Republic Day Cricket Match - A Photo Essay

(Pictures by Lynn Barretto Miranda)

Stretch, stretch

Net practice without nets

Loosening up

Waiting for the battle to begin.

Nitish leaves no stone unturned.

"Heads we bat, tails you field"

Pre-match trash-talking between the two teams.

Team A - (L-R) Paul, Kaivalya, Sunil, Anant, Gajanan (Yeah, yeah it was five-a-side. Because you were at home sleeping)

Team B - (L-R) Rajiv, Nitish, Kunal, Devansh & Lynn (behind the camera)

Rajiv plays a cracking square cut (That barely leaves the square)

Nitish attempts to lose the ball in some bushes nearby.

Then Sunil delivers his 'mystery ball'. It floats innocuously in the air...

...and homes in like a guided missile, targeting future generations of the Wagle family.

10.... 9..... 8....

...7.... 6....

...5.... 4....

...3.... 2.... 1.... TKO!

Kunal brings a semblance of normalcy back to the proceedings.

Umpire Mahesh throws neutrality to the wind and celebrates the fall of a wicket.

Rajiv & Sunil bring all their architectural experience into making the stumps stand straight, until the wind knocks it over 5 minutes later.

Sunil ducks under a bouncer that could have only hit him if he were 12 feet tall.

Nitish returns to bowl, although he would have failed a drug test at this point, courtesy physio Sajan.

Paul ponders over the demise of the British Empire and what the natives have done to the gentleman's game.

It's all happening!

Rajiv does his Allan Donald impression.

Anant hits the winning run....

...Paul tries to effect a run out.

But its all over. Cricket was the winner.

At the post-match lunch at Bambolim Beach.

Some quizzing has to happen, no? Annie runs his Quizstock Lit Quiz for those who missed it.

All in all, a good day at the office. For those who are concerned, we are happy to report that post-match self-testing by Nitish has confirmed that his er..., equipment, still works and his status as one of SEQC's most eligible bachelors is still intact. Jai Hind!