The Mathematics

A heated conversation with his close friend Anand made Vijay to come to a hasty decision. He at once decided to be a cricketer and said “I will prove that cricket is the easiest game. I will define how it should be played. You will see me playing for the IPL in few months time”

Anand looked at him and said “Do it first. It is easier said than done. It is better to be a useless cricketer playing for a third class team than be a first class mathematician doing astronomical calculations of no use to anybody”

It happened thus…

When Vijay came to Anand’s house he found Anand watching a one day match between South Africa and India. Vijay had come to take Anand out to help him in an assignment.

“Anand let’s go. We need to do the things as soon as possible” Vijay said.

“For you everything is urgent. I am watching cricket match here” Anand replied.

“So it will take another few hours”

“Yes”

“You are wasting time. That is why George Bernard Shaw called it a foolish game played by eleven fools and watched by eleven thousand fools. Only the number of fools has gone up with fools remaining the same”

“He must have talked about test cricket. This one day game is always interesting. Only 30 overs to go” Anand managed to answer though he was immersed in the game.

“But that is too long. And it is evident that either of them will win”

“I know it. But how will you understand the thrill of watching the game?”

“No thrill there. Only foolishness”

“Don’t you get the thrill in watching the sky for hours at a stretch? Ask the cricket loving people about it. They will say it is madness. What is there in the sky?”

“Sky has millions of stars. Here twenty two players are after a ball. Unlike in other sports all players from two teams do not play together and compete. Instead two players from one side come with bats and hit the easily predictable balls. Still batsmen fail miserably and lazy fielders do the nail biting”

“How do you predict balls? It is not mathematics. Every ball is unique. It is mind game dear. Only the people who understand the game will enjoy it. Not you. I cannot argue with you since we are talking about different things. Let’s make a deal. I will not hurt you. Watch only for another fifteen overs. Then we go”. That was a good deal. Vijay nodded his head reluctantly because he wanted Anand’s help at any cost. “But please do not argue Vijay my dear. Just enjoy”

Vijay sat and started watching the game.

South Africans were chasing India’s score of 260. They had scored 120 with 2 wickets down in 20 overs. They had to score 141 runs in another 30 overs.

“It’s easier for South Africa. The required run rate was only 5.22. But they are now scoring at 6 per over” Vijay said after a while.

“I know. But India will win” Anand said.

“It does not happen the way you want just because you are patriotic. Forget the current run rate. If South Africans score 20 runs minimum an over they can win in 7 overs. Why to wait for another 30 overs? And if Indians bowl very efficiently, they can dismiss South Africans in eight balls”

“Great mathematics. If the batting side has all mathematicians, then they can score even 1000 runs in 50 overs. For that to happen, the bowling team should not have any mathematician. And if the bowling team has even two mathematicians, they can dismiss all the players only in the first eleven balls” Anand laughed loudly. “But this is cricket. Not mathematics. If you knew how to hold a bat, then only you would know the difficulties out there. You would also know the pleasure of the game”

“I played cricket. I knew how to play. But then I gave up”

And that was how Vijay came to a decision of playing for IPL.

Hearing Vijay’s decision, Anand laughed loudly.

Vijay’s arguments disturbed Anand. He did not enjoy watching the game. He did not even wait for the agreed 15 overs.

“Let’s go mathematician. You do not seem to enjoy” Anand said after few minutes.

While in the car, Vijay talked about the speed of the car, light and wind. Anand was getting score on his cell phone. It was not as good as watching on TV but still better than not watching at all. When India won the match Anand rejoiced without even bothering to tell Vijay.

Vijay is the batsman.

Anand is the bowler… He is a fantastic medium pace bowler with excellent past records.

Anand takes the run up, rubs the ball to his trouser and lifts up his right hand over the wicket. Vijay watches Anand’s hand. It looks like an inswinger.

Vijay knows the wind speed. He knows when the ball will reach him after it is released from Anand’s hand. Vijay knows what shot to play. He is ready for the footwork. He allows the ball come to him and lifts the bat. Ball connects.

The ball lands in the boundary full toss.

Four sixes are hit consecutively and the fifth ball is bit difficult to handle. Vijay defends it. The sixth ball is easier, but not easy to send for six. He knows where the fielders are standing and how much they can move backwards and frontwards. He knows where to place the ball. It is a front foot drive over mid on. The fielder from long on will take 6 seconds to reach the ball. Mid off fielder is far. The ball reaches the boundary in two bounces.

The next bowler is a spinner. Six, four, six, four, six, zero. Twenty six runs in an over is a good score.

