Gautam Gambhir's marriage

First posted @boredcricket

What has Sehwag’s 175 done?

It made me play. I lifted a bat after weeks though it seemed longer, inhabited two pitches – one my gate pitch that has the road in between, then the neighbour’s driveway, where we also had a change in ends.

Even though I joked on BCC! on how the media misquoted Sehwag about batting 50 overs when he really meant 15, for long, I’ve wanted and secretly hoped that Sehwag will bat the distance.

Whenever we spoke about the first ODI double, I was certain it will be Sehwag.

Somewhere ODIs ceased to matter, and what Sehwag did in them even less. That his average was a misleading 31 something didn’t bother me anymore. I stopped trying to balance the 100+ strike rate with that unacceptable average.

Now I notice Sehwag’s average is 35+. But it’s taken him over 12 years and 220 ODIs to play what I’ve waited and waited for. And I don’t know what it’s done, except I played today.

And if it makes the rest of the team play, that will be something. It should certainly make them think – if someone with the one-day attention span of Viru can bat 47.3, what can I do?

Someone like Sachin, he’ll look to bat 50 overs for India, and another 50 for the other team.

It really is funny. Because Viru batting so many one-day overs was not supposed to happen, that it did, is kudos to the guy who planted the seeds for 50 over cruise control.

Before this, the seeds were planted in Yusuf’s mind – for a player who I’ve never rated on staying power in ODIs to hurl those knocks at the Kiwis and Safas was even more unthinkable.

But it was thought, and executed. Add Kohli’s hundreds, pre-World Cup and now in the Cup. Where and how did the makeover begin – when did the press’ brat become India’s mainstay No. 4 in ODIs, where did so much purpose creep in from?

Looks like the question isn’t what will Sehwag’s 175 done, but who enabled Sehwag’s 175 – and in that is the answer to Yusuf’s and Kohli’s runs. And of course, what lies ahead for India in this World Cup.

On Bored: Who made 175

Gambhir, Gambhir, Gambhir, Gambhir, Gambhir

In case you’re wondering, that’s for the five consecutive hundreds by Gambhir, Gambhir…he sure likes to repeat himself. Is it the stammer, the stutter? Say what you will of Gambhir, Gambhir..he is one player who could be off the boil one innings, next one he’s ready to fry an egg on his bat – the feet are moving, and so his mind. Usually when Gambhir’s feet move, his world falls into place.

Er..do you think Gambhir’s warranted a repeat? I’m torn on that. After all, it was Gambhir, Gambhir…that scored those five consecutive hundreds; but arguably these five are also Gambhir’s – aren’t they?

For me, there is a definite plan with Gambhir’s ascent to the Daredevil’s captaincy. Only 28, a sure-shot in all forms, where can Gambhir, Gambhir… go from here? I won’t put it beyond Sehwag along with Gambhir, Gambhir… chalking out some plans here.

The nucleus of the present team is Delhi; top three batsman, tallest bowler, second tallest bowler, and second choice spinning allroudner, all Delhi. Then there’s Karthik, not quite Delhi, but a Daredevil alright. Where am I going with this?

Who will bowl with the relatively new ball?

Through the one-day series India has picked 3 medium pacers, one of whom has ended up going for plenty. Of course, once Ishant was included he was the chosen one. In his latter years when Kumble was still playing one-day cricket, then too India played 3 seamers plus the one spinner; the fifth bowler’s role tackled by part-timers.

Thus India’s attack lost out on either Kumble or Bhajji when playing teams like Australia and South Africa away from the sub-continent. The 2003 finals in South Africa, when the Aussies whipped 359 runs was against an attack sans Kumble; Zaheer going at over 9, Nehra at 8 plus runs per over.

Surprisingly it was the part-timers like Mongia, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Sachin who bowled 15 overs for 85 runs. Where as the three seamers went for 211 of their 27 overs.

That’s one game, but this is a pattern across India’s one-day games over the last few years. And if the part-timers(usually spinners), and there are always a few who can bowl 10 overs – why doesn’t India take the lead and start playing two specialist spinners as an attacking move?

