Ind vs Aus, 2nd Test, day 4, session 1

5th March, 2013

It's not everyday that a dream comes true. But when it does, there's a little bit of magic in the air that leaves you with wonder, inspiration and a smile on your lips like no other.
Today, I watched a cricket match live in a stadium for the very first time. Sure, the stadium had about 20,000 less fans than ideal, there was no nail biting finish after a day full of cricket, and personally no time for face paint and no bright poster in my hands reading... umm, let's leave that for the next match. But what an experience it was!

I want to write about my view as I first climbed up the stairs to see all that was before me- the vastness of the stadium, the cheering fans, the tri-colour flags, the scoreboard with the ancient clock on top, the cameras, the beautiful green outfield and Ishant Sharma's head full of bouncy hair on his follow through. It was love! (Ishant's tresses included. See it live for yourself before tsk-ing, guys!)
I want to write about the cricket- eight Aussie wickets falling in two hours was joy. To see Michael Clarke's off stump knocked down and a lightning fast direct hit to cause a run out were definitely more fun to watch here than on tv.

But most of all, I want to write about all the people:
-the fans cheering like crazy every single time Sachin took a step towards the boundary/fielded/changed positions at the end of an over;
-Sachin's acknowledgement with a kind wave- every time;
-my cousin sitting unenthusiastically (says hello to fellow football fans and cricket haters) but patiently next to me;
-Dhoni's typical tilt of the head and one sided shrug every now and then before crouching to keep;
-the policemen who'd keep one eye on the game and the other more watchful eye for excited fans getting too close to the railing on the first floor;
-Kohli's multicoloured shades visible to every corner of the stands;
-Sachin's "biggest" fan in all his glory- the body paint, the flag and the conch;
-Sehwag in the slips in his characteristic top hat;
-fans running up to the screen whenever the third umpire was signalled;
-Bhuvaneshwar Kumar's half-nervous half-hesitant wave to a section of the crowd that had been wooing him through the past three overs;
-a lone voice of a child calling out "Sachin!", hoping it'd reach him and he'd come to field in front of our stands;
-Jadeja's blink-and-you-miss overs;
-my dad who drove back through the crazy traffic after dropping us off, reached his office and checked the score only to find the game was won;
-Ravi Shastri and his surprisingly-not-so-booming voice at the presentation;
-the groundsmen and the young boys who were at the boundary lines during play, now standing in a row and setting their hair straight for a picture with the captain after the interviews;
-and a delighted me.

Today was a day I hope to never forget (back off dementia and... multiple personality disorders!) So I write this, determined, still in my blue Team India shirt that I don't ever want to take off. (Almost sure I'm exaggerating.)

I see many who are tired of cricket, their numbers only increasing with each passing day. They're disgusted at the unthinkable amounts of money being showered, the politics within the associations, the countless endorsements, the commercialization of it all. All true. I also see the passion, the dedication, the injuries, the discipline, the battles and demons won and the sheer hard work that every sport is associated with. Why cricket then, you exclaim... Why not encourage badminton and football and hockey and squash? To them, I say I'd love to see the day I get this excited about going to watch a tennis match or be inspired by a game of basketball. But the fact remains that I'll always be a bigger fan of cricket... simply because cricket is what I grew up on. It's been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. It's what I know.


# Shout-out to Rahul Dravid. Because you're the first one I associate 'cricket' with and because you're so remarkably awesome that it's ridiculous.