Many bowlers bowled. Vijay hit easier sixes, fours and twos. Dot balls were few. That was to protect the wicket.

Well, it is just a dream prompted by imagination. The dream has to be realised. Anand is a bowler in his dream because he knows Anand. And since Anand said mathematics does not work in cricket, he wants Anand to be hit hard. Otherwise he does not even know whether Anand can bowl or not.

Cricket became his passion. He discarded mathematics for some days. He went to various grounds where cricket was played. He watched old matches in videos.

With great difficulty Vijay managed to get an appointment to meet Ram Rao popularly known as RR, the CEO of Karnataka Lions (KL). One fine day he walked to his office.

“Please come in” RR welcomed him.

“I am Vijay” said Vijay.

“I know. I am told you are good in mathematics...“

“I am not here to talk anything about mathematics sir” Vijay was disturbed on the mention of mathematics “Let me come to the point directly as I know you are a busy person. I am aware that KL won the IPL two times. I can play for it and help the team to be a winner again”

“Every aspirant wants his team to win. But I have not heard about your cricketing abilities”

“Nobody knows it. I request you to take my trial. I just want to prove a point”

“Tell me about your background in cricket”

“I played cricket till I was sixteen”

“And how old are you now?”

“I am twenty eight”

“Thanks for talking to me. I want to leave for London in few minutes. I feel you are Intelligent. But may not be a good cricketer as you have not played for years though you look fit. But fitness is not everything”

“That is physical fitness. But I also possess the mental fitness which is essential for cricket”

“If you are interested to join my company as a mathematician I am ready to take you. Let us not talk something else” RR showed that he was least interested to continue the conversation.

Vijay begged to be given an opportunity to explain. RR was known to be a good listener. He allowed Vijay to talk for another five minutes.

Vijay at his best explained his theories and dreams.

“I trust you but” RR said “there is a bidding here”

“I know. You don’t buy me. I will play for free. You can only pay if I succeed in the first match”

“Ok. But we will still take a trial”

The trial which took place after two days was replica of Vijay’s dreams.

Vijay was chosen to play for IPL representing KL.

When Vijay’s name was announced, nobody knew who he was except a few.

So called Luck favoured him. Was it luck? No. It was mathematics.

Maharashtra Crowns scored 198/5 in 20 overs.

Chris Douglas and Vijay walked to the ground to bat. All knew Chris. But Vijay did not have any record against his name.

Chris scored 1 one in the first ball. Vijay took the guard. His first ball was a six, second too was a six. Third was a four. Fourth was zero, fifth was a six. There was electricity throughout the ground. The whole world noticed his debut.

By the tenth over the match was over. Chris had scored 51 off 26 balls and Vijay remained at 148 off 32 balls to beat the opponent. Surprisingly no extras.

Vijay naturally was the man of match.

The presenter said “Things change over time. In test form when a batsman took 200 balls to hit a century we called it as the fastest. Then one day Internationals came. One took hundred plus balls to hit a century which also they called the fastest . Later centuries were scored in forty plus balls. Then one took only thirty plus balls to hit a hundred in twenty- twenty match. And now this debutante Vijay does it in 19 balls with 15 sixes, 3 fours with a single dot ball. Amazing.”

“I am an ordinary player. All the greats in the past and present had the talent

but lacked concentration. I am just the opposite. Every sportsperson needs concentration” This was what Vijay had to say during the presentation ceremony. He did not have much to talk.

KL won three matches in a row. Vijay became a household name. Vijay was the man of the matches in all three. He had two centuries and a fifty to his credit. By the fourth match, he had broken all possible records. In all the matches KL had fielded first. Newspapers devoted front page space for Vijay. He declined to give interviews to individual TV channels and newspapers. He only held press briefings.

All were waiting for the fifth match. They wanted KL to bat first. Some skeptics said Vijay would fail soon as no person in spite of talent can always succeed in sports. Analysts compared him to previous giants of cricket. Former batsmen could only praise him as it was too early to find any faults in him.

The fifth match came. KL won the toss and decided to bat first. Hyderabad Pearls were the opponents.

Chris and Vijay walked to the ground. Chris defended first two balls. The third was a four and forth was a single. Vijay took guard amid shouting from the crowd. He defended the first ball. He took a single in the last ball.

The next over produced five sixes. And the last ball was a single as if he wanted to play the whole next over.

What followed was a slaughter. The ultimate score was 439/3 with Vijay being not out with 300 off 71 balls. Other batsmen only faced 49 balls and played well as there was no fear.

Did the team Hyderabad Pearls manage to chase the runs? How could they? Pearls were not pearls anymore.

