Korbo, Lorbo....Jeetbo
The Indian Premeir League (IPL), the latest craze to hit this nation. Ask anyone "Hows Life?" and most likely you might get the answer - "Ah, nothing much, same usual job and IPL". Amongst all the money, hype and celebrity performances for the every first time I enjoyed cricket without worrying too much about suporting my favourite team.
Hmmm.....is it??.........nahhhhh!!!
Here it was not about nations, it was about individual teams. As usual, I decided to back the Mumbai team, my ex-home city (even though I had very little hopes of them winning the title with the team selected!!!). I would have loved to support Bangaluru, but after seeing the team they selected, I preffered Mumbai.
So, the teams had to get some dynamic names to keep up with the trend set by other famous sports leagues around the world like NBA of USA and AFL of Australia (which I have to mention by default). So after names like Chennai Super Kings, Kolkatta Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils, one can only wonder why Mr. Mukesh Ambani decided to call his team 'Mumbai Indians'. Today as the tournament enters the semi-final stages it is quite ironical to note that the main perfomers in the team were the Sri Lankans, South Africans and the West Indians!!! As expected the Mumbai Indians have been knocked out, but it is interesting to note that they suffered the same fate that our beloved Indian team suffers at most international tournaments - a poor start, a dynamic come back giving hopes of a semi-final berth (through net run rate or through some external factors like mahapooja at siddhivinayak temple) and than a even more dynamic collapse to get knocked out. Yes they do win the last match dramatically so that the national headlines the next day could read "Team India is back!!". The nation is satisfied that we can atleast win the next tournament, the cricketers earn a few crores more through one or two ads and than as the next series is played, we go through the same course of action as described earlier.
Amongst all the 56 matches of the IPL played till date, one stands out as quite a memorable one for me. It was the match between Mumbai and Kolkatta played at the Wankhede on May 16th. I wasn't expecting much of any experience, but the series of events that took place made this one unforgettable. That day in the morning just as I was about to leave for office, one of my four bengali PG mate came up to me:
PG mate: "Ooj Kolkatta zoroor jeetega....dekhlo"
Me: "Theek hain....dekhte hain"
Than, in the evening as I returned home, a few overs had already been bowled. As I walk home, I pass the CCD near by. Usually I peep in a hope to see a few cute faces. But that day I peeped in to check the score. 16/2 in 3 overs. Not bad I thought to myself. As I reached home, I could hear voices down on the road coming from my PG. I figured out that it was the bengalis supporting their team. I saw all four of them glued to the TV. Three of them had somehow fitted themselves on the little couch in the TV room of my PG and the fourth had taken the only unbroken chair left. The score read - 21/2 in 4.1 overs.
PG mate: "Dekho.....dada aur hossey obhi bhi khel roha hain. 150 zoroor marega"
My expereince over the last few weeks had indicated that they were least interested in how the Knight Riders performed. What mattered most was the Sourav dada plays well. As I freshened up in my room and returned the score read - 21/3 in 5 overs.
PG mate: "Teen wicket goya, Pollock ko prochand swing mil roha hain...lekin dada abhi bhi hain. Aaj woh century marega"
Since there was no place to sit, I just stood right behind the couch trying to follow the cricket amongst all the commotion they were creating. Than the fun started. Dada swung his bat at a few deliveries without much luck.
PG mate: "Kotho kare dada!!!!.........sala logta to six tha" (yeah....why not!!!)
Than the wickets started tumbling - 28/4, 29/5 and 35/6 as Laxmi Ratan Shukla was clean bowled my Rohan Raje. The decibel levels in the room suddenly fell by 80%. Mine was the only face with a smile on it. The bengali sitting on the chair....got up as he suddenly realized that he had night shift duties that day. I took the seat he has so generously offered me and than the unthinkable happened - Ganguly caught behind off Thornely. Score 55/7. The atmosphere just went quiet. The three bangalis looking at each other as if the world had just been sucked in by a black hole!!
Me (in my thoughts): "Itna sanatta kyun hain bhai??"
Me (opening my mouth for the time): "Yesss......go for the kill Mumbai!!!"
To my sheer luck, it actually happened. Kolkatta bowled out for just 67 in 15 overs. All three got up and decided that it was high time that they go have some machli, chicken and rosogolla at K C Das!!!. But before going.....a few words of caution to me:
PG mate: "Pitch acha nahi hain.....dekho aaj Shoaib hat-trick lega. Hum jaaka aata hain, tob tak 5 wicket jayega"
As they left, I moved to the sofa. I spread my hands over the lenght of the sofa and my legs were now placed on the so-called coffee table. I felt a slight spike of pride. I had won the first half without much of an effort. Frankly I din care what would happen in the second innings. But the tide was in Mumbai's favour. Mumbai scored 68 in 5.3 overs thanks to Jayasuriya (48 in 16 balls with 3 sixes). My only regret that night was that Sachin got out for a duck!!
Today, neither Kolkatta or Mumbai qualified for the semi finals. The bengalis got back their day as they saw Dada win the final match for them, scoring 86 in 53 balls (which as described to me contained 6 'bishaall' sixes). All in all IPL has been a definite source of entertainment. I guess going home next week onwards will be a boring affair. I just hope to enjoy the semifinal and finals this weekend and wish that the IPL ends as it had started - With a Bang!!!
Three Cheers to the IPL in true SRK style - KORBO, LORBO....JEETBO
For those who havn't seen the video as yet:
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