It's a no-brainer to realize by now that I am a sports nut and especially a huge cricket nut. But most people would be unaware (and might as well stay that way) of the insane things I used to indulge in during my high school and college days when it came to sports. Those days and acts of mine still bring a smile instantly and undoubtedly form a major part of the stories I will narrate in the future..and ya i would not mind if people consider me a weirdo after reading all this..my AIM is that people should understand they have just spoken/met one of the biggest, most passionate and craziest of sports fans. Here's a short list of my acts- some laughable, some embarrassing and some rather atrocious :)
I'll start with the worst ones and get better...
1. Railway station, who cares?-- On numerous occasions when we had to go to the station to pick up cousins and relatives, I always carried a tennis ball. My parents were worried what people looking at me practicing inswingers and leg spin on the platform would think. Little did i care..if there was a ball it was better, else i would still imagine an Imran bowling to Viv and feel bliss..
2. Benaud of Bangalore- if i couldn't bowl at home lest i break some glass, i would turn Benaud/Lawry/Greig all rolled into one..mock Test matches and contests were described with some finesse..add to it imitation of batting and bowling actions and one wouldn't be blamed for assuming something was not right with me..
3. Wimbledon has moved?- how about running Grand Slams in parallel at home?..simulating the matches starting from the first round and five set matches pitting the top seeds against each other. It wasn't always easy to get Edberg's volleys and Sampras' serve right with a table tennis bat and ball..but I did a fair job..frankly this helped me the most when I actually tried playing tennis much much later.
4. exams can take a hike- inevitably the best matches take place mostly during exams. 7th exams- Wc 1996, luckily 10th exams just before WC 1999, but 12th not so lucky- 2001- India Aus- VVS :), engineering almost always had a great series/matches on including the Football WC 2002. Care to take a guess what choice I made..no way could i have given lesser importance to exams than i did those days...
5. poster quizzes- a humongous collection of Sportstars and Wisdens which is still somewhere in my attic, to go with a superb poster collection. I stuck 100s of them in my room to completely cover the walls and the ceiling..only for my mom to pull them down for repainting the house :(. those lovely days when i used to play quizzes for the posters with Raghu and Navneet will stay forever in my mind.
6. Test cricket at 6am is on no matter what- I can take credit for coming up with a fantastic idea to play Test cricket instead of slam-bang stuff. With all rules including lbw, we played some amazing Test cricket from 6-6:30 in the morning all the way till afternoon. The Rajkumar kidnap period in 2000 gave us the best possible chance to play everyday and play we did!!. that phase of my life will remain up there when i finally look back at top moments that i savour..
7. SCG the better drainage system..no way guys!- on numerous occasions, Bangalore's weather created problems for the cricket on weekends. I would return on some days at about 2 or 3am after hanging out with college pals, and then after just 3-4 hours of sleep, would head off to the ground to set it right for play. no super soppers available, so what? Trash rollers were clearly a good replacement. Hari would be the only guy to wake up at 6:30 and help me. The rollers would be used all over the pitch and laying area so as to even the surface and dry it. After about two hours, when the other lazy idiots turned up, the pitch would be perfect to play with just enough moisture for some movement :D...haha!
8. Indispensable? maybe not..but close enough- When I was away in the US, no cricket was played in Bangalore. The day i returned, after few calls, there were 28 guys ready in the ground for some serious Test cricket. I did the same in the US too- organizing a match by making calls to seniors/juniors all through weekends..sometimes I had no time for a shower on sat/sun with innumerable calls coming in to inquire about the prospects of play. Once, I even called people from the airport and got them to the ground to play a match in which I was not gonna play. :D
Ultimately though, my absence in Bangalore led to the beloved ground being converted into a park. Whenever I pass that place, my eyes go moist and I recall those lovely days of cricket and in general those times when the innocent love for all things sport superseded most other trivial pursuits in life (read studies/career etc). My passion for the game and crazy actions at various points might have made it hard to digest for people watching, but little did I care. Even today, nothing gives me more satisfaction than practicing a Michael Holding run up and a Richards flick in the middle of the road:D
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The best since Edgbaston!
I shudder to think that I almost managed to miss this match! The venue shift from Kolkata had ensured that the number of tickets available to the public in Bangalore was far fewer than usual and the struggle that ensued on February 24th when tickets were sold was extraordinary. Being used to easy access to tickets and passes, I braced myself for a whole new experience at the stadium few days before the game. We spent a sleepless night witnessing violent crowd behaviour, a police lathi-charge and continuous chaos before finally managing to get just two tickets. The number of tickets sold was less than half of what had been advertised. Following a heavy criticism of their high-handedness, the KSCA decided to release a few more tickets online. I managed to purchase two more tickets after receiving useful information about the online sale of tickets. I was fortunate because the entire quota of online tickets was exhausted in less than an half hour.
Finally, on the big day, we reached the ground about five hours before the start only to find nearly 150 people queued up already at the gates. The intensive security measures ensured that we could not carry any food or water inside the ground. Haphazard seat allocation procedures meant that nobody quite knew where they were supposed to be seated. But eventually, all I cared about was watching the game, and with a great group of cricket crazy fans, it was undoubtedly going to be a day to remember. None of us, however, had the faintest idea of what was about to transpire in the next few hours.
India won the toss and batted. Most of us realised that this was a major factor considering the strength of the batting lineup and the presence of two spinners. A frenetic start where Virender Sehwag had three lives in five balls left us gasping. Sachin Tendulkar played another of his superb ODI knocks, mixing aggression with sound placement. Crucially though, India lost far too many wickets in the end overs and finished about 15-20 runs short of what they should have got after the excellent platform they had. Being dismissed one ball short of the 50 overs is not a bad thing usually, but as we were to realise, on this flat track, every run, including the single the last pair failed to complete, was going to be vital. The Bangalore crowd, already known for its vociferous support, only got louder as the innings progressed and the raucous cheers that went up when Tendulkar reached his century were mind numbing to say the least.
