It’s been more than 15 years, but Bhuvanesh Ketharnath has no trouble recollecting an incident involving R Ashwin.
“Ni out, nan ball poda mudiyathu, kelambu,” are the words that Ashwin used to say “You are out, I won’t bowl.. get going,” after Buvan refused to leave the ground post being run-out at the non-striker’s end for leaving the crease early. “I tried to say it is just a gully cricket game… viduvana avan (will he allow it?). He wouldn’t relent, and I had to go for the game to continue,” Bhuvanesh says.
Having returned from a trip abroad, Bhuvanesh has just landed in Chennai in time to watch the Test, and more importantly Ashwin.
It has been three years since Ashwin last played a Test here, and there is no certainty when another would come by. “My leave application is ready. Whenever Bangladesh bats, I would just send it to my office and take my seat at Chepauk,” says Bhuvanesh, who is one among the 13 RUCA (Ramakrishnapuram Underarm Cricketers Association) members that includes Ashwin.
It has been three years since Ashwin last played a Test here, and there is no certainty when another would come by. (Special Arrangement)
As a Test match at Chepauk is around the corner a group of friends in Chennai who grew up in Ramakrishnapuram 1st street in West Mambalam can’t stop themselves from going on a nostalgic ride. For a good part of their growing up years, this street meant everything just like for youngsters growing up anywhere in India. It is the place from where one of their own made it to the highest level.
“In our whole gang, there used to be only one guy who spoke of his dream to play for India. He was so passionate…” Sai Kumar, who is also part of RUCA group begins before adding the punch-line. “And it wasn’t Ashwin, but another friend called “Raju”. Despite having all the talent in the world, Ashwin always kept it to himself. To be honest, we never knew Ashwin had such thoughts. For me, he was a guy who used to wear this manjal sokka (yellow shirt) and be one among us.”
The Ramakrishnapuram 1st street still means the world to them, even though there are no traces of what it used to be when it was literally their home. Now, on a busy evening, cars driving through the congested street jostle with pedestrians. School children, middle-aged people, elderly all take leisurely walks.
A decade back, the same street used to witness under-arm cricket tournaments and matches that went long into the night courtesy focus lamps installed by Ashwin’s household. “Ashwin had a separate net facility close to his home. It was a small strip, made exclusively for him to bat. But we had some 7-8 of us, so the street became our ground. Especially on weekends, we used to own the streets along with Subash Chandran, and Vignesh amongst us. It was the time pub culture was setting in Chennai and while most guys from our age group would be partying on Saturday, we would be here playing cricket,” Bhuvanesh says.
A decade back, the same street used to witness under-arm cricket tournaments and matches that went long into the night courtesy focus lamps installed by Ashwin’s household. (Special Arrangement)
Bhuvanesh also recalls an important decision he had to take to keep the sanity in the group. “I decided to be in the same team as Ashwin because I wanted to avoid picking fights with him. If we were in opposite teams, we would keep fighting like in the case of Mankanding. And we would pause the game for a while.”
It is perhaps fitting that Ashwin titles his book which released recently as “I have the streets: A Kutti Story”. It was at Ramakrishnapuram 1st street where Ashwin would fall in love with the game. It had become so tangled with his life that despite his coaches warning him to not play tennis ball cricket as it would affect his prospects of playing professional cricket, Ashwin would continue to play in the evenings. “It wasn’t some timepass cricket we are talking about. Ashwin being Ashwin, he used to make it so competitive that it brought the best in all of us. The bet matches especially used to witness all sorts of fights that you see in gully cricket, especially with run-outs, no-balls and waist-high full-tosses. Whoever lost had to pay or else Ashwin won’t include them for the next game. That 10 rupee wasn’t going to change our lives, but with him it was all about the spirit,” Sai says.
Not overtly ambitious
Though Ashwin had been a regular in age-group and an established name in the domestic circuit when he was 18-19, Sai and Bhuvanesh don’t recall the facet of their friend who has owned a spot for himself among the spin bowling greats.
“He never came across like one who aspired to big things. He never showed it. He was just hiding it all the time. When you get close to someone, you will get to know their aspirations. But with Ashwin, we never got to see that at all. It is just down to his roots I guess,” Bhuvanesh says.
As the years have gone by, most of them have left Ramakrishnapuram 1st street with Ashwin being the lone left now. Even their annual meetings that used to happen soon after the IPL haven’t happened since 2015. “Once the IPL gets over, we used to plan short trips or stays. We went to Kodaikanal, Pondicherry, ECR and Goa, but since then we haven’t been together. Some of us have moved abroad. But we have to meet soon because this group is special,” Sai says.
For a good part of their growing up years, this street meant everything just like for youngsters growing up anywhere in India. It is the place from where one of their own made it to the highest level. (Special Arrangement)
Bhuvanesh says why. “We didn’t study in the same school or college. We didn’t work together. But we became friends because we played cricket. Even now it is the same. Sometimes Sai will even tell Ashwin ‘You may have taken the best batsman, but you won’t be able to dismiss me at Ramakrishnapuram and Ashwin would struggle to contain himself. It is just a bunch of normal friends.”
With Tuesday being Ashwin’s birthday, his friends had planned a surprise. One of them called Venkat even flew in from Australia to wish him.
Come Thursday, the whole of Chennai would be rooting for one of its special sons. But for the “boys” from Ramakrishnapuram , it would be just another opportunity to witness the boy next door do extraordinary thing
