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| We took advantage of our first row seats. |
The schedule for ICC cricket world cup 19 was announced in April 2018 and without any delay our planning for summer holidays 2019 started in right earnest. We targeted India's matches against Australia and Pakistan as they fitted nicely into our slot and the entire 2 week trip revolved around these 2 matches. So, in June 2018 sitting at a seaside pub at Split, Croatia, my cousin Kunaal and I firmed up the idea, and itinerary for June 2019 was more or less finalised over a few pints of beer.
Going by our past standards - this would be a less complicated trip. Normally we do a lot of countries and lot of cities in a short span of time. We decided to fit in Ireland between the two matches and a relaxing 3 days at Lake district after the Pakistan match. But as we landed in London, the thoughts were on cricket and only cricket. Ireland and Lake district was somewhere in distance.
London was nice and cool on the morning of 8th June as we landed there. Just a day before we were braving 46 deg C in Delhi. The match against formidable Australia was on Sunday 9th June at the Oval. I was staying at South East London for the two days before embarking on Ireland leg. In this part of London there was hardly any enthusiasm for cricket. Most people I talked to didn't even know that there was a thing such as ICC cricket world cup happening in England.There were no billboards and no flags indicating anything about the tournament. I hoped that closer to the venues things would be better.
The Tibbet Test
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| All roads led to Keenington Oval on the morning of June 9 2019 |
As I boarded the tube to Oval from London Bridge early in the morning, the entry of several enthusiasts in Indian blue colours started the excitement. With each station more people entered the train - all in blue. Coming out of station into bright sunlight with the Oval stadium glistening on the left - the street leading to it was full of revelry. Indian flags fluttered in the hands of Indian supporters and vendors were doing brisk business selling flags, T Shirts and caps. There were hundreds of Indians around me walking to the stadium but they talked differently. Most were born and brought up in England and were British citizens. But they were here to support India. Many would support India even against their country of residence - England. In 1990 a term called as 'Tebbit test' or 'cricket test' had become very popular. A conservative MP by the name of Norman Tebbit felt that sub continental immigrants supported their native countries rather than England during a match of cricket. So he suggested 'cricket test' when a cricket match between sub continental team and England was being played, the idea was to check whom these immigrants were supporting. This he suggested should be the criterion for grant of citizenship. This came to be known as the 'Tibbet test' and thankfully for the Indians and Pakistanis in UK, it was never implemented.
The Kennington Oval
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| Indian team could never complain of lack of support |
We entered the stadium from the Hobbs gate and the crowd had grown in size and was extremely loud and vociferous. Chants of 'Jeetega bhai jeetega - India jeetega' reverbrated all around.
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| The names of county winning Surrey teams |
As we crossed the open area and reached the corridor leading to our gate, we were in the middle of cricket history as the history of Surrey is ubiquitous on each wall and each gate. The portraits of great players adorn the walls and their championship record is there for all to see. I don't know how others feel - but I felt very special to be in the midst of all this history. India's first test victory in England in 1971 had been at Kennington Oval and not to forget that masterly 221 by Sunny Gavaskar at this ground in 1979.
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| It was house full at the Oval and 99% of support was for India |
The Game
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| Our host Murali Kartik was busy with his commentary and other assignments but would come over often to see if we were comfortable |
As we climbed a few stairs, the ground came into the view. It was a stunning view. The ground was lush green and sky was bright blue with a few clouds. The stadium was totally packed and all you could see were the Indian supporters. Not a single yellow shirt could be seen in the crowd. In India we are used to seeing all this in a bit of haze and dust - but here it was like watching HD TV telecast. A roar went up as Virat won the toss and then it was time to have fun as India played brilliantly to score 350+. The Indian player's pavilion was just on our right and the view of the game was very clear from where we sat. My cousin Amit was arriving from India but his flight had got delayed. Ours were the first row seats and as Amit's seat was empty a girl from behind came and sat there. She was extremely enthusiastic and a brilliant dancer with all the right movements of body. So impressed was Kunaal with her that he asked her to occupy this seat for the entire duration of the match and when Amit arrived - he would be relegated to the back bench !
Time for Beer
If there was one thing for which there were no long queues - it was the frothy beer being sold at the Stadium. This was because there were so many of the counters for Beer. The glasses they were served in were nice and attractive with logo of ICC world cup. They took a deposit for the glasses but I got one home for remembrance. The queues for food were long and luckily I carried a credit card as Oval was a no cash zone that day. For fish and chips the queue meandered and meandered and it would have taken an hour so we compromised and had sliced duck roll which was quite nice and we could get back to our seats without missing the cricketing action.
People started drinking beer early and they had lots of it the whole day. You could smell beer sitting in the stands. The result of all this was there to see as post lunch it was difficult to get inside the crowded toilets !
Go India Go
India won the match comfortably though Aussies did put up a good fight. When the Aussies started scoring the arena became silent. The fours and sixes were not applauded but an Aussie wicket was treated with loud cheers and frenzied dancing. One felt sorry for Aussies as it was as if they were playing against India in India. We left stadium well after the match was over and all formalities had been completed. The Oval station was crammed so I went for a long walk and took the tube from some other station.
The first stage of the trip had been completed successfully and it was time to fly out to Dublin the next morning for a 5 day trip before India took on Pakistan at Manchester.
Twitter : @arorarohin
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E mail: rohinarora@gmail.com
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