That is, bowl them in the power plays – take pace off, challenge the batsmen to hit over the top when the field is in; these are cricket clichés, said often enough, but no Indian captain has been brave enough to play two specialist spinners.

It’ll be interesting to see how many one-dayers Bhajji and Kumble have played together; it’s time India realised you don’t need a home test series to play two specialist spinners; always play your best four or five bowlers.

For old time’s sake, I took another look at that India v Bangladesh scorecard in the 2007 world cup game; while the final scores do not give you a sense of the mauling, here too India played three seamers plus Bhajji.

Times like this you wonder, where did Kumble play his 271 one dayers, when did he take those 337 wickets, why wasn’t he good enough to be the fifth bowler?

Kumble played his last one dayer in March 2007, an inconsequential world cup game against Bermuda. He played his last test much later, in November, 2008. For the record, Bhajji did not play in that game, India bowled three seamers, and the fifth bowler’s role was split between Sachin and Sehwag.

Kumble’s one day bowling average was 30.89; Bhajji’s stands at 33.12.

Today, Bhajji is a first choice spinner while either Ojha and Mishra make the squad (but not the playing XI) depending what the flavour of the season is. Not long before both are dispensed with, and India turns to an old flame, Piyush Chawla. What better, he even bats as high as six for his Ranji team.


On Bored: batty about batting

What will you say to Sehwag?

At times you stop because you sniff a story, other times, just to talk. I stopped because the three black stumps (with golden stripes) had been reinforced with a makeshift wicket in front of them – makeshift was made up of empty boxes, throwaway cartons. Puzzling; so I stopped, disrupted their game, and got all chatty.

Why the boxes, guys – I asked a motley crew of 7,8 and 9 year old boys, one girl thrown in for variety. They tell me the stumps won’t hold, in spite of the stand, or rather because of that stand.

When looking for a parking spot, behind Hauz Khas market, around the houses, I have times for these things.

They want to show me a stump, and they do; the stump exchange can’t happen either – they were bought in Sadar Bazar. Must have been a good rate, bet they have a wholesale shop for stumps there.

Done with the stumps I ask them if they know where Sehwag stays? “Haan! – Yes! – I know” And one kid tells me, “andar A Block walli galli me (in the A block lane, inside).

“And have you met him?”

“Haan, yes, I have!”

“What did you say to him”

“Hello bola tha”

“Just Hello, what did he say?”

Hello bola tha!

“Lagta hai tumhare jaise Viru bhi sharmata hai” (Like you, Viru's shy too)

I drive off, thinking, what will I say to Viru if I run into him in Hauz Khas.

What will you say?


On Bored: Jatman Sehwag

Sehwag’s mouth to mouth for test cricket.

Take it you saw Sehwag’s innings today, if you didn’t, you will – in the future, it is the future. It just did a mouth-to-mouth for test cricket, how else will you watch him bat for six hours?

Spare a thought for Rahul Dravid, he was there, as he often is. Living his second cricket childhood, when last did you see him box, pat, hug, laugh, grin – always felt, there’s something special when these two bat together; if it’s not a world record threatening 400 something opening partnership, it’s the encouragement you give a friend, an ally, a believer.

Sehwag and Dravid have all that, and some unspoken code of respect and trust. There is a calm that descends upon the two when they partner each other.

My mind goes back to the World Cup 2007 game against Bermuda, captain, Dravid’s ‘stay there’ gesture to Viru.

Today they stayed there. And even though Viru scored all those runs, I’d like to believe, a friend’s gentle nudge goes a long way. It can be lonely when you’re two against eleven.

On Bored: Jatman Sehwag

Embrace the wronged one.

