Watching Live Cricket

Cricket is a national obsession in India, more so in Chennai and I am no exception.  With so much live cricket being telecast on TV one does not get too many chances to watch matches live in the stadium.  I got a rare opportunity to watch a match today at Chepauk today with a colleague who had come from the US to watch a world cup match live.  He was new to Cricket and so I had to teach him the rules and nuances of the game.  I was going there after a gap of around 2 years.  The stadium has been revamped with modern canopy covered high stands making way for those staid dull stands.   It is more airy and the ground view is top class. Coloured foldable bucket seats have been installed permanently. They are more comfortable to sit and there is enough room in front for the legs. I understand they have spent close to Rs. 200 crores for doing up a part of the stadium.  I felt it was money well spent.  There were some good appreciative comments from many English and South African fans.

I initially felt a bit let down watching the match live without the usual drama, commercials, expert comments etc.  But then I started enjoying it when I realised this is how all the cricketers out there in the ground saw it ! The only trouble we had at times was not being able to spot the ball at times.  This was more so when fast bowlers came in and bowled and were smacked by the batsman for a four.  It all seemed to have gone in a flash.  There were plenty of English and South African fans around.  The English were in their usual jolly good mood when the match began and slumped into a grouchy mood when the team was not doing well.  When many Indian spectators backed the English team cheering them on, it was as if they wanted them to do well but realised they could not ! I felt good when the match was finally won by England. Chepauk crowd was very appreciative and encouraging good cricket and sportsmanship.  They cheered both the teams equally during the initial stages but when they realised England was doing badly started backing them and encouraged them.

I was with a colleague from the USA who wanted to watch a Cricket World Cup match live even though he did not know much of Cricket.  It was therefore left to me to explain to him the laws and nuances of the game.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.  Interestingly he was to meet our clients who were from England this evening.  They were also watching this match but in a different location within the stadium.  It was important for England to win as we wanted them to be in a good mood so that we could have some good business discussions! My colleague wanted to understand the game well so that he could talk about it during their meeting in the evening.  He began to enjoy the game. It was during my explanation to him that I realised that the game was more of a thinking game more than just athleticism and physical strength.  It was about strategy, good judgment, smart thinking, proactiveness and team work.  Aren’t these traits that we follow in our professional lives? Well then professional life is like a game. You play it fair and well you succeed. That may apply to our personal lives too I guess.  In the evening India was playing a match against Ireland in Bangalore and we were getting to watch it on TV.  That was a perfect way to end a wonderful warm, breezy, quiet and sweet Sunday.