Tour Diary: Ground reality!

The inaugural edition of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) surpassed everyone's expectations and imagination as it engulfed the entire nation in its spirit. Irrespective of the team they cheered for, the crowd loved every bit of the action, drama and emotion they witnessed and experienced on various grounds. The 44 days of 'Karmayudh' ended with a perfect 'yudh' between two determined and close knit units led by the two most inspirational captains of the tournament. As the Chennai Super Kings took on the Rajasthan Royals at the DY Patil Sports Stadium in Mumbai, the entire stadium was on its feet, looking forward to a thrilling grand finale.

The unfaltering spirit of Mumbaikars was once again evident from the fact that inspite of their home team being out of the tournament, they filled the stadium to its full capacity or perhaps more than that. This cricket-crazy crowd was awarded a fair share of excitement and entertainment with the colourful and vibrant closing ceremony of the IPL. The atmosphere was all kicked up and a perfect stage was set for an enthralling game of cricket. What added to the flavour was the presence of some famous personalities like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Sania Mirza among the others. But the highlight of the VIP box was the master of our passion, Sachin Tendulkar who graced the venue with his magnanimous presence and giving him company were two members of the semi-finalist Punjab team S Sreesanth and VRV Singh.

As the match began, the loyalties of the crowd were vastly divided between the two teams. But the funniest thing I noticed about the ground audience was how they switched their cheers depending on the situation of the match. When a Chennai batsman smashed the ball for a six, they would erupt with the chants of 'Chennai jeetega!' ('Chennai will win') and when the Rajasthan bowler got him out, Chennai would be replaced by Rajasthan. Not only that, the fans in the stands would invariably come up with shouts of cheer for the boundary fielder to get his attention. A bunch of Tamil fans also came prepared with a slogan in Tamil which they used with the names of all the Chennai players including the drum maestro Sivamani who came to perform in their vicinity. The shouts of "We want a sixer" and "we want a wicket" broke out time and again which added to the excitement of the atmosphere. The fans were not at all disappointed as they got exactly what they had come for... a nerve-racking and nail-biting game of cricket which lasted till the ultimate delivery.

When the Rajasthan batsmen went for the final run of the match, the whole stadium erupted in excitement and the players stormed into the ground to celebrate their hard-fought victory. My favourite off-the-field moment of celebration was when the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar embraced his buddy and leading Bollywood actor Aamir Khan after the match. Then the time for the final presentation ceremony arrived and both the teams gathered along with the officials for the presentation ceremony.

While the victorious Royals were busy with their celebrations, my eyes were stuck on the Super Kings. Their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni led them to the presentation area and the entire team stood there in a huddle, hands on each other's shoulder. This was a very small thing that happened amidst all the hoopla surrounding the winning team but it was a gesture that spoke volumes about the unity and high spirit of the Super Kings! All in all, everyone present at the ground had the time of their lives as they witnessed a perfect end to the tournament which has been an epitome of excitement and entertainment since day one.