Superleague & Best Player

Continuing from where I left off in the last post. It was Superleague time! This was the tournament which Christ organized for all the stand out players of the Pedagogic League.

A pool of around 400 plus players was now brought down to a mere 120 or so.

Majority of the big name players of the Nightswatch were selected for this, but surprisingly, Tushar's name wasn't included. The coach was apparently not impressed enough with his game. Mind you, this lad poured his living heart out onto the pitch and lay it all on the line for the team. I recall Jana making repeated efforts to reason it out with the coach to give Tushar a second chance. But that didn't work out.

Obviously, I wasn't for this in any which way. I told Tushar to sneak in from the back and join the group of 120. Come on, it was Tushar. Being the honest fellow he is, he initially declined, but I'm a really persistent guy so you can guess what happened. So there I was, sitting right at the back of the entire group with my roommate Tushar K Chand. And why we were sitting at the back was so that we wouldn't be spotted by any of the team captains except Jana. All the captains of all quarterfinalists of the Pedagogic League were now the new captains of the Superleague.

Now I know that I had played well, but I didn't know that I had played that well that other captains had noticed me. Honest to God (if there is one), I had never gotten into Christ football with the intention of being the best. I was just another player thoroughly enjoying his football. I was hoping that Jana would pick me again because I don't think that kind of understanding would have been formed again with another player.

Chilling at the back, I suddenly heard a loud roar, "AAANKIITT!" Instantly, I knew this had to be Neerman, a centre back from Mauritius pursuing his masters. My first reaction? I hid. What else could I do? Luckily for me, another player whose name in no way sounds like Ankit stood up and walked towards Neerman to which Neerman pointed him back to the group and told the HOD of the Sports Department who he wanted. I realized I couldn't hide anymore, so I got up and greeted my new captain. Disappointed, of course, but in a way, excited for what the future held.

Pirates!

I managed to get Tushar, Aayush, Mohit as well as Satvick to join me on the same team. (All four are now my flatmates by the way.) Neerman had assembled a squad which was extremely decent but the problem was, we didn't gel well enough. Rather, we didn't get the time to. But that's just an excuse. We were named the Pirates.

I was first picked for the second tournament in a span of two weeks. This time, not via luck, but hard work. We had another senior University player called Mahesh in our squad. Mahesh was one of the most hardworking players I have ever seen on a football pitch, whichever position you play him in, he would bring his all, the emotion, charisma he brings to the game is reminiscent of Cristiano Ronaldo. I went on to develop a very nice relationship as well as understanding with this man.

Matchday 1: It didn't start off well for us, Mahesha got red carded in the first minute itself for whacking Mukul on his calf for nutmegging him. He then went on to push the ref a bit which wasn't bound to serve him well either. Instantly, we were under immense pressure being a man down. I expected Neerman to lead from the front but he was also mentally disturbed as Mahesh was our most experienced player. I knew I had to do something, and that'ss when I took matters into my own hands. I started shouting, screaming, directing, instructing, you name it, I did it. I covered the entire field by myself, running up to support the attack to helping Satvick and Neerman at the back. Unfortunately, they managed to take advantage of the extra man by scoring two in quick succession. We pulled one back but that wasn't enough. The match ended 2-1 and even though I was complimented by almost everyone who watched the game, I didn't care, I was furious.

Matchday 2: Mahesha apologized for his wrongdoings and was permitted to grace the pitch again. This proved to be a major confidence boost for the team. I remember Mahesh came up to me personally and apologized. With our differences aside, we played the team which were destined to finish first in the tournament, the best team on paper, the all-stars. As soon as the game started, I made a darting through the centre of the field towards their goal. Advancing, I beat player after player. I faced two extremely strong defenders ahead, I 'megged one, carrying on my run, I then 'megged the other centre back as well and now was in on goal. And that was it, everything was set for me to finish when I blatantly skied the ball 5 stories high. And from there, the opposition grew from strength to strength, eventually scoring a goal. We managed to equalize through Abdel but that didn't prove to be enough as they created a beautiful goal which was unstoppable. Barcelona of 2011-12 would be proud of that move. We lost, but they deserved the win.

