40,000 people.
The voices of 40,000 people egging you on is sometimes not enough. As Nehra found out to his and the attendant spectator's horror last Saturday night against South Africa. This post could be about the stupidity of Dhoni in giving him the ball to bowl the last over. Or his own at bowling length when the batsman were looking to slog wildly. But that would just be quite pointless.
I had made it across from Pune to see the world cup match between IND and SA. The Vidharba Cricket Association's stadium in Jamtha is an excellent one. We had great seats up in the fourth tier at long off. But more than the viewing, it was the noise - the shared joy and disappointment of the others at the ground around you that was the most memorable.
The crowds were screaming themselves hoarse with the chants of "Sachin [clap][clap][clap] Sachin" as long as he was at the crease (and everytime he dived about while fielding). He didn't let us down either and along with Sehwag and Gambhir provided a great platform for a unbeatable score. The crowd, however, was silenced by that spectacular collapse at the end of the innings triggered by the Steyngun.
There was a bunch of South African supporters sitting behind us in the stands who felt good enough about the score after the first innings that they fancied their teams chances and started to chant and sing boisterously. The Indians trying to silence them never succeeded and it was great to hear them sing Shosholoza (the unifying song featured in Invictus)
The second innings though was a complete roller coaster of a ride - no team really getting on top. There always was the feeling that South Africa was going to make it through. That didn't deter Indian supporters who watched Zaheer bowl his heart out. The explosion of noise and the accompanied release of tension as each wicket fell topped anything that came in the Indian batting innings
In the end, the South Africans were the ones singing "Ole ... Ole ... Ole". But it came at the end of a excellent game of cricket. Let's just hope that we are able to reverse the result in case the two teams meet later in the competition.
The voices of 40,000 people egging you on is sometimes not enough. As Nehra found out to his and the attendant spectator's horror last Saturday night against South Africa. This post could be about the stupidity of Dhoni in giving him the ball to bowl the last over. Or his own at bowling length when the batsman were looking to slog wildly. But that would just be quite pointless.
I had made it across from Pune to see the world cup match between IND and SA. The Vidharba Cricket Association's stadium in Jamtha is an excellent one. We had great seats up in the fourth tier at long off. But more than the viewing, it was the noise - the shared joy and disappointment of the others at the ground around you that was the most memorable.
The crowds were screaming themselves hoarse with the chants of "Sachin [clap][clap][clap] Sachin" as long as he was at the crease (and everytime he dived about while fielding). He didn't let us down either and along with Sehwag and Gambhir provided a great platform for a unbeatable score. The crowd, however, was silenced by that spectacular collapse at the end of the innings triggered by the Steyngun.
There was a bunch of South African supporters sitting behind us in the stands who felt good enough about the score after the first innings that they fancied their teams chances and started to chant and sing boisterously. The Indians trying to silence them never succeeded and it was great to hear them sing Shosholoza (the unifying song featured in Invictus)
The second innings though was a complete roller coaster of a ride - no team really getting on top. There always was the feeling that South Africa was going to make it through. That didn't deter Indian supporters who watched Zaheer bowl his heart out. The explosion of noise and the accompanied release of tension as each wicket fell topped anything that came in the Indian batting innings
In the end, the South Africans were the ones singing "Ole ... Ole ... Ole". But it came at the end of a excellent game of cricket. Let's just hope that we are able to reverse the result in case the two teams meet later in the competition.
