Pure, simple and unadulterated pleasures of cricket
Wankhede Stadium
The tension at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, was clearly visible on the faces of the 500 odd spectators who had gathered to watch their home side steamroll the visitors, as had been the custom for several decades. With the match appearing to slip away from the hands of the defending champions to the minnows from group C, the Mumbai captain had no option but to bring himself on for a final burst to try and break the partnership between Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Zol.
Third ball of the over, a rising delivery from Zaheer Khan, was left alone by Zol. Zaheer gave him his trademark stare. It was followed up with another rising delivery, but this time Zol got on top of it and drove it elegantly through mid-off for a boundary. Zaheer minced no words this time, hurling abuses at the young batsman, as this seemed the only way possible to make him lose his focus and throw his wicket away. An unrelenting Zaheer tried the same length again; Zol got up on his toes and pulled the ball through mid-on for another boundary, with a stamp of quiet arrogance all over it. Here was a 19-year-old, playing his first Ranji season, smashing the country’s most experienced pacer after being subject to a bout of sledging.
The vocal crowd went silent, and then all of a sudden began the applause, an acceptance of the fact that the trophy wasn’t coming home for the 41st time and an acknowledgement to the quality of cricket that was on display from the ‘IPL booers’ of the South Mumbai. This, my friends, is the charm of India’s premier domestic cricket championship, the Ranji trophy.
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Mumbai’s loss meant that I had made the last of my umpteen visits to Wankhede for the season. The custom begins in October every year, when I frantically search through cricket websites for the Ranji fixtures of the season and plan my entire schedule around the matches in Mumbai. Matches in Mumbai are mainly played at the Wankhede Stadium in Churchgate. The crowd during the weekends comprise mainly of young kids, who rush into the stadium after completing their early morning coaching sessions at the Azad Maidan or the Oval; the regular old-timers, who narrate various stories about players and how Mumbai cricket has evolved over the years much to the delight of all the cricket fans; and the locals, who come in on hearing the news of an Indian star coming on to bat.
The sweet sound of the ball hitting the bat, the players talking to each other, the umpire’s calls and the batsman marking his guard with his spikes can be heard very clearly. The sight of a sparkling white boundary rope and the absence of oversized advertising banners and hoardings across the stadium is truly a soothing visual; this is the closest I have ever felt to watching a game of cricket. A welcome relief from all the chanting, screaming, hooting, whistling and booing that one gets to hear in an IPL game.
Every unknown fielder who comes to the boundary to field is called a ‘Raju’ or a ‘Bunty’ by the crowd in good jest and is always given a wide range of advice ranging from asking the captain to change the bowler to playing only for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Most of these players respond with a smile and even pass on the fruit juices meant for the players to the kids in the stands, something which will bring a smile to your face no matter how many times you see this.
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The West Zone matches in Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, the domestic T20 tournament, were to be played in Mumbai and with domestic cricket returning to Mumbai after three long months, which comprised of the Irani trophy, the Vijay Hazare trophy and the Deodhar trophy, in conjunction with the BCCI Corporate trophy and the Red Bull inter-college tournament, another visit to the Wankhede beckoned.