001hello uh everybody Welcome to a new uh podcast series uh that we're going to uh start the podcast is uh called stump my conversations the conversations are going to be fun Panthers uh informative and uh hopefully uh we'll Propel the game uh uh locally at least for the game of cricket so welcome to uh cricket podcast uh stump mic conversations I am your host V Hassen and I have a helper my name is shaves and I am R Vish uh as I said I am VI Hassan I am founder of uh uh HOA social and sports club we have uh uh three uh cricket teams in uh local League called Mass state cricket league which has got over 60 teams right now across six divisions where around thousand uh I would say athletes are semi-pros
002are uh uh nobody's like me end up playing in uh uh the league uh every weekend uh throughout the spring through fall uh and then we have another League uh in the area for heart tennis ball called any CA it is uh called as NECA and HOA has got one team one team in that that is also across five different divisions uh uh over 50 plus teams in that uh in that league so Mass has got pretty big presence of uh presence of cricket in there uh to start up the conversations um I would like to ask uh shha uh who is your favorite cricketer and why well my favorite cricketer is omuk Chand and the reason I have for it is recently I read a book book about him and he had such an
003inspiring story his story showed persistence and him improving himself throughout this story it was really really um what it was really uh inspiring inspiring for me yeah okay so I felt as if he was good both in cricket and also teaching like life lessons and stuff like that awesome so that's a that's a great one uh back home too uh like uh like over here or anywhere right uh Sports person or athletes teach us so many lessons and so many of them are role models for uh young people and even as adults when we look at them we learn a lot of lessons from them thank you shha Rahul who is your favorite cricketer and why um my f favorite cricketer in fact is um shiv Narayan Chandra Paul okay um he is probably to
004me the best West Indies batter if you see his formation and how he play it is a is very beautiful to watch and I watch his Clips over and over again so that's one of the reasons why he is my favorite cricketer another reason is he's actually one of the people who got me inspired to play cricket yeah so watching him it made me feel like I can reach to this level or better so I felt like I should join this Sport and I should try my best to play the great uh great memories there I know both of you guys had an opportunity to meet unmukt and shivar chandrapal who are legends of the game with their in their own uh right uh now just uh we spoke a little bit about uh uh
005about local Cricket where we talked about Mass state cricket league which has got a huge presence that's why you don't get to be with me most of the weekends but uh uh but you are there on the ground some of the games but these games are played across Mass Chets whether uh in Boston uh in Franklin fields or you take in suburbs like Hopkinton YMCA grounds or right up there in the North in Groveland so uh the game is played across the state and also uh we do have uh quite a bit of presence in Rhode Island and Connecticut Rahul you have traveled to Connecticut to play youth games and Connecticut teams have come and played with you guys over here uh for for uh uh youth games so what has been your experience in
006last couple of years uh playing the game and uh being around your team um my experience with playing the game is I really enjoy it because you have strategy you have to learn how to cooperate with other people and at the same time at the toughest moments you need to learn how to cooperate with your own self-being and you need to learn okay I'm struggling in this area so I need to push myself so that I don't let down a team there's a certain discipline that comes to you when you're playing cricket and there is at least there are at least multiple challenges for you while you're in the pitch it is it is a very it it is a very difficult game but I feel like it's not difficult when you have your team
007supporting you it feels like a easy game yeah you must be having a lot of fun playing it though you're making it sound as if it is too hard and too difficult right but you must be having a lot of fun playing with your friends uh when you're playing those games yeah it is a it is actually a pretty fun game cuz there is a it is like you're scoring points for your team it's it's sort of like baseball but not quite similar okay um I noticed that you were speaking as if you like have like the um journey of how umok Chan went with his team it sounded very similar so I like that yeah long way to go long way to go though but glad to see that you are enjoying the game
008enjoying with your teammates working with your teammates that's one of the things that U uh like any other team sport take it football take it basketball um uh take it Cricket right uh when you when you work with the team of uh folks to get to a certain vision in this case winning a game like you said uh everybody has to be part of the plan everybody has to work together so it teaches a lot of uh uh a lot of things for the for the Youth when they pick up the game they travel so uh where we coach in the academy uh we do travel to National games Across the Nation uh pretty much every long weekend either we are in Atlanta Houston California we play across the across the country uh with traveling
