A dream come true...

Uppal Stadium

It is Vettori with his left arm orthodox bowling at the bowling end. Harbhajan took his stance and was ready. Vettori came in; Bhaji dances down the pitch and lofts the ball to long on. BANG! A six. Next ball also same result. Two back to back sixes for Bhaji against unarguably world’s best left hand spinner. Uppal stadium erupted to pandemonium. All was roaring Bhaji’s name…..
It has been my dream to watch the BIG5 of Indian cricket (Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly & Kumble) in action. Unfortunately I never had a chance. That is why I was anxious when I heard a test is being played at Uppal stadium Hyderabad. Probably last chance to watch Sachin Dravid & Laxman together. Me and two friends decided to go for match. So we went on 3rd day morning, Sachin & Dravid at crease, with Sachin aiming his 50th test hundred. But ticket was not issued at the stadium, so we bought ticket in black. 450 for ticket of Rs 300 & he told it was season ticket. When we entered, Sachin was already out. Dravid & Laxman stood like Walls. The bowlers where charging and banging in, but ball didn’t move an inch from where Dravid defended. Even we were frustrated at this, then what will be the feeling of bowler!! What a player he is. But not that wonderful for watchers. But luck was with us. Indian Collapse began after lunch. And that was when Bhaji started his cameo with Sreesanth. (Interesting pair right). Crowd started enjoying. It was after 22 years a test match conducted at Hyderabad. And Bhaji was punishing kiwis. He went on to make centaury next day. We couldn’t get even a glimpse of little master.
On 5th day thinking ours was season ticket, me and another two friends went again to watch the match. But when we reached there, security guards stopped us. It was then I understood that we were beautifully tricked. 300 rs for 5 days ticket. Each day’s ticket was separate. The guy who sold us ticket bought 5 days ticket for 300 and sold each ticket for 400-500. He pays 300 and gets almost 2000!!!! We were charged out of the area. But we waited outside to get tickets from those who are coming out. We waited and waited and knew match was almost over. We were losing our hope. That was when a guy gave us his tickets and told us to get in fast so that we can watch the closing ceremony. Guess what it was corporate box ticket. Next to the pavilion. There was AC, an LCD and a fridge. We found soft drinks and juices in the fridge [:P]. After the match was over, we waited outside near the buses to wave them goodbye. Saw them very near, getting into bus. Sachin and Laxman got most cheers. Luck favored us in this way. A lot of thanks to that unknown guy who gave his ticket for us free. We came back with satisfaction of a dream come true.