India reached the finals of world cup......every one in India were hoping that history will repeat...but the Indian team disappointed billions..
That day like any other Indian me sat in front of the TV to watch the match ….It was a day match in south africa ,but a day night for us in india ..
India won the toss and elected to field
Australia started their innings ,Gilchrist and Hayden took the crease -the two run machines of world cricket
ZAK felt the heat early on. He bowled a no ball in the very first ball of the match. The timid bowler lost his line and length completely after that …finally he messed up the initial over …
Srinath with all his experience tried to get India back into the match …but he lacked support
'Damn no point in watching the match 'I thought, seeing the brutal attack towards the Indian bowlers ...'so what next ….huh… lemme call the others n play cricket ' I ran towards the phone and gave single ring to both Atul n Rushi ..that was the code to make friends come out of the home ..as usual it was atul who had made that rule …..!!
both came out
“guys lets go n play “ I said as soon as I saw both of them....”what is the time?” atul asked ... “its only 3.30” rushi said “lets go by 4'o clock” “Ok” I agreed
At 4 o clock we got out of our homes n walked towards our ground ... Anuraj & Sivaram joined us. Prakash,as usual busy bird watching(yeah the real birds with wings n all!,can u believe the guy!!), cudn’t join us.
“lets tell the girls to call us if any thing good happens” atul said ..yeah no mobile phones at that time among us so they had to come to the ground n tell the good news if there is any
Sivaram rang the door bell….tring tring …..it took a while for the door to open……....
“Hey you guys are not watching the match”!!?? Neha asked ..as soon as she saw the hard core cricket fans standing infront of her door holding an MRF bat ..
“Err…. No” all of us said in unison .“If the match is going India's way call us” said Rushi
“Ok” she agreed
''Bye”... said Atul
we left her house and embarked on the tedious 500 meter walk to rohit’s house.....
Reached Rohit's house …
“ROHITTTTTT” ..... i yelled... and poor me had to stretch my vocal cords even further after a 5 second break
Rohit opened the door ….”not watching the match”?? he asked with such a surprise on his face that u wud have thought India was just abt to lift the trophy!!!
“Lets play man y watch that stupid match”
It wasn’t that difficult to persuade him and we took the stumps and the bat n walked towards the ground …..
It was time for us forget India going down in Johannesberg and start our game
…..It was Summer time and the evenings were also giving stiff competition to the afternoon in terms of the heat.But our ground being on the top most part of the hill , the strong wind from the sea used to give a little relief to the poor aspiring cricketers.
*****
“Atul fom the church end … Sivaram at the crease , ready to face his deadly bowling “ I started my usual commentary ..this is the technique to make the opposition lose concentration... keep on doing commentary while the striker is ready to face the ball ,mix the commentary with Tamil, Hindi Malayalam and English ,he will get frustrated,…I used to do it from behind the stumps ..
“AAAAAGH…………..”atul produced his trademark sound, trying to fool the batsman by pretending he is using all his energy to deliver a quicker one (don’t think that he still knows that we had figured that on out ages ago!!!)
“SLOW BALLLLLLL” I shouted from behind the stumps ..as that too was a part of the commentary
No doubt the ball was slow ….. Sivaram sung his bat and he connected the ball well...'Whooosh' bang...the ball vanished over the boundary ...its a six!!!! …....
“BALL LOSSST” ….Rushi yelled ..We would have used this word millions of times to save millions of singles in our entire life time ...
We all rushed to the place by calculating the projectile of the ball(who said physics is useless..) it was way down the hill…..it was a mini jungle out there …with plantain, palm trees, pineapples…and what not!!
“There may be snakes there Rushi “ Rohit said ..
Rushi got a scare but he valiantly continued searching for the ball in the bushes ..
“what is the score” I asked …
“Wait ...i’ll check it out” Rohit said as he ran to his home
*************
We got the ball n climbed back to the top …..as Rohit came back with the news.
Gilly and Hayden is out ,Aussies are 162/2 in 26overs …..Ponting and Martyn at the crease ..
“BULL SHIT MAN..... their run rate is over 6 ….SHIT!” Rushi expressed his anger ..
“keep your cool dolu...the match has not finished yet” ...Anuraj said..
“Man ...these Indian bowlers ...what are they doing!” Atul muttered
“ Pressure man... Pressure.. they can't handle that ... Big game ..Strong opposition”
“ yeah but they should keep their cool man ..COOOL ..thats why they are called professionals, Anda..”
said Atul provoking Anuraj
…. “ Atul you are dead meat now” as anuraj took the bat and raised.
so...so..soorry Anuraj,,i...i ...won't call you again ..as atul backed off …
umm okk …
ANDA...
“OUUCH” A hard punch had landed on Atul’s arm and every one laughed
**********
“Anoop u go and take the strike” atul said “I thought rushi was bowling first..”
I checked who the bowler was..
“Damn its Rohit!… no wonder atul gave me the strike…somehow I’ve got to save my wicket” I thought in despair
Rohit bowled his first ball “whoooooosh” it came toward me in something like .034 micro seconds and I played my favorite shot ….forward defence..
The ball was so fast that it needed just a minimum contact with the bat to reach to the fence …
“FOUR “ sivaram shouted as he saw ball underneath the cashew tree
Next ball was bowled short..…
Too late onto the shot! ….. it took the top edge
“CAAATCH ITTTTT” I heard the fielders yelling
Rushi was underneath the ball and in complete confusion whether to catch it the Australian way or the Indian way ….
“MADHURRRRR….” |I shouted as I saw her….
Rushi messed up the catch big time and the ball popped out of his hand (as this happens more often than not u cannot attribute the dropped catch to Madhur’s appearance or poor me yelling…)
We all gathered together expecting to hear the happy news from her
“What is the score ??” Atul asked hopefully
“Australia 359/2 ….. Ponting 140 not out “ she replied
“India will definitely lose” said Rushi, the ultimate pessimist
“Don’t be a pessimist man ….. India can do it…we got an excellent batting line up.. Sachin is in good form ..i think he can ease the pressure” added Sivaram
******
We stayed at the ground playing and discussing about the match until the sun turned orange n took the dip into the sea.After witnessing that beautiful sight we left for our home..
The Indian innings started..
Sachin and Sehvag in the middle…..
Sachin is on stike…..
Mcgrath to ball….
Just outside the off stump … missed…No run..
Fourth ball
Mcgrath to Sachin bang “Four”
“YEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHH” I yelled
I could hear similar voices echoing from the neighborhood
Fifth ball
Mcgrath to Sachin….short of length ..Sachin tries to pull …doesn’t connect it well ..top edge.. mc grath calls .”i shall”… Caught .SACHIN OUT!!!… …the roaring Johhanesberg Stadium became silent …..
For a second my heart stoped …DAMN! there is no point in watching the match .yeah no sachin no victory ...I came to my room and started playing war game. Yeah..I was in a mood to kill some one ..i heard my mom and dad cheering as Ganguly n Sehwag hit fours and sixes. Then India lost 3 quick wickets
Mom and dad switched to a Malayalam channel as they also lost interest..and started watching some crap mega serials ….
Finally,as Rushi predicted India lost …. 239 allout in 39 overs and aussies had their 3rd world cup .While aussies lifed the cup I was busy massacring … finding salvation by killing the bozos on the computer………..
