Testing Times

It was one of those days when the men in khaki happily forgot their duties during the last few overs and joined the crowd to back India to the hilt. And,believe it or not,no soul complained — yes,such is the passion for cricket in the country.

In the VIP box,former chief minister of West Bengal Siddhartha Shankar Ray was getting restless as tension was building up in the lush green Eden fields. The Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya stood alongside him. He was no less anxious of the outcome as overs went by.

What a match! Bhajji once again did it,eh! The collective will triumphed over Hashim Amla’s dogged determination!

Eden Gardens played host to a Test match after more than two years and a lot of things had changed. The sitting capacity was reduced to 44,000 with four blocks temporarily gone —- the victims of regeneration. Still,the turnstiles were not log jammed and the terraces were half-filled. Who cares about Test cricket when there’s an IPL round the corner!

A bomb blast in Pune kept the security personnel on their edge as Kolkata,along with other Metros,were put on a high alert. But this time the minions of the law did it with modesty. For us,the hacks,work started after the days’ play. I was going to a press conference and was about to enter the Dr B.C. Roy clubhouse when a policeman stopped me. I just bummed a cigarette which the cop didn’t like. But his tone was fatherly: “It’s not advisable to smoke here.” His modesty compelled me to follow the advice.

The Test match didn’t draw the tinsel town celebrities in droves. The proceedings in the middle — the fight of Sachin Tendulkar,Virender Sehwag,MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh,and the stubbornness of Hashim Amla —- were a lot closer to life than the make-believe world. But an excellent wicket allowed some fantastic cricket.

The 22-yard strip at Eden Gardens was the cynosure of all eyes and the man behind it,Prabir Mukherjee,eventually turned out to be a hero. And the old-timers had their revenge on the upstarts.

After this match think twice before you call Test cricket passé .