Jumpak Japang... keep practicing... this ad
had caught my mind & the theme of IPL with the music is something that I
paid attention to this time!! May be it's because I was destined to go to the
match this year :)
I am not a cricket fan ... fan
being far, cricket doesn't interest me. To me it is purely waste of time. I
rather use that time doing something else that really matters to people rather than
sitting & wasting time in front of the TV assuming that we are cheering the
players when the reality is that they don't even hear us. It probably is the
same even when we go to stadium. We might scream at the top of our voice, but
the players might not even pay attention to how we are cheering them when they
are concentrating on how to play better. It's my thought process and generally I
don't see any match. But there are always exceptions for any rules. Yes, I have
an exception that "IF", the match is India, Pakistan match,
"then" I really don't mind wasting the time in front of TV. It is all
about the simplest algorithm that we use in our day to day life
"if-then-else"
I have known earlier when I got
this opportunity to go to any cricket in the stadium to watch a match live, I
have taken a conscious decision of NOT going there. But this time, after I saw
the mails about IPL, somehow felt like going there!!! I had a dead line to
decide whether I am going or not till Friday. But it is just me not to decide
anything till I cross the deadline. I decided to go to match on Sunday. Alas,
tickets were not available. So I told myself, its fine to miss a match. It is
after all only a match. I have nothing to gain or lose irrespective of who
wins. It was going to be just another miss in life like any other misses that I
have had earlier.
Call it luck, or whatever, I
happened to get the tickets. 4th April, evening match T-20, should not take
much time since it is T20, I told myself. It is Thursday & getting back
home late on Thursday night mean I would have an extremely tiring day at work
the next day. I prepared myself with necessary medications so that I can be at
my best when I go to watch the match, with the food cooked at home for the
afternoon, so that I don't feel hungry while watching the match. In short, I
had started looking forward for the match!!! I think about it now while writing
this, I am smiling thinking about how my thinking had changed!!
My knowledge on cricket is pretty
bad. I should say very bad as that would be the apt word. Yes, my knowledge is
extremely bad. I know very few cricket players. Morning while I was getting
ready to head to office, my husband came to me & said, today match is
between Royal challengers Bangalore
& Mumbai Indians. RCB's captain is Virat Kohli. He wanted to make sure that
I know the minimum details at least while I go to watch the match.
After having a long day at work,
we headed to watch the match. My friend accompanied me to the match. There was
lot of other people who were in the stadium from my work place. I entered the
stadium, & the 1st thought that hit me was "Wow, it's nice to watch a
match in the stadium during evening with the flood lights on. I have made the
right decision of coming to the match."
If there was a way to collect
energy level to be used later, then visiting the stadium to collect the energy
would be the best idea. I saw people oozing out with energy to support the
teams. That 1st boundary by Chris Gayle took me by happiness. I stood amongst
the rest of the crowd to cheer the RCB team. My friend instructed me to sit
whenever he sits & stand whenever he stands. I thought that would be the
right thing to do as I might not even be doing the right thing if I don't do
so, only to later realize that I could do it on my own. I stood up for every
boundary cheering the team. I stood there to check if the claim they are doing
is truly the right claim. List continues.
I heard a familiar voice
announcing, ladies and gentle man, let us cheer up the team. RCB, RCB, RCB...
Chris Gayle, Chris Gayle.... My thought process shifted to figure out whose
voice it is. It was extremely familiar. May be a RJ/MJ I thought. I was unable
to figure that out till the end of the match. Familiar voice, extremely
familiar, but was unable to figure out whose voice it was.
I always thought what would happen
in the stadium while the ads are running in the TV between every innings. I
wondered what happens in the stadium when a wicket is lost & the new player
has to come to the pitch to play. I know I sound very silly when I say that,
but that thought always was there at the back of my mind. After watching the
match in stadium, I realized that they would just be standing in the field or
getting ready for the next over :). Chris Gayle is hurt. He isn't able to get
up also. But in next 5 minutes, I see him getting up & running to score few
runs. I speak in exclamation, how can he run? He was so hurt. My friend
replied, even when you are not well, don't you sit and code. It is all about
being used to it. True :)
While the match was on, I saw a
small boy may be about 2 or so, waving a RCB flag. Would he even know what he
is doing? Why he is doing? But there he was cheering the RCB team :). The
little boy wasn't next to his parents. His parents were seated elsewhere, &
he was somewhere else waving the flag. I immediately told myself, how come they
have left that small kid alone to be away from them in this huge crowd of
people. I would never do it with my
kids. I will freak out if they were to be away from me even an inch in the
crowd. I could no longer bear the thought & mentioned it to my friend to
hear that I need to give little space and freedom to the kids. :) May be true,
but I am just this way I thought & smiled over it.
