John's World...cricket

Young Cricketer. "Yes, I cocked one off the splice in the gully and the blighter gathered it." Father. "Yes, but how did you get out? Were you caught, stumped or bowled, or what?" 

While I cannot tell you the difference between a “googly” and a “Yorker”, I did decide to “break my duck” and go to my first ever cricket match.  Cricket never really seemed like something I would honestly get into.  The matches can be anywhere from three hours to five days.  The glossary of terms is incredibly dense.  Few players have what we typically think of as having athletic builds. 

Yes.  It’s similar to baseball in those respects. 

Baseball players eat too much of this...

And yet, as baseball continues to decline in popularity in the United States, cricket is actually gaining considerable ground.  Part of this was due to the creation of the game type I went to Wednesday night.   Instead of the multi-day “test” cricket, I took in club cricket that lasts only a few hours (T20).

My experience took me to Chinnaswamy Stadium in central Bangalore.  The place was absolutely packed to the rafters to see Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) take on Punjab X1.  Despite RCB having a dreadful season, the crowd was joyous.  As I took my seat, the DJ played western and Kannada hip hop while the crowd chanted “R-C-B”. 

I kind of had an idiot’s idea as far as how the game was played.  I’d been watching IPL games throughout the season.  Two batters for one team are on the field, the other team (much like in baseball) is bowling (like pitching) and fielding.  Scoring can done through hitting the ball and running with your fellow batter back and forth from the wickets (poles in the ground) as many times as you can without someone knocking over the wickets with the ball.  Alternatively, four runs are awarded for a ball that bounced inside the boundary before rolling out.  A “six” or “maximum” is given to someone who hits it out of the boundary without touching the ground (like a homerun).  You are given a certain number of balls to play and when you run out, the other team then must bowl.  Most runs wins.

Tonight proved to be a special night.  Chris Gayle (mentioned in previous posts) returned to RCB where he use to play (the fans loved it when he turned around to acknowledge their cheers for him).  AB de Villiers batted absolutely out of his mind.  The South African cricketer pulverized the King’s X1 bowlers.  One shot was hit with such power and form it sailed out of the stadium.  The effort proved to be too insurmountable for the away side as RCB won the match (don’t ask the score, I still don’t understand scoring).

Chris Gayle returns

ABD steals the show with a monster night

As expected, the night gave me another insight into Indian culture.  I’ve said before, that the country is cricket crazy.  However, not in the manner that we see sports in the West.  In the West, we put a great deal of emphasis on results.  Mostly winning.  I witnessed no booing in all the sports I’ve seen on TV or live here.  I’ve found that most people want to simply be entertained.  The fanatic immerses themselves in the mind-numbing box scores.  They applaud the simple twist of the bat that results in a four getting squeezed out just as much as the wicket being smashed to pieces by a fine bowl. 

The game is full of strategy, form, and nuance.  It is a true battle going on in that oval.  And as I mentioned before, the battle is what can bring enjoyment to life.

Boys and girls playing at the villa "grounds" everyday

local kids playing in a field with makeshift "stumps"