The ICC World Cup, cricket’s showpiece event, rolls into India like the faint mist that rises from a steaming cup of tea up in the hills. The lack of hype is real, unlike the championship’s previous trysts in India during 1987, 1996 and 2011. The Asian Games in China may have drawn attention and rightly so, thanks to India’s plus-100 performance but the cold shoulder to the World Cup does grate until the caravan rolls into Chennai for a Sunday face-off between the Men in Blue and Australia.
The tussle on October 8 gets the prelude right as the roads around the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium is gridlocked. Fans tumble out of vehicles, metro and suburban trains. Clad in blue, there is a spring in their step despite Chennai’s heat and humidity. Placards are held up and most are patriotic, expressing wishes for Rohit Sharma’s men. But one catches the eye: “Missing Captain Cool M.S. Dhoni in hot Chennai!” The former India captain and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) legend is a favourite son of this southern metro.
His sense of assuredness is exuded by the national team once the match starts. India nearly repeats the CSK template, using spin as a strangling mechanism and middle-order maestros as the shepherds of the chase. It helps that there is a local connect as Ravindra Jadeja with his CSK loyalty, prises out three wickets and Australia is bundled out for 199. The Indian pursuit commences with the death-rattle as Rohit, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer depart without opening their accounts. The silence in the stands is deafening, you could actually hear the waves of the nearby Bay of Bengal and the mooing of a cow in Triplicane!
But like CSK doing the Houdini, India does a stirring comeback as Virat Kohli (85) and K.L. Rahul (97 n.o.) stitch a 165-run fourth-wicket partnership. The Men in Blue win by six wickets, the World Cup gains its much-needed booster shot and the fans find their voice. And when the night wanes, it is time to sing that old Tamil film song: “ Madras nalla Madras (Chennai, the good old Chennai).”
The Jaddu humour
In the post-match press conference, a technical question is aired in Hindi, Jadeja replies in Hindi too and says: “I am not answering this question at all. You will write this in English and the other chaps sitting here will read that and pass those secrets to their teams, no way would I want that.” The packed media hall, with the exception of those not clued into Hindi, bursts out laughing. The journalist, who raised the question gets teased, and he takes it in good humour.
Flying into the City of Djinns
Mammoth task: Afghanistan has a tough road ahead after suffering a comprehensive defeat against India. | Photo Credit: PTI
The easy-going tribe of cricket writers featuring the veterans and the rookies soar into the skies. It is time to fly into Delhi as India is scheduled to play Afghanistan (on October 11). In the flight, the conversations linger around cricket, primarily among the travelling press pack. Delhi, with its history, vast expanse, tainted air and ability to inspire good writing be it Khushwant Singh’s Delhi or William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns, is a welcoming presence. The Arun Jaitley Stadium, Kotla for the old faithful, is buzzing with activity. Media personnel, a posse of security-men checking bags and offering that cold stare and the stern word, and fans eager to catch a glimpse of the Indian team, all add to the rush.
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi remains optimistic about his team throwing up a surprise punch, India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour lapses into the old jargon of ‘following the process’, and out on the field, players limber up under lights while a haze lingers and a few in the press box feel that their throats are getting clammy. The stubble-burning in the northern States does leave its dark after-effects in the capital while the cricket bandwagon rolls on with miles to go before the final closure at Ahmedabad on November 19.
The diary at Dharamsala
The taxi driver at the Kangra airport, just outside Dharamsala, introduces himself in such a heavy accent that the diary does not quite make out his name at first. “World Cup, World Cup,” he offers by way of clarification as he spots the diary’s accred card, perhaps assuming the diary doesn’t speak the local vernacular.
The diary is already late for the Bangladesh press conference, having flown in from Ahmedabad via Delhi, mainly because there are no direct commercial flights between the capital city of Gujarat and Dharamsala.
Kangra airport is too small to handle large aircraft and can only be served by smaller turboprops. IndiGo deploys its ATR aircraft to this airport, which is compact yet noisy, and, well, very cramped. The diary, at 5 ft 10 inch, sure wishes he had more space to stretch his tired limbs. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Back to the cab ride, and we are hurtling towards Dharamsala at breakneck speed. The driver is a tall, bald guy, about 40, with big hands that grip the steering wheel. He drives into oncoming traffic with the discipline and control of a man who could navigate these serpentine bends in his sleep.
The diary reaches his hotel in 25 minutes after surviving a lurching and thumping car ride, a journey that should’ve taken 40 minutes, according to Google Maps. But what does Google know, eh?
