A walk down the memory lane... and I remember my romance with cricket started in late 2000- probably during an ICC Knockout Event that had coincided with Dussehra. That match versus Sri Lanka left me asking for more and whetted my appetite for the game, turning me into a cricket freak!
Before that, obviously, it was quite customary for me to sit beside Papa and keep wondering, while looking through his glasses, what was so interesting and engaging about those men- all clad in white- who took to the field. I do have vague memories of Sharjah and the 'Sachin Special' at WC'99- England- flashing across our 'very recently bought' coloured T.V. set. However, when the journey began as an eight-year old, there was something about this game that caught my fancy- or- may be it was already etched in my DNA- who knows? One-dayers became a regular at home- they were women-friendly and easier to celebrate. The Natwest win'02, the unforgettable WC'03, the Indo-Pak series'04 and the rest that followed were always a treat to watch. Yet I still had two tough nuts to crack- Test cricket and Rahul Dravid...because I knew the former was incomplete without the latter. With the euphoria that had surrounded the Eden win in 2001, I could sense the enormity of the longer-version of the game and with time, it became possible for me to appreciate the act of 'having won after following-on'. Besides, there was something intriguing about Jammy- I knew the face because I loved Kissan Jam. But there was something more to him that I felt I needed to explore. And all this after 'THE WALL' emerged at Adelaide in 2003. One particular word that floated around on MTV was 'awesome'. And indeed, he was! Needless to say, Test Cricket completely took over. This was uncharacteristic of a girl who had never been very tomboyish! No wonder, I fell for the gentleman's game and not for a sport like football.
