They say that the best way to enjoy a match is to watch it live in the stadium. I bought it. I also bought tickets for the first IPL-3 match in Delhi. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if I hadn’t been spoiled by the comforts of radio commentary booths. I wanted to get a feel of being amidst the cricket-crazy crowd and watch the home team take on Mumbai Indians. It did turn out to be crazy, besides being a replay of the usual whenever the two states meet each other for domestic cricket.
It was a stand-up show. Throughout the match people would stand-up after every 30 seconds and the guy in the front row would show his jockey. It was the pattern every time the ball left the bat or a player came close to the boundary or a cheer girl raised a pompom. IPL is indeed a thrilling package. In such frenzy it is as impossible to remain seated as keeping your eyes open while sneezing. Don’t even try, your eyes will pop out!
The organizers must’ve anticipated the irrelevance of seats because they sold twice as many tickets as the stadium capacity. It felt like being in a local bus where ‘capacity’ is indicative of the number of people that can stand inside the vehicle. And in just the same way as we learn how to adjust in public transport, I learnt the art of watching a match through the rise and fall of butts. By the first strategic time out I figured that I must submit to the wave and jump along with everyone if I wanted to keep an eye on the ball.
And then I was in the groove. It indeed is fun to watch a match from the stands. I think I can just sum it up the dilli way – “feel aagayi!” (meaning: that felt awesome!)
This post was published on my blog HOOKed! at Cricket Aakash
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