Cricket off track

Saab, today at two o8217;clock the curfew will begin, said the autorickshaw driver as we were on our way to the Ahmedabad railway station a...

Saab, today at two o8217;clock the curfew will begin, said the autorickshaw driver as we were on our way to the Ahmedabad railway station around noon on Tuesday. No, not again, I thought. With what the city had seen during the last couple of years the word curfew did send a shiver down my spine. But it didn8217;t take long to apprehend the actual meaning of his words as he continued: 8220;Kya match khela us din saab. Nehra ne kya bowling dala.8221; So it went till we reached our destination.

As usual, the train started a few hours late and by the time it did, India had started their innings with Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag slowly but steadily trying to surpass the huge Pakistan total of 329 in the second one-dayer at Rawalpindi.

After the initial baggage-managing episode was over I looked around to see a few gloomy faces, as if burdened with a world gone bonkers. The unhappiness was writ large on each and every face; my smiles fetched nothing in return and soon the silence was deafening. Just then B. Nagraj8217;s mobile phone rang. Nagraj, who is the regional head of Allahabad Bank, based in Ahmedabad, was till then engrossed in an IT magazine as if he was preparing for an exam the next morning. Someone from the other end was giving him India8217;s score. 8220;Sachin hai na?8221; asked Nagraj, sounding relieved. With a big broad grin Nagraj gave his fellow passengers the news that India were 150 for three, with Sachin batting on 71.

The sleepy compartment suddenly came to life. Most of them were travelling on a match day only due to unavoidable circumstances. 8220;Otherwise we would never have left an India-Pakistan match,8221; said Vijay Tiwari, a Bhuj-based Air Force employee. Discussions, arguments, debates broke out. Everyone was suddenly a potential coach, firm in detailing what Ganguly should do, why Kartik should have played, how to get rid of Afridi early, and so on and so forth.

We will win, was the chorus, though Kishore was less emphatic and said, we should win. But we lost.

A gloomy silence spread through the compartment as the train sped along in the night until one angry voice broke the silence. 8220;The match was fixed, We won one, now they have won one. Goodwill series hai na.8221; Suddenly all those good wishes and prayers gave away to ugly outbursts. Oh well, the autorickshaw driver was right after all. Here was a situation that might easily have led to a curfew-worthy brawl.