Ankit "Micheal Jordan" Gulechha

TAPMI has given me a chance to do many things for the first time in my life. I have never played sports at competitive level such as school, zone, district, etc. My association with sports is limited to Gully cricket, Carrom board with family, EA Sports on my computer and of course my SQ(Sports Quotient) which I know is very high compared to others. I do follow all the action happening in cricket, football, tennis, F1,etc.

At TAPMI to keep myself fit and in shape, I had made up my mind to play one sport on regular basis in college. I wanted to avoid the gym as it took lot of time out of the rigorous schedule here. Volleyball at 5 PM everyday after college is what I played. In due course of time we started playing basketball early mornings at MIT basketball court. This was my first attempt at playing basketball. I was very bad at it, but was happy to be sweating it out early in the mornings.

We moved to new campus in some time and that was the end of basketball as we do not have a basketball court here yet.

Come SPEED 2009( Annual Sports meet at TAPMI), I give my nomination to class captain to play basketball. Our class has some good basketball players and other prospective players who line themselves up for selection for a team of 8-10. Initially I thought my chances were bleak but I wanted to contribute somewhere for the class in SPEED. So we start practicing everyday in the evening for a couple of hours. In due course only 8-10 players turned up regularly for the practice and We all make it to the team( as if the captain had any choice). As far as I was concerned I thought I was called personally for the practice so that there were enough players at practice to help the good players practice better. But I did not mind this a bit because I loved sweating it out there and secondly I was playing some sports. My captain Vignesh and good friend Tuhin, and others did help me improve my game. I was given a specific role- collecting rebound and converting them during offence, and taking on the man near ring during defense.

On 27th feb at midnight we have a team strategy discussion in hostel TV room and my captain says that there is a chance I might play in game tomorrow as substitute. Though I very much felt this would not happen.

On 28th feb,morning 6.30 the entire team reaches the venue. The court is half surrounded by supporters of both the teams. I do not figure in the starting line up as decided in team meeting. My teams plays great basket ball and we move into third quater with a lead of 8 points. I was hoping that I might get a chance to play in fourth quater, but the team did not want to risk this and thus I stand at side dissapointed not to have played a part in the game. But then, with 10 points lead and 3 minutes to play, out of no where I hear my captain shouting " Gulechha in, Doshi out", and I am like "what!!". And next moment I am on court thinking whats the point of playing in a game which we have already won. I might better not play. But I had to prove a point here. If I play well, I might get a chance in the finals. And more than that I was playing my first competitive basketball game. I get two chances to score which I miss to score from. The game ends in with my team winning by 10 points. Post match hand shakes takes place, and people are like "Congrats, well played" patting on my back. I was on cloud seven that day.

The next day,1st march is the best sporting day of my life. We are in the finals against a team which plays hard basketball. Man-to-man, strategic game, with lots of elbows and wrists flying all over the place. This was one tough team to beat. Unlike the last game this time the support was doubled. Alomst the entire batch comes down to watch the match. I do not figure in the starting 5, and I am sure I would not get a chance to play unless we leading by huge margin during latter part of game, the chances of which looked weak. In the first quater we are 8-0 down, with the other team taking shots after shots at the basket and we virtually not made a single attempt on ours. Their defense was absoulte in place and their offense some how worked. I realised this was end of competitive basketball for me atleast for this year. To make up for the score my team started playing hard and committed far too many fouls especially from the star player. Another foul from him would have resulted in extra free throws each time. With a minute left to first quater I was substituted in for him. We saw the rest of the quater safely. My initial thinking was that I was in so that the other player can take some rest and will soon come back in to replace me at start of second quater. But it was a day of unthinkable, I started the second quater and played the entire quater. I was super excited and wanted to prove a point. I wanted to display my skills and score atleast one basket. Wanted to give back something to my captain who had lot of trust and faith in me. But things never go the way you plan. I did not get a single chance to score. I commit two back court violations and one carry violation. I commit a foul on opponent player.I do not collect the rebounds properly. But I made sure that that the man I am defending does not score. At the end of quater From 8-0 down we go up 9-8, with me providing assists in one of the shots. I do not play any further part in the game. We win by a margin of 5 points(it is much closer than it looks). Almost everyone congrulates me, there is lot of joy, shouting,cheering all over the place. More than that I realise my dream of playing basketball. Thank you Vignesh,Tuhin. Without you guys it would have never been possible.

Stats:
NAME:Ankit R Gulechha
Team: Falcons
Time on court: 14+ minutes (3+11)
Shots attempted: 2
Shots converted: 0
Points scored: 0
Fouls commited: 1
Violations: 3
Match stats: 2 win out of 2