The Wide Bowler

Written By Aayan P.J.

Special Thanks to Anishka V.

It was a dark and windy night. As the trees swaying to a gentle breeze, the sun slowly rose upon the dark night sky. Light flooded a small hut and opened his eyes, Marcus Arabnus. 

Marcus was a playful young boy, who was only 8. He loved the hillside near the hut where his family stayed. He always loved to see horses galloping across the smooth terrain. He always liked to watch the cricket matches played at the nearby stadium, the Arun Jaitly Stadium in Delhi. He watched many SMA Trophy matches, as well as the IPL. He also loved to play cricket himself.  

He was much better at his slog sweeps and reverse ones than bowling altogether. He dreaded bowling. He was given the nickname the Wide Bowler from a friend. He hated this and wished to change it. He bowled so wide that sometimes the keeper had difficulty fielding the ball, much less catch it. So, he started training under Coach Varun, the local coach at the Jaitly Stadium. He had vowed to improve his bowling at his time there. 

One day, Marcus woke up bright and early in the morning. He got dressed and wolfed down his food. Then, a thought rushed back to him. He had his first cricket match at the IPL today. The match was starting at three thirty. He jumped into his new Delhi Capitals uniform and got his kit bag. Marcus then raced to the Arun Jaitly Stadium. 

Marcus unpacked his kit and padded up for some net batting. Later on, after lunch, he practised his bowling. It was still very wide, but had come much closer to the stumps than he expected. He continued bowling for longer. Slowly, the balls became closer and closer to the stumps until finally, Marcus bowled the batsman. Confident, Marcus stepped off the field and prepared to play. 

He slipped on his uniform and padded up to bat at number three. After singing the anthem, Marcus went to the dressing room and chatted around with the other Delhi Capitals’ players. Soon the opening batsman was bowled. While the bowler celebrated, Marcus took his helmet and bat and put them on. Wearing his gloves, he stepped onto the pitch. The first ball was a wide yorker. Marcus jabbed at it unsuccessfully. Readying himself for the next ball, Marcus took an off-stump guard. The bowler gave him a slower short ball. Marcus, seeing an opportunity, tried to smack to the leg side. To his horror, he edged it onto his stumps. With the bails off, Marcus walked back to the pavilion, shaking his head. 

At the end of the innings, Delhi had scored 123 for 8. They walked out to bowl. Marcus with the new ball, he was determined to change the game for their team and make the impossible possible. Pacing up, Marcus flung the first ball. The ball wide of the stumps and Marcus grimaced. The next ball was a surprising inswinger bouncing off the batsman’s pads. Huge appeal for leg before was given out. Celebrating, Marcus ran faster than he ever had before. As the batsman walked off the pavilion, he prepared to bowl the third ball of the over. 

The next ball was hit high into the air, and it was caught by the bowler. Screaming in delight, Marcus pumped his fist into the air. On the hat-trick ball, Marcus bowled the ball with all his might. The pace tricked the batsman and the ball went onto the stumps! Marcus ran through the crowd of players and was smothered by his teammates. The hat-trick had been taken by Marcus! Wickets fell like rain and soon the opposition were 83 for 9. Marcus had taken 7 wickets for only 3 runs so far. He came in to bowl the last over of the innings with the opposition needing 41 off the last 6 balls. 

The first ball was hit high by the batsman and a simple catch for the keeper ended the game. Marcus was the player of the match with a haul of 8 wickets in 3.1 overs for 3 runs. He was very proud of himself and continued his bowling streak in the IPL. 

He finished as lead wicket taker in the tournament with 50 wickets in 16 matches. He got Delhi Capitals to their first title. He was very proud of himself. And to think he always bowled wide was incredible. He had become very good at bowling through practice and hard work. He taught us that when we try and believe, we can always succeed.