You are Saurav put to the sword
You are Dravid gone downhill
You are a captain without a team
You will find in him a friend
You will in the Jatman
Find a friend

You are a nobody wicketkeeper
Neither here nor nowhere
You have no comfort zone
And then you find a place in merchandise cricket
As a keeper, higher order batsman
How Dinesh Karthik bats
When he knows he’s found a friend
Found a friend
In the Jatman

You are countless Delhi openers
You are Aakash Chopra
You are Gautam Gambhir
You are all those in between
You did not find the gospel
In the books or in the nets
In a coach or in a prophecy
You found it in a friend
In the Jatman

You are the wronged one
You are Amit Mishra
You are the wronged one
You are Dinesh Karthik
You are the wronged one
You are Gautam Gambhir
You are the wronged one
You are Virender Sehwag
You will find a friend
You are the wronged one
You will find a friend
In the Jatman


Happy Bored Day Jatman! You're invited here!

Sehwag prepares for cricket after life.

In the last few months Sehwag has lived a little. For that he had to die a little first, what with his emergency exit from the Twenty20 World Cup.

But after that, Sehwag found his voice, his calling, his self. From a maverick taking on the DDCA, to shooting from the hip in one interview after another. Prior to this I do not recall ever reading a Sehwag interview; there might have been the odd sound byte, but nothing on such a scale.

It was as if Sehwag was the funky new cerebral side of cricket. Humour and commonsense, honesty and straight talk, that was Sehwag’s cricketing grammar.

Till last year, I wondered ‘how do you solve a brand like Viru’ – and did he have any PR people, or for that matter any people working on brand Sehwag. It’s obvious most Indian cricketers do, and these brand managers work overtime keeping their stars shinning even on starless nights.

With Sehwag it was the opposite. No matter what he did it was never enough. He needed to score twice as fast, twice as many to be a blip on the radar.

Then what changed? I think the IPL was a huge factor, it showed Sehwag on a very marketable stage – top boss, all batsman, and pitted him against MSD, Yuvraj, Sachin, not just as a player, but as a brand. From an invisible brand, Sehwag at least registered. If not across India, definitely in Delhi.

Good for him, the kids like him, at least at the adidas store. Then there was the emergence of Gambhir, suddenly it was 1 + 1 deal, Sehwag + Gambhir.

The two get on like Bonny and Clyde, there’s a similar frantic-rush from raiding bowlers. I think by 2009 both Gambhir and Sehwag realised that, and in that realisation came the need to communicate – vital, if you learn one thing from Sachin, it is important to say it. You could be great, and all that, but it needs to be known, repeatedly.

So Sehwag went on overdrive talking about his triples, his favourite innings in Galle – all this needed to be said. Top that Sehwag spoke about his favourite player Gambhir, their vibe, ditto from Gambhir.

After missing a World Cup and a Champions Trophy, where India failed to make the semis, Sehwag returns in the Irani trophy – he opens in the first innings, not so in the second. Before this, the last innings he played was in IPL 2.

From that innings to now, I think Sehwag’s travelled a fair bit. While in the IPL he was content to make Warner open, play mentor, captain, senior Delhi player, he will now play purely as an opening batsman.

While the mind will be clearer, he still returns from a lay off. What Sehwag accomplishes in the next few months will decide where both the player and the brand go. Get Delhi beyond the semis for once, win a 7 ODI series against Australia, it can happen. If Sehwag happens. If MSD makes him happen.

Triple standards in cricket

March 2008: It takes Virender Sehwag to score a double hundred to cement his spot for the next two series. And when he doesn’t score a double for a while, questions on consistency are asked, naturally.

Imagine then, what happens when Sehwag fails to score a triple century for a full four years.

September 2009. What does Sehwag do while his mates warm-up for the Champions Trophy? He plays in some local game, scores a duck. But he plays. Next he plays in the Irani Trophy on 1st October. His mates will have played the West Indies in their last league match the previous day.

On 2nd and 3rd October are the CT semis, Sehwag will be biding his time in the Irani Trophy.

The call on Sehwag’s fitness was taken way back, so back it’s tough to recall when. It was decided then, that he will be unfit for the Champions Trophy.

The decision was in reaction to the furore caused by his injury in the Twenty20 world. This time, neither the BCCI nor the team management wanted to take any chances with Sehwag’s injury. It did make everyone, including Sehwag, MSD and the Board look clueless.

Now take the case of Sachin Tendulkar, who spends good lengths of time recovering from injury. And when he recovers, he just walks into the playing eleven – there is never any proof of match fitness required, rarely, if ever, is Sachin required to play games to prove his fitness. No captain, cricket board or team management creates scenes.

And then you have Sehwag, playing the Irani and Corporate scene. Granted he wasn’t exactly smooth on the injury front, but that’s Sehwag for you – point is, nobody stood up for him. Instead they went out of the way to make him look like a clueless idiot.

If you were Sehwag, why would you want to captain any team? Be it team India or the Delhi Daredevils.

In the last few weeks, Sehwag is making a clear statement of intent – do not fuck with me, I am not Rohit Sharma or Suresh Raina, and you cannot treat me like them.

I may not be Sachin Temdulkar but then he is not Virender Sehwag either, our paths did cross a long time back.

In the next few months, either India or Sehwag will have another reality check. And that’s where a new standard will be set. One will have to give.

Right now, it looks like India doesn’t deserve Sehwag. For me, he could be the next mercenary cricketer, and a far more devastating one than Flintoff.


On Bored - Jatman: Don't treat me like shi*

Virender Sehwag quits cricket to concentrate on his personal life

First Jatman threatened to quit Delhi for Haryana.

Then he quit the team India vice captaincy and declared he had no captaincy aspirations.

Then they made him captain Rest of India for the Irani trophy.

So, what does he do, he quits the Delhi Daredevils captaincy to concentrate on his batting.

Beware BCCI, before you mess with this man again.

Saurav to open with Sachin again.

As Sachin prepared to stage a one-day comeback, Sehwag’s shoulder got stage fright.

Next Saurav spoke of a Ranji return, elsewhere Gambhir felt his groin go.

Of course this is factually incorrect, but we must continue to believe in these untruths – they’re about the alignment of Sachin and Saurav’s one-day worlds.

These worlds cast a shadow on any other opening partnerships. Is it any wonder, Sehwag-Gambhir do not open when Sachin is available.

I believe if you went up to Sachin, and wangled an interview with his gracious heart, it would articulate in the same vein – ‘I’d love to open with Saurav’. And then you can’t argue with those one-day runs they scored.

You can if you want to, make Dinesh Karthik open with Virat Kohli. It’s only a one-day game, let the kids have some fun.


On Bored: Gambhir refuses to play without Sehwag

It’s not as if Sachin Tendulkar has threatened to move from Mumbai

It’s only Virender Sehwag, and it’s only from Delhi.

For a moment, let’s assume Sachin Tendulkar decides to move from Mumbai to another team.

Sounds improbable, but let’s stay with the assumption: What do you think will happen?

Mumbai will stop. Best buses will stop, so will the trains, so will the sea. There will be one focus: Sachin must stay.

Sachin cannot, and will not move from Mumbai. Bombay can move to Mumbai, but Sachin cannot move from Mumbai.

And here we are in chalta hai Dilli. Sure, the media is backing Sehwag, but why do we Delhiwallahs generally go with the flow – one of the common reactions - badiya, at least he stays with the Delhi Daredevils. And anyway, how much does he play for Delhi state – 1-2 games a year?

Sehwag may not have Sachin’s stature as a sportsperson, but he is the cricketing face of Delhi, that is if Delhi believes it has a cricketing face.

He is the Jatman. He is Oye Lucky! He is the Sunny! He is the Bubloo. He is the kid from the obscure neighbourhood who made it. Better still, he is the kid from the outskirts. He is the big dream of a little kid from a small town in a big city. In him, is the eternal Bollywood dream, make it big from nowhere. He did, from Najafgarh.

He has almost always deserved more than he got, more runs, more respect, more backing.

If you find him too simple, too straight, then maybe it’s because you are too crooked, too conniving.

