Well, ever since I was a kid I have been living cricket almost every day. This was the first sport that I learned but definitely not my favourite. I was pretty bad at it. I never let the grip of the bat when I got out. I was called "HUMBUCK RAJA" (realised that it is humbug at a much later point) by my cousins n other relatives. I only liked batting and was no where in the vicinity when it was my turn to field. I can't help reminiscing of the umpteen grounds that I have played at like the Garadi Maidan, Pulikeri Shaale, Central Plaza, Betkeri, St.Johns......and the list could easily deluge the relevant part of this blog. Most of my summer vacations as a kid were spent playing this game. Well, but then the mother of all battles was fought at my grandparents home, PP vs NN. (Pappu-me, Praveen vs Naveen, Nitin). Well, with the worst player on Praveen's side the outcome was never a surprise :-))
In India, cricketers have always been treated as GODs, "demi god" is a misnomer. It has been a religion and if this were to b officially recognized, would easily b the most followed religion here in India. I have digressed enough from, what the title of this blog suggests. After, having watched n played this game all my life it had kind of bcum a cliché. Well, watching cricket was no more fun. An insipid fifty over game was such a waste of time. Test cricket till date has been beyond my comprehension (5 days - u could win a real battle in 5 days and here u have teams that end the match in stale mate). But, then as Darwin's theory suggests, every thing in this world evolves, so did cricket. The shorter version was cut short, and v had a new form of cricket....the TTTTT20!!! With the advent of this new form, the game beckoned its patrons back on to the stands. The television viewers were again glued on to their sets, n so was I. The exciting times were back, n in the midst of all this one Mr. Lalit Modi came up with a brilliant idea, he set up a cricket league that aped the EPL(or other leagues across the world). The rest is history as v all know.I
have been contemplating on watching a game at Chinnaswamy ever since I have been in B'lore. My first brush past this name was when I was in my 10th grade, 1996. How can ne one forget the quarter final match between India n Pak at this statdium. This match was played just ahead of my Maths exam. Nostalgia!!!!! Well, after a lot of deliberation over the years, me n my frnz set out to watch the IPL match held last Saturday at CSS. My favourite team was playing the team that I loathed the most, what else could I ask for? I bought a new RCB T-sirt and got our faces painted with the RCB logo. The most ardent RCB fans were on their way!!!! Well, getting the tickets for this match was an ordeal, which deserves a blog by itself. As v were walking towards the stadium, v saw the KKR team bus pass by. I got a glimpse of my bro's hero Wasim Akram. V went berserk, like a bunch of kids having seen Spiderman, v started frantically waving and cheering the GODS.
After a lot of hue n cry(collecting ticktes, Q...) v entered our stands. This was a magical moment, it was nothing like I had envisioned. The whole place was like a kaleidoscope, bright n colourful. It was like I was in an other world. I saw the GODS performing their mundane tasks at the nets. I got a glimpse of my heroes too. But to my amazement, the ground was alot smaller than I thought it would b. I was hoping that I would get to sit at a vantage point very close to the cheer girlz. But as expected the area was completely filled, I cannot help but smile at my similar kind. But to my relief I got to sit amidst 3 little angels (tiny tots barely 5-6 yrs old). Tristan, a firangi kid who sat bside me turned out to b a huge RCB fan. V had a ROCKING time with him. (http://picasaweb.google.com/mmkjain/IPL# )
The stadium was full of RCB supporters and the crowd was vociferous. V were all rock solid behind our home team. It looked as if the whole stadium was painted RED, with a few tiny specs in BLUE. I am sure the guys who had put on Blue, wished they had pulled off their shirts n taken a neutral stance. There were a lot of them with weird hairdos and hoardings, hoping to c themselves on the television. I was close to a bit overtly clad :-(( KKR cheer girls n to my own annoyance I was rejoicing, every time the KKR guys hit a four or six. Well, here is sumthing that goes against the old adage that says " Look at a half empty glass, as half full". Here I was doing quite the opposite :-)...K...b4 the pervert in me takes over let me cum back. Watching Steyn gun down was a feast, his runup was like that of a race horse. The pace of T20 is so fast that v easily missed a lot of moments. V were cheering just coz the people bside us were cheering. The whole stadium was a riot of RED flags. Also, watching the people perform the Mexican wave was amazing!!!! Also, my heroes Kallis, RD n Kumble had done well. Towards the end Robin joined the party (Ravi Shastry’s patented words, had to pay him a huge royalty for this usage) n helped the KKR guys conserve sum energy 4 their next match. He ensured that they did not have to budge much by taking the aerial route. V won the match with 3 overs to spare. What else could I ask for!!!!!!!!!! Well, this is what an ardent fan can do ;-). . The only thing that I rue about is not carrying the camera.
But, believe me guys ne avid follower of this game would hate to watch a match in the stadium. U could easily miss a lot of magical moments. V don't realise it when v watch it at home. But, this is definitely an experience that should not b missed under the pretext of missing these moments. Also, thanks to the cameramen who make it look, as if a six was hit miles away. I was happy to c that the boundary was pretty close, the off side boundary at the Betekeri ground(my home town) is definitely longer than the one a chinnaswamy. I have hit sixers at Betekeri, so….if I can hit a SIX at Betekeri,(u already know it) ……………;-)
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