India vs WI , 3rd test :Observations from Wankhede - Epic Match

[Magneto]

My celebration season is not over yet. Some botched-up travel arrangements cost me the first day at Wankhede, but thankfully, nothing much happened that would have made me curse myself for a long, long time. While travelling to Eden was a cakewalk (all I had to do was to hop on to a cab and say 'Eden'), travelling to Wankhede from the other side of the city requires lot more - some bit of planning, some more struggle in the local trains in the morning hours and a terrible, unhealthy amount of sleep deprivation. As I strolled into the stadium accompanied by a marketing expert friend, this is how the day passed by: a) Marketing gyan - My friend was livid with the poor attendance and could not fathom why BCCI did not market this game. "This is the first time India is playing at the Wankhede after the World Cup triumph ... they needed to market that", "This is the very same stadium in which Dhoni had hit the six to win us the World Cup ... they needed to market that", he went on and on. I tried to explain to him that BCCI is never interested in marketing any of its products, and cricket in India does not really need any marketing. But I soon stopped hardselling my point as the crowd never grew beyond 5000 the entire day. Cost comparison - From marketing, we took a look at the cost comparison between Eden and Wankhede. In comparison to Eden's ticket prices (100, 200, 300), Wankhede is much cheaper (50, 100, 150). But the costs get equalized when it comes to food; 2 samosas cost 12 rupees at the Eden while it costs 30 rupees at Wankhede, and along with that everything else is far more expensive (vada pao - 20, veg burger - 50, chicken burger - 60). On the positive side, Wankhede provides you with a free supply of filtered water (to be consumed using small cups), whereas at the Eden you'll have to pay for plastic pouches containing filtered water. c) Security check - The security check at the Eden was at three levels, whereas at least seven people frisk you before you can enter the Wankhede. The frisking is pretty tough, they feel you up all over, in places you never knew existed within your body. But once all the frisking is done, you can sit back and enjoy the game and go out to the food court as many times as you want. On the other hand at the Eden, every time you return to your seat from the food court, you'll have to show your ticket. d) What's the score, eh? - After lunch, the electronic scoreboard of the stadium conked off for an hour making us realize how difficult it is to watch a match at a stadium if the scoreboard is not functioning. The manual scoreboard does work, but once you get used to an electronic scoreboard, everything else looks pretty much Greek to you. e) No drinks - When the drinks break was announced after an hour from lunch, one spectator chirped that the Indian team should not be allowed the drinks break since they have hardly done anything worthwhile on the field the whole day. Drinks should be a privilege for the better performing team, and should not be allowed to both teams :-p f) The drinks vehicle - Unlike Eden, where the drinks was carried by a Maruti Omni, here, two people with a hand cart brings the drinks to the field. But funnily, (during the drinks break after tea), not a single player of the Indian team touched the official drink. Rohit Sharma, the official waterboy of the Indian team, got some bottles from behind the boundary line, and distributed the same to all the members of the team. He seems to share a real cold vibe with Virat Kohli; not a single word was exchanged between the two when he handed over a bottle to Kohli. g) Iski photo khichni banti hai - As I was admiring the clock at the Wankhede, a fat chubby boy jumped two rows with his mobile phone camera saying 'Iski photo khichni banti hai'. As I turned around to figure out who's this 'must click' cricketer, the usual suspect emerged - Virat Kohli stands near the ropes with his fancy goggles. Two groups of fans started screaming 'Vi-raat, Vi-raat', and 'Koh-li, Koh-li' unable to make up their minds as to what to call him. All the screams were eventually submerged by a desperate female shriek 'Virat, I love you'. Kohli looked back for a moment, blushed like a teenager and turned back to focus on the game. He eventually breathed a sigh of relief when Dravid replaced him on the boundary. h) Collective sigh of the day - Sachin Tendulkar's throw at the stumps to create a run-out opportunity had led to the biggest 'collective sigh of the day' till afternoon. Later, it was eclipsed by Dhoni's dropped catch off a Varun Aaron delivery; complete with Aaron's melodramatic look (on one knee as well) at his captain as if to say 'Oh my captain, what have you done!'. The replays made the crowd let a few more sighs eventually making Aaron the crowd favourite at the end of the day. i) Bhajji fan - One Bhajji fan kept screaming and cursing the Indian spinners stating that this humiliation would never have resulted had Bhajji been there. Ashwin's late burst quietened him completely as he realized that with these four wickets, Bhajji may now well miss the flight to Australia. j) Zero-Zero - After the fall of the ninth wicket, both Bishoo and Edwards were batting at zero. The mathematically oriented elderly gentleman beside me explained to me - 'When they started batting, two batsmen were at zero-zero. Now after 566 runs, we again have two batsmen at zero-zero. And if one of them fall now, the Indian batsmen will come to the field at zero-zero. k) 100-100 - An enthusiastic bunch of people have created a huge banner that says 'Every milestone is a beginning to a new journey'. The banner lists each of Sachin's international centuries in terms of year, venue and actual runs scored (in chronological order). These people have been carrying this banner everyday to the field hoping they would be able to display it proudly sometime. Now since the Windies batting is almost over, they were really positive that tomorrow (Nov 24) would be the day when the historic moment would come. There seemed to be more energy, interest and frenzy at the counters selling the daily tickets for tomorrow. Still, there is a bit of silent anticipation lurking around for the possibilities of tomorrow, much like the lull before the storm. And every person who walks in to the stadium tomorrow hopes earnestly that he/she gets to be a part of history, part of a legacy that they can proudly share with their present and future generations. Tomorrow and day after will be decisive, and if Sachin misses the bus once again, they'll definitely miss the last opportunity of savouring the momentous occasion in front of their eyes. But as they say, hope is a good thing. And hope will keep us alive tomorrow.