Embrace the man, embrace the Jatman. He’s the best we got. He is our cricket. He is Dilli.

Try and play back the most dazzling Indian innings in the last decade – chances are, most of them starred Viru. He was, and has been India’s Tendulkar for a long time.

We knew it, yet we refused to believe it.

Truth is, Sachin moved from Mumbai a long time back. He moved to Delhi.

Look back: the evidence was always there, the uppercuts, the small frame, the flicks. We were in the 2000s with Viru, and it was like we were in the 90s with Tendu. And for a brief while, they batted together.

It could have been just half a dozen overs on March 1st, 2003 – but it was against Pakistan in the World Cup – which is where the powers of the Indian cricketing universe were so totally aligned they brought the South African heavens down.

Remember, where were you? How high did you go with the upper cuts?

So, till the next Sachin or Sehwag arrives, there is no reason for either of them to go anywhere.

Stay Jatman. Fight them. Beat them. You are better than them.

Do not retire hurt this time.



Picture from Bored Cricket Crazy Indians, where you go for a lethal dose of Jatman

LET'S TWIST AGAIN!

According to reports coming in
The Indian team was deeply hurt after their defeat
In the twenty20 World Cup
What the Indian team didn’t tell you and me was
They were deeply hurt before their defeat
In the twenty20 World Cup
This might sound repetitive
But then so is the deep hurt
Of the Indian team
C’mon let’s twist again!!

Let’s twist that right calf!
Let’s twist again!
Let’s tear that right calf!
Let’s twist again!
Let’s tear that left shoulder
Let’s twist again!
Let’s tear that right shoulder!
Let’s twist again!
Let’s stress that lower back
Let’s twist again!
Let’s tear that knee ligament!
Let’s twist again!

Clout.

Hamilton, 1st test, India’s 2nd innings, Virender Sehwag did not open the batting with Gautam Gambhir; Rahul Dravid did. The test was all but won yet Sehwag stayed back. Why?

My take is India was, for a change, thinking beyond the popular vote back home, keen to wrap a 10-wicket test win, but not lose Sehwag cheap to one of his illustrious indiscretions.

At that point, the team mgt disregarded Dravid’s terrible slump, and sent him marching to the centre – had he failed, the first innings’ fifty would’ve been diluted somewhat. Instead he got a not out, there to score some winning runs again.

Napier, 2nd test, India’s 2nd innings, Sehwag opens with Gambhir. In the 1st test, Dhoni was captain, here, Sehwag is skipper.

Had Dravid opened here, it would be after scores of 66, 8*(first test) and 83 (2nd test, 1st innings)

Compare this to Sehwag’s 24 (1st test) and 34 (2nd test)

Not just that look at the time spent in the centre: Dravid -500 minutes, that’s more than 8 hours.

Compare that to Sehwag – 80 minutes.

Also factor the balls faced by the two players: Dravid – 358 deliveries

Compare that to Sehwag - 46 deliveries

However, Sehwag opened in the 2nd test, 2nd innings – scored 22 of 21 balls in 42 minutes. (in this series, an average Sehwag innings lasts 40 minutes)

Dravid, now at the crease, has scored 11 of 33 balls in approx 30-40 minutes.

I believe, before a batsman walks on to the field, he does have a grasp on how exactly he feels about his batting.

With Sehwag here, it’s tough to tell. He had either negated the first innings shot totally, on a no-remorse trip, and to hell with all the Kiwis, I’m gonna blast them to bits.

Or, I am the captain, I must lead by example, if I do not open I will set a bad example.

Or, neither Kirsten nor MSD have suggested Dravid as opener, how can I?

Either way, Sehwag wasn’t feeling too good about himself.

Sehwag alone knows why he opened, seeing the mood he was in, he deserved to be in the nets, diffusing some of that nervous energy, slamming Balaji’s slower ones into the Pacific.

Finally, I think, it comes down to clout. MSD has it, and as captain he will make some unpopular decisions. Times it might even help Sehwag amongst others.