Matchday 3: We were up against the team which went on to win the entire league IBFC. Led by Shlok, they stamped their authority early on during the match by absolutely outclassing us with very intricate football. They had an extremely physical side and we did manage to give a really good fight but that was never going to prevent the inevitable. They scored one, then another. Both goals could have been prevented, but it was their day, everything went right for them. We had quite a few chances in the second half. I tried my level best to spur the team on to make a comeback but it was never quite enough. Shlok had created a really formidable side. We did put a fight after Aayush created this beautiful chance out of absolutely nothing, picking up the ball in the centre of the park and playing Varun in on goal who as expected finished the move very well with a goal. That remains to be Aayush's best assist ever, come to think of it, his only assist ever. :P

We had lost all three matches of the group stages. *Poof* Blew up the dream of winning two tournaments on the trot. Unhappy, of course, we went back home and didn't return to the football pitch. Not even to witness the rest of the tournament or even the final.

Best Player!

I was in college one day, heading back to my room after classes had ended when I received a text saying 'You were named best player.'
Rubbishing that thought, I carried on back to my room for a good afternoon nap. When I woke up, my phone had around 6 messages from different people congratulating me on being named the best player. I couldn't believe it, I told myself that the coach or someone must have made the statement that Ankit was the best player during the closing ceremony and that's what all the fuss is about. That's when Jana pinged me stating I was named best player of the Pedagogic League as well as the Superleague and that he had collected my trophy on my behalf and that I should come to the pitch to collect it. This was the first time ever in Christ football history that a first year was awarded the best player award for both, the Pedagogic and Superleague.

I was really surprised, I didn't feel my performance deserved it. Pedagogic? Probably. But even Superleague? No. We lost in the group stages itself.
As I made my way to the football field, I noticed how many people started recognizing me and congratulating me. I didn't expect this. Once I had reached, I was greeted by quite a few people, everyone was shaking my hand, I felt noticed, I felt special. The next person I met was Jana who handed over the trophy to me and said: "Don't doubt yourself, you deserve it."
The coach, Arun sir, then met me and told me that I was exactly the kind of player who he was looking for and that he would now select players for the university team who suited my style of play.

What? Where was all this coming from?

I went back home and sat by myself and thought. Looking back, in hindsight, I realized that yeah, I did play well, I gave my everything. Every time I walked out onto the pitch, I didn't think of my own personal gains, I was solely concentrating on winning the match for the team.

And that's when I learnt that if you are willing to lay it all out on the line for the team, hold nothing back, work your face off and express yourself on the pitch, you will be able to play the best football you have ever played.

After all, football is a team sport. And the name on the front of the shirt, the name of the team, matters more than the name at the back.

A New Chapter: Christ University, Bangalore

On June 2nd, 2016, I started a brand new chapter in my life. I had just joined the "best" university in India for a Bachelors Of Business Administration. I was pumped. I was eager to join, eager to start playing football especially because I had heard a lot about the football scene in Bangalore and that it was on par with Mumbai's football scene.

College started and I was assigned my class and it took me a while to realize that football practice had already started. A while being three weeks to be exact. But little did I know what was about to come in the next year.
Excelling at football and making my mark in Christ football was my main goal when I joined. And that's what I had drilled into my head as well.

Buzzing from a great inaugural season at the VPPL, I was ready to go!

On my first day of practice, I was kind of under-confident, to be honest. The ground was buzzing with over 100 players who looked really hungry to prove themselves. I looked around to see who the coach was and it was pretty obvious who that was. He went by the name Arun Sir, tall, dark and with a hearty, genuine smile. I took my own sweet time during kit up when a senior walked in and told us to get our asses to the pitch quickly. I got up and headed out to the pitch where the coach was talking in his weird style. I am not sure how I would describe the way Coach speaks but let me just tell you that it was as amusing as it is irritating. But then again, he was here for football, to coach a bunch of arrogant college kids. Who was I to judge?

