RAINING SIXES

Panhala Panthers’ Rohit Kakade, who belted five sixes in an over of Rohan Matale, is disappointed at not making it six out of six

Suhrid Barua, Pune Mirror, May 11, 2009

Sir Garfield Sobers and Ravi Shastri are very well known for their feat of hitting six sixes in an over. But the feeling of disappointment at missing that feat by a whisker will be there for any cricketer. And Panhala Panthers’ opening batsman Rohit Kakade, who narrowly missed out, banging five sixes in an over of Sinhagad Supremos medium-pacer Roham Matwale is undergoing the same feeling.
It was the third over of the innings and Kakade took on Matale in a big way. But the sense of remorse at not being able to hit six sixes was very much there for the left-handed batsman, who won the Man-of-the Match award. “It was a great opportunity to get six sixes in an over. But I missed it narrowly. I’m tad disappointed about that,” says the 22-year-old former State Ranji ODI player.
Ask him about how that over turned out, Kakade who plays for JMJ in the MCA Open Invitational League, was ready with the details. “I started the over with a six over square-leg. The second ball was a dot ball as I beaten by a good delivery from Matale. I stepped out to the third ball and hoicked him over long-on which panned out to be a ‘free hit’ as the bowlers overstepped. I smacked the fourth ball over deep mid-wicket while the fifth one sailed over extracover region. I got another six through deep square-leg off the sixth ball before I played a dot ball off the seventh (last ball) from Matale towards point,” he gushes.
So, the seventh and final ball proved to be the dampener? “He disguised his pace and bowled a slower one and I was only able to nudge it towards point.”
More than just raining sixes, Kakade’s blitzkrieg at the top of the order along with Vipul Jerurkar gave his side the perfect platform, raising his Panthers’ hundred in just eight overs and enabled him to score the fastest ball of the tourney (he got his fifty off 17 balls), which knocked the stuffing out of the Supremos. “Chasing over two hundred is always going to be tough and even for a good side like Supremos they felt the pressure and caved in,” Kakade signed off.