BLUE Letter Day !

24th December 2009. Still remember the evening – Sri Lanka batting 1st at Edens, had scored 315 and India lost Sehwag and Sachin in quick succession...what I managed to witness after this was historic...Gambhir and Kohli fought back and how...giving us probably a first glimpse of the team which was geared to fight till the end, which could win matches without the explosive Sehwag and the God Sachin...

Cut to 2011...India meeting SL in finals yet again, only this time, it was the final frontier – the World Cup...The sequence to the finals for India – beating Australia in quarters and Pakistan in semis. 1st thoughts – a sense of déjà vu. In 1996, India beat Pakistan (in quarters though) and then got a thrashing at Edens in the hands of Lankans. Let the ending be different this time was all I could think of...

Come back to today's game and again, the similarities with the 1996 World Cup surprise you...India fielding 1st (though Sanga won the toss...how? that’s a different twist :) ). An awesome spell from Zaheer (the demons of 2003 had finally been laid to rest, forever) and super fielding from India meant Lankans were kept on a tight leash and scalping 2 early key wickets was enough to bring smiles all around. 1996 – Jayasuriya & Kaluwitharna (I think), out in 1st over and Edens had erupted. What followed next from Aravinda D Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga was akin to what Sanga and Jayawardene managed today – stitching together a partnership effortlessly. SL managed 264 in 1996 semifinals. Today, they added 10 more. Last time also India lost wickets in quick succession with Sachin fighting a lonely battle. That’s where the similarities end...

Chasing 270+ against a quality opposition as the SL is never easy and when we are talking out the WC final, one can safely add 20 more runs to the total just on account of the mental pressure...In the game versus Pakistan, Sehwag took the sting out of the famed Pakistan attack by taking Umar Gul to the cleaners. Such was his dominance that Gul never really got back his rhythm back in that match. That’s Sehwag for you. And that was exactly what was needed from him today. But that was not meant to be...Malinga produced a blinder spell and Sachin soon joined Sehwag in the dressing room...what happened next was a 24th December...Virat and Gauti came together yet again...exactly like last time, no clamour to hit the big ones...collecting singles and keeping the scoreboard ticking was what was needed and eventually materialized...then Kohli departed to a good catch by Dilshan and in walked Dhoni...criticized throughout the tournament for his batting skills or the lack of it, he had a point to prove today and boy, how he proved it...the sound of his bat connecting the ball was pure music and it was a delight to watch him play like his old self, while Gambhir consolidated at the other end. This was the perfect time for India to demonstrate how strong it’s famed batting line-up is and what a perfect demonstration at the biggest platform of all!

The best bit – Dhoni in the post match presentation saying he was sure to be asked the following questions:
- Why was Sreesanth chosen?
- Why was Ashwin not chosen?
- Why wasn’t Yuvraj, the in-form batsman, sent in at No. 5 once Kohli got out

Had only heard and seen bits of 1983 exploits, but having witnessed history live on TV is a different feeling all together. The tension, excitement, goosebumps...Kohli choosing to remain standing reminded how Srikkanth was forced to remain standing the day Kapil scored 175 at Turnbridge! Way to goTeam India for bringing back the self belief and the smiles :) The entire nation BLED BLUE tonight !!! Aha World Champions...love the feeling of that...Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka…what the heck, the entire world, take a bow :)

What a match!

I finally managed to achieve what I have been planning for a long time now… watch a match at Eden – the mecca of cricket! For the ongoing India – Sri Lanka one day series, Dad somehow managed to get 2 tickets…given that I had office that day, he decided to accompany my kid bro for the 1^st half, with me replacing him in the 2nd half...

The day started with my boss announcing to everyone that he was in a very bad mood. Reason – for the 1^st time, he didn’t have a ticket for the match! Oh o I thought.. wrong time to disclose that I was going to Edens. However, once he came to know I had passes, he became more excited than me and was perfectly fine with allowing me to go to watch the 1^st innings as well J this reminded me of the IPL match between KKR & Mumbai Indians where Manish allowed us to run away from office to watch the match!

Tracking the score on cricinfo, I was aghast to see Sri Lanka run away to 315. Anyways, with the incentive of being at Eden Gardens and watching Sehwag / Sachin play, I entered the stadium to watch the 2^nd innings. My brother, who had been sitting through the 1^st innings, had by then, stocked the plastic water packets (water bottles were banned inside the ground) and even managed to patao a man sitting next to us to use his binoculars!

