Umpire Bali- Umpiring Pre Sachin to Post Sachin era

When he started his career back in 1989, The Berlin Wall was still intact, USSR was one big, big country, Dr Manmohan Singh was yet to “open” the Nehruvian economy, Usain Bolt, Schumacher, Roger Federer were the unheard names. Oh! Certainly I am not talking about Sachin Tendulkar, but an unsung individual from domestic circuit who stands for hours at a place and gives verdict on cricket field. Mr. Bali who is an umpire has an experience of more than 24 years and he is still going strong. “Over the years I have observed so many players from Delhi’s domestic cricket some of them like Virat Kohli have went on to play at the highest level” said Mr. Bali.

Recently he did umpiring in local tournament organized by Mr. Satyam. The tournament was played on knock out basis. It was a T20 game. Match was played between SRT XI and TCBN.  TCBN made 131 batting first. Their captain Anuj Potdar and one more batsman played brilliantly hitting 8 fours and a six. With the target of 132 SRT XI openers were looking for a soild start. But none of their batsman could score big and ultimately they lost the match. “It was a good match and overall tournament is also going good. I am very happy with the organization, the ground and other facilities are also excellent. Still this tournament has few matches to be played before it comes down to two teams in final,” said Mr. Bali.

With his tremendous experience, Mr. Bali has seen more cricket than anyone else in Delhi’s domestic matches. He thinks that most of the corporate teams are alike only few of them play exceptionally well. One such team is Genpact. “Genpact team is really nice. They play good cricket.” He officiates in club cricket as well as in corporate cricket. But he likes club cricket more compared to corporate cricket. Mostly he has officiated in club cricket more as compared to corporate cricket.

“Club cricket is my forte. I think guys who play in club cricket have significant knowledge of cricket. Most of the corporate players don’t know the tactics of the game. They play only on Saturdays and Sundays. Many times they tend to argue about the decision given by the umpire,” said Mr.Bali.

He remembers one incident while he was officiating in a club match. “Once in a club cricket match I was standing as an umpire. The batsman who came to crease was Virender Sehwag himself! While he was batting on 30 odd runs, there was a close call of LBW. I made the verdict in bowler’s favor and Viru was given out LBW. Eventually his team lost the match. Such decisions are never easy especially when one of the best in the world is batting” said Mr. Bali.

Mr. Bali has given various umpiring exams organized by DDCA and BCCI. He told that how he was successful for so many years as an umpire. “There is a step by step procedure if you want to excel in any field. I gave some umpiring exams and officiated in as many matches as I can. The key is to have patience and to enjoy your work. For any youngster who wants to become a good umpire, it is necessary to follow these steps. First he should give umpiring exams and then he should look for gaining more and more experience” explained Mr. Bali. He added, “har match alag hota hai aur usse kuch naya sikhne ko milta hai”.

From Virender Sehwag to Unmukt Chand, Mr. Bali has seen a generation of cricketers from a close distance of 22 yards. “Once we see any player we get to know what quality he has and how far he can go. Apart from these players, I have seen so many of them who had that potential to go to the highest level” said Mr. Bali. He remembers officiating in one of the match where Virat Kohli was playing. “He was pretty nascent boy then. He came to bat and scored 170 in that game. After watching that I knock, I was sure that he will play for India someday. Currently there is a player named Abhishek Rajgopal who has potential to follow the footsteps of these greats” said Mr. Bali. For him every day is a new day and every match is different match. With his enthusiasm for cricket he looks ahead to keep learning new things about cricket while doing umpiring.