Sehwag though, is yet to learn how to manipulate his success. And maybe he’s just too nice a guy to ask Dravid to open instead of him.

Tomorrow on the 4th day, on the back of over 110 overs, you can expect the two spinners, Vettori and Patel to bowl a lion’s share of the overs.

That’s when India will miss its counter attacking trump.

Instead, he'll be branded as just another joker.

Sehwag Modern Art

Also read Jatman

Sehwag: "Fatherhood has made me more Responsible"

For more cricket cartoons , click 'ere

How do you solve a brand like Viru?

We rue no more: This could be a temporary phase. It could last no more than a few days. Till the next innings, the next series, the next time India collapses and Virender Sehwag doesn’t do his bit with one of those big hundreds.

Not only that. While failing to score an utterly irresponsible test hundred, he may also play one of those audacious non-hooks that cause wads to be flashed in parliament.

Now Sehwag is no parliamentarian. And somehow he has never won the collective vote of the Indian mind, heart or press. Press will stop for cattle on the roads, but if ever Sehwag scores a triple hundred in the wrong time zone, expect the morning papers to only print his score at lunch. That is, if he made that hundred before lunch –like he’s been promising for ages.

Yet it is now clear that Sehwag not only merits more attention, he demands it, at least in cricketing circles – while this may not always include the mainstream media, advertisers or the girl brigade, being a niche brand has its advantages.

Canny advertisers will pick Sehwag before he falls into someone else’s lap. To think that his last ad casting of any note was Coke’s “Sehwag ke thande funde”(Sehwag’s cool rules) from another lifetime, shows how myopic the moneybags have been. If Sehwag’s appeal lies in nonchalant cool, more so in the North, then how did so many talcum powders, air conditioners, itch guards, give him the miss. Specially itch guards, which brings us to -

Sachin Tendulkar, the boy who always had an itch to scratch at the crease. He sold everything, even stuff that didn’t sell. To delve into Tendulkar’s brandscape is a complete thesis in itself. Sehwag took off as Sachin’s twin, and together they frolicked in the Boost commercial - cricket picnic on hanging rock. That was when Sachin was big, and Sehwag was to be the next big thing.

Moving on to Yuvraj Singh. Never a test regular but the fast food of Indian cricket. He had hair, a girlfriend and was plugged to the party circuit. He rocked as India rocked; more so with the new found knowhow that India did indeed rock. There was a never before brashness, Punjabi hip, “make way for the Indian” about him. It was cool to hang out with Yuvraj, even cooler to be associated with him. Yuvraj straddled two worlds, the play field and the dance floor. And he juggled both with élan. Yet Yuvraj was limited for obvious reasons, as was his cricket.

And then MS Dhoni was born. When, how, or from where are part of MSD lore now. And as he continues to play and not play, MSD’s legend grows, feeding on his every action, inaction. For starters he had more hair. Then he had more runs in a one-day innings than any wicket keeper. Then he became the top ranked ODI player, ODI captain, and before you knew it, everything started to happen, simultaneously. MSD was the “Hamara Bajaj” equivalent of a cricketer brand, and pulled it off with chutzpah. He even got away with a haircut.

No such luck for Sehwag. From the heir apparent to Rahul Dravid, he was soon hairless. Soon out of the team, out of the mind. Sehwag’s Mayur suiting ads also disappeared, and then the Twenty20 World Cup comeback – a few cameos later he was unfit for the finals. Next: a wild card entry for Australia. A new, improved Sehwag was back.

In a way Sehwag does with the bat what Yuvraj and Dhoni do in their ads. Yet the divide between perception and reality is huge – does anyone, off the field think Sehwag is cool?

Cool or not, he scores quicker than any cricketer on earth. And we’re not talking Little Miss Muffet 20s and 30s by Shahid Afridi here. We’re talking 200s, 300s, get the picture.

Surely some brands can enjoy a quickie with Sehwag: Quick Fix, Speed (high performance petrol), Fast Track watches. Basically brands that promise swiftness – how about Swift from Maruti Suzuki?

