The Finals Experience

Flight to Hong Kong

I boarded the plane at 1am (PST) on 30^th March, 14 hour flight to Hong kong couple of minutes before the start of Ind-Pak WC Semi-Final. How stupid of me to book a flight without checking the WC schedule. I had already secured two tickets to WC final in Mumbai but did not get a chance to witness if India made it or not. The first thing after landing the HK airport was to check Cricinfo.com to see if we won or not and yep we did make it to finals. Now I did not feel bad on missing out the Ind-Pak WC SF because I will watch India play for the WC and see Sachin play his last WC game in front of his home crowd. (I would go anywhere to watch Sachin play). I did not care if he scored his 100^th century or not, all I cared was seeing India win the WC title. I took a 5 hour HK transit tour of Lantava Island and Po Lin Monastery (here we had an awesome Chinese vegetaranian food) which was an amazing tour and I would highly recommend to anybody. 

  Flight to Mumbai

It was suppose to be a six hour flight to Mumbai from HK which ended up as seven and half hour flight courtesy Mumbai airport, due to traffic congestion we could get green light to land so for one hour we were roaming around Mumbai. Finally we landed and another half an hour wait to get a gate assigned to deplane. Welcome to India…

Getting Tickets.

I already paid all the money for tickets online and they even charged me 2000/- as bank charges for ticket handling. I thought it will be a 15 minute job to pick tickets from the counter and then I had other plans but I was so wrong. I was quickly made to realize that I am in Mumbai where to get anything you have to be in a line. It was painful 5 hour line just to obtain tickets for which I had already paid money for. There were a lot of people visiting from abroad just to watch the game. Unbelievable.  I spoke to a havaldar who was posted outside Wankhede Stadium for security. For past six days they were reporting at 8am in the morning until 6pm, tiredness written all over him and he said he was simply tired of all this and did not feel like watching the game at all. I could see why India making and winning the title would make Mumbai police’s job so much hard.

The Finals day

It was all over the local papers, if you have the tickets to the game start queuing up at least 3 hrs prior to the game. Indeed it was true, each person was checked by various security agencies at various point before letting them in. People were being let in to the stadium like water dripping out of a Mumbai tap. Finally made it inside the stadium at 1.30 pm and had magnificent seats in Sunil Gavaskar stand upper level and 1^st row uninterrupted view except for few morons who had come to eat rather than watch the game who were constantly walking in front of me where there was a walking aisle. Indian team was going through catching drills before they broke off in small groups with bowlers bowling on practice wickets, Sachin, Yuvi & Gauti getting some knocks and Dhoni some keeping practice from Gary. Shreesanth was wayward even in the practice, I was shocked to see him picked for 11. Toss at 2pm was a bit of a letdown considering it was a WC Final, Jeff Crowe the culprit.  Rising to the national anthem was an awesome feeling which is not easy to put into words. The atmosphere was electric as Sri Lankans took guard. I thought WC pressure got to the openers neither of them took on any bowlers which was the reason for a slow start. Dilshan & Tharanga weren’t quite the same batsmen we had seen in the tournament. Shreesanth still bowled badly considering Dhoni gave him as much protection in the field as he can. Sangakkara and Mahela played really well and effortlessly. They hardly looked in trouble and Mahela looked in sublime touch. It was a chanceless century from him; one has to be in the ground to witness his awesome footwork to spinners. I thought at this stage Dhoni missed a trick of not bowling Zak in middle overs to Mahela & Sangakkara. It was all spin and they looked at ease and after slow start I could sense game slipping out. Sangakkara was a lucky break for Indians but still considering the start SL had 275 was a challenging score. Had Zak bowled in middle overs to Mahela and got him I do not think SL would have reached 275. Indian fielding was really awesome, Sachin was fielding on our side and to see him run across and dive to save a boundary, I will cherish it for some time.  One thing which really struck about Sachin is, he is so composed on the field versus Yuvi who is kind of loose guy on the field.

Mumbai has always been crazy for Sachin especially when he is out for batting, everyone was SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN!!!.... But it all went quiet when Sehwag was out but everyone found their voices back when Sachin was on strike and hit gorgeous straight drive & square cut. The noise of bat hitting the ball can only be experienced in the stadium especially if it is Sachin. It was a pin drop silence when Sachin was out, we all could hear Lankan on-field celebration. I thought Gauti & Kholi were the real stars in the chase because they looked at ease and played sensible cricket when the pressure was huge after two massive wickets. Dhoni ahead of Yuvi was a real brave decision which worked out well. The first ball he played was a huge stride forward which showed the amount of determination he had.  After that it was down to sensible batting and matter of handling the pressure. I must say apart from Malinga no SL bowler looked threatening, even if they had scored 300 India would have chased it. Murli did not look a champion bowler on that day. Bowling was the reason SL lost out I felt.  Ghambir’s knock was a real special knock but he should have a got to hundred, it is he only who has to be blamed for a silly shot. Dhoni had a word with him previous bowl and I don’t think he asked him to go for a big shot.  Gautam has a very bad habit of taking too many steps before deciding whether to run or not luckily Dhoni controlled him well else a run-out was always on cards.

Dhoni’s winning shot for a six over long-on, fireworks above pavilion, Yuvi on his knees in the centre, players rushing on to the pitch, Dhoni grabbing stumps, Vande Matram played by DJ & crowd erupting out of joy chanting INDIA INDIA INDIA!!!!....  What a moment, I will always always cherish this moment for the rest of my life. I was really lucky to be present and witness history unfold in front of me. India winning the WC on home soil & witness Sachin win the WC on his home ground. I am glad I was there. It was truly special to see Tendulkar being carried on the shoulders for the entire lap and then witness the trophy carried by Indians on a victory lap. Unbelievable scenes.

On our way out of the stadium a lot of people thanked police & all sorts of security forces for the effort they had put in which was a fantastic gesture. The real party started all over Mumbai streets especially on the Marine Drive. People went completely berserk, chanting INDIA INDIA… dancing, shouting at their top of the voice. No policemen had energy to stop any one since they were completely drained out due to all the security arrangements. It was a really party complete strangers greeting each other. This lasted all night.  

What a Match…. What a day…. Truly Unbelievable…