The reason why Panchadri Society is so great is because it's situated on one of the busiest roads in Pune - Law College road but it's almost half a kilometer away from all the traffic, pollution, Barista, CCD etc. Panchadri also has abundant greenery, enough to rival that of some parks. Along with that it also has ample open spaces which is a feature not seen at all these days in housing societies. This ample free space is the perfect setting for playing all kinds of sports right from Dabba eyes-spies, football, basketball and most importantly Cricket!
Playing Cricket at 5A Panchadri has been a regular feature till 3 years ago (One of the many side effects of entering work life). Ever since I was 5-6 years old we have been playing cricket in our society almost every evening. In the vacations we used to play in the morning too. And in one summer vacation we actually put up a halogen lamp in a balcony which enabled us to play way into the night. Of course there were many hindrances which are common place in almost all societies namely breaking of windows, outsiders should not be allowed to play, no playing between 2 to 4 in the afternoon, no playing after 8 in the night etc. Though they did not deter us from playing we made a lot of adjustments like changing our rules drastically to discourage stroke making, cleaning bathrooms and replacing broken windows immediately and actually refraining from playing till EXACTLY 4 in the afternoon.
Till the year 2002 we used to play in a narrow area between 2 buildings. However the turning point came in the same year when the extremely rough driveway in our society was relaid and an extremely smooth driveway was made. Apart from increasing the lives of car tires this relaying of the road gave us an awesome pitch for playing cricket!
Courtesy a brilliant piece of welded metallic stumps from Australia we started playing on the tar road by bowling up the slope. The slope has quite a steep gradient but bowling on it felt great. Bowlers got nice bounce and batsmen felt the ball "coming on to the" bat as Ravi Shastri would say it. It also opened up a previously closed range of shots for us like the cover drive and straight drive. This time the windows were very far so the chances of breakage were minimum. Even so that did not prevent the odd breakage courtesy some adventurous and average batsmanship.
However it was hard to play competitively and though we loved the full pitch bowling and batting, the real fun began when we started to play "1 tip 1 hand" half pitch under arm matches. The competitive matches full of sledging and controversies were so addictive that we used to play right to the point where the ball was not visible at all due to the dark. Coincidently we played the most when it was the time of PL or "Preparatory Leave" during our Engineering days.
Due to the slope on the pitch we had christened it as "Lords". The memories at Lords are legendary and often relived with great enjoyment when the lucky ones to be a part of it meet after a long time.
Cricket at Panchadri is not just about playing. The "watching" part is just as memorable if not more. I have been lucky to be born in a cricket loving family. Right since I was a kid it's been the standard norm in our house that whenever India is playing there is nothing else allowed to be seen on TV. I also remember an incident when on a vacation in Simla we made the whole touring party wait as it was the ending stages of a cricket match. Consequently the tour left without us which in my view was the best thing to happen since we could at least watch the match in peace!
Over the years we have watched a lot of matches at my house. Each of them has been special which has made my house "lucky" for the Indian team. We have also watched football but of course it does not has the same effect of watching India play. Man United matches are great but the joy in watching Sachin pulling Caddick for a six is simply something else. I have tried to list some of the memorable matches watched at "5A Panchadri" in chronological order. Here they are along with some video links if you're interested in reliving the great moments:-
- India vs Pakistan, 1998 Independence Cup Final - This match was one of the most exciting ones I have watched and I still remember the moment when our very own Punekar Hrishikesh Kanitkar hit Saqlain Mushtaq for a 4 to complete the highest ever chase at that time.
- India vs England, 2002 Natwest Series Final - I remember this match well since it happened on my father's birthday, 13th July. Unlike Mohammed Kaif's parents we did not leave the house at 164/5 and were able to witness one of India's greatest wins ever. Also the highest chase at that time.
- India vs Australia, 2003 World Cup Final - Now this should never count as a memorable match for any Indian BUT the atmosphere in my house when Sehwag was batting is something to go down in folklore. We knew that if anyone can achieve the impossible it is Virendra Sehwag. And when he was hitting the Aussie bowlers every shot was celebrated with the sound of about 25 plastic bottles which were demolished on that day.
- India vs England, 2007 T20 World Cup - This match was made memorable by 1 man - Yuvraj Singh. The 6 sixes which he hit against Stuart Broad also introduced the "huddle" in my house which later became a common feature throughout the World Cup.
- India vs Pakistan, 2007 T20 World Cup Final - Needless to say anything about this match and the atmosphere in my house as well as FC Road later on ...
I may have missed out on a lot of matches but I do hope I get to add to this list during the World Cup 2011 in India!