[rajmarie]

Good write Saurav...& sad to see that you missed the 1st day as we cant get your update :winky:

[Yoda-esque]

Wow Dude..You are a real fan! Great writeup as usual...waiting for tomorrow now :two_thumbs_up:

[Magneto]

Thanks both of you. Tomorrow has become today now. D-day!

[ganeshran]

Dude great writeup :two_thumbs_up:

e) No drinks - When the drinks break was announced after an hour from lunch, one spectator chirped that the Indian team should not be allowed the drinks break since they have hardly done anything worthwhile on the field the whole day. Drinks should be a privilege for the better performing team, and should not be allowed to both teams :-p

:cantstop:

i) Bhajji fan - One Bhajji fan kept screaming and cursing the Indian spinners stating that this humiliation would never have resulted had Bhajji been there. Ashwin's late burst quietened him completely as he realized that with this four wickets, Bhajji may now well miss the flight to Australia.

You met KT? :hmmm:

[Desi Cartman]

Excellent Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk

[Holysmoke]

a) Marketing gyan - My friend was livid with the poor attendance and could not fathom why BCCI did not market this game. "This is the first time India is playing at the Wankhede after the World Cup triumph ... they needed to market that", "This is the very same stadium in which Dhoni had hit the six to win us the World Cup ... they needed to market that", he went on and on. I tried to explain to him that BCCI is never interested in marketing any of its products, and cricket in India does not really need any marketing. But I soon stopped hardselling my point as the crowd never grew beyond 5000 the entire day.

It was a weekday, in Mumbai, with WI batting. There is nothing marketing can do. Today, however, the stadium was not empty.

[mishra]

:nice: Love ur writting

[mishra]

Actually talking of food court reminded me of last time 2002 when WI visited the same ground for a test.... Crowd kept on chanting "Nagmaaa.. Nagmaaaa.. Nagmaa...." Poor dada.... @EOD People chanted name of Tendulkar so much that Dada gave him last over of the day My frnd who had watched the game with me called me at very late night at around 2 AM complaining food poisioning because he ate pizzaa @Wankhede.... :haha:... It was actually too much beer Also there wasnt any security check i can remember of...

[bajrang]

good read again.

[phaedrus]

It was a weekday, in Mumbai, with WI batting. There is nothing marketing can do. Today, however, the stadium was not empty.

:clap:

[phaedrus]

great posts Saurav, good read

[carnish]

:clap:

[zen]

i) Bhajji fan - One Bhajji fan kept screaming and cursing the Indian spinners stating that this humiliation would never have resulted had Bhajji been there. Ashwin's late burst quietened him completely as he realized that with these four wickets, Bhajji may now well miss the flight to Australia.

^ :haha: Good write up!

[Magneto]

Observations from Wankhede - Day Three Cricket is back! I mean, Test cricket is back! I mean, this whole goddamned thing of being one in a crowd of thousands - jumping, cheering, celebrating, and savouring every moment where every single movement on the field is magnified, commented, remarked, whistled and clapped upon, is back. What Kotla, Eden and a couple of unbelievable Test matches at Newlands and Wanderers could not do, Wankhede has managed effortlessly. In a match where the outcome is an already foregone conclusion, barring a miracle. The lull before the storm (that I had mentioned yesterday) transformed into a pretty strong wind as we entered Wankhede today. With the tickets for the best seats in our pockets, people in my stand were waiting for the action to unfold. And that meant the fall of the last Windies wicket. The North Stand of Wankhede undoubtedly has the best seats in the stadium as it gives you a head-on view of all the action. Cheered on by thousands of college kids in the stands, this is how the action spanned out: a) Mexican wave - The most enthusiastic stand in the stadium made numerous well-organized attempts of creating a proper Mexican wave to go with the mood, just to be botched up severely by the boring people sitting in the stand on the left. Upset about the hard work going to waste, the kids of the North Stand started screaming 'East Stand hai hai' ... only to realize that the spoilt sports are occupying the Sunil Gavaskar pavilion and not the East Stand. There is no East Stand at Wankhede. b) Chants of the day - When a devil-may-care audience is busy in merrymaking, most of the chants are neither poetic nor make any sense. It ranged from the rhythmically challenged ' Hum sabko pata hai, Sehwag humara Singham hai' to the pointless 'Aussie sucks' to the expletive-ridden 'Wankhede mein aaya hai bhoot, Pakistan ki ____ ____ _____' The most popular chant and sing-along seemed to be 'Lee lara laiyo .... aiyo aiyo' ... which, though unfathomable, was good fun to sway with. c) Teasers of the day - As the crowd got increasingly impatient to see their GOD, glimpses of the man himself (sitting in the dressing room) were shown in the giant screen time and again, throwing the crowd in a frenzy. He was shown at 68/1, 94/1, 111/1 and 138/1, and ironically the moment he was shown the fourth time - Gambhir fell. d) Cometh the man - Gambhir's dismissal brought much cheer to the crowd as usual (he must be used to it by now), and no one was even remotely interested to see the replay of the controversial dismissal. The stadium authorities also wisely resisted from showing the replay, not that it would have made anyone upset. e) Standing ovation - The well-informed crowd were not only just overawed by the anticipation of Sachin's 100th ton, they also knew that Dravid is in for a big moment as well. Every run leading to his 13,000 were counted and cheered and when the moment came - Dravid was given a grand, standing ovation. f) When should Sachin come - Most people hoped for the first two wickets to fall as soon as possible, for some, even as early as the first over would do (patriotism and all that be darned for a day, this is the mother of all cricketing moments) . Sehwag always gives you hope in his crash-boom-bang style and you know that sooner or later he'll pack his bags and baggages and leave. That was pretty much sorted out. The issue was that of the second wicket - Gambhir did not want to go and no one can ask Dravid to go (and even if you ask him, he won't go :-) ) According to crowd theory, if Sachin came with 60 overs to spare, he could still reach