LCD Blog

KOLKATA : It was the most bizarre of starts to the World Cup final. And the most fairy-tale of finishes. In Kolkata, the cup of joy flowed over like never before. Traffic jams at midnight, entire families rushing out of homes to celebrate in their pyjamas, parents and children piling on the famiy two-wheeler to go honking down streets packed with delirious fans, shops opened their shutters to hand out free drinks…

Kolkata has never partied this way before. Lucky it’s a Sunday the next morning.

But the way the match started, not everyone in the city expected an India win. “Erom korle khelbona kintu (This is unfair),” cried out Paltu Das, in the freshly whitewashed para club room, located in an alley off Bhupen Bose Avenue in north Kolkata.

“How can the coin be tossed twice?” growled Bhola Sur. “This is a bad omen,” muttered Ghona da before heading home. Ghona da, aka Ganesh Ghoshal, had planned to watch the match with others on the 32-inch LCD screen that the club had hired for the big occasion but opted for the 14-inch TV at home to ensure Team India did not run out of luck. By 10.30pm, he was back before the LCD, cheering Dhoni’s men to victory.

“Why does Nehra get injured so frequently? And why Sreesanth and not Ashwin in this crucial match?” asked Rajesh Khaitan, watching Dhoni and his men on the giant screen at City Centre mall in Salt Lake. The roar of spectators at Wankhede echoed through the decibel-busting sound system but the din of fans crowding the kund and every vantage point drowned it. “India! India!” cheered girls and boys in unison, disparate groups bonded together by the love, orchestrating a war cry without rehearsal. As Zaheer bowled the first ball, “Come on India!” cried the crowd.

At South City mall in south Kolkata, the boisterous crowd packed around the atrium let out a collective anguish when Dhoni lobbed the ball to Sreesanth. “This maverick bowler will keep the Lankans interested in the game,” said college student Roshan, who plays a fair bit of cricket in the college circuit.

Over the next few overs, Sreesanth did nothing to disprove his detractors. He sprayed the ball all over the pitch and got dispatched to the boundary with unfailing regularity, drawing loud gasps and angry outbursts. The next moment, the crowd was cheering Zaheer as he ran in to bowl the third over.

“Out!!!” screamed the crowd that nearly brought the atrium down as Upul Tharanga edged the ball and Sehwag snapped up a sharp catch. Shalini Jain jumped in joy and then hugged her friend’ Sohan Agarwal. Others whistled and went delirious as India scalped the first Sri Lankan victim.

Small-time artist Swapan Das was, perhaps, the only one oblivious to the match on the large screen. He was busy painting the tri-colour on the faces and arms of fans, accepting `15-20 in return. By early evening, he had pocketed a cool `1,500.

At a club adjoining Sales Tax building in Beliaghata, palms had turned red from furious clapping as Yuvraj leapt in the air and halted a boundary-bound pull shot. Raina made a couple of spectacular stops. “Team India is fielding like Cricket Australia. I’ve never seen the Men in Blue being so agile on the field,” said Manik Shaw.

As Zaheer, Harbhajan and Yuvraj picked up successive wickets, removing the dangerous Dilshan, Sangakkara Samaraweera and Chamara at regular intervals to keep the Lankans score in check, the partisan crowd cheered wildly. “Even (umpire) Simon Taufel made a mistake,” roared octogenarian Prajapati Kumar, swinging in a rocking chair perched in the first floor drawing room of their Gariahat residence.

Watching the match with his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren on an LCD television that had arrived a day before the semi-final clash against Pakistan, the man who had keenly followed cricket all life was sure Yuvy had trapped Chamara right in front of the stumps when Taufel turned down the appeal. The ensuing review proved Prajapati right and Taufel wrong.

The mood was upbeat till the 40th over. Then, the “Oohs!” and “Aahs!” began as the Lankans led by Mahela Jayawardene clawed back. “We are giving away too many runs,” cried a distraught Sajeeva, chewing the nails as Kulusekara got into the act and began dispatching the leather to the boundary. Jayawardene’s century had gone unnoticed. When the Lankan innings finally ended at 274, there was palpable relief.

“It could have been worse. They have put up a good score but it should be cakewalk for India’s strong batting lineup,” said an usher at London-Paris, the plex at Mukti World screening the match live. He, or indeed any other diehard Indian fan, refused to acknowledge that Lanka’s bowling attack was formidable as well.

In Santoshpur, Joydeep Sarkar stayed put in his seat, refusing to budge should the momentum of the match change. “I am superstitious and always sit here on crucial matchdays,” he said. Someone should have told him that a momentum shift was precisely what India needed.

“Oh noooooo!” Khokon, Potla, Naren and just about everyone packed into the 10ft’10ft club room in Baghbazar’s Raj Ballabh Para cried out in anguish as “Slinga” Mallinga rapped Veeru on the pads and Pakistani umpire Alin Dar raised the dreaded index finger.

At nightclub Venom, the silence was deafening. The commentary that had been drowned by the loud cheering, was now very audible. Srikant Desai, who had been straining to catch what Sourav, Shastri and Gavaskar had to say till then, suddenly didn’t feel like listening to the analysis.

“If ever there was a chucker, it is Mallinga,” fumed Samaresh Lahiri at a club in Baguiati, bristling over the Lankan bowler’s unorthodox action that had claimed the nawab of Najafgarh. “Of course, we have Tendulkar!” he said, as others broke into ruptures when Tendulkar sweetly timed a cover drive.

In a taxi parked next to the kerb at Ultadanga, driver Md Karim had refused a passenger to tune into the cricket commentary on FM. Relaxing in his seat, he listened to the commentators who waxed eloquently on the little master’s prowess with the willow when the unthinkable happened. Sachin nicked a Mallinga delivery to Sangakkara and the commentator screamed: “Out!”

The smile that had been creeping around the corner of Karim’s lips disappeared. He frowned, switched off the radio, fidgeted with the Tricolour balloon that he had tied to the antenna and lit a biri. “Ab to bachhon ko khelna padega (It is time for the young guns to show their capability),” he mumbled.

A bunch of cabbies in south Kolkata weren’t too bothered which way the match swung. They were out to enjoy and cheered every boundary and wicket, irrespective of the shade of blue. “After the semi-final experience when we didn’t manage any passengers till after the match was over, we decided to take the day off on Saturday. Tonight, we will have a feast,” said Sushil Sharma, smacking his lips in anticipation.

In Bhowanipore, Subir Das was getting increasingly edgy. He had taken the lead in the making of a Ravana packed with crackers to do an Akal Ravana Badh. “I hope Gambhir and Kohli consolidate the innings and we get to set the Ravana on fire. In the event of a Lankan victory, we will have to immerse the structure,” he mused.

At Udayer Pathe in Beadon Street, the mood had swung. The overwhelming confidence in the team was faltering. Though Gambhir and Kohli had stitched the innings together for a while, Dilshan broke the partnership, plunging club members into despair. “Khub mushkil hoye gelo, bujhlen (It is an uphill task now),” one said to another as the other gave a grave nod.

In Hatibagan, the mood didn’t dip. The shopkeepers and their staff cheered lustily as Gambhir and Dhoni rotated the strike and hit the odd fours. Whistling lustily when Dhoni hit a cut a rising delivery for a four, they waved the Indian flag with gusto. “India will win. Don’t you worry,” gushed Binoy Chowdhury. At Inox Forum, it was an edge-of-the-seat experience for the audience as they sat upright and watched India inch towards the target with bated breath. Many could have done with the treatment that Dhoni received from Team India physio after spraining his back. When India crossed the 200 mark a couple of balls later, everyone stood up and gave a thunderous applause. Minutes later, they had their hearts in their mouth when playing a Mallinga delivery, the toe end of Gambhir’s bat flew off.

“Oh! I thought it was a bail flying off,” said Sanjay Jaiswal, brushing off the popcorn that had spilt when he leapt up thinking Gambhir had been bowled. Back in the seat, he remarked: “Dhoni is playing a captain’s knock and Gambhir has been superb.”

When Gambhir lost his wicket on the cusp of what would have been a brilliant century, there was sadness all around. After all, the Kolkata Knight Rider captain could have gone into the record books with a 100 at the biggest stage. But the fall of the wicket did not dampen spirits as Yuvraj joined the run chase. An upper cut 6 by Dhoni even enthused arthritic Romen Bose to stand up and applaud. The Surya Sen Street resident had opened his doors to para boys and their enthusiasm was infectious.

Just when the boys from a club in central Kolkata’s Bankarai street were preparing to celebrate, two close calls a run out appeal and a review for LBW put them on a leash. “Joga, just go back to where you were seated. We don’t want things to go awry now,” club secretary Kali Bose told Jagganath Sil.

Three overs to go and still Kolkata stayed glued to TV sets. One could feel youths itching to burst into celebration but held back by an invisible hand. Two fours in the next Mallinga over and the dam burst. Paltu, Bhola, Ghona Da, Rajesh, Joga, Kali… everyone rushed out, abir in pockets, firecrackers in packets. India won in the next over. But by then, paras were already partying. Kolkata’s jamai raja had lifted the cup that mattered!

From timesofindia.indiatimes.com