T20 WORLD CUP - 2024
World Cup , be it the One Day Internationals or the shorter but even more Popular T20 World Cup have a huge following the World Over and Cricket being almost a Religion in our Country , the followers of the game touch astronomical figures.
As for myself , I have been a keen follower of the game having played the game at School , College and even at my workplace , representing them at the Unit Level Matches .
For some preordained reason , India have gone on to win the Cup whenever I have followed the Final Game away from my own home .
1983 World Cup
On this particular day I was in second shift which gets over at 11. 00 pm . Self and
V Srinivasan my colleague and also a keen Cricket enthusiast , quickly finished the shift end work and rushed out to catch the Radio Commentary by The BBC . In Those days TV was still in its initial stages of installation and that too only in a few pockets of the National Capital and the Radio or Transistor Set was the only mode to stay in touch with the outside World of sports .
I was staying at K2 , opposite the Colony Club of our Staff Quarters . I had a powerful 5Band NATIONAL , Japanese made Transistor Radio and it being almost midnight the reception was fairly good .
Not many in the present Gen will be even aware of the vagaries involved to tune into the far off Radio Stations of the BBC, VOA OR even The Radio Ceylon nearer home . Weather at the Transmitting or Receiving end play a large part in the quality of the reception , The Power and Band Width of the Transistor in your hand , Your own sitting or standing posture with God knows what and plain luck determine how well you are able to tune in to the desired Radio Station .
We made ourselves comfortable on the benches of the colony club where movies were screened every alternate weekend and followed the match with a fair amount of biscuits and snacks for company .
We had lost our first wicket with hardly 2 runs on the Board and were bundled out for a measly 183 runs . The saving grace was that Shrikanth my favourite ended up as the top scorer with 38 runs .
What followed was something out of this world . Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal turned the match on its head and the West Indies were shot out of a paltry 140 and we had won the match by 43 incredible runs .
KAPIL S DEVILS HAD MADE THE WHOLE
OF INDIA PROUD BY THEIR MEMORABLE WIN
2007 India vs Pakistan T20 at Johannesburg Sept 24 ,
I was witness to this Match from the Gowri Shankar Hotel Big Screen at Ambasamudram . APR Managing Director Shri Annamalai Chettiyar had arranged a Staff Dinner at this place . The Entire staff savoured the Victory as it came from unexpected quarters. Surprise Bowler Joginder Sharma getting Misbah Ul Huq to nick a catch to Shreeshanth . DHONI HAD DONE THE MAGIC TO BEAT ARCH RIVALS PAKISTAN
.
2011 India Vs Sri Lanka ODI at Mumbai Wankhede Stadium , April 2 nd 2011 ,
I saw this match On the Huge Screen Set up at the Hoodi Circle , Gopalan Residency in Bangalore where my Son was then Employed . The Final Match against Sri Lanka was a real stunner .
Sri Lanka went on to score 274 for Six in their allotted 50 overs , Mahela Jayawardene with 103 and Kumar Sangakkara with 48 were the main Scorers . Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh with 2 wickets apiece were the star performers with the ball for India .
India won the match by scoring the required runs with 10 Balls to spare . Gautam Gambhir with 97 Runs and Skipper Dhoni with 91 Not Out with the last winning shot sailing over the Ropes for a Six is still etched in my mind .
One of the highlights of the tournament was the Match between England and Ireland at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru . In this high scoring match England Scored 327/8 in their 50 overs , underdogs Ireland reached the target with 5 Balls to Spare . Kevin O’Brien 113 in just 63 Balls was a delight to watch . My son had procured Two Tickets, Self and Mami were at the Chinnaswamy Stadium to watch this spectacular match.
The very recent T20 World Cup Final Match between South Africa and India was a real humdinger swaying like a pendulum from one side to the other . Virat Kohli innings not withstanding the highlight actually was the superb bowling performance from each and every bowler plus the Unbelievable catch by Suryakumar Yadav . Every player had contributed to the Cup Victory in his own way during the campaign both in the US and the Caribbean Islands . This to a large extent extended to the support staff also .
This time around , I was at the Appaswamy Arcade, Vadapalani , Chennai at my Brother In Laws place to witness the Match .
Unforgettable all Four , All four at different places away from my own home .
TAILPIECE: I would strongly recommend the BCCI to sponsor my presence at the Stadium for all Future India World Cup Matches irrespective of the location . Take it from me , my past 40 plus years of Cricket Watching Suggests that it could be a sure shot trigger for India adding to the SILVERWARE .
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