I and my husband are very much fond of cricket from childhood. We never miss any match. We literally shout, clap and go crazy every time while watching match. We both hate summer but still we look forward for March month only because of the IPL matches. I am crazy fan of M.S. Dhoni so my team is Chennai Super Kings and husband is biggest fan of Rohit Sharma so he supports Mumbai Indians.
During IPL we are more like enemies than husband and wife, we tease each other a lot but also have lots of fun every year. So if we are such a crazy cricket fans then how can our baby Ashwath stay behind.
While he was in my womb, I was literally went mad watching 2018 IPL season and my favourite team Chennai Super Kings had won that season. I was very happy and so my baby was also happy. I could literally feel him jumping and moving in my womb.
We have been watching all the matches on TV till now, we really wanted to go to the stadium and watch the live match but we couldn't sometimes due to lack of money and sometimes due to lack of time. But one day we got chance to go to the stadium to see live match.
One of our neighbor cum family friend had taken the tickets for ODI cricket match of India v/s south africa women's team but due to some unavoidable reason he was not able to go. He had an idea that we are huge cricket fans. He called me and asked if we would go. He asked us to take his son with us.
We were ready but on the other hand I felt little worried about Ashwath. It was full day match, stadium was too far from our home and Ashwath was only 15 months old then. He enjoys watching cricket match at home. Even he used to shout "India ...... India ...". His observation and comprehension are both very sharp. Sometimes he used to shout "What a shot !", we used laugh a lot when we heard it in his sweet voice. But the question was whether he would enjoy there or whether he would get scared due to crowd there, but finally we decided to go.
I remember we were very excited but Ashwath was more excited than us. I told him, 'We are going to watch a cricket match and going to have a good time,' and he was very happy.
That day was 14th October , 2019. We reached there around 9.30am. The match had already started at nine o'clock. I had packed a big bag with Ashwath's toys, food, water so that if he cried, I could calm him down by giving him something. Sai that uncle's son was with us. We went in and sat on our seats. The atmosphere of the stadium was very nice with full of crazy fans like us. People were chanting 'India... India, Vande Mataram'. Excitement and elation was everywhere. The tricolor was swaying in the air with its high neck as far as the eye could see.
Ashwath was sitting on my lap but he wanted a separate seat. I tried to convince him to but he was not ready to listen. Then I took Sai on my lap and Ashwath took his seat and sat down. Though our seats were in front row, view was not as clear there as on TV screen. Ashwath stood on his seat. I never thought he would cooperate in such a crowd and noise.
But surprisingly, Ashwath started having a lot of fun. He was shouting like the people around him. His tune and voice of India ... India ... was captivating the people around him. He was literally jumping on chair, sometimes dancing. India batted first. Our women players had hit fours and sixes. Ashwath has a habit that wherever he sees the national flag of India, he stands up and salutes the tricolor and says Jai Hind. Even there he did the same.
A group of college students was sitting next to us. The boys were amazed to see him salute. They were talking to him and to my surprise Ashwath who did not mix with anyone quickly, started having fun with them too. We had a lot of fun too. India's batting, which had been stormed earlier, then cooled down, so South Africa did not have a big target. Now to win the match, Indian players had to bowl very well. Ashwath was in a very good mood throughout the first inning.
During the break, we had snacks. The match started once again now the match was getting interested but it was time for Ashwath to sleep. He was looking little irritated. I tried so hard to put him to sleep, but was all in vein. People were going ahead and taking selfies, taking autographs of the players. Ashwath wanted to do the same. His dad took photos of him, then Ashwath clicked some a selfies then he calmed down. Match was getting more and more interesting. The last wicket of south africa was left but required runs to win were very less. We needed that wicket early to win the match. The sound in the stadium was getting louder with each ball.
After the next ball, some boys shouted .. "A gayi gayi ... wicket gayi" ... but that ball went for four and everyone looked disappointed. In that quiet atmosphere, Ashwath shouted "Are yar...."! The laughter of everyone around us grew into a single laugh. As soon as the next ball fell, Ashwath shouted again, "A gayi gayi gayi .... ????" and indeed the wicket was gone ???? and India won the match.
People were souting like a hell. Ashwath was dancing like crazy. Those college students group took selfies with Ashwath. Everyone around us was amazed to see Ashwath enjoying .
I don't know whether he really understands the cricket match or maybe he just follow the people around him but he enjoyed it. This was the Ashwath's first cricket match in stadium which was very exciting.
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©®Suvarna Rahul Bagul
