4th Annual Alumni Basketball Match - October 18, 2008
This year once again we had the annual basketball match between the current IITB basketball team and the team selected from among IIT alumni. This year, we were very pleased to have a couple of IITM alumni as well.
As usual, the preparations for the match began in July. Then began the efforts to rope in as many alumni for the match as possible. The response from the alumni was not encouraging in the beginning, but as D Day drew nearer, the response became more encouraging. Finally, for the match, the alumni were able to put together a strong team, especially since they were to face a formidable IITB basketball team who had won the gold medal at the Inter-IIT Sports meet in December 2007.
The alumni team, listed in the order of seniority, consisted of: Ashwin Doshi, Captain Louis George, Samir Gulve (Jaws) – Coach, Milind Shahane, Jitendra Agrawal (Jeet), Ajit Narra, Aditya Dixit, Rajiv (IITM) and Porko (IITM). Vinay Kabra, Rear Admiral N K Mishra (Delhi), Aniruddha Sowani (Pune), Ananth Shankaran (Vince) (Jamnagar), and Kunal Sharma could not make it for the match because of some last minute calls of duty.
All the players really enjoyed the game, and the alumni definitely made the IITB team sweat it out for a win. The Alumni team took an early lead which they were able to maintain going into the 2nd quarter. At the end of the first quarter, the score read 23 - 21 in favour of the alumni. Slowly the lack of stamina and, of course, the age factor began to tell. By half time, the IITB team managed to take a slender lead by playing a fast paced game. In the second half, the alumni team was greatly hampered by a couple of injuries. In the 4th quarter, the alumni team made a worthy attempt to reduce the lead. The final scoreline read 78-54, which was not too bad a loss for the Alumni team.
The IITB team did indeed play well, and with speed being their forte, they seem well prepared for the inter-IIT matches this December in Madras. The Alumni team must be congratulated for having played the game so well. Special mention must be made of George (Lt. George of the Indian Navy during his IIT days), who as usual was the mainstay of the Alumni team, and the top-scorer of the whole match among both the teams. Porko too played very well, especially in the second half, but the lack of practice for the last one year or so was evident. Narra did well in rebounding under both the boards, and the tall Dixie did well in offense. Shahane did well to pitch in and give respite whenever any players were tired and needed a breather. Here it must be mentioned that though Jaws could not play due to his serious injury in the first Alumni game in October 2005, he came all the way from Pune especially for the match.
On behalf of all the guys in the Alumni team, I can say that we had a wonderful game, and at the same time we congratulate the IITB team for a well deserved victory. Pranith Reddy (IITB Basketball Secretary) and Piyush Kedia (Diamond) have to be thanked for the arrangements for the match. And, the coach, Edwin Sir, took care of the various arrangements very efficiently. We also thank them for a sumptuous dinner at the Gulmohar café after the match. We must also thank our very own Prof. K P Madhavan, who once again came this year to witness the Alumni challenge match as the guest of honour.
I would like to add just one more thing about this concept of Alumni participation in sports at the campus. It would be wonderful if such matches involving the alumni could be arranged in more sports, and I think it would not be too difficult to do so – just that someone should take the initiative from among the alumni – someone who has played the sport at the inter-IIT level, and also there should be a good response and co-operation from the Secretary. So, I look forward to more such events in the coming years. Cheers!!- Ashwin Doshi
Volume XI
