It was the 10th day of 10th month of 2010... Second day of the second test between Australia and India held at the beautiful cricket ground in Bangalore. We booked tickets online well in advance and was left with an extra one , thanks to a friend who had ditched us. Was very excited and was up at 6 on a Sunday, time considered early even for a weekday . We had to reach stadium with time to spare as we had to get rid of the extra ticket we had. It was easier than I had expected it to be. There were a number long queues at each counter. Sold the ticket at its actual price , though people were willing to pay larger amount.
Stadium was filling up by the time we occupied the seats. We had a fairly good view from were we were seated. The stadium was buzzing with anticipation and was eagerly waiting for the day to start. Australia were five wickets down overnight. Was hopeful of a quick end to their innings and India to start batting in another two hours. What transpired was entirely different. They didn't lose a single wicket in the entire session. The crowd, which was buzzing at the start was pretty quiet as the session progressed. Some of the guys were trying to cheer up the crowd by all means possible. It was all in vain.
It was lunch time and we moved out to have some snacks. This is were we committed a mistake when all of us went out with no one guarding our seats. They were obviously occupied by the time we returned and had to look for a proper place from where we had a good enough view. The second session was completely different to what transpired in the first. Australia lost all their remaining wickets with one of their batsmen scoring a century which was duly appreciated by the capacity crowd.
Indian innings commenced after tea break and was off to a rollicking start thanks to Viru. We were having a blast with Sehwag scoring boundaries at will. This was short lived as he perished soon going for another big shot. The disappointment of this dismissal was soon forgotten as the home crowd favorite, Dravid, walked out to the middle. He too walked back to the pavilion soon leaving the capacity crowd at the beautiful stadium stunned in silence. Part of me was sad to see the back of both Viru and Dravid. The other was happy in hope that I would be witness to the landmark day in Test Cricket history.
Suddenly there was a buzz and huge roar in the crowd. The God of cricket just walked out to the ground with His weapon in this incarnation in hand. He was cheered to the middle and one could see the excitement and anticipation of the landmark in the crowd. Amid all the roar , He was cool , calm and composed and went about the things at His own pace. Each and every run from His willow was cheered. Crowd were cheering him on to the fourteen thousand landmark. I was least bothered about what was going on around. My total concentration was on Him and was praying to Almighty to let the one on earth reach the land mark on that day. The guys with whom I was at stadium were more intent on beating the traffic to reach home than on the match. I also had to leave with a heavy heart along with them. I had to drag my legs out. My heart was against leaving. This was one of those situation where I had to listen to my head over heart for social reasons. While I was on my way back , was informed that Sachin had indeed reached the land mark. I should have been there. It turned out to ... I was there ........ Well Almost ..
Stadium was filling up by the time we occupied the seats. We had a fairly good view from were we were seated. The stadium was buzzing with anticipation and was eagerly waiting for the day to start. Australia were five wickets down overnight. Was hopeful of a quick end to their innings and India to start batting in another two hours. What transpired was entirely different. They didn't lose a single wicket in the entire session. The crowd, which was buzzing at the start was pretty quiet as the session progressed. Some of the guys were trying to cheer up the crowd by all means possible. It was all in vain.
It was lunch time and we moved out to have some snacks. This is were we committed a mistake when all of us went out with no one guarding our seats. They were obviously occupied by the time we returned and had to look for a proper place from where we had a good enough view. The second session was completely different to what transpired in the first. Australia lost all their remaining wickets with one of their batsmen scoring a century which was duly appreciated by the capacity crowd.
Indian innings commenced after tea break and was off to a rollicking start thanks to Viru. We were having a blast with Sehwag scoring boundaries at will. This was short lived as he perished soon going for another big shot. The disappointment of this dismissal was soon forgotten as the home crowd favorite, Dravid, walked out to the middle. He too walked back to the pavilion soon leaving the capacity crowd at the beautiful stadium stunned in silence. Part of me was sad to see the back of both Viru and Dravid. The other was happy in hope that I would be witness to the landmark day in Test Cricket history.
Suddenly there was a buzz and huge roar in the crowd. The God of cricket just walked out to the ground with His weapon in this incarnation in hand. He was cheered to the middle and one could see the excitement and anticipation of the landmark in the crowd. Amid all the roar , He was cool , calm and composed and went about the things at His own pace. Each and every run from His willow was cheered. Crowd were cheering him on to the fourteen thousand landmark. I was least bothered about what was going on around. My total concentration was on Him and was praying to Almighty to let the one on earth reach the land mark on that day. The guys with whom I was at stadium were more intent on beating the traffic to reach home than on the match. I also had to leave with a heavy heart along with them. I had to drag my legs out. My heart was against leaving. This was one of those situation where I had to listen to my head over heart for social reasons. While I was on my way back , was informed that Sachin had indeed reached the land mark. I should have been there. It turned out to ... I was there ........ Well Almost ..
