Holysmoke Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 So, my tickets were supposedly done a long time ago. I had been assured, and did not worry too much. 3 days before the game, after I come back from the quarterfinals, I’m told that the tickets are gone because someone forgot to collect them from where they were supposed to be collected, and now they cannot be collected. I was utterly disappointed to say the least. I was looking at getting stuff from the black market, but through calling someone’s someone’s someone, I could get my ticket released. So finally after a major major scare, I would be going to the stadium. All roads to go to the stadium were completely blocked since the previous night. It took me 45 mins to travel something it normally takes 10 mins. So on game day, I decided to walk it to the stadium. Quite a walk, but it was good to see the nervous energy of the crowd before they entered the stadium. Now a bit about the new Wankhede. It’s fantastic. Absolutely phenomenal. I thought DY Patil had set a high standard, but this is even better. The stadium has only 2 levels on the east and west side, and they have kept it open so as to let the sea breeze in during the day. It was extremely airy, and the views of the pitch are also very good. No pillars to block anyone’s view, bucket seats for everyone, good amount of legroom, and well designed overall. There were lots of gates, wide staircases and wide corridors, and food counters were all over. Toilets were also quite clean, which is unheard of in a cricket stadium. They were even giving drinking water for free. All in all, a great experience. Now coming to the game, nobody had any idea what happened at the toss. But we were very disappointed that we had to chase. In a world cup final, you always want to have the runs on the board. I can see where Dhoni was coming from when he picked an extra seamer, but that extra seamer was SREESANTH! What a #$%@#$ that guy is. Even the people sitting next to me were like huuuuuuuuh.. sreesanth? Zak was bowling superbly from one end, trying to make amends to what he did in the last WC final. 3 consecutive maidens, and then a wicket from the next over. How does it get better than that? But this ******* is releasing all the pressure by giving 10, 14 runs in an over. I believe that if he had been tight, SL would have crumbled under pressure there, and we could have gotten a couple of early wickets. Then they wouldn’t have been able to make 275. So I was really pissed at this monkey. After about the 35th over, he was booed every time he got the ball. (He was also booed when he got his WC winners medal, something which I felt was not cool..) There was some excellent fielding by the team. Raina, Kohli and Yuvraj form an excellent ring on the off side. It’s good to see Yuvraj field so well again. Around 15 overs into the game, I was all the way up on the 3rd tier watching it with a friend. One dude comes up searching for his seat. He looks at a cop, shows him his ticket, and asks him where his seat his. Now he’s already climbed up 4 flights of stairs, and now the cop tells him his seat is all the way up within the stand. So the dude, who is facing the stand, looking at his seat.. mutters… “Hey Bhagwanâ€.. (Oh god!). The cop immediately taps him on his shoulder, and tells him to turn around. Once he does that, the cop points to Sachin fielding at mid off, and says with a smile.. “Bhagwan tikde aahe†(God is over there…). :hehe: I personally thought it was game over when Sachin got out. I was jumping all over the place when Sachin hit that straight drive, but it wasn’t to last. The way Gambhir played was fantastic. And Dhoni… what a stud. He came in, and changed the tempo of the game. Gambhir was running fast, but Dhoni is on another level.. he is extremely quick. When Dhoni was having some trouble.. (cramps?), it seemed really bad from the stadium. The way he fell down on the ground when the physio arrived.. I felt he’s gonna have to go off. But full credit to him, he stuck with it. When these 2 were going, people all over the stand were like.. Aaj yuvraj ko nahin dekhna.. let these ppl finish it off. But Yuvraj came in to probably the biggest ovation (after sachin obv). I remember one of the first shots he hit was a pull shot which went to midwicket.I think it was the last ball of the over. After every over, they were playing some song for a few seconds to get the crowd going. So yuvraj hits this emphatic pull, and everyone is up on their feet cheering, and suddenly the speakers go.. “Singh is king, Singh is king, Singh is kinggggggggâ€. The whole damn stand was dancing with their hands up in the air. The best part was it looked like a synchronized dance, everyone’s hands moving up to down at the same time. And yuvraj was strutting towards Dhoni as if he was the king of the world. You guys probably saw what happened after we won the game, the way they carried SRT all over the ground, etc. People in the stands were going crazy. My whole stand cried. That was when I realized the meaning of “ they’re dancing in the isles.†It was pandemonium. The whole thing is a blur right now. Marine drive was going bonkers. I had a random dude come up to me and give me a bar of chocolate and a smile. People were dancing all over the streets; flags were out, people dancing on the roof of moving cars, etc. It had to be seen to be believed. I don’t even need to get into the usual.. “Sachinnnnn Sachinnnn†chants and the intensity. I have been to quite a few games. Lots of normal ODI’s, lots of IPL games, IPL 1 semis and finals, IPL 3 finals, Yankees games, footy etc etc. Nothing comes close to this. I have never seen so many people go bonkers like this. It wouldn’t even happen if we won a war. It was like everyone had just won the lottery. Best day ever!:two_thumbs_up:
Karan114 Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 Brilliant write up and sounds like just the most deliriously amazing atmosphere! Lucky you!
vvvslaxman Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 wow.. must have been an amazing experience for everyone on the ground.
goose Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 wow, thanks for that. i would die to have seen Sachin greet the crowd on his victory lap. that must have been indescribable.
Cricketics Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 Holy. I am happy for you and many others like Sachinism and Mariyam who went there and enjoyed the game and got a chance to watch the history. I can only wish to be part of it. But in guys, and my many other mates in India. It felt as if I was in the stadium too. Congrats.. And great anecdotes there... GLAD YOU ENJOYED.
SachDan Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 You're really lucky holy! bucket seats for everyone, good amount of legroom They knew you were coming :P
ludhianvi Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 That's great Holy. Amazing experience indeed . Awesome!
Clarke Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 Pics ? So the dude, who is facing the stand, looking at his seat.. mutters… “Hey Bhagwanâ€.. (Oh god!). The cop immediately taps him on his shoulder, and tells him to turn around. Once he does that, the cop points to Sachin fielding at mid off, and says with a smile.. “Bhagwan tikde aahe†(God is over there…). :woot:
littlemaster1982 Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 Man, I'm jealous of you :(( Enjoy the feeling, you have witnessed something really really special :icflove:
Manny_Pacquiao Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 thanks for that. no better place to watch cricket than india that said, i think the atmosphere at old wankhede was much better than the one at new wankhede. but maybe thats because only the rich could afford tickets for the final, we wont know until india plays a regular ODI there
Mariyam Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 Holybaba, great write up :icflove: :icflove: :icflove: :icflove: One of the best I've read here on ICF and I can relate to it coz I was there. I'm saving this one in my bookmarks. With your permission can I also pen down my experience at Wankhede in this thread? We could have Sachinism and the others who were there put their experiences here.
Ram Posted April 3, 2011 Posted April 3, 2011 Woah, what a recollection! Enjoyed every word and syllable of it!
Holysmoke Posted April 3, 2011 Author Posted April 3, 2011 Holybaba, great write up :icflove: :icflove: :icflove: :icflove: One of the best I've read here on ICF and I can relate to it coz I was there. I'm saving this one in my bookmarks. With your permission can I also pen down my experience at Wankhede in this thread? We could have Sachinism and the others who were there put their experiences here. Ofcourse, go ahead. Manny, I told a friend of mine to take pics because his camera was better than my phone cam. :((
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