I don't watch cricket at all. I have worked as crew while covering cricket matches but never enjoyed watching it. Cricket terminology means nothing to me and usually it evokes strange imagery in my head. "Leg bye" conjures up the visual of a man trying to wave goodbye using his legs and trust me, you don't want to know what "mid on" reminds me of!
While working on the ICC Champions Trophy 2002 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the producer took pity on my miserable existence and I was promoted from being Talent Co-ordinator to being allowed to do pitch reports - the condition being that I had to do both! I was more than happy as that meant an all-access pass!
As usual, I always had a camera with me. In all my bloody ignorance, I think I was going for the crazy colour of the sky rather than the legend standing before me.
Of course, the lesser said about my framing and timing skills at that point of time, the better it is -as the photograph below demonstrates. Hopefully, I have improved somewhat since then in both departments. Whenever I look at this picture I kick myself for spoiling what could have been an otherwise good photograph. And to think I was allowed anywhere near these guys with a camera is a bloody miracle in itself.
These photographs remind me of the two most important things that I love about photography. One - that a fleeting moment might seem very ordinary when you are in it but once you have captured it in your camera it's value might become something that you never imagined. Two, there is no greater reminder of a mistake than a badly clicked photograph. It stares at you, reminding you never to make that mistake again and somewhere, hopefully that attitude trickles down to your personality.
