Section 16 A New Suraj

A ball hit the trunk of the right coconut-tree in similar fashion, re-arousing tension. The coach was noticing.

He went to the bowler. This bowler was a good one, from the club, tall, slim, black; fit, having tenacity.

"Bowl him bouncers above his eyes." He knew his bowler. He was a master of bouncers that come down to head or shoulder, creating optical illusion. The bowler was intelligent, precisely doing what he wanted to, having full control over the behavior of the ball. This meant the ball was accurately dropping at the point where he wanted, with the right amount of force put in, resulting in right bounce with the right height.

The coach wasn't wrong. This type of delivery, mixed with other bouncers, was deluding Suraj a bit. But the result was the same. Only the ball didn't go perfectly through the gap, generally it hit the leaves. There was demand of being out when the ball hit the trunk of the right tree.

Suraj explained, "The trunks are borders. If a ball hits the border-line in one bounce, it is a six."

Then came a ball which after being shot, got stuck among the leaves of the left tree, not to be seen. People went to the base of the tree and looked up. One or two gave a push, without any outcome. Suraj approached the tree in confident, big steps, head a bit down in annoyance and thought.

He picked up a large stone lying at the foot of the tree.