How India Missed A Batting Legend

'arvind,arvind,arvind'....this is how i dreamt of people screaming my name when i batted....not that i loved cricket very much,,but just because i wanted to be famous with huge crowds waiting to get a little glimpse of me...if u have had a similar dream feel proud to be one among the club of extremely optimistic dreamers...
It was in my 6th i decided to get professionally coached in cricket like millions of young indian children.Imagination has always been my biggest asset and i imagined my days when I would share rooms with sachin and kumble.I joined a cricket coaching club which can be analogized with the 'maths tution taken here' run by some middle aged maami in a neighbourhood flat.It had a coach who could bat well with his pads on..seeing pads for the first time ,I saw my mentor in him...My experiences there were fun filled.Me being the youngest yet the well built of the lot ,,was treated like a puppy...Getting into teams easily whenever someone was absent or injured ,getting a nice gauge(no of balls played) pleading everyone for a chance..afterall i was a pet to all..so things happened very easily to me..I should say i used to bat really well..hitting whatever i could to boundaries..swinging my bat from east to west invariably hitting every delivery towards the square leg.
My coaching honeymoon had to end one day very abruptly.There was supposed to be a selection match to select the few who were to represent the coaching centre in zonals.The coach invited a local college team to play with us.As always i was expecting a good batting chance with a false reputation as a hitter.But not always things go your way...The team which was supposed to come withdrew due to other commitments and our coach did something which seemed to be very funny to me..he immediately invited the local women's college team for the match.Know what i never expected this to happen.Playing with 11 girls was the last thing i had ever imagined in my life...and at that age i never thought girls played cricket.With mixtures of shyness,anger,fear etc etc i walked out of the stadium...and der ended the making of a legend..
Only later i understood the constructive part played by many women in my life...and also learnt that 2 of those girls with whom i refused to play with are now playing for the national team...