Prologue:

Saturday, Dec 13^th 2008, MAC Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

“This is going to be another draw”, I thought. “Yet another draw in Chennai this year.” That was the 3^rd day of the 1^st Test match between India and England. We got 4 tickets to watch the match from the F-stand, the same place from where I witnessed an India vs West Indies ODI about 2 years ago. That was a wonderful experience and I hoped this would also be something memorable. With both Kartik and Murali for company, I had decided to unwind over the weekend at Chepauk. However, the blast of terrorism in Mumbai, the original venue for this test match, a couple of weeks back was a blessing in disguise for Chennai – although what happened in Mumbai shook the entire country. With India failing to overtake England’s 1^st innings score, the English were truly on the driver’s seat with a decent start to their 2^nd innings and looked to win this match against all odds – although I was convinced with myself that this would be a draw.

Sunday, Dec 14^th 2008, MAC Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai – 9:30 AM

The same stand, the same seats, the same people for company and with the same opinion, the Englishmen started the day with a very solid opening session. Strauss and Collingwood chose to remain unbeaten while the Indian bowlers showed no signs of picking up a wicket. At lunch, I was genuinely convinced that this would be a definite draw. Chappathi and the tasty side-dish for lunch were the only satisfactory elements till then. Something more satisfactory that happened after lunch was the Indian bowling, especially Zaheer and Ishant, who bowled with accuracy and purpose with support from other bowlers as well – restricted England to only 57 runs in the entire session. When all of us went for tea still carrying the same opinion on the result of the match with another serene session in hand, little did anyone realize that there was a person who thought a bit more that could cause a shock of life to the newly emerged English captain – Keven Pietersen.

A deep regret full of happiness

Monday, Dec 15^th 2008, Home – Early Morning

“Should I go to work or shouldn’t I?” My mind vacillated from minute to minute, from office to Chepauk, from profession to passion, from work to cricket. My companions encouraged me to join them to the stadium – my cricketing God would walk into bat, provided we lose at least a wicket today. And especially after the mighty Viru gave a blistering start to the 4^th innings – little did anyone on this planet realize that 387 would be chasable on a tearing 4^th & 5^th day pitch. That innings of Viru was an innings of life, an innings of punch, an innings of demolition. No cricketer would have ever thought that a 5 day game could be decided in an hour – a decisive hour. For the first time in the last 2 days, we all saw the Barmy Army losing out their voice on the F-stand – being surrounded by Indian cricket fanatics cheering a “Bharat mata ki Jai” against their fluently composed cheer song. That innings of 83 from 68 balls was ultimately the decider between the 2 teams.

As I stepped out of my house, I pondered. I tried to avoid office that day, but wasn’t convinced. Against the wishes of my mates and desire, I headed straight to office – physically to office, but travelling mentally to MAC stadium. A satisfactory part was that I could keep track of the scorecard at office – thanks to internet and technology; I adore it for this part. At around 8:30, my brother teased me with the happenings at the practice sessions with Sachin playing around with Harbhajan’s shoes. Even at that moment I had the option of leaving office and plunge into the stadium, but I didn’t. Not that I was so dedicated to work, just that I was uncomfortable having to provide explanations to my senior officials. I was too tempted to do it, but I didn’t. It wasn’t too late to change decisions, but I didn’t. I was to later regret this decision all through my life.

At 9:30 sharp, I opened the scoreboard at my system – to get updates from the online commentary that gets refreshed just adjacent to the scorecard which read Gambhir (batting) and Dravid (batting). India still needed 256 runs on the final day with 9 wickets in hand and against a very good English bowling attack that contained 5 specialist bowlers who had the capacity to rip through the batting order. After a few refreshes, when Dravid nicked a Flintoff delivery to Prior who safely pouched it my thoughts went back to Peter Reubok who once said – There is a hush around the stadium when 2^nd Indian wicket falls when India plays at home, not to dishonor the exiting batsman, but for his replacement. I could imagine the situation around the ground at that moment and the fact that there wouldn’t be a single soul keeping his throat shut till the master takes guard. I’m never superstitious, but am forced to only when Sachin is batting. I never know why, I’ve always wanted him to perform all the time, like the other millions of Indians.

He started with his trademark flick, capturing 2 runs; giving signs of a good start. Sunil gave me confidence saying that Sachin always performs well when he starts off with a flick. Was that his superstition? I don’t know, but I felt confident, my pressure dropped down to normal. Every time I refreshed the scorecard, I felt nervous. Slowly and steadily, his innings progressed, with some good applied strokes and a few ones with his own class as I could read out the commentary updates. Two of his partners fell on either side of lunch, but THIS MAN was determined to stay there – challenging himself to erase the ghostly memories of the Pakistan chase almost a decade back. His new partner now was Yuvraj Singh who had just replaced Ganguly in the test squad and was determined to do well to keep his spot in the test side. The Indians, unlike the English, slowly and steadily scored at a good rate and came closer and closer to the target. The chief anchor of the innings was the master himself – anchoring the innings altogether and anchoring Yuvraj to stop improving his English language upon conversation with Flintoff. Every minute and every second was a joy to see - the master progressing towards his 41st century and India progressing towards the record target of 387. Along with the joy, emotions started building up - as always when he scores a century. This time it was his match, his own match, his own script that could lead India to a mighty victory. India came closer and closer to the target and he came closer and closer to yet another milestone. We even discussed how great it will be if he scores a boundary from 99 to seal India’s victory. At one stage, we were all sure that we were going to win it, but we all wanted the master himself to take us home. He crept towards his century and suddenly leapt ahead with a couple of boundaries to take him to 96. With few crosses between the wickets, he touched 99. Having been dismissed several times in the nervous 90s, we were still waiting for the century to get completed. Swann bowled a length delivery that turned a touch more than what the master thought. It was lucky that it did not kiss the stumps after deflecting from his glove. The next ball was paddled away fine – and the leap said it all. The boundary sealed India’s record victory and incidentally the master’s 41st century. I was in office till then, trying to control my tears of emotion. My mates had the leisure of expressing it at the stadium. What a victory it was – and what a way to end the match. It was the finest display of master class, not only by the master himself, but by the entire Indian team. This was a day to remember and rejoice - and of course to celebrate forever, forever, forever.

Epilogue:

Monday, Dec 15^th 2008, Mugil Soup Shop – Late evening

Having expressed our emotions about the day as soon as I got down from my bus, we went to celebrate the day with a soup for ourselves. “How good will it be to celebrate this day every year?” All 4 of us vowed to celebrate this day every year. “And why don’t we record this day?”, suggested Kartik. And that’s how one of the most memorable days of my life came into books. What a wonderful day it was, filled with emotions and happiness – still with a deep regret within me that will last till my last breath.

"After 20 years of an untiring career filled with aggression, emotion, leadership, respect, character and modesty - when the critics continue writing him off after every innings - the majestic little master brings tears to our eyes when he looks up to the heavenly abode with his 41st century - to keep us reminded that he is indeed our 'GOD'. I follow Sachinism."