So, in Christ, we can practice at two grounds because sometimes, the numbers are too much and it helps accommodate the different teams of the university. I was sent to the second ground where two teams of 11 were divided and set to play against each other. I was in one of these teams and I had made my stance very clear from the onset of team creation that I will only play in the centre midfield position no matter what happens. The problem was, there were three other central midfielders on my team. So two of them took a hit for the team and played in a centre back position. I did not want to take the risk of playing in any other position because I have had the sad experience of playing in an unfamiliar position during a trial and eventually not getting picked up.

 I felt bad for both of them, but one of them turned out to be an insane player with an even more insane work ethic which astounded me. His name was Karan. We instantly had this telepathic communication. I knew where he was, I knew that when I was in trouble, there'll be a solid centre back at the back to cover and he knew exactly how I liked to receive the ball. We both had a good time playing with each other. Little did I know that we would go on to play with each other a lot more, win trophies, lose some, but always put in our 110%

FOCUS

I played a few really beautiful Hollywood passes across the field which is when I caught the coach's attention. When i figured out that he was looking at my play, I stepped it up. I started running more, putting in more tackles, more effort and I eventually scored a goal.

After the game, the coach huddled us together and spoke to us with great excitement ahead of the new football season. He did single me out during his talk when he made the statement "I know a polished player when I see one" and he looked directly towards me at the far end of the huddle.

Instantly I knew he meant me and that this was just the beginning. I realized that I would have to square up for a spot on the Christ A team with people not just doing their undergrad but those doing their masters and doctorates as well, tough, strong and really good university level players. I knew that it was going to be hard but then again, I wasn't new to adversity and I'm certainly not the guy backing down from a challenge.

So that was that a new chapter in my life had started in Bangalore and my goal, was to leave a mark in Christ football history.

DFI- Making My Mark.

First and foremost. Hope you have a brilliant 2016 ahead!

Germany seems like a distant memory now. It has been 6 months since I landed in India. And boy oh boy, do I miss it.

My Schedule. Find my name.

Carrying on from where I left off, my second week was much better because I had got adjusted to the surroundings, the climate and the physicality. I had finally started playing at a decent level. Not good, not satisfactory but decent. I remember this one training session with the U-23's where I played really well. I bossed the center of the park. I was going in for challenges, I was running constantly and making quick incisive passes. Even though I was being pushed around and thrown on the ground, I got back up and went for more. I had this hunger in me. This hunger to do well, to do my parents proud even though they didn't know what i was doing, to give it your all.

As I entered the third week, the coaches started noticing me and rightfully so. I was playing well and enjoying my football. Our bulletin board which had our schedule informed us that we would be playing a match in the next few days. India vs Germany. At first I thought it would be only us Indians against the U-23's. Later I found out that the German team was filled with coaches and the U-18's. Fortunately, our "India" team consisted of U-23 players from SA, China, Croatia, Peru, Russia and Germany.

What a sight!

The dressing room! Aaaahhh!

Before the game, we had visited the home of Bayern Munich, Germany and 1860 Munich., The Allianz Arena. The first stadium i went to didn't disappoint me. It was truly stunning. Right from the outside to the museum inside. The European Cups, Bundesliga shields and the DFB Pokals were just a mere 30 Cm from
me. Only glass separated us. My hopes of lifting them later in my life still lingers. The ground was brilliant,
 i really don't have words to describe how classy it was. To all the Bayern supporters, it is a must that you visit the home of the Bavarians at least once in your life. extend your bucket list.

Life Goals!

Have to watch a match here.

Moving back to matchday, there was a proper dressing room meeting with full kits and a team list and formations. Sadly, I was keeping the bench warm. I did feel a little embarrassed as the rest of my fellow Indians were playing. The first half was played, the score was
2-2.

Haslreiter sir then brought me on at half time. Surprisingly at left back. I had never played the position before. Next thing you know, I got the ball and I made a run from our defensive half to the final third and had a shot on goal. The solo run didn't pay off, but it boosted my confidence a lot, especially when the fellow foreigners started appreciating my effort. I went on to have two more shots on goal, one which nearly went in. In the end, I wasn't tired. I could have played a lot more, this fire had ignited. A little too late in the month, but nevertheless.

I had hit my peak form.