Andhra Mirchis

The two words mean a lot to me. I believe I haven’t made the most of my time here at BITS but this is one thing that is very close to my heart, that has made me proud. It may not matter much to those who haven’t been a part of it, but I will not refrain myself from writing anyway.
Andhra Mirchis is the cricket team we formed in our first year and the association has continued to exist and better itself every day. But this was not something that just came by. The team, as it stands today, is the result of many hours spent discussing strategies, contemplating our mistakes and looking for ways to gain an edge over the opponent even before the matches take place. The team formation itself took many nyt-outs and heated arguments. Captaincy has had its share of pondering as well. Some may find it amusing but, I can assure you, every person who has been a part of the squad has taken it very seriously. At no point in time did anyone feel that we are taking it too far, after all this was just a campus team, like many others, which played tournaments conducted by regional associations at BITS Pilani. Three cheers to that spirit!
As it happens with every team and every player, we have also had our highs and lows, players have been in and out of form and health but then it is the love for the game that has kept us going. I believe we are one of the very few teams on campus, in fact the only one as my memory goes, which has had the same 11 on its squad for over three years now. In our final year there have been a couple of changes owing to the Practice School program, and our new members have proved to be equally talented and spirited (proud of you, guys!). I can’t recollect a single instance where we had team members arguing over something or any sort of ego clashes. There is always a captain in the team but then we have never had monopolies. Any decision is the outcome of a collective thought process. To better oneself, one always needs to retrospect so that same mistakes are not reiterated. We always have post-match cnot session/discussions in the wing/anc discussion or sometimes we sit musing at the Gandhi circle (!) as to how each one of us performed that day. We rejoice every victory and there is a sullen silence whenever we lose (very few of these, I believe!), although we never forget the kudos handshake with the opposition. The loss inspires us to perform even better the next match and the post-match session is a real boost. We have team treats and our bonding on and off the field is just great.
I feel ecstatic even as I write this post as this gives me a chance to hold on to these moments forever. So, I will also not miss out on mentioning the players who are the real assets of a team.
(In batting order)Kishore a.k.a Mule, Aditya a.k.a Adi, Chaitanya a.k.a. VSK, Vijay a.k.a Cap, Sarat a.k.a Law, Mohan a.k.a Barru, Venkatesh a.k.a Venki, Sowseel a.k.a. Kodo, Myself, Amarnath a.k.a Amar and Satyanarayana a.k.a Satti. This year there have been a couple of changes - Jagannath a.k.a Jaggu, Krishna Mohan a.k.a KM have replaced Law and Barru, and we are still as formidable as ever.
I feel privileged to be a part of this team and this affiliation of great talents.





Love you guys,
Piyush.