I see a boundary from Chris Gayle
& my thought process is disturbed. What an amazing player he is. I hear
from my friend if you marry your interest with total work ethics that is what
you become :). I wondered what we all had then. No interest in our work or no
ethics in our interest :). Another 4 by Gayle & my thought process is
disturbed again. It's truly a pleasure to watch them. There was a strategic
time out. I didn't pay much attention to that. I hear familiar songs that are
run for the cheer leaders and also see Yakshagaana steps by one of the other
person on the bench other than cheer leaders.
Match starts again. Few wickets
are gone. More boundaries. More fun in the stadium. Gayle is 50, not out. A
huge cheer and screaming is heard and seen. The energy level there is very high
again. 6 & 4 alternates when Gayle hits the ball. Only aim - "score as
much as you can" is clearly seen. RCB's finish their innings at 156 runs.
I checked the time then. It is already 9.45. Unbelievable!!! Did I also get
sucked up in match so much that I didn't realize the time? Must be!!!
2nd innings start. I see the God
of cricket coming in for batting. People in the stadium get up & bow to him
as if they are truly in front of the God. Which team they are supporting
doesn't matter when they see Sachin. Yes, he is extraordinary. No 2nd thoughts
about it.
The match starts & there are
few 4 & a 6. I see a comparison done between MI & RCB. RCB were this
much for this over etc. I see MI are ahead of us at that particular point in
time. People supporting MI were generally lesser & is expected. I know it
is not right to compare the score over by over between the teams. But I did
that. Again, part of me!!! I see strategic time out again. What is strategic
about it? I ask myself. I don't find a convincing answer. I asked my friend
about this without being able to hold it to myself. To break the flow of the
players & to get the revenue :). It is during this time out that the ads
are screened in the TV I heard. It sounded convincing. Yes, it indeed was!!!
Just 2 balls after the strategic time out Sachin is dismissed!!! It truly broke
the flow & sounded strategic :) Required run rate is crossing 8 per over
& is a good thing I thought. I was getting low on energy & it was after
all "Pepsi" IPL, so landed up having "Pepsi" & watermelon
to gain some energy. I wondered how people retained their energy screaming out
so loud and cheering up for so long. Mine was almost dropping to zero & so
felt the match was dragging a bit :). I started drawing parallels again. Even
while I go to watch movie, I feel it is drag in between the movie. I had a
similar feeling in the mid of 2nd innings. But, I see MI's were struggling now
to catch up with the score. Last few overs & I see amazing hits by bats
men. Only 6 & 4 were hit in one of the last 5 overs. It again increased my
adrenaline rush!! I see the increasing pressure on the batsmen. They want to
perform, but they are not able to. I started drawing parallels again. Even in
life when pressure increases, we just cannot perform. This match is so uncertain.
Last 2 overs to go & there is tremendous pressure on batsmen, no one knows
who would win. Life is similar too I thought. Life is equally uncertain, what
happens the next moment nobody would know.
Some good fight by RCB in terms
of fielding & there goes Vinay Kumar claiming 2 wickets. MI's are almost
losing yet trying hard to win. There goes the last ball & RCB's win the
match. The whole stadium goes screaming to cheer the team. I was no exception.
It definitely was a match worth watching. It was a lot of fight, lots of
pressure, lots of fun :). I am sure this match was like any other IPL match
probably, but for me it truly was an outstanding match for 2 reasons. I neither
watch cricket, nor had gone to stadium. It was a 1st hand experience for me.
People rush out of stadium to
make sure traffic doesn't affect them & we are no exception. While heading
back home, I mentioned to my friend, how close we stayed to the stadium for 14
years & yet didn't even watch any match earlier. As my friend aptly mentioned
"closer you are the temple, farther away you from God!!" may be true.
Next morning I update my facebook
status to "IPL se koi nahin bachega... Truly ... :) " I see few likes and comments & am sure
they have experienced it too :)