Vijay became a cult figure. He did not have much to say about his success except “It is not technique or talent but concentration. I feel other great batsmen lacked concentration. While I do not blame them, I request the present players to concentrate in their games. Then only we can produce better batsmen. Cricket is the only game in which once bowler releases the ball he does not have any control over the ball. The batsman has real freedom to play it as he wants. Convert the ball from 130 kilometers to 250 kilometers per hour with the right placement.” Mathematics?

His words were not new. People even previously had said these words although in a different manner. But they were either analysts or former players. A former player who scored less than 20 runs in 60 overs also says how a batsman should play now. But what Vijay said made sense because he practiced what he preached or he only talked about what he played. There was no imagination or speculation.

Sahithya, a young girl who was doing her masters in mass communication tried her best to meet Vijay. She only succeeded after many attempts on a Saturday.

“I am Sahithya” Sahithya said. Her spectacles could not hide her beautiful eyes. She was attractive though thin in physique. She looked intelligent as well as intellectual.

“Hi Welcome. You can only talk to me for ten minutes. Normally I do not face interviews because they ask me the same stuff” Vijay replied.

“I am not here to ask you questions sir. But to inform you that I am analysing your cricket. I want to write a research article”

“What help do you want from me for your research? You should do it on your own”

“I do not want to do it without your knowledge sir. And occasionally I may have to approach you. I will witness all of your matches”

“That’s fine”

Vijay took her as pleasing and elegant.

Vijay never thought about people who talked to him. He seldom cared about the passes made by girls.

But Vijay was different in this case because Sahithya seemed to be different to him. She came to his mind several times. He thought waiting for her till the next match was too long. He felt he longed to talk to her. He just pressed her number.

“Hi. How are you sir?” Sahithya’s voice came. The voice seemed the sweetest on earth.

“Call me by name. I just wanted to know, when you are starting from” Vijay spoke.

“There is match tomorrow”. ‘Sir’ was missing. He thought she should call him by name.

When Vijay was walking to the ground to bat the next day, he noticed Sahithya looking at him from the press gallery. After few steps, he turned back to look at her and acknowledged her presence.

The situation was special with so much of excitement. The only tactic the opponents Kanpur Wizards wanted to employ was stopping Vijay from going to the striker’s end. They did not have any other way. Their captain had told his players “Make sure that Vijay gets few balls. Do whatever you can”

Vijay got the third ball to bat. He looked at Sahithya before the bowler started his run up. The ball started its journey. Vijay wanted to hit the ball towards the gallery where Sahithya was sitting. He thought it was a special tribute to her. It was an outswinger, easier to turn to leg side with some back foot work. He lifted the bat up. Ball could not connect. The ball hit the stumps and broke the bails.

Vijay was out for the first time in IPL. There was so much celebration on the ground. The bowler could not believe what happened. Yes Vijay was out. Unbelievable had happened. History was created.

Vijay tried his best in the next match. He failed again.

He was given more opportunities than anybody. He did score runs. But like any other batsmen. He scored 10, 5, 25, 47, 0 and 15 in last 6 matches and every time he was out. The average of these matches was only 17. It was poor by all means. But considering every batsman’s so called ‘bad patch’ it could be tolerated. In fact cricket is the only game in which a player has a bad ‘form’ which comes as a defense. But from Vijay much more was expected.

Coming back to Sahithya, she is a good girl. She is very understanding and positive. But the love as desired by Vijay did not happen. He cannot express his feelings as he has his own concentration problems with his batting. She likes him very much. But she thinks that she is one of the thousand girls who admire Vijay. She is waiting for him to recover.

Vijay cannot recover till Sahithya shows some interest in him. But she feels he should not be distracted by a small time scribe. She has decided to put the research on the backburner.

He waits for her. She avoids his matches. He wants to pay her a tribute by sending a delivery towards her but not the first ball. May be he will send a ball to her as a bouquet after playing a good knock. He has everything in him other than the concentration.

IPL has ended. Vijay thinks he should not enter cricket again. He is tired of ‘concentration’ mocks from people and media. He is back into mathematics. Anand says Vijay’s mathematics is not perfect like before. Anand does not know the real reason. He still says cricket is completely different from mathematics.

Vijay phones Sahithya. She does not answer the phone. He phones from other phones. Then she answers. But then he cannot talk.

Yet he feels he has so much to talk to her.

She will only talk once things change.

Three lines make a triangle in mathematics.

Three stumps make a wicket in cricket.

This man has three sides.

Cricketer is dead. Mathematician is limping. Human being is still hungry.