May 11, 2008

I’m not a sports fan and claim little knowledge of any sport, but cricket is one sport that one finds hard to ignore in India. From newspapers and T.V channels that thrive on cricket news (and now entertainment) to cricketers as models, movies and office lunch time conversations, there is not much one can do to stay away from this much- loved sport. I have in the past voluntarily tuned in (very briefly) to a T.V channel only to be ‘in-the-know’ and therefore intelligently participate in those aforementioned office lunch time conversations. Nothing short of a World Cup finals would get me to lengthen the duration of my brief tune-ins. And then there was IPL (‘Indian Premier League’ for the uninitiated). The strategy of the IPL matches to follow the recent 20-20 format; mix entertainment with sport and the excessive promotion have partially converted even non - believers like me.

So it came by, that I, who have never viewed a single live cricket match, had this urge to go for an IPL match. Going through the schedule, May 10th seemed a perfect day. The points in favour were: it was a Saturday and so no cause to rush from work, match was to start at 8 p.m. which meant no summer sun to bear with, the T-20 format would hold my attention span and of course, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were playing on home ground. Having decided on a mid price range of Rs. 600/- , getting tickets at that price for five of us turned out a bit of a task which ended four days before the match. So I relaxed and looked forward to an evening that I anticipated would be different from my usual Saturday night activities.

Come Saturday and during the day I learnt that the original group of five had turned out to be seven. The group size would have least bothered any of us, more-the-merrier being the thinking, except that an early request by a friend through an uncle to the wife of Sri Lankan cricketer Jayawardane had come through and we now had six pavilion tickets! We were just one short. Carrying on with our 600 rupee tickets meant giving up the rare opportunity of being in the Pavillion Terrace, where tickets are priced at Rs 4000/-! And on the other hand, going to the Pavillion meant that one person would be left out. Who would volunteer? From struggling for tickets, we now had abundance and that too the best. However, ideas on what to do next were less than abundant.

After some discussion, three of us left for the venue with our 600 rupee tickets that now seemed like they were meant for the less privileged. However, as we neared the stadium, the dazzling floodlights, the sound of cheers and the sight of the crowds on the road, made me forget our ticket situation and just want to be in there one among the frenzied mass.

A long walk from the car park (which was a just a street where cars were parked) and many queue check points later found us inside the stadium at last. Not to be left behind in any of the hollering and cheering, we joined in the general noise manufacturing. The air all around was charged with excitement. Sivamani banged away on his drums. The theme song of the CSK blared over the loud speakers every now and then. The first view of the cricketers was when they came in to the grounds for their warm - up. We had the Punjab XI Kings team on our side of the stadium and the crowd went crazy when Yuvraj turned and gave a few smiles and waves for the audience. The toss came soon after. The Punjab team won the toss & opted to field first.

While we were getting a feel of the place, one friend persevered hard to get us that one extra pavilion ticket. His resourcefulness (and some risky smooth talking) actually landed us with one! So while throngs of people were trying to get into the stands on time for the match, having got this ‘good news’ on the phone, we were suddenly in a big hurry to get out of the stadium. We had to go through all the security check points again, explaining at each point that we wanted to go out and not return again. All we received were sympathetic weird looks.

It’s no joke circling the stadium by foot especially in the hot, humid Chennai weather and with people milling around everywhere. As we half walked, half ran to the pavilion gate where the rest of the group was waiting with the tickets, we could make out from the cheering that the match had started. We finally made it to our seats and this time, the view was great! The audience here was much more controlled but whenever there was a sixer or a four hit, the cheering equaled the other stands. Since I have frankly acknowledged my ignorance of the game and since I am not attempting to write a review, I’ll skip the description of the game. Today’s edition of ‘Hindu’ covered it pretty well. For me, the highlights were an exciting three to four overs close to the half - way mark of CSKs batting that contributed to it’s good score; watching the ball sail through to our stand when one of the players hit a powerful sixer; watching the cheerleaders every now & then whenever I remembered (and observing that they were not very impressive), all the 9 wickets that CSK took, soaking in the ambience and enjoying a cool breeze that had somehow replaced the warm weather and finally, a glimpse of Preity Zinta (and her boyfriend, Ness Wadia)!!

Since it was the first (and maybe only) time I was going for a live cricket match, I had hoped that the game would not only be good but also that CSK would win. After all, I had to place my loyalties somewhere and siding with CSK in Chennai was not a difficult choice. So, when it was quite clear in the last three overs that CSK would win, I was happy. However, I hardly expected the climactic end brought out by Balaji’s 3 wicket hat- trick that sealed the victory and set a new IPL record!

So while the cheerleaders may not have impressed me much, the experience did impress me enough that this non-sport, non-cricket fan, was compelled to write about it. Such are the effects of good sport-entertainment!

By,
Sonal Nair