5 days at Chepauk: Memories for a lifetime

Chepauk and Indian cricket is a match made in heaven. Take the past instances of matches held here. The tied test in 1986-87, Sachin’s first hundred at home, 155* against Australia where he showed the world how to decimate Shane Warne, the heart-breaking loss to Pakistan in 1999, the 2001 Australia series decider and Sachin scoring a 103* against England to produce a thrilling victory against England in 2008 – there is always something special about this extraordinary ground in this ordinary dry, humid city of Chennai. This time, the India vs Australia game was no different. Test cricket is the ultimate form of cricket and I am a firm believer of that. Trust me when I say this – the Chennai crowd waited for this one more than anything else. It has been a patient wait for five years to see the Indian cricketers clad in whites and take the field. The fact that Sachin Tendulkar retired from ODIs made this the most anticipated match in recent times, even more than the IPL. The Test match was a typical South Indian movie with enough home team heroism, glamour, chutzpah, fairy tale occurrences, memorable one-on-one battles and there was dance too! (Not kidding, seriously.) Despite Dhoni’s extraordinary heroics, Sachin was the winner. Let me take you through the day-by-day analysis.

Day 1

India lost the toss, and the crowd was disappointed. But when Dhoni spoke, the crowd erupted. Chennai knows how to treat their adopted son. It wasn’t a packed stadium, but the crowd was more than what we would see in any other Indian city. The organizers at Chepauk came with a unique and weird idea to help audience ‘interact’ with players through the giant screen, where messages sent by the fans will be displayed. The messages were quite entertaining. Most were quite irreverent, downright stupid or unintentionally funny. It just showed the level of fanaticism and fanboyism that existed amidst the people as each tried to outdo the other with their messages. Coming to the game, Australia were 150-5 after a promising start. The local Super King Ashwin was the man of the day scalping 6 Aussie wickets of the 7 that fell. One guy sent a message saying that it was Saeed Ajmal in disguise. The moment of fun that existed during the day was the fans in my stand hurling playful abuses at Kumara Dharmasena for failing to detect Clarke’s edge when he was on 39. When the opposition team hits a boundary, every stadium in India goes silent. The crowd at Chepauk, while it doesn’t bring the roof down, applauds the opposition’s efforts. Michael Clarke conjured a brilliant century and he must have felt that he was batting in the SCG. When he scored his 100th run, every soul in the stadium raised up and applauded Pup. No Aussie player after Warne has received such love and respect from the Chennai crowd. 316-7 was the perfect score card at the end of day 1. Honours shared and I had the gut feel that India might win this, but there was magic to happen in the next 4 days.

Day 2

Sachin Tendulkar is an adorable human being. The crowd relentlessly waved and cheered for him whenever a ball was hit to his direction, and whenever he walked towards the crowd to take his position near the ropes. He responded every single time with different gestures to the jumping and enthusiastic fans. As soon as the news that Australia were bundled out for 380 reached the ticket holders, they started to come in and the stadium looked set for the Indian innings. The atmosphere was electric, buzzing with expectation. The tension could be cut with a knife. Few people waited after Sehwag got out. All eyes glued to the players box. There was a slight opening of the glass door and a short man walked out through it. The English dictionary hasn’t come up with the right word to define that feeling. The atmosphere like that can never be experienced ever again. Blessed souls we are. 23 years. 1 man. 1 billion memories. In the space of the first two balls he faced, Sachin Tendulkar tilted the balance of the match in his own masterly style. Arriving at the wicket with India gaping at 12 for 2, he punched a ravaging James Pattinson through the covers with panache, and didn’t stop with that. He then guided one to the backward point fence with precision and a leg glance that was a sign of vintage Sachin in ominous form. The stage was set. The statement was made. The king has returned to his fortress. I went bonkers. Added to this, was a craziness of an entirely preposterous quantity, courtesy Michael Clarke and David Warner. Clarke did a balle balle! step at the audience,who sent a couple of SMSes on the big screen about Michael Clarke. After reading the message, he turned towards the crowd and doffed his cap. The crowd applauded and responded with “Michael….. Michael” chants. Few minutes later, another SMS flashed on the big screen asking for Clarke to perform Gangnam style, much to my amazement. What was more shocking was Clarke obliging and Warner joined the party rather reluctantly. Their sportsmanship was cheered rather vociferously. Clarke’s cheerful attitude was such an antithesis to that of Ponting. However, the clincher of the day was Clarke’s reaction to one message which read- All people who will be here tomorrow to watch GOD (Sachin) bat to a 100, raise your hands!”. Clarke raised his hand as well! A memory that shall be etched in for long.

Day 3

I met with an accident but that didn’t prevent me from wanting to watch Sachin possibly score another brilliant century. But unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The day belonged to M.S. Dhoni. The initials in his name just changed to Madras Singh. He was like the bunny in the Duracell advertisement – sheer stamina and grit. After a superhuman effort against Pakistan last December, he produced a double century on a minefield of a pitch that was characterized by pure dynamite and dominance. A ruthless assault. Dhoni’s 200th run received a Sachin-esque response from the crowd. A Sunday couldn’t have been spent much better, and a Test match script couldn’t have been written better. As I limped down the stairs, living the moment, I happened to meet Warne, Ravi Shastri, Kapil Dev, Navjot Sing Sidhu and Harsha Bhogle who reacted to my greetings. That 20 second interaction is one of the best moments of my life.

Me: Hey, Harsha!

Harsha: Hi. I guess you should have enjoyed the day’s play?

Me: Yes! Totally!

Harsha (laughing): People from Ranchi are complaining, you know.

Me: *Grinned widely*

Here’s the video of the crowd’s reaction to Dhoni scoring his double ton:

Day 4

I got a reprieve from the heat as I treated myself to the air conditioned box seats in the stadium thanks to a friend. Apart from the free food and beverages, the sight of watching Indian spinners totally in control made the day perfect. The ball was turning in every possible direction. Showing enough common sense and a methodical approach to put his more experienced team-mates to considerable shame, Moises Henriques delayed the inevitable with a gutsy 75*. India seemed certain to wrap up, until Henriques and Nathan Lyon put up a resistance that frustrated the fans and players. Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja all posed problems, their triumvirate proving to be a perfect storm for the visitors. All took advantage of the lead handed to them by Dhoni’s brilliantly brutal 224. The best moment of the day was Sachin running from the 30 yard circle to prevent a boundary, with a sweeping stop. Commitment took a whole new meaning when a 39-year-old put up a rather meaningless chase in the context of the game. As the day ended, many complained about arriving at the stadium for one more day. I wasn’t.

Day 5

India were set a target of 50 to win. Not many expected Sachin to walk in at number 4 to finish off the game. I thanked Murali Vijay and Sehwag from the bottom of my heart. I witnessed something that never happened before. In a career spanning 23 years and close to 650 international matches, Sachin Tendulkar has never hit a six of the first ball he faced. Before I could catch my breath and absorb that moment of awesomeness, he hit another one. Two sixes of the first two balls acted were the perfect recipe to instil madness in the crowd that even The Joker would be proud of.

No one has given me continuous joy like Sachin for the past two decades and I wasn’t going miss his possibly last game at my home. There is something occult about cricket in Chennai. An aura. A bonding that is relished by the entire fraternity. It maybe the idolization of the players by the fans or their natural warmth. No wonder Chennai is the most successful venue in India for India. Great cricketing moments have happened here. This was no different.