Farewell matches are usually sentimental affairs. Not at Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur, though. On Sunday, 24th of February 2013, the passing out batch (2011-13) of Jaipuria Jaipur met the First Year batch (2012-14) in the cricket field, in what is a traditional play-off organised by the Desert Devils Sports Association. The Desert Devils is the sports club of Jaipuria Jaipur, responsible for organising all sporting activities internally and externally, and encouraging physical activity. The sports facilities at the club include Badminton, Table Tennis, Health Centre, Cricket, Volleyball, Chess, Gymnastics, etc. Here, ofcourse, the matter of the better team was being settled on Jaipuria Jaipur’s cricket ground.

At the toss, it was clear that this was going to be no ‘friendly match’, but a real battle. None of the teams was thinking of the forthcoming farewell day of the senior batch on the 28th February. The captains of both teams – Ashish Gupta for 2011-13 and Yusuf Kamal for 2012-14 – had made it amply clear that they were there to win.The seniors, led by Ashish Gupta, won the toss and elected to bat first.

However, Yusuf Kamal settled matters in the second over of the match itself. Bowling a fiery spell, Yusuf accounted for 4 wickets in his very first over. After that, it was an uphill task for the senior batch of Jaipuria Jaipur. To make matters worse, Rohan Maheshwari followed this up with a beautiful over that accounted for 2 more wickets. It is worth noting that the batting side was equally responsible for its poor performance, since 5 wickets fell to run-outs. Ofcourse, the fielding by the junior batch of Jaipuria Jaipur was excellent, but quite a few of these run-outs were bad judgment calls.

The seniors’ team fell like a pack of cards, winding up with just 60 runs on the scoreboard. Yusuf Kamal’s team from the 2012-14 batch of Jaipuria Jaipur made the batting side sweat even for the singles, and ensured that the seniors did not play their full quota of 20 overs by bowling them out in just 15 overs.

Chasing a modest target of 60 runs, the team representing the First Year of Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur, got off to a good start, with the opener, Jai Singh Rathore, hitting back-to-back boundaries in the 2nd over. Although Ashish Gupta, captain of the senior batch, , managed a few quick wickets, the game remained well within the grasp of the First Year team, with vice-captain Shivam Sharma playing an exciting knock. Shivam hit a 4 and followed it up with the only 6 of the match. By the time Shivam Sharma was bowled out, the juniors were just 5 runs short of a win. The fate of the match was sealed by a brilliant hook shot for 4 from Radhakishan’s bat.

“We lost because of two reasons,” explained Ashish Gupta, in the post-match interviews. “Firstly, we could not see the ball clearly, as most of us were very emotional on our farewell match, and had tears in our eyes.” This excuse was met with loud hoots from the winning team. “And secondly,” continued a smiling Ashish Gupta, “we love our juniors so much, that we can’t see their sad, defeated faces.” The students of Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur, responded to this excuse with even more jeers and cheers.

It was clearly a memorable match organised by the Desert Devils Sports Association of Jaipuria Jaipur, which brought out the strong bond between both batches of the prestigious institute.