That’s the
word. Oh yeah. Cricket. Man, everyone’s crazy about that game in India. The
game played with a bat and a ball. Kind of similar to baseball. Though hockey
is the national game, cricket is the most popular game in India.
At the
official level, cricket is played between two teams, each having eleven
players. They play in a stadium, the bowler throws the ball, and the batsman
hits the ball with the bat. The fielders try to stop the ball from reaching the
boundary line and try to take his/her wicket. Yeah. Blah blah blah. Rules,
rules and rules. Okay, so I hope you got it. It’s an outdoor game.
In the
stadium, where it is played, sit thousands of spectators watching the cricket
match. One fine cloudy day I saw my father smiling. I asked him what the matter
was. Then he tried to look as serious as possible. He asked me plainly, “Like
cricket?” I, like every other Indian, said yes. Then he said, “Would you give
the newspaper to me? On the table.” Your wish is my command, sir. I went to the
table, picked the newspaper. Some papers fell from it. What else but
advertisement pamphlets. But man, believe it or not, they were cricket match
tickets! Four of them in all. Bingo. I was going to see a real cricket match. A
first for me. You might be saying, “Yeah, whatever.” But still…
The match was
in the evening. We all got ready to go. I had made a nice poster supporting my
home team, Pune Warriors India. The match was between this team and the team Chennai
Super Kings. I took my autograph book along, and we proceeded. The stadium was
quite far from my home. On the way I saw many mountains on the way. Finally, we
got a glimpse of the stadium. All lighted and ready to go. It was a summer
afternoon and a cool breeze was blowing. Some clouds had started gathering in
the west, which looked, well, sort of cloudy. Suddenly I thought about rain
stopping the match. But the weather forecast was clear skies. I tried to forget
about it and went in through a nice sweet door with a mean looking guard. I
showed my ticket to him, who punched a hole into it. Thank god not through me.
In the stadium was a super gigantic crowd. Amazingly enormous, to be precise.
The stadium was jam-packed. Our seats were in the middle rows. We sat in our
seats, ready to get tired. “Popcorn, sir?” came a man. He called me ‘sir’. I at
the time was a guy of thirteen. “Sir? Are you serious?” I asked him. No
reaction. My father came and bought a big bag for me. Awesome thing to munch
on. Within minutes the match started. The players entered. And my seat was
right next to the aisle. I stuck out my autograph book through the net
bordering the aisle. But none of the guys autographed on it. Still, three of
the Chennai Super Kings team’s players saw me, smiled, and left. Including the
cricket supergiant M.S. Dhoni. I was two metres away from him. Probably one of
the better than the best moments of my life. I let my eyes capture the moment.
Probably never ever to happen again. It was an incredible feeling.
I wanted to
stop the time and savour the moment. But my incredible brother literally broke
the feeling by dragging me to my seat. The match started with the Pune Warriors
winning the toss and electing to bat first. It was a twenty over match, so the
game was going to be short. The batsmen came. The first ball of the innings, one
run. Next two, no runs. This continued for some overs. Boring. Then the ball
went straight into the sky. And came down with record speed. The ball was caught
by a fielder. The first shock. The batsman was out. Came in the second. He hit
the ball straight over the boundary line. A six. Then he went on fire. He
himself made a hundred runs in a jiffy. It seemed like today my home team was
going to win.
They made a
good total score. The opponent team came in to bat. I was sure of the results
of the game, but this time the team was on fire. Not a one man army, like the
Pune Warriors. Sixes and fours, the guys turned the tide. After the team lost
some wickets, their star player picked up his bat. M.S. Dhoni came in to bat. Enter
the Dragon. I just kept looking at him, though from a distance. I mean, you don’t
get to see celebrities every day. While I continued my staring, some people
ahead and behind me started to shout. Through the corner of my eye, I saw a
ball hurtling towards me. Dhoni had hit a six, and the ball was coming right for me.
Once in a lifetime opportunity. I
jumped with all my might to catch it. And hundreds of others jumped around me.
And, oh yeah, I caught the ball. The camera was on me. I was on national TV. I simply
said, “Yippee!” and threw the ball to the players. My mother dragged me out
of the crowd, saying that a stampede could occur. The mean guard kept staring
at me from the entrance gate. But, seriously, that was cool. Some guys around
me asked me how it felt to catch the ball hit by Dhoni. What else but
brilliant. The rest of the match continued, the players making a spectacular
show. I was meanwhile going bonkers. Dhoni saw me, and I caught the ball he
hit. Ouch. I forgot all about my popcorn tub, which as usual was emptied by my
brother. The match was about to end. Six runs needed of the last two balls. It
seemed near impossible, only if the players didn’t hit some nice shots. Dhoni
on strike. The first ball, no runs. Six runs off the last ball. The guy’s
expression seemed as cool as a cucumber. The bowler threw the ball. A tense
moment. Dhoni picked up his bat and swung it hard. The ball went over the fence,
right on to the roof. A six! Chennai Super Kings had won the match. And yeah,
my home team lost. Great. Still, it was a great match. We went back home. I
told all my friends about my experience. I got some impossibly great memories
which will remain with me for the rest of my life.
-
Manas Trivedi
 |
| The game of cricket |
nice one manas
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