Carrom is practiced in BITS Pilani in accordance with the All India Carrom Federation (AICF) rules. Each team/player is assigned a colour (black or white) and their aim is to use the striker to pocket their nine “carrom men” and the red “queen” before the opponent does, or score 25 points, whichever comes first. A queen is worth 3 points and the carrom men are worth 1 point each.

The BEP was lucky to get an interview with the captain of the carrom team, Pavan Rao, given how busy he was with his training for BOSM. Pavan remarked that he had been drawn to carrom on campus since it was one of the only games he had played back home. He believed that the game was still fun, even though the introduction of rules and competitive tactics changed his approach to it. 

Posters were put up four days before the recruitment process this year and a league was conducted, after which the top 2-3 players were selected for the team. Care was taken so as to not miss out on anyone who was skilled but unlucky enough to lose. Daily practice sessions which lasted from 5-8pm began soon after recruitments, and the timings were changed to 5-11pm as the fest drew closer. Pawan stressed on the need for the team members to be comfortable with both offensive and defensive play in a match. 

During BOSM, the players compete as two teams – BITS A and BITS B. The three-day event comprises of two singles and two doubles matches. In BOSM 2018, the team put up one of their best performances yet, with BITS-A finishing first and BITS-B, fourth. Last year, they also took part in Abhivarta, the sports fest held in Manipal University, Jaipur. 

Pawan believes that the team needs to be on the lookout for BITS Goa and BITS Hyderabad this year. BITS Hyderabad came second last year and although BITS Goa did not participate in the previous fest, the college is known to have a formidable team.

Pawan stated that the team was provided the best equipment, and they were expecting two more championship carrom boards to come in before the fest for their training. He added that he was content with the way he balanced his academics and his work as captain. Pawan invited the BITSian junta to come watch the carrom matches in SAC during the fest. ‘The game is not as simple as it looks. There is strategy involved, and if you look closely, you realize that people think a lot before their shots. It’s like chess, except it’s more physical,’ he said, before signing off.