009teams for under 13 under 11 under 15 and the 19 so when we do that we are staying away from the family we are staying as a team together in the hotel we are traveling to the ground playing the games over there in Alien conditions so just like you said you hold each other's hand one day one person is performing the other day the other one picks up so it's a beautiful thing which transpires on the ground where the friendships uh go beyond the ground and uh I have lifelong friends who I call Brothers right now who I met through Cricket so A beautiful game that gives us a lot on and off the field for sure yeah I think what you said was we are staying away from family when we're traveling to Atlanta
010Houston or California I feel like we're not just staying away from family we're creating a new one with a bunch of Brothers beautiful yeah that was that was profound thank you shredda so you started following Cricket a little bit late I would say compared to most of the most of the uh kids in the subcontinent household who come from subcontinent household but uh uh cricket was running in the house all the time you would see that and everything and you started watching the game uh till now what is that one beautiful move M that you cannot forget either watching a game or being on the ground what is that one Unforgettable moment for you in cricket so that one Unforgettable moment was when USA defeated Pakistan mhm and i' I've never seen a team like
011USA rise like this like I haven't seen USA play in fact mhm so when I saw this I thought oh my nation is beating another team I can do that one day too and it was like so amazing for me I just love that moment so that would be my moment actually I think uh and I've seen that on the ground I think that particular moment when that super over happened s netra b that beautiful over to uh get USA across that boundary and get that Victory a lot of kids lot of kids woke up and uh embraced the game after that we have seen a lot of Youth coming intoy uh a lot of parents believing that the game is uh uh thriving in the nation now there is a hope for the uh
012growth of the game in the uh in the nation so absolutely that was a very I would say a decade or two decades later when everybody talks about the evolution of uh evolution of cricket in us that will be marked uh in Golden words that that changed how Cricket is perceived uh uh as a as a as a team at the international level that's that's great great to great to hear uh talking about it uh Rahul not just on the field you have had an opportunity multiple times to be behind the mic you have called the games you have been the commentator for couple of games and I've heard people Rave about uh how you have called the games uh uh with your uh teammate uh Vivan and and others like we see in the
013picture it was in hsl two years back in Houston you want to talk about that experience well it was a very thrilling experience to be behind the mic but also it was a very you have to be very cautious what you say it it's thrilling but you have to be little bit careful because you don't want to say the wrong thing but at the same time you want to say the right thing but the wrong thing could sound as similar as the right thing yeah so you had a you had a fun time uh sitting there and doing commentary with the veterans of the game if I could say so yeah me and my a partner um vivon we had a blast commentating we would absolute love the shots that were being played we love
014the wickets that would be taken it was a beautiful experience to to sit behind the mic awesome um going or continuing to talk about youth Cricket as such uh I think USA is in such a good spot right now uh USA under 19 boys team just won a championship in South Africa playing against very capable team showing that they are not the Minos that they were considered uh while back uh and also women's team or the girls team under 19 girls team as we speak are playing in uh under 19 World Cup uh that is happening uh right now yesterday they defeated New Zealand which is one of the Power House of the of the game so uh definitely the game is uh being picked up by the youth like we can see the interest
015is there they understand the game really well and uh they do have a sense of uh a sense of achievement and also sense of belonging when they when they are playing this game we do have inspiring athletes out of the game now just like shha mentioned she saw s bull that over and then uh she got hooked onto Cricket actually she seriously started practicing uh cricket right after that game I still remember you started coaching uh uh right after that uh game here in ashy uh so continuing with that Rahul you want to speak about some of the Local Heroes that we have uh who play uh the game over here we have AR who is a local arav sangi who is local to Ashland we have arush n who lives in Hopkinton which is
016a neighboring town you want to talk about some of their successes and then I can add down to that yeah so um we'll start with um arish he was one of the he was the first person in the Ashland Academy to be able to play with USA cricket and I think that is achievement for the academy and the coaches just a bit of a correction he played the Nationals for a Eastern Conference uh EAS Conference team but you're right he played USA Cricket Nationals representing eone eone team which is a huge huge achievement for this uh uh for this area go ahead please um I and also we'll talk about arov too um he has been MVP in multiple games for n for Nationals yeah and even even locally yeah when he is playing the
