.
Dhanawadebecame a starovernight,withSachin
Tendulkarcongratulatinghimon twitterandtheMumbaiCricket
Associationfelicitatinghim.
PITC
H
30YARDS
32YARDS
Dhanawadecrackedcricketsmaiden 1000-run knock,but itwas a
mismatchof a contestonan odd-shaped venue
Picturestella1,000runs:25chances,10-year-old pacers,
30-yardboundaries
TheAryaGurukulpacequartet:(L-R)AyushDubey,SrathSalunkhe,MayankGuptaand
PratikBedekar. DeepakJoshi(Below)Pranav Dhanawade
Local boy Rupinderguides Delhi to victory
Sloppy Barodahand overtrophy to UPEXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
MUMBAI,JANUARY20
INa
tepidaffair,UttarPradeshprobablyreadtheslowpitchbetterandscaleddowntheirexpectations
tobat ina measuredway toreach163,which wasenoughto
overwhelmBarodawho meanderedhelplessly inthe
chase.A shoddyBaroda also droppedfourcatchesand sawa wicket of a
no-ballaseverything wentpear-shapedfor them.
SureshRainahita 37-ball47withouteverdominating after opener
PrashantGuptamade 49 before the Chinaman bowlerKuldeep Yadav
produced a quality spellinthechaseto remove Barodasstar
batsmanHardik Pandya and the in-form DeepakHoodato sealthegame.
Barodawere letdown bythemen
whohadperformedsowellinthetournamenttotake themthisfar.Irfan
Pathan,who hadtaken16wicketsinthegamespriortothefi-nal,couldnt
findany swingand leaked44runs. HardikPandya whohadplayeda cou-pleof
furiousknocksatthis venuelastweek,earningquiteafan
following,couldmakejust13. Similarly,Hoodaeked outjust 15.
YusufPathancontinued withhis disappointingtournament, makinga
laboured27-ball 14andthegameendedin awhimper.
Thestarof thechasewasKuldeepYadavwith that doublestrike. He
brokethe ball
backintothe right-handers,and alsosprin-kledenoughgoogliesto
keepthe batsmenhonest.He
gotonetodriftacrossPandyawhotriedtowhipitstraightbutendedupscoop-ingit
backto thebowler. Andafter teasingHoodawithhisvariations,he
slowedup thepaceon one,inducingHoodato hole outtolong-on. No
batsman was comfortableagainsthim andhe endedup
withimpres-sivefigures of 4-0-12-2.
Itwasntjusttheirbattingthatlet downBaroda
buttheirfieldingtoothat didthemin. Rainawasgiven a reprieveon 32,
whenwicketkeeperPinalShahmissed astumpingchance.Shahwas
involvedinanotherchancewhenhefailedtoholdontoalungingchancetohis
right, offMunaf Patelsbowling,
thatcouldhavegotridofthetop-scorerPrashantGuptaforjust 5runs.Piyush
Chawla,who hita 13-ball17, toowasdroppedon 1 whenYusufPathan
clangeda catch.
Nothing went right forBaroda. MunafPatelwasmobbedbyhis
teammatesafteritseemedhe hadinducedPrashant Guptatomistimea pullto
midwicketbut thetelevi-
sionreplays confirmed theumpires suspi-cionthathe
hadoversteppedfor ano ball.
Onthe otherhand,UttarPradeshdid
justaboutenoughwithouteverextendingthem-selves.Theyreached73for 1in
10oversandpushedona bitin thenexthalf toendwitha competitive total.
Raina started with acrisply punched on-the-uphit
overcoversoffMunafPatelbutsettleddowntoclipanddriveforsinglesand
twos.He hittheocca-sionalboundarywithoutever goingberserktoendup
onan unbeaten47.
Thevictorymeanta lottothe UPboys.Amidfistpumps andhugs,the lucky
fewgrabbed thestumps, andthe support
staffdashedouttothemiddletotriggermorecel-ebrations.As the
presentationceremonyended, someone in the Divecha
Pavilionstandsfounda gateajarandaround30 oddfansraninto
partakeinthe celebrations.BRIEF SCORES: Uttar Pradesh
163/7(PrashanthGupta 49,SureshRaina 47n.o.;Bhargav Bhatt 2/13) beat
Baroda 125/7(SoaebTai26 n.o.; AnkitRajpoot
3/30,AmitMishra2/33,KuldeepYadav2/16)by38 runs.
RupinderPalSinghscoredtwogoalsforDelhi Waveriders
VolLXXXIV No. 62Regd.No.DL-21046/03-05 AirSurcharge -
SRINAGAR`6.50, RAIPUR`2.00, PATNA`1.00
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