It was the 24th of December, 2009, a cool morning when I woke up. My vacations were coming to an end, and it was also the eve of Christmas. The Karbonn Mobiles Cup, featuring the cricketing teams of India and Sri Lanka were locked in a head-to-head battle with India leading the series 2-1 after a comfortable win in the previous ODI at Cuttack, the ODI being a low-scoring affair.
However, the pitch curator at the Eden Gardens (Kolkata) Mr. Prabir Mukherjee said the pitch would be a batting one and we could see plenty of runs on the board. Excitement rose throughout the city of joy, and people were cramming for tickets. However since the stadium is undergoing massive renovation work for the 2011 Cricket World Cup, the stadium’s capacity has been reduced to about 53%. Only about 45000 spectators would be given tickets, and due to this reduction, no tickets were on sale for this day-night ODI. Only members were given free tickets, which amounted to Rs 20.5 million of loss to the BCCI.
My father had arranged a ticket for this ODI. Block E, below the electronic scoreboard! The Eden Gardens is not far away from my house. A 20 minutes walk, or a bus that takes 5-7 minutes. So I took the latter option and reached the stadium at around 1.45 pm. On getting down, I was greeted by a sea of spectators outside the stadium. The police had made excellent arrangements so that the fans did not have any problems in proceeding towards the respective blocks. On entering I was searched for any suspicious items. No plastics, cigarettes, cameras, water bottles, or fireworks were allowed (And they were very strict about this. Really!! ). There was a huge police force both inside and outside the stadium. By 2.10 pm I had occupied my seat (000130) at the majestic Eden Gardens, the Mecca of Cricket. I could see players like Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja practising near our block. Towards the other side I could see the batsmen.
Ravi Shastri headed the toss and there was disappointment in the crowd as the Lankans won the toss and decided to bat. The match started off with the crowd roaring for every ball bowled. Ashish Nehra provided the first breakthrough for India as Dilshan and Jayasuria (bowled by Zaheer Khan) were shown the pavilion road. After that the crowd saw a magnificent display of batting by Lankan opener Upul Tharanga and skipper Kumar Sangakkara.
There were intermittent displays of the famous Mexican wave at the Eden Gardens. No other cricketing stadium in the world does it better than the Eden Gardens, the place where it all started (in cricket). Just as Nehra was about to bowl the third last delivery of the Lankan innings, the floodlight above us plunged into darkness, so did nearly the entire stadium (A shame to the majestic Edens, again)!
Play resumed after 24 minutes, only after the generator was switched on. Sri Lanka amassed a mammoth 315 in 50 overs, the highest score at the Eden Gardens.
The spectators too had a little break, they had their usual snacks and the clothed themselves with enough to protect from the chilly evening, at the same time gearing up for the much awaited Indian chase.
Just as the crowd was settling down, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar entered the ground. When either one of them walks into the ground, the crowd goes mad at the Edens. Imagine what a scenario we had here. The crowd was literally roaring like 45000 mad lions on rampage, I being one of them! And slogans like “Jeetega bhai jeetega, India jeetega”, “Indiaaaa, Indiaaaa... dha dha dha” (where Indiaaaa was often replaced by Viruuu or Sachinnn) were being shouted at will.
As promised by Viru, India got off to a fantastic start, with 12 runs in the first over. The crowd fell silent, as soon as Viru was caught. The Lankans shouted and applauded their members. In came, Gautam Gambhir, Edens has not seen much of him! Sachin bolted another couple of fours, when he too was silenced by Lakmal.
India were bleeding profusely at 23/2. And when there is pin-drop silence at the Eden Gardens, you know from miles away, India is in a spot. Nearly 10% of the stadium emptied then and there with Viru and Sachin back in the pavilion.
But who knew, we would witness magnificent innings by both Gambhir and Virat Kohli. Back to back centuries in consecutive balls by these two players made the Edens roar to life yet again!
Their 224 run 3rd wicket partnership (the highest for any wicket at the Eden Gardens) saw India through and in the end, Gambhir hit a classical four to finish off things for India with his unbeaten 150. The whole Eden Gardens erupted into joy witnessing something extra-ordinary at this majestic ground.
It is a dream for any player to play at the Eden Gardens and Virat Kohli with his knock of 107 and Gautam Gambhir (150 n.o.) made it one of their most cherishing innings of their careers. It was also the first time the Edens witnessed a pair of centuries in an innings, and the highest run chase in a limited overs match.
On stepping out of the stadium the people were seen celebrating, shouting slogans and lauding the Indian Cricket team for their astounding performance!
Realising that it would be difficult to get a bus or a taxi I started to walk towards the main road. To my speculation, there were no taxis or buses. People were seen frantically searching for any means of transport. In the meanwhile, I started walking towards my home (only about a couple of kms away). The chilly breeze from the river Hooghly, hit my face, and gave me goose bumps! I continued my long walk at 11pm in the night guiding some people also towards the next bus stop. I reached home at about 11.15pm, fully exhausted and tired.
But I will cherish the match, my first at Eden after a gap of 8 yrs (last one was the historic 2001 India-Australia test, I’m sure cricket fans know all about it!!).
