Nerul was wearing a festive look. The roads were clean and the place was bristling with signage about the various entrance gates and improvised parking lots. As we set off on foot from home, we could see the Ambani helicopter hovering over the stadium. (They are the franchisees for the Mumbai team) The parking lots were filling up rapidly and cops strutted officiously with new plastic batons. VIPs rolled in, ensconced in fancy cars. Over-enthusiastic Rent-a-cops added their mite to the melee, but I wouldn’t grudge it. Better hassled and safe than sorry. The first place we went on entering was the stalls to buy a Mumbai Indians Tee shirt that said “TENDULKAR” on the back and had his famous number 10. With popcorn, burgers and soft drinks in hand, junior & me were all set for the spectacle unfolding in the new stadium.

Arguably, this should rate as the best stadium in the country. I’ve seen the grounds at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata, but this one is something else. I think it’s the only place where you actually get seat nos. with proper moulded plastic seats that don’t leave you with a sore butt. We had seats on Level Four, which is equivalent to being on the third floor. Looking down in a Bird’s eye-view was disconcerting to start with, but we enjoyed it. It did ensure that we could see every corner of the place. The only thing incomplete is the roof and the sun beat down on us unmercifully, but we were too charged up to notice it.

The Mumbai Indians started off in circumspect fashion. They had made a few changes in the squad. Yogesh Takawale, a local lad had replaced Luke Ronchi as the wicket keeper and opening batsman. He opened alongside the legendary Sanath Jayasuriya with another legend, Glenn McGrath steaming down with the new white ball. The crowd roared in an increasing crescendo that ended tamely as the boy smartly tapped the ball back to the bowler. A match was on.

While Jayasuriya blazed off in customary fashion, Takawale defended stoutly. While this rankled, it made sense as the dangerous Pakistani Muhammad Asif was bowling at the other end. When the two spearheads were seen off comfortably, it was left to the first change, Yo Mahesh to break the partnership when he got both the openers. The ball that got Jayasuriya was a beauty, but he had done some damage by then. Thornley and Utthappa put on 50 odd runs for the third wicket, but at a slow pace. McGrath and Asif had yielded to Yo Mahesh, Bhatia & Sangwan, but the youngsters matched them in intensity. The Delhi bowling and fielding was top class. 

This was no exhibition of carnival cricket. The line they bowled, the field placement, the drive was all there. The final scramble for quick runs saw a rash of wickets go down, but Pollock struck some hefty blows to bring some respectability to the total. Especially the sixes he struck in the 18^th over bowled by Asif were breath taking. The break left us with mixed feelings.Their final score of 162 was at best iffy. The Daredevils had done well, chasing in earlier games. Had they got enough on the board?

And what had the crowd been upto all this while?

Ah… what can I say? I have been at matches before, from Test matches to the Ranji Trophy and club matches to One Day Internationals. Nothing can compare to this. This form of cricket has really caught the fancy of the viewers. They had turned up in huge numbers and many in weirdest of get-ups. The crowd was totally involved with the game at all times and backed the home team to the hilt. They cheered everything. Every single and every misfiled (there were very few of those) was lauded. The boundaries had them in raptures and the umpires got their share of boos at questionable decisions. The music blared at every opportunity and they were dancing in the aisles. Mexican waves brought everybody to their feet and I indulged as much as my son. The real character of the crowd was felt in the second half.

After the all too brief break, the Mumbai Indians began a spirited defence of the total, which seemed very much gettable. The Delhi Daredevils had been coasting earlier in the competition with contributions from Gambhir, Sehwag & Dhawan at the top of the order. Here a charged up Pollock and a reborn Ashish Nehra who accounted for them in quick succession broke this sequence. Suddenly it was 6 for 2. It was good to see Nehra, who had been in the wilderness for some time come charging in. Not just while bowling, Nehra threw himself around on the field as well, saving precious runs and came back at the end to take two more wickets. This can only augur well for the Indian fast bowling reserves.

In the meanwhile the explosive Sehwag was stuck at the non-striker’s end and not liking it one bit. The freak run-out of A B De Villiers didn’t help matters. He went on to strike a few hefty blows and raced to 40 before Pollock sprung a surprise. He brought on Dominic Thornley, an unknown quantity to bowl his military medium seam-up stuff. Thornley struck immediately and got Sehwag; Uthappa taking another of his three catches of the match. After that Shoaib Malik & Dinesh Karthik did make an effort to revive the chase, but Pollock marshalled his troops well and the crowd did the rest. Each successive wicket was met with a deafening roar. The chants of “Pollock….. Pollock” were amazing as the former South African captain did everything right. Dwayne Bravo, young Dhawal Kulkarni, Rohan Raje, Sourabh Tiwary and the redoubtable Jayasuriya all rose to the occasion and played as one. As the last of the Daredevils was out, the whole stadium exploded. They had finished 29 runs short and Mumbai had won the match.

Pollock was ecstatic, a deserving Man of the Match, but played it down when quizzed by Rameez Raja at the presentation ceremony. He did acknowledge the effect of the crowd’s backing and diplomatically avoided the discussion of Tendulkar’s continued absence. Right now, looking at the fate of the other seniors and their teams, I really wonder if he’ll make a difference. One look at the points table will tell you a story. At the bottom half are the teams led by Tendulkar (in absentia), Dravid, Laxman & Ganguly. At the same time a lot of exciting new youngsters have made their presence felt. Unheard of names like M S Goni (Goni, not Dhoni), Siddharth Trivedi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Swapnil Asnodkar, Wriddhiman Saha, Debabrata Das, Yo Mahesh, Abhishek Nayar come to mind. Rubbing shoulders with legendary Indian & Overseas players seems to have worked very well. All in all, the IPL so far has been a thundering success.

As Junior and I left for home, we carried with us the after-glow of an evening well spent. The armchair critics can sob into their beers about the changing character of the game, the crass commercialization, etc etc. I ask them: Hasn’t everything else evolved over time? Are we reading the same books that our forefathers read a hundred years back? Have the movies remained static in terms of development since the early 19^th century? What about new inventions in almost every field? Would any progress have been made if these tradition bound dinosaurs permeated all fields?

But what about the cheerleaders at this game? We seem to have forgotten them.

“What cheerleaders?” kind of sums it up. There were three sets of boys and girls in politically correct pajamas, prancing to the music on the ground, but from where I was sitting and in the context of the game, they might as well have folded their tents and slunk away for all the impact that they made. Much ado about nothing said the Bard of Avon…. The old boy knew what he was talking about.

I now have got my grubby paws on tickets for tomorrow’s game with the Rajasthan Royals on Wed 07 May. Can’t wait to see how Shaun shapes up to Shane.