Interpretation of Dreams

Dreams have always been a fascination for me, although my pursuit of fascination, never went beyond wonderment.

I'm no expert in this subject, but it's my understanding that dreams are a manifestation of your innermost desires, fears, or maybe even flashes of thought that entered your conscious mind, that you quickly put away. All that, plus whatever your subconscious has to do with anything and everything.

Let me explain it with my own personal experiences.

Most if not all, who know me, or have had the misfortune of meeting me, would have heard me exclaim at least once - " I'm passionate about playing cricket". Mind you, the passion was not about just cricket, but playing it.

And I truly believe that. When I'm out there in the middle (whether I'm a good player or not, is a moot point, though statistics point toward the latter), I'm alive in a way, that I have never found myself in. Completely charged, yapping away, cheering my team, sledging the opposition (even when I'm batting), etc etc.

My passion for playing this game is so profound, that among my dreams about this game, two of them stand out. And they were so real and so funny, when I woke up in the morning, that I decided I'll provide this comic value for anybody who has followed cricket of late.

Maybe about a month ago, I dreamt, that I was right in the middle of a very important and interesting passage of play. I dont know who was my batting partner, but all I knew was that, I was playing in Australia, and I was facing Shane Warne himself!.

I was facing Shane's third ball, and he drops this one a bit short, but a legspinner, pitched outside off, spinning away. I immediately rock back on my foot, move towards off, and cut that ball through extra cover for a boundary.

Now, this is the most amazing thing about this dream. It wasnt just a picture happening before my eyes, but I could feel euphoria, fear and being able to think what was happening.

When "I hit Shane Warne" for that 4, I remember thinking, in the exact same order.

"This new Laver & Wood bat is awesome. I hardly put any power into that cut, and the ball raced away".

"Now, I've ruffled his feathers, and he's gonna try real hard to get me"

Shane glares at me, with his usual "I'm gonna get you, and you know it" look. I glare back at him, knowing that, that is the only way to play the Aussies. And in my inimitable cheekiness, that I display at times in the field, I tell Shane " Toss me one more Shane, and I'll help myself to another 4".

He just glares at me, while tossing the ball between his hands, eyes never leaving me.
Then he gets someone to stand at forward shot leg.

That gets me thinking.
"Hmmm, what is he trying here. So, it's obviously going to be a leg spinning delivery bowled between middle and off. But wait, knowing how wily and cunning this SOB is, it might either be a googly or a flipper."

And I remember thinking, that considering how weak Shane's googly is, it's most likely going to be a flipper, aimed between middle and off again.

And the Master, actually did catch me by surprise - it was neither a legspinner, nor a flipper, but a slider. But since I had pretty much ruled out the possibility of a legspinner, I negotiated that ball safely towards Mid-On - a small feeling of euphoria, that I spanked the Master for a boundary and survived to tell the tale.


Now, the second dream, was an eye opener of sorts for me.
For one, it had me playing for an entirely different team (Sri Lanka :-| ), but I was actually one of their key bowlers in the game.

I have no idea where this one came from. Maybe it was my new found respect for Sri Lanka under Jayawardene, and the tit bit that I remember reading that Murali and Vaas are going to be rested for SL's tour of India. (The beauty of the subconscious absorbing the stuff around!)

So, we (ahem, I was playing for the Sri Lankan national team remember?), are playing New Zealand in New Zealand I think. New Zealand were batting second, and were down to their 7th batsman. (Ofcourse Vaas and Murali werent playing, I've no clue why!)

Jayawardene decided to bring me into the attack. And I remember bowling - guess what? Medium pace. And it doesnt end there, I am bowling left arm :-|

But thankfully, the dream was a good one. I was actually troubling the NZ batsman.

I was getting the ball to shape away from him, and I was generating a decent pace, bounce and generous swing.

I was getting the ball to swing so well, that the batsman wouldnt want to touch the ball. He was just leaving it.

I remember going upto Jayawardene and asking him - "Why are you making me bowl left arm medium pace to this guy, when I'm actually a right hand off spinner? Moreover, this batsman is a left hander. So, let me bowl my offspinners at him, and I'll get him out"

Jayawardene, has ofcourse seen the best possible off-spinner in the history of the game, and wasnt willing to trust my off-spin abilities. He just asked me to continue what I was doing and since I was doing it well, it wasnt a problem. "God dammit!!!!"

So, there goes a brief overview of my ridiculous dreams, but ridiculous as they may be, but they were so much fun, and pure pleasure. Looking Shane Warne in the eye and sledging him, hah, what can be a better dream?

To each one, his own. If you are a cricket fanatic as I am, you may have your own 'dream moment', but for me, Shane Warne was the icing on the cake - the challenge of facing the best and wiliest of them all , spanking him for a four, and then not letting him take my wicket.

Now, if only I could translate whatever was in my dreams, to the field in real life :|