While this makes Sehwag somewhat one dimensional, it’s a definite start. The brand layers will come as savvy advertisers flesh the Viru Dada enigma out.

The makings of a brand are there. And the faster Sehwag’s people suss that out the better for Viru the cricketer. For, no amount of triple or double hundreds can secure his place in the squad. Fact is there are just too many sellable players in Indian cricket. And finally, that’s what adds fizz to a star player.

How do you solve a brand like Viru?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means Viru?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!

Many a thing you know you'd like to tell him
Many a thing he ought to understand
But how do you make him stay
And listen to all you say
How do you keep a wave upon the sand

Oh, how do you solve a brand like Viru?
How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

Also read in the How do you solve series

Delhi in my belly!

Delhi in my belly!

“Next time you buy free tickets, take me also!”

That’s Vasudev, who turned seven in March, and an IPL backer in April.

I had every intention of taking him for Delhi Daredevils’ first game at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Fact is, I had every intention of taking a lot of people.

One guy backed out because he was watching soccer.

Others were either babysitting their kids or their wife’s guests.

Guess both take a lot of handling, and don’t come naturally to men.

Both cause a lot of men to miss a lot of games.

But not the guy who made it: he didn’t have any kids. He didn’t have any wife’s guests. Heck, he didn’t have any wife. Not yet.

Fits that his company is called Happily Unmarried then?

Anyway, the reason for inviting him was somewhat selfish. The three T20 games we had watched together (2 vs. Pak and 1 vs. Oz in the World Cup), we won. And the solitary T20 thrashing in Australia, we watched in isolation.

I assumed with master Happily Unmarried as company, the Delhi Daredevils would win too. I hadn’t realised that in the Rajasthan Royals, the IPL had the perfect ingredient for a successful tournament: a minnow.

First, everybody will bash the Royal’s up, and then almost Bangladesh like, they will upset all equations by beating the best team (as in the South Africa or chokers of the tournament). Imagine the surprise when Rajasthan Royals beat Kolkata Knight Riders. Where will Shah Rukh Khan and his wonderfully gifted entourage hide?

I looked for a red ‘n’ black tee. Not quite Delhi Daredevil gear; but then, I wasn’t prepared to invest in them as yet.

Of course that changed once I put on my red ’n’ black tee. I had taken the colour- combo oath – the full import of which kicks in when you’re on the ground. With McGrath, Sehwag and Vettori in the same colours.

They are one of you. You are one of them. It feels just fine. Put on a show for me - beat the hell out of royalty. Power to the masses!

But it’s a little more complicated. How do you reason Kaif being knocked over by a firang? Do you still think, a bad T20 club performance can effect his test chances? Or say, if Raina rocks, will he enhance his India chances?

Once the game starts though, you abandon all that muddled thought. You are sucked in by the partisan crowd, hell, you become the partisan crowd. You enjoy, for once, being just a face in the crowd. Being invisible in a metaphorical sea of red ‘n’ black. The red-black sea, eh?

The high point of the game is much delayed. It’s when Delhi’s icon player, Virender Sehwag takes strike – and blasts one straight over mid on. You realise, if you hadn’t before, you’re in Delhi. And Sehwag is Delhi, as Tendulkar is Mumbai, Ganguly is Calcutta, and Laxman is Hyderabad. Never mind about M.S. Dhoni and Shane Warne. They are something too: mercenaries?

Three balls and two more fours later Sehwag is out. Frankly felt like walking out then. But then, you don’t walk out on your team. No matter what.

So, I stuck it out. And though Delhi won handsomely, or rather, Rajasthan lost ugly, it wasn’t a great game to watch.

But then, when you watch 9 out of 10 games, prepare for the odd heartbreak, even when you win.

Later, long after the game, way past midnight, the Rajasthan Royal’s team bus was blocked off by an errant Delhiwallah’s badly parked car. After a bad evening, the Royals were now having a worse night.

Looks like we Delhiwallahs sure like to rub it in.