017bowlers are no match for him even for such a age Gap he can play against veterans without breaking a sweat which shows what a proed he he is and how much talent he holds so just to expand on the audience who are not that much uh uh that much aware of the game uh just like Rahul mentioned uh uh we have a batter we have a bowler and we have fielders right mainly uh them and then the officials who we call as ampir now batter you can uh if you have to draw parallels you can uh uh say similar to the batter in baseball yeah yeah you can say that right and if you talk about bowler uh the similarity lies in comparing him to a pitcher but uh the the thing about Cricket is
018it is played on 22 yards uh so the batter is at one end of the 22 yard and the bowler balls we say a bow which is similar to pitching uh bows from the other end of the 22 yards uh the difference between baseball and Cricket is the bowler pitches the ball on the ground and the ball bounces and the batsman has to has to negotiate uh the ball coming in from the from the pitch so sort of a rookie explanation of what Cricket is and then there are many other rules Associated to that similar to the catches on the Outfield we have fielders on the boundary uh similar to the catcher behind the batsman we have a catcher behind the batsman in cricket called Wicket keeper um and we have officials two official in
019the game who are called umpire so like Rahul was explaining none of the pitchers or Bowlers in the area match up to the talent of Arab sangi who is an Ashland resident and who has been training for at least what last 7 to 8 years from what I know uh and kudos to the parents uh I know PE does a lot with the kid outside of the academy and coaching to and dedicate a lot of time uh uh with him to hor his hor his skills that reminds me my dad's name is nages so when I was growing up uh my dad uh used to work like two or three different uh uh things he used to work from 5 in the morning till 8: I used to call him Sunday Papa so he would
020make sure every Sunday he would play cricket with me it is such a cultural thing and it is such a uh uh such a thing back home that uh uh everybody loves the game it is like a religion back home is what we say and uh similarly when I coach Rahul or when I am with Rahul I get the same feeling of uh What uh probably dad has felt uh so like we say here in America playing catch uh with the dad in the backyard that is the same feeling that is there in uh Cricket too so uh one day we will start doing the same with SH even though she's a little bit scared of catching the ball right now but I'm pretty sure she's going to get hold of that right sh yeah
021so uh sha I know there are a lot more boys in the game of cricket compared to girls at least in the coaching point of view right now so uh what do you think uh is your goal or what are you looking up to when you when you go to coaching uh every every Friday here in Ashland at this point what do you what do you look forward to so I honestly look forward to the part where I get to see what I've improved on because every class I look at myself and I say oh I've improved on this and then I'll go back home and improve on this and then I get to see what I've improved on which I really love because it means that I'm working on something mhm and I'm going
022to achieve the goal when these skill sets are going to be done and it looks very beautiful great so you're basically working on your your skills your improvement from uh uh session after session yeah so so Rahul you have played uh now you have trained back home in India uh both of you actually have trained quite little bit I wouldn't say extensively for how much like a month month and a half when you were in India yeah yeah I guess so almost about two months but not nearly there and uh here you have been at least Rahul you have been training for last six six seven years over here yeah uh what are some of the some of the uh things that uh uh that you took away in that short period with a little
023bit of training you had what are the some of the takeaways that you brought here which you are trying to implement uh in daily routines for your uh for your game at this point um the system is a little bit more it is a little harsh but at sometimes it it comes in play it it works so they put a little they're a little bit more strict and they put and that puts a little bit more discipline mhm so when I'm working on my batting when I see my stance I think about what have they said what what they want to see and especially the coaches in Ashland they also want to see the same thing I want them to see that when I come back to coaching or whether it's in the game so
024I will practice extensively on the batting the The Stance mhm um the grip whether it be something that you would learn at a lower level you still have to make sure you perfect it so you can play the game properly awesome so sh you did the same too uh you went for coaching over there now you have come back you have continued to coach even though you are right now at level one you're trying to improve your skills like you said uh what are some of the things positives that you took back from uh uh coaching and you brought over here and is helping you uh uh helping you improve on and off the field so like I was say seeing that no matter what you are going to improve improve unless you practice mhm