While 339 seemed unassailable, I was not quite confident. The track had absolutely nothing for the bowlers, and if the batsmen had a good outing, the chase was very much on. Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen started like a train, and to most avid watchers, it all seemed like the blistering start the Pakistan openers had given in the 1996 quarter-final. Munaf Patel, not generally known for his fielding, demonstrated stunning reflexes and managed to latch on to a return catch offered by Pietersen. The crowd was roaring and when Jonathan Trott was dismissed soon after, it seemed like curtails for England. A hugely controversial moment followed when Ian Bell was reprieved after being struck palpably in front. The rule stated that in the event the ball strikes the pad at a distance greater than 2.5 metres from the stumps, the decision would stick with the on field call. The technicality of the UDRS had saved Bell and the displeasure in the crowd was immense. Loud chants of “cheating” and other expletives were heard for a while, and at about the 40 over mark, England seemed to well and truly have the match wrapped up.
Strauss’ century was the highest score by an England batsman and one of the finest in an ODI chase. MS Dhoni’s defensive tactics were not going to bring any success and it seemed very obvious that for India to have a chance, England had to mess up. The decision to take the batting powerplay immediately paid dividends when Bell was caught trying to go over the top. Zaheer Khan’s searing yorker nailed Strauss the very next ball and the stadium went wild. Chairs were being thrown, people fell on top of one another and few others even ripped their shirts off in Sourav Ganguly style. With two more wickets falling quickly, it seemed as if England had succumbed to the pressure exerted by the crowd and the bowling. 29 runs required off two overs. India surely could not lose. Enter Swann and Bresnan. They took 15 runs of the hapless Piyush Chawla, setting up a fantastic final over. With 11 runs required off four balls, Ahmed Shahzad deposited a half-volley from Munaf Patel for a six over long on. The crowd could not bear to watch and suddenly a tie seemed a possibility. The improbable came true when, with two needed off the last ball, Swann drove to the covers. The ball was somehow fielded and one of the greatest matches in World Cup history had come to the most amazing of ends and need I say I was privileged to be present for this one. Once again, it is impossible to believe I almost missed this game!
Finally, on the big day, we reached the ground about five hours before the start only to find nearly 150 people queued up already at the gates. The intensive security measures ensured that we could not carry any food or water inside the ground. Haphazard seat allocation procedures meant that nobody quite knew where they were supposed to be seated. But eventually, all I cared about was watching the game, and with a great group of cricket crazy fans, it was undoubtedly going to be a day to remember. None of us, however, had the faintest idea of what was about to transpire in the next few hours.
India won the toss and batted. Most of us realised that this was a major factor considering the strength of the batting lineup and the presence of two spinners. A frenetic start where Virender Sehwag had three lives in five balls left us gasping. Sachin Tendulkar played another of his superb ODI knocks, mixing aggression with sound placement. Crucially though, India lost far too many wickets in the end overs and finished about 15-20 runs short of what they should have got after the excellent platform they had. Being dismissed one ball short of the 50 overs is not a bad thing usually, but as we were to realise, on this flat track, every run, including the single the last pair failed to complete, was going to be vital. The Bangalore crowd, already known for its vociferous support, only got louder as the innings progressed and the raucous cheers that went up when Tendulkar reached his century were mind numbing to say the least.
While 339 seemed unassailable, I was not quite confident. The track had absolutely nothing for the bowlers, and if the batsmen had a good outing, the chase was very much on. Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen started like a train, and to most avid watchers, it all seemed like the blistering start the Pakistan openers had given in the 1996 quarter-final. Munaf Patel, not generally known for his fielding, demonstrated stunning reflexes and managed to latch on to a return catch offered by Pietersen. The crowd was roaring and when Jonathan Trott was dismissed soon after, it seemed like curtails for England. A hugely controversial moment followed when Ian Bell was reprieved after being struck palpably in front. The rule stated that in the event the ball strikes the pad at a distance greater than 2.5 metres from the stumps, the decision would stick with the on field call. The technicality of the UDRS had saved Bell and the displeasure in the crowd was immense. Loud chants of “cheating” and other expletives were heard for a while, and at about the 40 over mark, England seemed to well and truly have the match wrapped up.
Strauss’ century was the highest score by an England batsman and one of the finest in an ODI chase. MS Dhoni’s defensive tactics were not going to bring any success and it seemed very obvious that for India to have a chance, England had to mess up. The decision to take the batting powerplay immediately paid dividends when Bell was caught trying to go over the top. Zaheer Khan’s searing yorker nailed Strauss the very next ball and the stadium went wild. Chairs were being thrown, people fell on top of one another and few others even ripped their shirts off in Sourav Ganguly style. With two more wickets falling quickly, it seemed as if England had succumbed to the pressure exerted by the crowd and the bowling. 29 runs required off two overs. India surely could not lose. Enter Swann and Bresnan. They took 15 runs of the hapless Piyush Chawla, setting up a fantastic final over. With 11 runs required off four balls, Ahmed Shahzad deposited a half-volley from Munaf Patel for a six over long on. The crowd could not bear to watch and suddenly a tie seemed a possibility. The improbable came true when, with two needed off the last ball, Swann drove to the covers. The ball was somehow fielded and one of the greatest matches in World Cup history had come to the most amazing of ends and need I say I was privileged to be present for this one. Once again, it is impossible to believe I almost missed this game!
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