....Eek saathi aur bhi thaa

Well it was great to see many encouraging comments the first day the blog was published. The most supportive ones came from the team though who I guess must have been surprised to suddenly see their faces staring at them from the pages( because they were never asked for the snaps I grabbed those from their orkut pages or team photos). But then along with the bouquets come the brickbats. Some of our ex players, although happy to see the struggling sapling that they had left us with grow in a tree, were sad to see their names and contributions missing(and for some- the photos) in all the hullabullah. These are people who played with us somewhere over a period of these two seasons but who gradually left us for various reasons like job changes or short business trips in the first place or shallow Pearson pockets :). Yes they are no more in the current team but they spent considerable time with us and their contribution in keeping Cricket Pearson alive cant be fogotten(I am using this name since the name Chandler Bulls wasnt even coined when they were there). So heres a quick trip down the memory lane for some of our forgotten heroes. And sorry guys no snaps and also trying to keep it short considering the huge number and the reader boredom factor. Also I hope I don't make it sound like an obituary (what with the title and the series of - he "was" this and he "was" that). Also the order is chronological, since thats the way my brain outputted search results when asked to search :-)
Sudesh - One of the founding fathers. Very fast bowler and a good batsman. I still remember the shivers through the timber that my hands felt while playing his bullet low full tosses(attempted yorkers).
Shiju - Undoubtedly the best all rounder to have ever played. Great Jigarbaaz player.
Rajesh B - Mulundcha stud. Beautiful bowling action. Graceful batting style and a great pull shot.
Shashi - Shashi bhai generated immense power in his bowling. The same power was on display in some of his shots. A back injury ended his promising cricketing career.
Leela - Bowled with the same intensity even with those extra pounds on.
Hemant - Just waited and waited and then out of thin air produced a sweet timed long-on stroke.
Mishraji - Great catcher. Good all rounder.

Phani - Supported in some of the struggling lowest periods.
Neetendra - Best batsman to have ever played in the two years. His off side shots were simply out of the world. Single handedly won matches on his batting alone.
Rajkumar - Good bowler. Great attitude and great enthu.
Rajesh D - Another player with jigar. Hand him the ball in crunch situations and he never failed. But interests other than cricket kept him out of the field ;-)
Ashwini - Great bowler.
Ajay/Vijay- The Waugh brothers of our team. Twas good to share some stock tips with them on the ground.
Sajiv - Played with passion, enthusiasm and a very good attitude.
Jaikrit - A talkathon and a laugh riot on the field.
Arun (Dada) - Dada is a great player and will play well however big the break between his games. His kids and office work keep him too busy to come more often.
Sathesh- One match wonder.
Sam- Mr kool. Mr Dependable. Like Sachin his mere presence in the team is enough in keeping the team on a high. If Sam is still there we are so confident- Sam abhi baki hai, bhaiyya.

Mayuresh - One of the most technical batsman to have played with us. And for once the season ball experience was useful.

Honorable mentions-
Riju, Mahesh, Sumanth, Santanu, Rohan, Bosu, Rajsekhar, Hiren, Manish.

Although they are not with us now in our campaign, I am sure there wishes for our team will always be with us-
Saatheeyon tumko miley Jeet hi Jeet sadaa
Bas itna yaad rahein.......eek saathi aur bhi thaa....