Scotland's U19 tour to India: end of an unforgettable experience
We left Edinburgh on the 22 March on our way to India, all looking forward to the amazing experience which was sure to come in the following two weeks. After a short wait in Heathrow, we boarded our plane to Delhi, which was due to arrive the following morning.
Although we had all tried to acclimatise as best we could, the time change did have a bit of an effect, making the squad fairly drowsy for our long wait in Delhi airport for our connecting flight to Dehradun. As soon as we arrived in India it was clear that the whole country had gone “World Cup mad”. We arrived fairly late to the Abhimanyu Cricket Academy and, after a long day travelling, we all just felt like getting some sleep after a nice welcome from everyone at the academy.
The first few days we spent training and getting used to the conditions, which are vastly different to Scotland. I personally find training a lot more bearable in the sun and warmth. I think the gym session at 06:30 on the second morning, which was the equivalent of 01:30 in the morning back home, made it clear to everyone that we definitely weren’t here for a holiday! However, we made good use of the early start and the fantastic facilities which were available to us.
After a few days’ training, it was time for our first couple of matches, which were against the senior academy side and a Dehradun District XI. Unfortunately Fred (Freddie Coleman) and I were unable to play in these two games, as we had inevitably fallen ill and spent two of the most unpleasant days of our lives in bed.
Sadly, the matches didn’t go exactly to plan and we lost both of them, although it did give us a good chance to assess the conditions of the pitches and work out the best way to play on them in the future. The second game was also our first day/night game of the tour and, for most of the lads, the first time playing under lights, which was a great experience, even if two minutes didn’t pass without Anjan complaining about the number of moths flying above!
After the first two matches, we had another couple of days’ training, which gave us the opportunity to put the things we had learnt from the games into practice.
Our next match was again against the academy team, and was a day/night match. We decided to bat first and that decision was backed up fully by the batsmen, especially Freddie and Ross (McLean), who both scored quality hundreds and implemented their skills almost perfectly. This gave the middle order a great opportunity to come in at the end of the innings and score some quick runs, which completed an almost perfect one-day innings. We bowled well and went on to comfortably win this match.
Our next game was against a local sporting college, and we also went on to win this match, carrying on our improvements. AB (Aman Bailwal) batted well and was unfortunately dismissed on 49, and I was able to pick up five wickets.
Following these games we had a day off and another training day. During this period came two of the most enjoyable memories of the tour. First, after our trip to Mussoorie high in the Himalayan foothills, we were kindly taken out for a lovely meal in the JayPee hotel by Eshy (our host and owner of the Academy), which I know all the lads appreciated and enjoyed greatly.
Next came the World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan. Sadly, we were unable to get tickets to go and watch the game, so instead we stayed at the cricket academy and joined in with the party which followed India’s win, after watching the game outside on two big projectors, along with a dj and many fireworks. All in all, it was a very exciting experience and was nice to spend it with the local guys - we could tell how much it meant to them and Anjan.
We carried on our winning ways in our last two matches, with highlights clearly being Aman scoring a wonderful 99, falling just short of his first Scotland century, and he also went on to take four wickets, giving him an almost perfect game. He yet again fell one short of a landmark, for the third time running on the tour, with a 49* in a fantastic chase of 250 against the state police team in our final match.
Our plan was to leave the cricket academy at 3 o’clock the following morning to get to the airport, but at the last minute we decided to change our plans and left late that night to give us plenty of time to get us and our luggage to the airport. After possibly the most terrifying car journey of my life - involving a punctured tyre, a friendly guy with a gun shaking our hands and two crazy car drivers and eight hours on Indian roads in the dark - we finally arrived at Delhi airport for our flight home.
Personally, it has been an unforgettable experience on both the cricket side and experiencing a complete change in lifestyle. From near-death experiences on the roads, to celebrating India’s success in the World Cup with the locals, to the millions of curries - all made for a fantastic trip full of wonderful memories.
Report by Nick Farrar
