I was ninth on the list and six were already out, next wicket and I would have to walk out into the greens. I could just picture it, the first ball I would get, bang on the middle stump sending it cart wheeling

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                                                                                IGCSE Coursework

An Over

I felt the sweat collect on my left eyebrow as it trickled down into the corner of my eye. I don’t know if it was the heat, the fact that I was wearing a plastic helmet or that I was a nervous wreck. I was trebling and shivering as watched my team, one-by-one leave the pavilion and return within five minutes. I was my first real match and that too in the most prestigious tournament of the year. I couldn’t concentrate on the shots I would play or watch how the ball was behaving. The only thought in my mind at that moment was how I would be made a fool of if I didn’t score.

I was ninth on the list and six were already out, next wicket and I would have to walk out into the greens. I could just picture it, the first ball I would get, bang on the middle stump sending it cart wheeling over 10 meters. It happened before, last year a boy called Akash who had just joined, was out on the first ball a golden duck and he hadn’t come to practice since. I didn’t want that to happen to me but that’s the only thing I could picture, the thought would just not leave me.

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It was time for me to face my fear, Anshul had been given out LBW. I got to my feet as sluggishly as I could to just prolong my humiliation. I started to walk, sweat still dripping from my face, towards the pitch. When I reached the field, I saw that everyone’s eyes were fixed on me. It made me even more tense and pressured. I tried calming myself down by flapping my arms up and down but then my conscience kicked in as they always do, so I stop acting like a bird.

I reached the crease, took my ...

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