Tuesday

Garden of Eden


We all have our favourite teams in the Premiere League right? Well I had been rooting for Kol Knight Riders since day 1. Reason 1- Dada, Reason 2- SRK, Reason 3- my fave city.

So here we are - the setting- Kolkatta. A match between the Kol Knight Riders (KKL) and Kings XI Punjab. The result has to be a no brainer right? It has to be advantage most definitely, for Dada and his men...

Well, if you were sitting amongst the mammoth crowd there, you wouldn’t be so sure till the last ball was bowled! Tension in the pit of stomach, the match result right up chasing the wire, the game swinging sometimes the Knight Riders way and more often than not Kings XI way!

Glorious Eden Garden packed to capacity, with over a lakh plus people, all rooting for Dada and his team of valiant Knights. What an evening it was. Large screens covering the ground, the hoi polloi and the masses of Kolkatta rubbed shoulders with each other, all reveling in this mammoth party zone, the night sky was beautiful and clear, the air was expectant with tension and drama.

A day & night game, the public willing the Knight Riders to go for it,
Eden Garden, with its floodlit huge night lamps was picture perfect, the deafening roar of humans mixed with drumbeats and stereo sound; made for a mind-blowing wonderful atmosphere. Am a total convert to this T20 format - what an absolute experience watching this game LIVE

Dada had a competitive total to chase, and a wicket that he and his men were familiar with. But the second innings didn’t go the scripted way!

Wickets toppled, runs were not scrambling on the score-board, the strangled muffled sounds of a 1 lakh plus crowd in the stadium was close to suffocated silence, shuffling restless feet, willing the Knight Riders to ride the storm.

And Umar Gul takes strike, and whoosh! Did he make the crowds start to breathe again? His first six off the first ball he faced, had the crowds on their feet with elation as if they had won:-), the next six off the second ball had the voice box of this 1 lakh crowd, restored:-) There was palpable tension now. Then came Dada with his fabulous six as if to say "nothing comes in my way to victory, I swear!":-)

This saw the Knight Riders turn the heat on, and get a fabulous, inspirational win, that helped restore battered pride. I promise you, nothing compares! The Premiere League is here to stay:-)

And of course having accidentally eavesdropped into a high octane debate happening around where we were seated- so vehemently some agreed and disagreed to " IPL wants to mix sex with cricket", another said "so what’s wrong with it", another said " they will make cricket more juicier than Bollywood if they do that" speaking of the cheerleaders. Infact one individual also remarked that " native Indian men are sex starved. When they come to US for a short visit, first thing they do is go for ‘escorts’ and call girls. It gave IPL a clear idea how to sell these western cheerleaders and make some more money”. And soon the game had started and all eyes were trained on the pitch:-)

Well, not withstanding this sex and cricket debate, what a sensational victory that was in the Garden of Eden:-) Folklore will be made of this Sunday game and the creators were none other than Dada and his golden men!

17 comments:

Ajeya said...

I like T20 and I've enjoyed the IPL. Great entertainment! :) Just that the traffic around where I live gets really canned when there's a match. But I'll deal with it. :)

Mee said...

hmmm, south bombay was never my scene:-)

whenever i came to wankhede poor driver had to go hunt for parking and invariably he would land near appejay hse and park the car thr! its cruel!:-(

do u get to see the match from your place? ( wink!)
:-)

melinda said...

Hey morning Mee

I can feel palpable excitement reading your blog on this match, tho I dont understand cricket at all, because here, baseball rules:-), and there is much preparation towards the olympics. Tho now Beckham boy is adding some glitter and glitz to soccerr too with some matches in the recent

Will you send me those pics pls ?:-)

Ajeya said...

I live right next to AP House!!! Your driver must've maroed my parking!!! haha... ~wink back~ :) Nope, don't get to see the match from home, but yes, I get to watch the gully champs battle it out at Oval Maidan! :) And why is So Bo not your scene?!?! I love the 'burbs! Sooooo many great places to eat. And better women! (Sorry that's a generalisation, but still)~wink!~

sabith khan said...

Didnt know that you follow cricket religiously...interesting what is happening to the cricket scene in India...it is morphing into so many things...with the 20-20, the IPL and what not...
Good to know another SRK Fan !

Mee said...

Yea a complete die hard SRK fan and also a total 20-20 convert tho I know a large many people who cant stomach 20-20:-)
SRK's khandaan was in the same flight as me sitting one row behind me on a flight from delhi to bombay few weeks ago, the kids look like kids, and Gauri looks old:-(

Unknown said...

You, a KKR fan!!! Where is your loyalty, woman. Shouldn't you be supporting Mumbai Indians.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mee said...

Ajeya - U think its just the girls and the food?:-) Hmm cool!:-), tho I think in addition to that there is much warmth, bustle, energy, small roads like in villages that you discover with great delight in kalina or bandra mkt or on the chimbai road - u just maybe forgiven if you thot for a moment you are in goa, its very goaesque!:-)

So u go to cha bar regularly ?:-)
Envy that!:-)

The one in Leela Bglr is beutiful too!

Ajeya said...

I'm shallow. Sorry! ;) Blueberry muffin at Cha Bar!!! Yummy!

ALLEX said...

hi.... its reallya vivid description that you have given to the IPL match.... IPL was no doubt enjoyable but i missed the glory of the kolkata night riders.... destiny seems to have played its game

Mee said...

Shiran- were you supporting mallya's team ? :-) ha-ha

dya know wat a lethal combo srk n dada are?:-) dya see stars in my eyes right now?:-)

Ajeya- bluberry muffins at starbucks are even better
:-)

Allex- catch the nxt year for another sizzler in kol:-)

Unknown said...

Beleive it or not, I was actually supporting the Rajisthan Royals. Bunch of uder dogs that shut everyone up. Loved it. Difficult to support the RC team....sigh! Tried but just could not make it stick

Mee said...

Shiran- U were?:-) Good for you! They stuck together and pulled off a big one finally:-)
Heard from the vine that the CM of Rajasthan n lalit Modi are hand in glove on this team and that things were pretty much decided at the begining itself

Kay said...

I didn't think IPL was it, and was particularly worried about the division of teams by state, but have to admit, they did keep everyone hooked to the tv sets right through. :)

Unknown said...

I hope not, would be a pity if there are wheels within wheels.

Mee said...

Mathaesthist- cricket can never divide this nation, its too intrinsic to 'oneness' in this diversity

Shiran- its all hearsay, I have no substantiation:-)