Service captain Rajat Paliwal (right) and the manual scoreboard at the Palam’s Air Force Complex Ground. (Photos: Pratyush Raj)
NEW DELHI: Ravikant has kept Palam’s Air Force Complex Ground ticking for the past 35 years. When he walked out to bat, Services were staring at the possibility of being bowled out for less than 100. Paliwal, who turns 35 in December, knows that his chances of breaking into the Indian team are now limited. However, he continues to draw inspiration from Jammu and Kashmir captain Paras Dogra , 41, with whom he remains in regular touch.
Because the team had lost four wickets for 44 runs and we needed this knock, “This hundred is very special, especially.
I realised I had scored a hundred only through the reaction of the Delhi players,” he told reporters at the end of the opening day. This has come after a long time and at a critical juncture before a break, to set the tone for the next phase,” he said. The chief ground staff member, he also doubles up as the scoreboard operator. But when cricket resumed after the COVID pandemic, he received an unusual request from the Services captain Rajat Paliwal: he did not want his name displayed on the scoreboard while batting. “I got to know that I was getting closer to a century when I saw more fielders around me. This was Paliwal’s highest score of the season so far, and he described it as particularly special. But Paliwal stood up for his team, as he has done for nearly a decade-and-a-half.
“Yashpal [Singh] is another player who has influenced me a lot. He scored a lot of runs and played alongside me for four or five years when I started. We had some very good partnerships together,” he added. “Every player has individual priorities, and everyone approaches the game differently. Everyone has their own preferences and ambitions. Some want to establish themselves in this format, while others prefer the shorter formats. But I believe many players still try to perform in the longest format as well,” he continued.