025you always shouldn't be hard on yourself even though I'm hard on myself some of the times most of the times most but you should never be hard on yourself that's just going to bring you down MH and not lift you up so the mindset you should have is okay this time I didn't get it to this week I will practice it come back and then if that is still not okay and if there's only a little to work on practice it and come back awesome great um to talk a little bit about the season or uh like for example uh it is the winter is when uh basketball happens and then uh you have got your baseball happening throughout spring summer and then football kicks off in August September so similar to that locally at
026least U mate cricket league has got its season which starts in end of April and it goes all the way through through October um and uh across across uh uh across the across the region what we do uh is we find ways to we find way is to go ahead and keep the game alive in Winters in uh uh in uh New England area because we cannot go out and play so predominantly uh cricket is a game which is played on the ground on the 22 yard pitch is what I was explaining earlier but we try to make the most of it by practicing indoors um we are going to have a beautiful uh facility that's going to come up in Franklin uh which is going to be uh cricket specific facility right now all
027of us have been uh practicing and running our uh practices in uh baseball facilities now the whole New England area it is going to be the first Cricket specific indoor location that's going to be coming up in uh Franklin but even with that uh over the winters it will be hard for us to go out and play in on in the snow although that is another form of cricket we can discuss one full podcast about um so what we do is uh we go to places like Houston we go to places like California and uh play the games uh uh during during summer but coming back to the season uh H at least our club had a great run uh last year we had three championships hoping to see more uh in the in the
028upcoming upcoming Championship um so we are almost coming to uh the end of the end of our podcast uh so first of all uh I would like to start with thanking shda and Rahul to come and uh contribute their thoughts and uh uh their experiences of cricket uh in uh in US uh it is definitely a up and coming game I would say but like shda mentioned there has been games which has created history already uh and talking about history do you both know where was the first ever first ever international cricket game played England wrong I'm going to go in with the US you're right oh my God right here in New New York was the first ever Cricket G Cricket International game that was played uh it was against uh USA and Canada
029in 1800s I don't remember the actual year at this point of time but uh uh that is how much uh uh USA is connected with Cricket or Cricket uh as a game it has got its uh roots in uh in US uh asset so history wise first ever International game was played in USA how does that make you guys feel I'm surprisingly shocked how about you R um I'm very shocked but at the same time I very proud of it because I can think of my country as the first place where Cricket has been played internationally and people has watched that game internationally sh what is one thing very quickly what is one thing you you are looking forward to in cricket I'm looking forward to play a t tournament and like see the experiences
030everybody has and create my own experience very nice very nice Rahul quickly one one thing you're looking forward to in cricket I'm looking forward to building new relationships making new brothers and see how I progress through this world of cricket awesome and me as a dad and as a coach and uh seeing you guys uh play that game gives a lot of fun so have fun with the game have fun with uh uh with the learnings that the game is going to give you be kind to each other and more so like you said be kind to yourself yourself which is which is very important uh and with uh with that uh we can learn a lot of things uh from cricket and uh progress forward there is a there is a huge potential and
031a and a a great great uh future for uh uh youth Cricket to grow and the cricket in general to grow uh in this country uh us as we know is a place where uh All Good Things Thrive and and uh uh it is a it is a sports Centric country I would say uh lot of sports Thrive over here uh so Cricket has got its own future in there so that's it uh thank you shredda and Rahul for accompanying uh for our first ever episode of uh stump mic conversations hope to have you guys back again in this and have more uh insightful conversations um before we end this podcast cast I just want to say I am shocked how much we've grown throughout the years first it was just like this small facility
032where there's like three coaches and I can't believe now we're doing a full podcast thank you sh that that is very insightful and very encouraging uh and hope we uh grow 10 folds 20 folds and uh uh get everybody together and build a community together who is uh good to each other thank you guys thank you so much and thank you everyone for tuning in um hopefully the goal is we're going to bring uh more of these podcast more informations with respect to Cricket and uh someday probably we will talk some things uh Beyond Cricket too so till then we're going to uh meet you guys uh back again thank you