He is a 24-year-old Bangladeshi who took the Indian Cricket League by storm in his debut season. His timid nature off the field is a stark contrast to the raw aggressive temperament that he displays on the cricket field. He is Alok Kapali, the man who scored the first-ever century at the ICL.
One year after the league was born, organisers, fans and critics looked back and were pleased with all that had been – the records that were set and the performances that were a part of the league. But there was still something missing. In the inaugural season, three international 20-20 tournaments had gone by and not one man had scored a century! Many thought that the slow nature of the wickets and the obvious restrictions in the 20-over format prevented batsmen from reaching the revered three-figure mark but with the dawn of the new season those myths were soon going to be shattered.
When Habibul Bashar’s Warriors walked out onto the floodlit Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium on the 15th of October, very few people believed that the debutant team was capable of springing a surprise on the Hyderabad Heroes in terms of team or individual performances. But the apparently timid warriors had an unexpected ace up their sleeve. His name – Alok Kapali.
The Warriors, who were only one-game old in the league, won the toss and elected to bat first but made a mess of their start losing three quick wickets. Hyderabad captain Chris Harris must have been thrilled with the way his bowlers had the game in control, but he had no idea about how the next 16 overs were going to make his side lose control in the most unexpected fashion. With Aftab Ahmad back in the hut and with just 30 runs on the board, Alok Kapali walked into the middle, keen to stand up and be counted, and he did just that. Kapali faced just sixty deliveries to script a historic first-ever century at the ICL and what a century it was!
We asked his captain, Habibul Bashar, what he had to say about the knock after the game, and he was as awestruck as the spectators at the Hyderabad stadium. “Well, he is just amazing, isn’t he? That innings was just fantastic! The 100 runs came out of nowhere! We were struggling a bit in the game but he just came out there and hit everyone around the park with ease!”
So dominant was Kapali’s knock that the Hyderabad bowlers could only run in, bowl and watch that magic unfold! Nicky Boje had a few interesting thoughts to share on the blitzkrieg innings, “He played fantastically; it seemed like very ball that he hit went for a 6 or a 4! It is always difficult as a bowler or as a captain to defend against an onslaught like that. He played very well and he deserved to get that hundred.”
While heaps of praise have been showered on the 24-year-old for his bold century, he himself is very modest about his achievement, making it sound like reaching the hundred was a piece of cake. “When I went out to bat I had a plan to bat the full 20 overs. When I began to connect the ball well I thought I would try and make a century and I made it! I always try to play my natural explosive game and I didn’t do anything different on that day,” said the shy Bangladeshi in retrospect.
“I told all my non-strikers to give me singles so that I could play for both ends!” said Kapali who shared a phenomenal 77-run partnership with Dhiman Ghosh in which the latter scored only 8 runs! That just goes to show how the centurion dominated proceedings on that day. “I told him to just stay at the other end and that I would do all the scoring and that is exactly what happened,” said a content Kapali after the big knock.
The Dhaka Warriors coach, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, too has only words of praise for the young lad. “He is a fantastic cricketer! He doesn’t look as explosive as he actually is. He is exciting and talented and has a lot of potential. He has a good cricketing brain and is a thinker. What’s more, he plays for the team, which is great!”
Habibul Bashar also mentions that more than the century, it is his fighting spirit that has added a lot to the team. “It is not just that 100, the way he is batting (overall) in this tournament is just fantastic! He has been hitting the ball very well. He has been taking those vital singles and he is just looking like a complete batsman. He is so far the highest run-getter in the tournament and that has been good for him and good for the team as well. I only hope that his form continues and that he is able to keep the momentum going to take our team to where we want to go.”
Unfortunately, the first ICL century didn’t result in a victory for the centurion’s team but what it did do was break the mould and set a brand new standard for what is possible at the ICL. Kapali’s classic knock will now help a few batsmen ask themselves questions about the benchmarks that they tend to set for themselves. Don’t be surprised if a few more guys in the league now reach that revered three-figure mark in the future after taking a leaf out of the young Warrior’s book!
- Mamta Joseph
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