IT’S a scene straight out of a Bollywood sports movie. The all-chanting, all-dancing blur of lemon yellow snaking victoriously towards me somehow makes me think of Lagaan, the 2001 Indian historical sports film produced by and starring Aamir Khan. Set in 1890s India, the story is about what happened when an arrogant British commander challenges the harshly-taxed villagers to a high-stakes cricket match.
But this is no Lagaan. And there’s no such angst either. No one’s actually baying for any blood; only for the glimmer of gold-ware. The victors are indeed Indians but the game isn’t cricket. Close though.
In this very much modern day setting of Malaysia on a searing hot Sunday on the diamond of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in Selangor, it’s baseball that I’m witnessing. And the Indian team – the Baseball Softball Academy of India (BSA) – has just achieved the double, sweeping aside a spirited UPM team to emerge the champion of the 2nd UPM International Invitation Baseball Championship, organised by UPM and supported by the Baseball Federation of Malaysia, by a score of 11-5.
Along the way, in a tournament that spanned five days, last year’s winner BSA, comprising six players from Telangana, a state in southern India, gave their opponents – All Stars (Malaysia), Dragons (Korea), Ravens (Singapore), and now UPM – a lesson in baseball excellence, conquering their opponents with significant score margins in their march to the tournament’s gold medal.
At a time when the BFM is hot on its agenda to transform the baseball landscape in this country – having recently created the first national women’s team, selected promising youngsters to form the Under 12 and Under 15 teams, and in just a couple of weeks’ time, holding try-outs to select the players who will represent the country for the men’s national team – this tournament, despite the disappointing outcome, is another great step towards future developments, giving the home players much needed competition exposure and the opportunity to test their capabilities.
CHARTING THE FUTURE
“The standard and quality of the teams have definitely improved this year,” remarks Chief Umpire Winson Low, who, together with his band of ‘blues’, that include vocational college teacher Muhamad Fairuz Mohamad Arif, government officer Mohammad Raihan Mohd Affandi and teacher Abdullah Omar, were tasked with steering the finale game to its smooth and uneventful conclusion.
Seated on the bleachers, their faces flushed a darker shade from having spent all morning on the field marshalling play under the scorching sun, Low, Fairuz and Raihan are collectively satisfied with the way the game had gone today.
Pride lacing his voice, Low confides: “We were able to complete nine innings in over two hours and 45 minutes. That’s a record so far in Malaysia. This is particularly significant because we were able to ensure that no ‘softball culture’ (of delays) could seep into this game. Many of the players that you see here play softball too. In baseball umpiring, we don’t allow for anything to delay the game. We have to hustle to ensure that play can proceed smoothly.”
(A quick check reveals that in a few instances during certain tournaments, players are sometimes instructed by their managers to do a number of things in order to prolong the game for the purpose of extending it beyond the current half-inning, or to fulfil the minimum requirements of mandatory play. There are also cases where managers have instructed hitters and runners to do some funky stuff – i.e. do something that would get them called out in order to shorten the game for any purpose.)
Fanning his face with his cap, 40-year-old Fairuz, who’s only in his second year as a baseball ‘ump’ and was today tasked to ‘look after’ the first base, concurs with Low, adding that certainly the two teams were not hesitant in their game play, compared to their first outing last year.
“They hustled better today, and their fielding and batting had improved considerably,” adds 46-year-old Raihan who had his port at the 2nd base.
As BFM continues to chart the development of the sport and its future national players — both men and women — Low is also hoping that in tandem with that, the umpires too would not be forgotten. After all, this is also the first time that Malaysia finally has its band of certified umpires who can aspire to loftier arena given the right support.
His brows furrowing, Low says: “The more games we get to umpire, the better we become. This tournament has been yet another stepping stone. I do hope that BFM would assign us to more umpiring courses and give us exposure in Asia, and in countries that have their own professional baseball leagues.”
As his compatriots heartily nod their agreement, the figure of one of the Indian team’s coaches enter my periphery. A distinguished looking fellow with his pepper-grey beard and stylish shades, he stops momentarily to throw a jaunty wave before weaving his way past UPM players still on the field, towards his jubilant players who are huddled noisily under a canopy. The raucous banter is discernible and I promptly excuse myself to talk to the victor’s side.
FREEDOM TO PLAY
“We beat every single team we played in this tournament,” begins L. Rajender, coach of the BSA team and as I soon discover, a former Indian national player and captain. Prodded on how his players have been able to slay everyone in their wake, Rajender, who also coaches the Indian national team, smiles sagely before replying: “The players are motivated. I motivate them by leaving them free. Not too many rules or restrictions. We ask them to enjoy the game, enjoy when they’re outside but once on the field, to give 100 per cent. The players have no tensions, nothing in their heads. They play freely. And that’s the secret!”
The fact that the players — the youngest is 15 and the average age is 24 — haven’t really played with each other much before and only just got together as a unit for this tournament astonishes me. I’d assumed that they’d been playing together always. “India is a big country,” elaborates Rajender, adding: “Our players are from everywhere. Not just one place. But every state has a centralised place where players from those states can train and practice together.
There are 28 state teams in baseball and softball, he adds. “And we have inter-university tournaments. We also have a national league that involves all the state teams. Our Under-14, Under-18 and seniors are very active. There’s plenty of coaching camps around the country.”
Although baseball has yet to arouse the kind of fervour that cricket commands in India, it still has a sizeable following. “The players learn to be proficient at the game by watching the national games closely; they study it. Everybody knows who needs to do what.”
TESTING GROUNDS
Tournaments such as this recently-concluded one at UPM is viewed by Rajender as a useful platform — for everyone. In fact he’s looking forward to returning next year for what will be the third instalment. Concludes the affable Hyderabad local: “I’m hoping that more of your local players will be motivated to participate. It’s a pity because I’m sure that there are many talented players in this country. But we’re not seeing them here yet. If your players are more consistent and motivated, they can also become champions.”
His eyes light up as a tall, turban-wearing man suddenly materialises and makes his way towards us. “You should speak to him. He’s the one responsible for steering the team,” says Rajender, beckoning the man over before excusing himself to prepare for the presentation ceremony.
“I’m Harsimrat Singh,” the man introduces himself, his handshake firm. His tone is confident and I recognise him as being the guy who’d been enthusiastically barking out instructions to the Indian players and commanding play from the side lines during the game.
I duly discover that Harsimrat, who hails from New Delhi, is not only a BFA player but is also their coach and he’s on the Indian national team too. The eloquent 29-year-old has been playing baseball since the age of 12 and cites his mentor as Anoop Kumar, the honorary director of BFA.
“In India, we have many good teams and we’re active in tournaments,” shares Harsimrat, who also plays softball. “Participating in tournaments such as this one and in other parts of the country allows us to explore the extent of our capabilities. That’s why we come. The more we get the chance to test ourselves, the better we perform.”
Last year, adds Harsimrat, he had the honour of captaining the BSA team. “I came back this year and definitely I can see the standards, both in game play and players, have improved. Certainly, UPM is a good team — one that’s still developing and improving. We won but they gave us a good fight.”
Does he have any advice for the upstarts, some of whom could actually feature in Malaysia’s national team, I ask swiftly as I hear someone holler that the presentation ceremony is about to commence.
A pause and finally Harsimrat replies: “Just play your game. If you’ve been instructed to do one thing, just do that one thing. And do it well. Don’t just follow your own mind. Play as simple as you can and you’ll achieve the target. Our target was to win the tournament – and we did just that!”