My first experience of a cricket match in a stadium

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-premier-league-2013/content/image/628680.html?object=586733;page=2

Indian Premier League Season 6, Match No 7 – Sun Risers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Stadium – Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal (Hyderabad)

Date – 7th April 2013

Team supported – Though I am a big fan of Gayle, it was surely Hyderabad that night.

This is the 6th season of the IPL. But this was the first ever cricket match (any format) I watched live in a stadium. As is the case with Hyderabad, there was total chaos on the roads, hours before the match began. People had parked their vehicles where they found some space. The roads were choc-a-bloc with trucks, buses, cars, scooters, three wheelers and what not. It seemed as though everyone was heading for the stadium. Though we were about 10 minutes late, there was still quite a lot of chaos at the entry gates.

My first feeling as I walked into the stands – It was reminiscent of the scene from Kai Po Che when Ali comes out to bat. With over 40000 people yelling at the top of their voices, it felt like one was entering a cauldron. For a moment, I just looked around at the stands, at the people and at the field. It all looked so surreal, so beautiful, so awesome. I could just wonder on what it must feel for a cricketer to make his debut in front of such a vociferous crowd.

Will our Indian cricketers ever come out of denial mode?

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/image/596232.html?page=2

We lost 4-0 in England. We lost 4-0 in Australia. We couldn’t make it to the ODI tri – series final in Australia. Everyone cried and debated for changes to be done, heads to roll, captaincy to change and the likes. But nothing happened. All our players and selectors made statements about India being champions at home. They felt that everyone was a tiger at home and we would reply to them in kind. They asked rank turners to be prepared when other teams visited the country. As the IPL and the NZ series came and went, the hurt, disappointment and dejection of 8-0 were long gone and buried in the annals of history so to say.

Rahul Dravid – The Wall of Cricket and much more!

Will you open the innings? Yes. Will you keep wickets in order to accommodate an extra batsman? Yes. Will you captain the team? Yes. This was Rahul Dravid for you. A selfless team man for whom the team’s goals and ambitions came way before his own.

Most call him ‘The Wall’. While some call him ‘Mr. Dependable’. But for me he was the one reason stroke makers like Sachin, Sehwag, Dada etc. could flourish. They could play freely knowing that at the other end, ‘The Wall’ was being constructed brick by brick to stay for as long as one could imagine. This was the wall who scored a 12 hour 270* at Rawalpindi. He was the reason we knew that despite the first wicket falling for a low score, we wouldn’t collapse. He was one of the reasons we had belief in saving and even winning overseas tests. He was one of the reasons we learnt to win overseas. Dravid has been part of 15 test wins abroad and in 11 of them he has been awarded the Man of the Match.

Top 10 Indian newsmakers of 2011!

2011 has been a pretty interesting year in many terms. From the highs of India’s World Cup victory on April 2nd to the lows of the 2G scam and the death of many prominent personalities, we have seen it all. But nothing could beat Team Anna and their campaign to bring forward the Jan Lokpal Bill.

As far as the Indian industry is concerned, Infosys and Tata lost their captains to youngsters of the next generation. But Kingfisher began facing some serious turbulence in its flight of “Good Times”. “Kolaveri” and “Flash Mobs” became the buzzwords among all of us for their own reasons.