Live From Chepauk - Day 4

The excitement was tremendous. It had been perfectly set up. The expectations were endless. More history was anticipated. No one wanted to miss out. All roads led to Chepauk.

I had to be on time. I could afford to slack on earlier days but not today. I didn’t. And it was a good thing. Sehwag turned the very first ball for a single and broke his own record for the highest ever individual score by an Indian. A couple of boundaries later the hearts began racing. Pictures of the world record were already being formed. Only to be rudely woken up from the dream. Sehwag was out, caught in the slips. An epic had ended.

The applause was staggering. After a pause for a fraction of a millisecond it resumed again to welcome Sachin Tendulkar. This ground is like a home away from home for him. But he disappointed. No matter. We cheered again, this time for Ganguly. Some of his strokes were beautiful.

But another milestone was coming – 10000 runs for Rahul Dravid. It came via a single, played in our direction. The reaction was quite special. It was a massive ovation from crowd renowned for its knowledge ability. Dravid appreciated it. It meant a lot to him. He celebrated in a manner he seldom does. Rarely does he celebrate hundreds like the way he did his eightieth run today. For some reason he seemed to have taken a particular liking towards our section. This could not possibly be true, but I’m pretty sure I could feel him looking me in the eye and raising his bat as I saluted. Dravid is legend and my admiration for him is beyond description. Even on this monumental day people cribbed about his batting. He didn’t care. I didn’t care. We didn’t care. It was very special for him and for me.

Today was the first time I felt under some pressure to protect my vantage point seat in the stand with the larger crowd. Also, I believe I came on camera today. At least it was very difficult for me not to have, since the cameraman shot right at us from about 10 feet away. I was holding up a banner proclaiming I had come all the way from the USA to see history. Perhaps I was seen on TV at some point, perhaps not. These camerapersons are unfortunately all male and hence the girls in the crowd are always most likely to make their way on the screen, despite the fact that often girls and cricket do not go hand in hand.

As Dravid played some crisp strokes towards the end of the innings I was also treated to some Very Very Specials from Laxman. Just like watching Sehwag in the stadium as opposed to on TV is special, so is it with VVS. The thump is replaced by the touch. The loud thud is replaced by a sweet ting. But the end product is just as spectacular. Dhoni, however, disappointed. Steyn’s bowling towards the end was quite superb especially the two consecutive bouncers he bowled at Dhoni and the way he shattered the tail. It was high quality pace bowling the full weight of which can only be experienced when live than on TV. This was preceded by another very good spell by Ntini in the morning in which he removed Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dravid all caught at slip. The overcast conditions could have been a factor too. And then in the evening Harbhajan and Kumble just about began to pose some problems. It was wonderful to see so many different art forms (fast bowling, swing bowling, off spin, leg spin) all being exhibited on a day.

One of Dale Steyn’s express deliveries hit Sreesanth badly on the hand when he was batting. Sree was in pain, but clearly he was mentally ruffled too. He fielded right in front of us for most of the time and was fiddling with his hand all the while. Several times he had the physio look at it. Also he seemed very angry about it. Usually he responds to the crowd cheering with a wave but this time he was only looking away. Later, however, he himself took the initiative and got the crowd – which had gone somewhat silent – involved. He egged us to cheer on which we duly did of course, not that it helped. A lot of Indian players have been more interactive with the crowds because of Makhaya Ntini. Ntini really is a hit with the crowds, perhaps because this is going to be his home ground in the IPL. At first he was a bit confused, but once he realized the crowd was gaga over him he responded fabulously – every time he is placed on the boundary the crowd went wild, and Ntini broke into some African dance jig. It should be fun having a character like him for the IPL.

This match as of today appears dead and it has been somewhat of a letdown after the highs of yesterday. However I am not one to crib – not after being as honored I have been over the past 2 days. I still hold out hope for some possibility of a result tomorrow.