Painting the World Blue

By Parvathy Gopalakrishnan

Picture this: From the outer space, a tiny potion of the earth sparkles. Darkness pierced by bright fireworks. Ground zero: Mohali. Din, crackers, and a sea of blue homo sapiens overpowering a small cluster of men in green. Two blank looking Prime Ministers. 11 men in blue in a huddle, walking with their heads high. A few men in green trying to suppress their emotions, in an attempt to uphold the spirit of the game.

Bikers throughout the country zoomed on their streets waving the tricolour. Non-cricket enthusiasts were glued to the idiot box. Cricket enthusiasts tried to alt-tab between work and passion. And then came the ultimate outburst of emotions.

Rewind. It was toss time, and “the men who mattered” were there. The coin was spun, and it fell in our favour. Two men walked on to the field, that prompted a huge roar from the crowd. While swashbuckling Sehwag destroyed and departed, Ton-dulkar was playing an anchoring role. Gambhir (27) managed to stick around for a while, but once he took the long walk back to the pavilion, the wickets started to tumble.

Kohli and Yuvraj played a blink-and-miss innings, while Dhoni and Raina displayed batting with a consolidation motive. The man who stole the show, however, was Wahab Riaz, kissing the turf post his maiden five-wicket haul. While Hafeez and Misbah tried their best, it was clear that it was a wild goose chase. And as the last men standing fell, it was time for reverie. People who jeered at Nehra every time he made an appearance on the screen now know who had the last laugh.

For everyone who thinks that the match was fixed, wait for the finals when our friends from the emerald isles will be butchered. The moment of the match, or rather after it, was when Shahid Afridi thanked and appreciated the hospitality of the Indians! Respect.