Schoolkids interact with players, win match tickets

CHANDIGARH: It was luck by chance for five students of St Kabir's School, Sector 26, who have won tickets to watch the match bewteen West Indies and Ireland at Punjab Cricket Association stadium on Friday.
Three Caribbean players, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Devendra Bishoo, visited the school for an interactive session with class X students of St Kabir's, which was organized by The Energy and Resource Institute, Delhi.
Not only did the players speak to the students about cricket and their world cup experience so far but also gave out tickets of the match and autographed balls to the five students who had taken part in and won a cricket quiz held during the interaction.
They also answered questions about the teams that were favourites for the semi-finals.
'The tournament so far has been good for us as the conditions in India are the same as those in our country. We have not had any difficulty playing on the Indian pitches so far. We feel the West Indies and India are definitely going to be in the semi-finals, though it is too early to say who else will be there. Lets wait and watch what happens,' said Sarwan who is also the vice-captain of the team.
Answering queries regarding who they idolised while they were growing up, the players said that it was Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh. 'I realized I was quite passionate about cricket when I was just eight and I would love watching Tendulkar and Waugh play. These men have definitely been an inspiration for me,' said Chanderpaul.
On being asked how they made sixes look so easy, the boys from West Indies replied, 'It is just about developing a stance and working on it. It is about judging the ball and finding your own comfort zone while batting. If these things are done properly, hitting big shorts is quite easy,' said Chanderpaul.
Agni Mittal, a student, when asked what he enjoyed the most about the day said,'I think we enjoyed the fact that we could interact with the cricketers and the last part where we could answer questions and win autographed balls, was fun. Tickets to the game were also given out which was nice, although all students will not be getting to go,' he said.