Sehwag & Sachin entered the field to a rapturous welcome. The 1^st boundary from Sehwag’s blade had everyone up & shouting. Sitting near me were 2 gentlemen who were obviously Eden veterans. They were perfectly content to just sit and watch the proceedings. They continuously kept their commentary going, but otherwise, never did they once get up and cheer a boundary or a shot well played...they just politely clapped.. This was in sharp contrast to a group of college students sitting in front of me. Every shot and every run saw them standing up and cheering like mad. This had a Bengali gentleman sitting behind me completely agitated and a shouting match ensued between the 2 before sanity prevailed. The group’s final comment to the gentleman were ‘picture thodi na dekhne aaye hai jo seat par baith kar rahenge’ :D

Suddenly, Sehwag gave catching practice to the fielder and departed. Crowd got restive, but no worries, Sachin was still there. Horrors o horrors, soon Tendulkar also joined Sehwag in the dressing room. There is literally a pin drop silence in the stands. Out walked Kohli and the general chit chat going around me is as follows:

‘aaj to gaya India…’

‘Juvraaj hoto to jeete jetaam aaj ke’ (If Yuvraaj was there, we would have won)

‘Dhoni nei, Juvraaj o nei – kichu hobe na Indiar aajke' ( No Dhoni, No Yuvraaj...nothing will work for India today)

As Kohli’s batting statistics were being displayed on the electronic screen, somebody commented

‘arey dekh iska career best 79 hai’

to which someone replied ‘abey to aaj wapas thodi na 79 maarega!!! ’

But, Kohli did hit 79…infact, bettered it by a mile… Each run from Kohli and Gambhir was cheered and any appeal from the bowler had the crowd booing loudly. And the atmosphere when the two got their centuries – one simply had to be there to witness the madness …Just when Kohli reached his century, the Eden veteran sitting near me, suddenly stood up… Ah..finally he gets up to cheer, were my thoughts… But, he took the water packets safely stored with him, opened them a bit and threw it high in the sky in front to celebrate the centurions J

Kohli fell to a good catch on the boundary but with the target within reaching distance, the crowd welcomed Dinesh Kartik and gave a standing ovation to Kohli. Just when we were 4 runs short of victory, the veterans stood up again…this time however, everyone was ready and ‘packet rain’ followed in the chill of December night as Gambhir hit the winning runs… Slightly soaked, but super charged, we made our way out of the stadium, having witnessed history today J

Gentleman’s game…

Passion, anger, exhilaration, dejection… few things in life invoke so many emotions at one go & cricket features very high on that list… one just has to witness the old matches between Australia-England (Bradman, Botham era), India-Pakistan and more recently the India-Australia matches to understand what I mean…

The colourful mass of the tricolour or the ‘greened’ stadium cheering Pakistan… England’s Barmy Army or Pakistan’s Jalil Chacha, Indian spectators provoking ‘Aalu’ (Inzamam-ul-Haq) or ‘Monkey’ (Symonds)… each spectator either in the stadium or watching the action live on TV becomes so personally involved in the match as if it is a life and death situation & gives cricket its  religion / cult status in the sub-continent... the colourful abuses & commentary at Eden Gardens stand testimony to this J … as does the world cup semi-final flare up at Eden & the Pakistan-India test match being played out in front of empty stadiums in Chennai… Half of the Indians haven’t met Javed Miandad, but almost all of them feel a personal enmity against Miandad for that famous six off Chetan Sharma…that’s cricket for u……

Almost every one among us has been subjected to ‘stay where u r if the team is doing good’ rule… This will be testified by none other Kris Srikkanth who was forced to remain standing outside on a cold windy day when Kapil Dev scored his brilliant 175 not out at Turnbridge Wells against Zimbabwe in the 1983 world cup…!

With this kind of public frenzy, no wonder each match against the famed opponents becomes a do-or-die situation for the players as well…tensions & tempers run high…well directed abuse, a hurried shove or just some fantastic cricket … anything to break the concentration of a well set player, or demoralize a player…this calls for a lot of exciting cricket which gives rise to some of the best cricketing moments… while I had the privilege to watch some of these, others have been compiled from our very own googleji (where else…)

1. Miandad vs Sharma: Venue: Sharjah, 1986. Australasia Cup Final. Pakistan needed 4 to win off the last ball… Indian fans were sitting happy & relaxed… the match was as good as won… in comes chetan sharma to bowl the last ball…  a full toss, bowled to Javed Miandad who swung his bat & hit a six! An almost unthinkable feat which ensured 2 things – miandad suddenly became every Indian’s enemy and Indian pace attack suddenly lost its sting … such was the loss in confidence that prior to this game, Pakistan had lost 6 of their 9 ODIs against India. After Sharjah, Pakistan won 8 of the next 9 matches against India, with 5 of them being played in India…

