The first cricket match I ever watched was between India and West Indies in 1991 that took place in Perth, Australia. I had just come back home with a friend after playing marbles (or maybe hide & seek) and my friend requested me to put cricket to check on scores. Prior to that moment; I had no interest in the game as I was just a 9 year old who preferred all the gully sports – lukka chhupi, marbles, cycling and just running around with friends for no reason. The match was delicately poised with WI needing 1 run to win with 1 wicket remaining. The next ball from Manoj Prabhakar got the edge of the bat and Azhar took this impossible catch to tie the match. That was my first ever exposure to a cricket match and how could I not become fan of this greatest sport ever. That moment changed my life forever.
My passion for the sport knew no bounds. Just like many other Indian kids, I played cricket on every damn place – inside the house, rooftops, middle of the street, empty home plots, closed factories, unkempt grounds and in front of the mirror admiring my shots. Not only did I break window glasses and lamps of neighbours’ houses, I broke so many things in my own house that I can’t even remember. My mother cringed and pleaded but I was not the one to be stopped. Cricket had gripped me completely. I turned out to be a decent player playing regularly for different gully teams and winning them matches with my quick bowling. My batting was laughable, just a notch above Courtney Walsh and Ashish Nehra, but I improved later on. With tennis ball cricket, I was ruthless. I once hit a hundred in 24 balls! I went on to play district cricket and played against Yuvraj, who now plays for India. I nurtured so many dreams of playing for India that I couldn’t sleep in the night before a morning match, I bunked school to watch matches, I sneaked out of school during recess to catch some cricket (only I know how I got back inside the school again),I skipped meals when India lost... the list goes on. Alas, all hopes were dashed when you find out how tough things can be so you eventually end up taking the easier route – Study in Canada.
Now I only watch cricket because I can’t find those 7 hours, I mean really, those 7 beautiful hours that you require completing a match. I blame it on Canada... Even if I had the 7 hours, I am sure it would either snow or rain in between...How cruel...
World Cup 2011 is just around the corner and I just can’t wait for it to begin. To all those critics of the game, who think it’s too long and confusing, I have to ask you this – how many other sports have three different formats where each format requires you to play differently with same rules? Even though a 50-over match is long but 99% of the time you will get a result unlike world’s most popular sport Soccer. Compare a tied soccer match to a tied match in cricket – the pleasure in cricket is beyond comprehension. Don’t even compare Cricket with Baseball. Not only is baseball the worst game ever invented where you can swing all you want but your bat won’t touch the ball, the game has 9 innings and the scorecard in the end still reads 1-0. What the hell does that mean? And what on this earth are sports like Curling, Luge track racing, Lacrosse... And Golf??? It’s a sport? Why do you want to spend all your day trying to put a tiny ball in a hole 18 times...
Okay, enough said now... I love Tennis too :) love watching and playing it...
2011 Cricket World Cup begins on February 19. If India wins, I will celebrate like crazy but if Canada wins at least one game, I will celebrate even more.
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