The diary thanks the driver, then his stars and checks into his room. It’s a quaint one with a cosiness that complements the soothing climes of Dharamsala. The balcony door opens to the snow-capped Dhauladhar mountains that rise out of the verdant Kangra valley.
The view is captivating enough for the diary to quickly freshen up and head for the HPCA Stadium (above), the venue for five ODI World Cup games in India this year. The ground is around three kilometres away from where the diary is put up, so he hitches a ride on an old bike that’s apparently headed towards the ground. We drive downhill, zooming past old buses while labouring up the Himalayan foothills.
At an elevation of 4,110 feet, Dharamsala is the highest international ground in the world. The air is crisper, and vultures are soaring in the backdrop of this mesmerising venue. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
During the short but refreshing ride, Jeetender advises the diary to visit McLeod Ganj—once a popular summer retreat for British colonists working in Delhi. The hill station, otherwise known as Upper Dharamsala, is apparently half an hour by cab and a lot “livelier” than Dharamsala.
As the diary wonders if he’ll have time to go there given his tight schedule, he gets the first sighting of the HPCA Stadium. At an elevation of 4,110 feet, it is the highest international ground in the world. The air is crisper, and vultures are soaring in the backdrop of this mesmerising venue.
The diary spends an hour, surveying the beautiful ground, uploads a customary ‘In Dharamsala for cricket’ post on Instagram and then heads back to the hotel.
By now the diary is starving and spots a street-side stall that sells momos. “That’s what the doctor ordered (cue Ravi Shastri)”, the diary thinks to himself as he speedily walks towards the outlet.
But much to the disappointment, the stall only sells veg momos. The diary curbs his non-veg cravings for the time being and devours them, all the while hoping that their chicken variants had magically shown up on his plate!
By now the sun has started setting behind the gargantuan mountains, and the diary’s full as well. Never mind the absence of chicken momos — the veg momos and a spellbinding sunset were enough to end the day on a contented note.
Alaysha — the super fan
Teenage obsession is knit tightly with emotional attachments, stitched with innumerable memories. The passion runs deep, and the inexplicable love for contemporary heroes stands the test of time.
For 14-year-old Alaysha, her love for Babar Azam has brought her to Hyderabad from Bhopal to watch the Pakistan captain in the flesh. The obsession is such that she claims to be Babar’s ‘biggest fan’ and has come with her family to watch Pakistan play against the Netherlands in its World Cup opener.
“I just love Babar Azam, and whether he scores a century or zero, it doesn’t matter to me. It’s just that I am a huge fan of cricket, and Babar is my favourite player,” Alaysha tells Sportstar . Her father, Arif Beig, is also a cricket enthusiast, and Alaysha is in town with her family.
“My abba (father) used to watch cricket a lot and still does, and it was in 2020 that I started watching Babar when he was playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He played very well in the whole PSL, and I just got hooked,” she says.
Alaysha’s phone sports a picture of the Pakistan captain on the back cover, and such is the adulation that she has cut-outs of him and a dedicated Instagram fan page.
Alaysha, superfan of Pakistan captain, Babar Azam.
“It is the first time that Babar is coming to India, and we have planned this trip since the ICC announced the schedule. We wanted to stay at the hotel where the Pakistan team is staying, but the prices were very high, ranging close to Rs 1.5 lakhs, so we decided to stay at another hotel. I have an Instagram fan page where I keep tagging the Pakistan team,” the 14-year-old said.
Her idol worship did bear fruit as she managed to draw the attention of Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq.
“Imam-ul-Haq and Hasan Ali have seen and liked my stories, and Imam usually sees my stories, and he is very kind-hearted. I have skipped my exams to watch Babar play, and I am looking forward to meeting him,” Alaysha said.
To sustain a passion requires support, and Alaysha thanked her parents for supporting her dream of watching Babar live in action.
“My parents have sacrificed a lot, and it means a lot for me to watch Babar and the Pakistan team play live. It’s a dream come true,” she says.
Meanwhile, the lens of the host broadcaster zooms in towards Alaysha and her sister, with her elder brother forming a protective ring and her little sister waving the Pakistan flag. “I love the Indian team, and Shubman Gill is my favourite. Abba ko Rahul Dravid bohot pasand hai (My father likes Rahul Dravid a lot), but I like Kohli... I want to be an entrepreneur and be involved in the game. That’s my ambition. For now, my dream of watching Babar live has come true, but it will be great if I can just meet him once,” Alaysha says.
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