2. Sohail vs Prasad: Venue: Banglore, 1996 World Cup, Quarter Final. Chasing India's score of 287-8, pakistan got off to a flyer of a start, Amir Sohail and Saeed Anwar went about tearing the Indian bowling attack. Anwar fell with the score on 84 but Sohail continued to shred the opening bowlers. He brought up his fifty at more than a run a ball and celebrated with a sizzling slash off Prasad. Sohail after hitting the shot pointed his bat the area where the bowl had disappeared and then towards Prasad apparently gesturing where he will send the next one. Attempting to repeat the shot, Sohail made room, exposed his stumps and lost his wicket.  As the wicket lay uprooted, Prasad returned the favour to Sohail, pointing to the pavilion this time. The comeback was truly remarkable, almost a miracle .... Prasad has bowled thousands of deliveries and taken hundereds of wickets in his career but, it was this one granted him a place in the History of Indian Cricket .. for ever... the ghost of Miandad's last ball six was exorcised, once and for all as India went to win this epic game…

3. Waugh vs Gibbs: 1999 World Cup, Super Six League Match: Australia vs S.Africa… at 48-3, the Aussies chasing 271 were clearly in trouble…the fightback was led by Steve Waugh… luck favoured him when he was given a lifeline by Hershelle Gibbs who let the ball slip from his grasp as he prematurely celebrated Waugh’s dismissal on 56… such was his confidence that Waugh reportedly told Gibbs: ‘you just dropped the world cup mate...' he went on to score 120 & won Australia the match… Waugh’s world proved prophetic as Australia defeated S. Africa in a tie in the semi-final by virtue of this Super Six match & then went on to win the World Cup…

4. Waugh vs Ganguly: Venue: Eden Gardens, 2001: 2^nd Test Match: Day 5: Chasing 383 to win, Australia were 166-3. Just before tea, Ganguly dropped a sharp chance off Waugh at backward square leg…Waugh repeated his ‘you just dropped the Test mate..’ line to Ganguly… In Ganguly’s own words, ‘maybe if he had said nothing, the game would have drifted to a draw, the result that appeared to be its natural conclusion. But, it (Waugh’s words) had the effect of geeing up the Indians. Immediately after tea, Harbhajan got Waugh out and Dravid gave him a sendoff from slip asking who had given away the Test match now.' A sure case of over confidence……

5. Tendulkar vs Qadir: Venue: Pakistan, 1989. Sachin had recently made his debut in Pakistan…not even old enough to to get a driving licence, Tendulkar was facing the best bowlers in the business. As the Pakistani crows jeered and mocked Sachin holding out the placards saying  ‘Doodh Pita Bachcha ..ghar jaake doodh pi, Sachin sent the then young leg spinner Mustaq Ahmed hiding for cover (he had hit two sixes in one over). The frustrated mentor of Mustaq Ahmed, the legendary Abdul Qadir challenged Sachin saying ‘Bachchon ko kyon mar rahe ho? Hamein bhi maar dikhao’.. Tendulkar obliged Qadir…he hit 4 sixes in Qadir’s over, making the spinner look the kid in the contest. The over read 6, 0, 4, 6 6 6, David had felled Goliath ... and a legend was born.

6. Viv Richards vs Greg Thomas: County championship between Glamorgan & Somerset: Glamorgan quickie Greg Thomas had beaten Viv Richards' bat a couple of times and informed the legendary West Indian ace: ‘It's red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering.’ The very next ball was given the King Viv treament and smashed out of the ground, into a river - at which point Richards piped up: ‘Greg, you know what it looks like. Now go and find it.’

7. McGrath vs Brandes: Aus vs Zimbabwe: Aussies have been known to sledge…not all cricketers take this lying down & some like Eddo Brandes gave it back fittingly… McGrath was bowling to Zimbabwe’s No. 11 batsman Brandes, who was unable to get his bat anywhere near the ball. McGrath, frustrated that Brandes was still at the crease, wandered up during one particular over and inquired: ‘Why are you so fat?’ Quick as a flash, Brandes replied: ‘Because every time I make love to your wife, she gives me a biscuit ‘

And now for the funniest of all: Incident described in "From the Pavilion End" by Harold ‘Dickie’ Bird: ‘Bomber’ Wells, a spin bowler and great character, played for Glocuestershire and Nottinghamshire. He used to bat at No.11 since one couldn't bat any lower. Of him, they used to paraphrase Compton's famous words describing an equally inept runner; ’When he shouts 'YES' for a run, it is merely the basis for further negotiations!’ Once when Wells played for Gloucs, he had an equally horrendous runner as the No.10. During a county match, horror of horrors.......both got injured. *Both* opted for runners when it was their turn to bat. Bomber played a ball on the off, called for a run, forgot he had a runner and ran himself. Ditto at the other end. In the melee, someone decided that a second run was on. Now we had *all four* running. Due to the confusion and constant shouts of "YES" "NO", eventually, *all* of them ran to the same end. Note - at this point in time, the entire ground is rolling on the floor laughing their behinds out. One of the fielders - brave lad - stops laughing for a minute, picks the ball and throws down the wicket at the other end. Umpire Alec Skelding looks very seriously at the four and calmly informs them ‘One of you buggers is out. I don't know which. *You* decide and inform the bloody scorers!’