Chapter 21

WHINING WINEING AND WINNING

On 19^th November 2023, as a way of coping through my broken heart, I wrote:

It struck me a few days later that if the country is in the doldrums, one can only imagine what Virat, Rohit and K L Rahul are going through (Yes, I am only thinking of these 3). I am not one to forgive and forget but heck, they gave us the most fantastic cricket we could have asked for and their heartbreak is my heartbreak. It took me so long to write this piece because, just like them, I was lost in my anguish and disappointment all this time.

“The trail is dusty, and my road it might be rough

But the better roads are waiting

And boys it ain’t far off

Trail of troubles, roads of battles, Paths of victory

We shall walk”.

- Bob Dylan

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Seven months later, on 29^th June 2024, at 11 pm, this previously-heartbroken Indian cricket loyalist sat alone on the sofa in her drawing room affixed to her TV screen, sweaty palms, heart-rate shooting through the roof, VO2 levels at max (looking at you, Andy Galpin), staring at the ‘manifestation poster’ she and her kids had made that morning between every over, on repeat.

If you read my piece about the heartache of losing the World Cup in November ’23, you will recall me painting a similar scenario. The kids were banished from the vicinity. The husband was told to continue watching his random podcasts with abnormally bulked up humans talking about reps and cleaning and pressing (my dhobi does that) and not disturb me during this crucial time.

On that day, much like this past Saturday, I had my usual favourite tipple, royal challenge whisky with soda. My friends’ offers to “get together to watch” were rejected with disdain. None of them (except you, Kalpu and Shashi) cared whether we won or lost. They didn’t deserve my company.

In November we had lost, but all was not lost. I was proud of the way we played. Stuff happened in the final. I could think of a couple of things to criticize but that was between me and the team. No one else was privy to that since it was none of their business. “They didn’t deserve to lose and you shut your mouth”.

Cut to 29th, same scene. Same kids, same husband. I changed my tipple to red wine. “Let’s shake it up today.” One kid had friends over till halftime. Changing things here. One kid went out. That’s fine, did the same last time. My sister-in-law came over. That’s fine too. She’s a big cricket fan. She’ll do. Her husband decided to watch F1 in his house. That’s cool, non-cricket lovers were not welcome anyway. My husband was running a race the next day so he retired to bed (who does that when there’s cricket to watch??). I can’t even…

I left the TV on in all the rooms. What if I go to the kids’ room and I miss a six or a wicket. What if I’m coming out of their room and miss a four or a run out. No stone unturned. That reminds me, TV for the kitchen next? What if I want a glass of water and Jasprit cleans up another one??

I tried to switch it up this time. Did some things the same, some different. What’s the worst that could happen? We can lose. Well, been there, done that.

Watching Rohit, Rishabh and Sky get out one after another was soul shattering, to say the least. God was remembered many times. Head was clutched many times. Wine and whisky were gulped with even more fervor than usual. When things are not going my way, I find solace in the mundane act of drinking liquids…even water will do (sometimes).

I kept switching from Hindi Star Sports to English and back to Hindi continuously, hoping that by some miracle, while I change the channel, someone from South Africa gets out and I would hear Sidhu spitting out another quote or sonnet or profound thought from his never ending repertoire of Sidhuism.

“You rate the ability of a man with what they finish, not what they attempt.” Now you tell me, Sidhu paaji. Why didn’t you say so when Sky attempted a six and got out on 3 runs. I thought we were finished. I knew how I was going to rate him then.

What do you do when all you have is hope and belief. Is it enough? Do you keep hoping against hope and tell yourself to keep believing, or do you just leave everything to the universe.

As Rahul Dravid said after the game - “…but the boys just kept fighting, they kept believing.”

In God we trust, and that’s what we did today. In Virat we trusted. When Rohit and I said Virat is saving himself for the final, we weren’t kidding. Slowly but surely, he did the one thing we needed at the time - steadied the sinking ship.

I feel like some credit for that should go to me. I manifested it. Made my kids put stickers on the visualization poster, stuck it next to the TV, kept touching it throughout the match, even took a picture and sent it on my whatsapp group chats hoping to widen the manifestation universe.

At one point when Klaasen was behaving like a stubborn child, I looked at the picture on my phone and kept taking screenshots of it.

Yes, I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. But I kept my cool and stayed focused till the end of the match. That is what good fans do.

It’s easy for Bob to say, “Trail of troubles, roads of battles, Paths of victory we shall walk”. Let him sit through a match like this and then we’ll talk. Let him eat mud for dinner like Rohit and then talk of his troubles.

In the last over, Ravi Shastri’s booming voice reverberated through the entire house (remember the TVs were on in all the rooms), “cometh the hour, cometh the man!”

The pressure on Hardik to bowl that last over, to remain outwardly calm inspite of that four and a wide in his over, the anticipation of unforgiving brickbats if he messed up and we lost the match, was less than the pressure I was feeling.

Sorry Hardik, you have no idea what I went through.

However, now that we have won, credit has to be given where credit is due. Thank you, Hardik, you were awesome (I would have supported you regardless though). As I have done during all the IPL BS even though my loyalty was still with Rohit. But if he loves you now, I do too.

I’ve been watching the highlights on repeat since Saturday - thank you Star Sports - and even after thousands of viewings I still get tense and nervous in the last over. I really don’t know how I made it through the last 4-5 overs. I think I need a medal. (Jay bhai, are you listening? How about medals for superfans??)

Since all is well that ends well, we will erase the memory of November 2023, when their anguish was my anguish, their disappointment was my disappointment, their heartbreak was my heartbreak. Today their happiness is my happiness, their pride is my pride, their victory is my victory. Proud of you, team India. Onward.

Now on to the highlights. Again.