Duniyaa Hilaa Denge ....

Finally, last Sunday, the jinx has been busted …. I was in the stadium supporting my home team Mumbai Indians …. and they won the match vs the top team in the league Delhi Daredevils :) and that too playing outstandingly :) [I know its too early to elate after just a couple of wins and still the team very much unlikely to make it to the semis .... but then one should cherish every moment :)]

I won’t torture you all with any cricket blabber [as most of you got bored with my last post] …. Just enjoy the few pics below …. And let me know which one did you like the most?? [borrowed this idea from Keshi .... ty :)]

Sorry .. was tryin somethin and ended up with loads of white spaces between the pics ... its already 2 am and my brain is reluctant to work anymore ... will fix this tomm ... till then please bear with it :)

"The Gang" From L to R :- Sameer, Rumi, Bhavlo (Bhavesh), Urs Truly, Nitesh, Gugs (Ritesh)

"The misfit" .... well, all tees of my size were sold out .... so had to wear one that was a size shorter .... consequently making me look like "aspiring to be Salman Khan" :( ... but there was no option of not wearing the Mumbai Indian T-shirt ... was there ???? :) [let me hear an astounding Naaaah :)] so i decided to take this tarnishing :) and anyways no matter how many hours I spend in the gym .... I cant become Salman ..... coz I must be at least half a foot taller to him :p ... pooor he :) lol ...

"The Ground" .... players ironing out their skills with the "Last Minute Revisions" :) before the match

"The Mexican Wave" .... Can you spot "the Mexican Wave" going on in this pic??? tried many times ..but in vain to capture it properly ... finally took a video :) [btw ... can you also spot any empty place to accommodate any more people in da stadium ???? There was no space left unoccupied]

"Standing on the Edge" I think I said that a bit too early ... cricket enthusiasts can invent an empty place even when there is lack of it :)

"The Pretender" ... Nitesh wearing the MI t-shirt was actually rooting for the DDs.... his tongue out expression is more like a "Ohhhhhh" than a "Yeeaaaaaa" .... [this snap was after one of the sixes hit by Robin :) .... ]

"Dont you dare DareDevil me..." ... hmmm ... yea .... I can give that "I will beat the **** outta you" looks ... :)

"Taking your child to heights" ... is there anyway a team can afford to lose if it has supporters like this??? [the father gave his sweet little daughter an elevated view almost throughout the entire match and she seemed to be enjoying it thoroughly with incessantly clapping and waving her hands]

"MasterCard" …. There are some things that money can’t buy; for everything else there is Master Card :)

"Cowboy" ..... bang bang bang ....

"Bald Sachin" ... couldn't resist taking this one ... this kid sitting in front of us was very much engrossed in the game .... jumping at every possible ooohhs and aaahs with the crowd and then after jumping and all he would ask his sister whether it was a wicket or six or four :) .... amazing enthussiasm :)






"Child Labour" .... after all the political hullabaloo over cheerleaders ... while the DD team had banned cheerleaders altogether ... the MI team had a team of skool going kids [appeared to be so ...] performing as cheer leaders .... thus making many of us shout "Child Labour" cries time and again :)


"Save the World" .... and some compassionate guys also came up to the rescue of the cheerleaders citing a very noble cause .... any takers for this righteous cause ???









"Exit Nature Enter Virtual" ... a nice capture with the sun setting and the floodlights coming on …






"Time Please" …. we all taking a breather … [which didn’t last for more than 30 seconds though with Shaun Pollock getting rid of Mallik and getting us all up on our feet and dancing]

"Rockster kiddo" …. Now this kid sitting right behind us … was joining us in all our chants and antics … and moreover he was shouting and rooting at the top of his lungs …. Some of his comments were so innocent … "Arey Mcgrath raap raap …. Jaane de boundary" [urging Mcgrath to misfield and let the shot go for a boundary] ...

"Elated" … dancing in anticipation of the win ….

"Ecstatic" …. Jubilant after the win











"Victorious smiles" ….. Yes "V" rule :)










"Last and Best Shot" …. Showing our back to the world :) ….









Take Care yaaa alll ....
ciao,
- hiren

IPL Diaries - 1

Well, with the league already into its third week ... I am a touch late in scripting my first post about IPL [lots of things going on ... don’t get much peaceful time to jot down stuff :( ] ... but it’s never tooo late ... is it? :) After missing out on witnessing the inaugural match of my home team Mumbai Indians against the Blore RCs at the Wankhede stadium; I managed to catch the second home match against the Deccan Chargers last night at the newly built D Y Patil stadium. The MI team lost again :( that too cheaply without putting up a fight :( ... [somehow in all the matches that I have seen live in the stadium, the team I support always end up losing the match :( ... next Sunday I m planning to go the stadium & support Delhi Daredevils :) ... ].

There’s nothing notable to mention about the match, as MIs surrendered meekly to the DCs .... except that the innings played by Adam Gilchrist was simply awe-inspiring ... [me still ruing the fact that none of the sixes he hit came our way ] Most of the MI supporters got a jolt before the start of the game itself; as the captain and icon player Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t playing [still recuperating from his ‘GOD knows when it will heal’ injury ... aarrggghhhh] and the vice captain Harbhajan Singh was serving a suspension following his on field aggression getting a bit too far .... so the team mgmt decided to give Pollock the reins of the team .... who did his best to marshal the unresourceful troops .... Actually, I can go on and analyze each and every MI player ... but it will just unnecessarily make this post longer [and blasphemous and profane and uglier].

And yea, the Cheerleaders were the only entertainment source for the MI supporters :) ... they danced very well to the tunes of Hindi songs .... The DC cheergals were performing just in front of our stand. Have quite a few snaps [not only of the cheerleaders, there are quite a few of the players too :)]; but have forgotten the data transfer cable for my digicam @ home ... so will not be able to upload the snaps before weekend .... Also, the typical Mumbaiyaa music with lezims and all was too good and had all of us in the stands dancing to its tune whenever twas played ......

“Hum honge kaamyaab, hum honge kaamyaab, hum honge kaamyaan ek din !!!!” :) this was the jingle sung by our stand by the end of the match ... :) the jingle got pretty loud and was heard by the MI team players in the dug-out [we were in the pavilion stand the one that’s close to the players dug out]... from where we got a couple of irate glances and also a coupla apologizing glances :)

Now, some bytes for the new stadium that hosted its very first match of international level [figuratively]. The stadium is very well constructed and organized and moreover the pitch & the ground were looking awesome too [boundaries were a touch short though] ... Overall an excellent job done by the makers. And now that the Wankhede stadium will close down after the IPL finals, for a makeover; I am sure that the D Y Patil stadium will make up for the same. Only shortcoming is that you got to travel about an hour and a half outside the city ... and yes the usual parking crisis ensues too :)

Lastly, I am sorry for this substandard, boring, highly disconnected, news article type post ... Actually, I had quite a bit to write about viz. the build up to the match; the extreme efforts taken for getting my hands on the tickets; the eventful journey to & fro the stadium; other interesting tidbits at the stadium ... but this is all that I could come up for now ... hopefully, such dreary posts won’t become a habit.

Cheerio,
Hiren