his century. No one wanted to wait for another day to see his century, not because they value their time, but simply because there's no guarantee that you'll get the tickets for the next day, a fear that came true for many people. Sachin eventually came with exactly 50 overs to spare. g) 'Boo' of the day - One replay of a Ravi Rampaul delivery hinted at the fact that Rampaul was looking at Sachin eye-to-eye and squaring off with him. The crowd went livid in a moment; after all, how dare Rampaul try to intimidate Sachin. The combined disgust resulted in spontaneous booos all around the ground, ending up in 'Rampaul sucks, Rampaul sucks', a chant that reverberated around the stadium throughout his spell. More boos were preserved for Edwards and Sammy for similar reasons. h) All is well - Not many people realized that the WI team has appealed for Dravid's 'bowled out'. Most of them assumed that they were waiting for drinks, and as soon as the news spread and the giant screen said 'Third Umpire's decision pending' - the chant of 'All is Well' resonated around the stadium to make Dravid feel at peace. Eventually, all this wellwishing went to waste, as Dravid had to walk back. i) Collective sigh of the day - The crowd sighed in spontaneous appreciation when Dravid managed to kick the ball from hitting his stumps. Later, the crowd sighed in despair when one shot of Laxman's ballooned up and eventually fell in the no man's land. But before the crowd could get over all that, Sachin got a repreive, with the giant screen showing how Baugh fumbled the opportunity. The slow-motion replay brought out a bigger collective sigh, only to be followed by a moment of educated silence. The party had almost crashed but for Baugh! j) Fielding effort of the day - The first slip's dive to stop the ball from touching the helmet after it had rolled off from Baugh won full marks from the crowd. k) Inverse counting - From the moment Sachin opened his account, the crowd counted his score inversely in terms of runs required. So when he scored '1', the crowd screamed '99', when he scored '26', the crowd screamed '74' and so on. 50 however remained 50. l) Shot of the day - Sachin's retaliatory upper cut for a six, after Edwards bombarded him with a bouncer just after tea made the crowd happier than ever. "Mumbai ka don Kaun" ... "Sachin, Sachin" and so on! m) Bhaago aur ticket jugaado - The sale of tickets for the next day always starts at 4 PM at Wankhede. Today after 4 PM, the crowd gradually started depleting, as everyone knew that the rest of the party would be reserved for tomorrow. And whoever is unable to attend it would miss the main cake-cutting ceremony. People then ran towards the counters all around the stadium, only to find serpentine, kilometre long queues all around where getting hold of a ticket is as good as winning a lottery. Wankhede was sold out in two hours! Therefore, Nov 25, 2011 is going to be a make-or-break day. There is no middle ground between agony or ecstasy here, and along with Sachin, we'll also be stranded in one extreme of the emotional range. There is also no better ground for Sachin to score this century; and no better spectators who can appreciate this century's worth. And whatever the final outcome is, a raucous crowd of 33 thousand will adorn the galleries of Wankhede tomorrow cheering every ball, proving, that cricket is indeed a celebration of life. And of some other small things. And as we were taught when we were young - if you pray earnestly to GOD, you get a response. So with bated breath, the whole of Wankhede will be waiting for the response tomorrow. May a new shining chapter be added to the already crowded pages of cricketing history!

[rahulrulezz]

Dude seriously u r just brilliant!! Probably the best writer on Icf...enjoyed each n every word of ur today's days review. Thanks!

[kirkutfan]

Awesome Saurav. Closest thing to being there. Thanks!

[Cricket_2_Death]

Great write up man, loved reading it!

[Magneto]

Thanks guys for your generous (over)praises. May your words provide me with enough energy to wake up in three hours and leave for the stadium!

[dragonfly]

Observations from third day of Wan.k_A_Day.:giggle: