Magneto Posted October 30, 2012 Posted October 30, 2012 If you were as jobless as me on a lazy Tuesday, you'd know exactly how to brighten up a glorious early winter morning. By going to the stadium, of course! a) Initiation - I called up the Brabourne Stadium on Monday evening to figure out whether tickets were available. A polite male voice responded. (The most polite stadium official I've ever spoken to on the phone) VOICE: Hello, Cricket Club of India ME: Hello ... um ... India-A is playing against England at Brabourne tomorrow; I wanted to know where can I get the tickets from VOICE: There are no tickets. Entry is free. You need to enter from Gate No. 9. ME: Ah thanks! And how far is Gate No.9 from Churchgate? VOICE: It's pretty close by. You need to reach ****** restaurant; Gate No.9 is just beside the restaurant ME: Can you please spell the name of the restaurant? VOICE: G-A-L-L-O-R-D. (That's what he said I think :hmmmm2:) ME: Thanks VOICE: You'll reach the North Stand through Gate No. 9, but (rather apologetically) you'll have to sit on cement stairs, as there are no chairs. The polite voice hung up. I googled 'Gallord' restaurant and the name and the address of the restaurant came up; I figured out that the name is actually - 'Gaylord' - Ahem! 2) Entry - Going by the tradition of my recent ventures in stadiums, I reached the stadium a whole one-hour late in the morning. As I reached Gate No.9, I was politely asked to go to Gate No.10 that is where one can enter from. Gate No.10 was pretty close by, and a few people were being frisked there before being let in. A police van stood outside the gate, and a few jovial, grinning policemen were managing the entry and exit. Unlike most Indian stadium gates, everyone seemed to be in good spirits. About a hundred people (including a few England supporters) were watching the game. I looked at the scoreboard (which must be older than the Himalayas), and saw the words 'Batsman' and 'D Lewis' written side by side. I wondered who D Lewis is (:hmmmm2:) and turned to the ground. The fielders seemed English, and then it occurred to me that D Lewis is Duckworth-Lewis. In primitive scoreboards, players are obviously numbered and not named. :embarassed: I hurried to find a decent seat, and the first row cheered. I looked back, there seemed to be a dismissal, and there were whispers of 'No-ball check kar rahaan hai'. I asked the first-row people why were they cheering, and they replied gleefully 'Abhi Sachin aayega'! :facepalm: Some things never change! Rahane left after a minute, and Yuvraj Singh emerged among whistles and an almost standing ovation. 3) Who's batting? - As the scoreboard revealed nothing, I tried to figure out who's on the other side. Since I didn't know who all have been selected, who were the openers etc, I decided to asked the row of college-bunked guys behind me. They coolly told me that Raina was the other one and he had opened. When I frowned and told them that Raina does not open, they blankly declared - 'Arey woh captain hai, kuch bhi kar sakta hai. Team mein aur lefty kaun hai?'. I looked at the lefty closely and guessed it must be Mukund. 4) Crowd favourite(s) of the Day - Yuvraj carted Samit Patel for 14 runs in the first over that Patel bowled (2 boundaries in his first two balls, and a huge six off his last ball) and the crowd found its favourite. The gradually growing 200-odd crowd jeered and howled at Patel continuously, reaching a crescendo specifically, when he appealed loudly for a leg-before against Raina on the first delivery he bowled after lunch. Also, Patel dropping Yuvi's catch (on the first delivery he faced) provided the crowd with ready ammunition to be hurled at will. It seemed that Patel is getting the same reaction in India as KP gets in South Africa. The attention shifted to Monty Panesar (as a replacement fielder) with his arrival post tea. Chants of 'Oye Monty Monty Oye' and 'Montyyyyy' screamed by several voices with various decibel levels soon filled the air. It continued till Monty was present on the field. 5) Crowd favourite batsmen - In the first two hours, Mukund produced some classy shots and raced to his fifty looking in real good touch. However, he got a little overconfident, tried to take on Swann, hit him for a four and played a loose shot right at the hands of Bell in the last over before lunch. Yuvraj, on the other hand was in imperious form. He looked at ease both against spinners and pacers, looked assured and scored at will. The four sixes he hit were pretty huge (off both Swann and Patel), making one feel that he is still in T20 mode. His partnership with Raina (who came after lunch) was a pretty prolific one with Raina also coming up with a few nice-looking drives. 6)The shadow of the birds - Lots of birds fly over Brabourne creating distinct shadows on the ground. Following those shadows on the ground can be pretty enthralling, and as I was busy following one, I suddenly noticed the ball in the air as it fell comfortably in Bell's hand. The Englishmen appealed and Raina walked back. He wasn't looking too bad while batting and stayed away from the short stuff thrown at him by Bresnan. 7)The tortoise - Manoj Tiwary walked in and refused to budge at all. He played Patel cautiously, then Swann cautiously and then had a few words with Anderson (after which the umpire spoke to Anderson) and then faced a barrage of short balls from Anderson, one of which hit his helmet. He kept defending everything and crawled to a couple of runs as Yuvi went for another six to get stumped. 8)The hare - Saha walked in and seemed to be in a hurry. He took on Patel and Swann immediately, hitting Swann for three fours in an over (including a couple of crisp drives) following it up with a straight drive off Patel. Cook immediately replaced Swann with Anderson and Saha was given out when he deliberately padded to a straight delivery. 9)The partnership - Pathan walked into the second loudest cheers of the day and stuck around with Tiwary till tea who had crawled to 21 till then. Post tea, the partnership got into full flourish with Tiwary looking quite comfortable - he was now opening up and effortlessly kept playing his favourite shot - the lofted drive over covers, to perfection on many occasions. He played the spinners comfortably, scored on every opportunity and raced to 50 in a few overs. 10) The sleepy crowd - With about 200 people in the stadium, many of them placed newspaper sheets on the cement stairs and lied on them comfortably as they watched the match. (It's almost like watching a match from the comfort of your couch). After a while, as KP was sent to long on, suddenly, the crowd was back on its feet with 'KP KP' chants filling the air. It almost continued till the end of the game; the whole movement being led by a couple of ten-year-olds in colourful T-shirts, caps and shorts who were busy displaying a poster they'd made for KP - "KP - I'm your biggest fan". 11) The legend - As people were expecting Pathan to score a 50, Swann got him out leg-before. Pathan shook his head at the decision and walked out sadly, and a bundle of energy walked into the ground. As Vinay Kumar entered, all KP chants stopped immediately. He faced the first ball with full enthusiasm, generally tried to look busy, outran a leaner and fitter Manoj Tiwary by miles while taking singles and doubles and overall displayed such contagious nervous energy that even the crowd became nervous. Everyone was again glued to the match as it seemed all of us were expecting something strange to happen but were afraid to speak up. As Tiwary was approaching his century, the legend read the situation carefully. The second new ball was now taken, and Anderson bowled an impeccable line trying to lure Vinay Kumar to fish outside the off-stump. But Vinay Kumar is no Gambhir; he watched every ball carefully and left each of them with immaculate poise. Such was his aura that even Tiwary's runs dried up and soon his stumps were castled by a terrific yorker from Bresnan. Vinay Kumar kept watching, with his hands on his hips, as Ashok Dinda sauntered in. Vinay tried to have a word with Dinda, but the next ball Dinda's stumps were castled as well as he batted callously. Vinay Kumar shook his head in anguish, with fire in his eyes. He again spoke to Awana as he entered; and Awana defended the remaining balls. In the very next over, Vinay Kumar stepped out and deposited Anderson over long-on for the shot of the match. He converted a single into two runs the next ball, and dived to get in, even when the ball was thrown at the other end. A humiliated Anderson bowled a bouncer now, and Vinay ducked with such precision that an awestruck Matt Prior almost forgot to collect the ball. The crowd cheered gleefully and booed at Anderson; they have finally found their hero. Anderson sadly returned to his mark with drooping shoulders, knowing fully that he is against a superior, indomitable force who shows no mercy, and there is very little that he can do to overcome it. As Vinay Kumar kept toying with the bowlers, an inspired and encouraged Awana also hit a few. Soon pace bowlers were taken off, and a petrified Cook handed over the last over of the day to Patel so that the damn day's play can be done with. So at the end of the day, India were proudly sitting at 369/9 in 90 overs, thanks to the legend. As the crowd left, they went home thinking that today they have seen the face of a hero that they desperately need, but do not really deserve.
Nova Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 Where is Tendlya? Injured or not bothered to play a practice match...kyon bhai! Good to read your match report.
rkt.india Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 On vacations after playing a tournament of historical importance named CLT20.
GautiMaan Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 :two_thumbs_up: lets see if the Legend shows his energy with the ball:giggle:
Old guy Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 i was reading this in car today while going to tution...could not stop laughing specially at the end :hatsoff: anyway now look at bad side of this did u went to stadium today when english were 4 down ? :hmmm: there is no other way fat patel can bat so well :P
diga Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 he second new ball was now taken, and Anderson bowled an impeccable line trying to lure Vinay Kumar to fish outside the off-stump. But Vinay Kumar is no Gambhir; he watched every ball carefully and left each of them with immaculate poise. Such was his aura that even Tiwary's runs dried up and soon his stumps were castled by a terrific yorker from Bresnan. :cantstop: we have a new opener then
indiaregulator Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 1) Why do Indian fans hate Patel? He was born in Leicester FFS. 2) Why do Indian fans love KP so much?!
Lord Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 1) Why do Indian fans hate Patel? He was born in Leicester FFS. 2) Why do Indian fans love KP so much?! one plays IPL,other doesnt
Old guy Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 1) Why do Indian fans hate Patel? He was born in Leicester FFS. 2) Why do Indian fans love KP so much?! one of them is fat hack other is guy who smacked mcgrath and warne in the biggest series of last decade :giggle:(atleast for me this is the reason )
indiaregulator Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 one of them is fat hack Guess that explains why there is no love lost for Ashwin then.
Old guy Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 Guess that explains why there is no love lost for Ashwin then. yes if you are regular here u will know what we say when he comes out to bat :winky: also what has patel donw in his career so far? he is typical english mediocre bit and pieces player ...they never are good enough for any job... u will see me defending guys like trott,cook,anderson etc even barbs but people like patel no way :headshake: hell i think om one of bggest fan of finn and many people like his bowling :dontknow: also trust me this hate or what ever u called it has nothing to do with him being indian he is just a mediocre player
indiaregulator Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 yes if you are regular here u will know what we say when he comes out to bat also what has patel donw in his career so far? he is typical english mediocre bit and pieces player ...they never are good enough for any job... u will see me defending guys like trott,cook,anderson etc even barbs but people like patel no way hell i think om one of bggest fan of finn and many people like his bowling also trust me this hate or what ever u called it has nothing to do with him being indian he is just a mediocre player Yeah, I even started a thread a while back asking why on earth was Ashwin getting so much abuse lol. But yeah Patel is quite frankly a bit crap, but then again why are the likes of Yardy, Wright, Bopara not booed? Actually, Patel's states are surprisingly decent in T20's and ODI's... :haha: ODI: 31.30 Batting Average at a strike rate of 90. 41.73 bowlng average at a eco of 5.45 T20: 25.71 at a strike rate of 124.67 40.46 bowling average eco of 7.47 The bowling averages are bad but the economy rates are quite good :o The batting averages are surprisingly decent, especially the ODI strike rate.
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