It was a thrilling match, possibly rendered all the more breathtaking if you caught only the last few overs. Ireland was playing England, and poised to win. Pretty easily. Every four was met with a whoop of joy at the underdog triumphing over a much bigger rival. As usual, a wicket fell in the last few balls. But soon enough, a ball zipped off to the boundary and went on to win the game for Ireland.

There were smiles all round. The Irish players enveloped each other in hugs to celebrate the occasion, described by captain William Porterfield later as the ‘greatest day of our lives'. In a split second, the joyful image had been replaced by one of a rather anxious Salman Khan strapping himself into safety gear and preparing to leap off a few peaks, indulging in some ‘wingsuit flying'. Spell broken - but was back again with the presentation ceremony.

Earlier, on February 19, it was the inaugural match of the World Cup. Another minnows Vs majors match, India was taking on Bangladesh. There was no taking them for granted. They had beaten us and South Africa, after all, four years ago. On the train to Chennai from Guntur, we were keeping track of the scores on the Internet but a particularly animated infant co-traveller was making it difficult. It was easier to coo over him than to fuss over both him and a laptop.

After a while, masala vadas from the pantry car came by. A fellow traveller sitting across us bought a couple and so did another passing by. “What's the score?” the former asked the latter. The reply came from the pantry car assistant, though. “Ah, so that's value addition! Score free with masala vadas !” exclaimed our companion. The assistant, who was not too sure whether this was delivered in a complimentary tone, kept staring suspiciously at him till someone broke the tension with a smile, at which he too began to smile and look pretty pleased with himself.

There's no escaping the magical game of the masses.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW