For the Love of this Game…

3rd December 2005

Yes... I am a typical Indian man... they say that men think about sex... every 5 mins... but an Indian man thinks about cricket every 2 mins.. subconsciously.... you could be sitting in a meeting.... and images of Sachin Tendulkar dancing down the track to Shane Warne will make you smile... you might be with a boring date.. hating your self for being there in the first place... but images of Jonty Rhodes running out Inzamam-ul haq... would keep you sane... cricket... the beautiful game... the only reason I forgive the ‘poms’ for taking away the Kohinoor.... cricket is my life.. How many times have I and so many others like me faked an illness to stay home to watch a match...

Can never forget the time when I danced on the streets in Pune with my one leg in a cast coz India had beaten Pakistan in the world cup... or the time I ran naked out of my house... coz India had beaten Pakistan in a five match one day series.... or the time when a friends mother had thrown me out of the house for screaming like I was being slaughtered after Bhajji had taken a hat trick against Australia...or the times when I stood outside TV show rooms watching with a million other Indians... the game of cricket.... or even the time when I ran out of court ... mid way through a case proceedings last year and took my poor intern to watch the last day of the India Australia test match... cricket is yes my life.. and no matter how many times we might lose... I am still addicted to it...

The smiles the tears.... that's what cricket is all about... every victory is coupled with euphoria and every defeat with tears.... the time when India lost to Australia in the world cup final.. I thought my world had come to an end... all my heart breaks and break ups felt pale in comparison to the emotions that ran through my body and mind... I distinctly remember... sitting drunk on the roads in pune... crying inconsolably... the pain was similar to how i had felt when i watched vinod kambli walking back to the pavilion crying.. after India had been unceremoniously dumped out of the 1996 world cup....sigh.... yes that's pain.... the pain that cannot be compared....or described.

And now I am in country where the only time they play cricket is when they have nothing better to do... their life revolves around Celtics Beating the Rangers or vice versa (no offence to the die hard football fans).... but that's not me... I was born in India... with dreams of playing for the country... of hitting Wasim Akram and Imran khan for consecutive sixes...of taking a hat trick against Australia... (diff issue I am lawyer now)... it never mattered that I never even made it to the school team but in my back yard I had already captained India and won 3 world cups....yes that's passion....hmmm.. would give anything to just sit back on my bean bag and watch a good game of cricket...(Shabana I know what ya thinking...) but its in my blood....I have Sachin, Shane, Ricky, Wasim, Irfan and Shewag running through my veins.....

Yes I have gone mad... I have been deprived of this holy game... and have now been confined to following it on my lap top... the other day i even ran a cricket search on google... yes i am mad .. yes I am wasted... and hell ya I wasted ya time... but for cricket I am sure I can do that...
Anyways... the India and South Africa match is bout to start... and I have to get back to watching the live scores and now... even hear live commentary...yes the closest I might get to a real game for some time....may this game live long...