The whole Chinnaswamy stadium was reverberating with chants of ‘Aar Cee Bee’ and the noise was so deafening that your eardrums would have felt less pressure if tied to a roaring jet engine. Though, Saurabh Tiwary had played a blinder of an innings thus far, the equation still looked daunting with 37 needed of two overs. Zaheer hadn’t faced a single delivery and he anxiously practiced some strokes at the non-striker’s end. As I looked around at the immensely noisy crowd all around me, one thing struck my mind that each of the 50 thousand odd fans at the venue was absolutely certain that RCB will romp home. I was glad that I had got a nice seat in the North Stand which gave me a ringside view of the proceedings as ‘Slinger Malinga’ got ready to run away to hurl the ball at his former teammate Saurabh.

It was more than a coincidence if you ask me, that two former MI champions were at the crease, tasked with snatching a win from the jaws of defeat against their ex teammates. Sachin had a light-hearted banter with the two batsmen in between the overs and he jokingly reminded them of their MI love of previous seasons. The field was nicely spread out as Saurabh got ready to take strike. Not that, the positioning of boundary riders would have mattered to him, but, still MI didn’t want to take a chance against this highly talented southpaw.


Malinga ran in and smacked the ball in his own half of the pitch in a bid to extract sharp bounce. It did bounce high and Tiwary helped it rise further as he bent backward a little to play the left handed ‘Upar Cut’. Both the players admired the crafty stroke as the ball disappeared into the crowd in the ‘D’ block of the West stand. One of my friends standing next to me wondered whether this was the maximum possible amount of noise that 50 thousand human throats could produce or there was more to come. When Tiwary lifted the next one in the gap between long on and mid wicket for a one bounce four, the noise levels rose further, rendering us incapable of hearing our own voices. With 27 needed of 10, the heat was on and Sachin must have felt greatly relieved when Tiwary knocked the next snorter from Malinga on the leg side and ran a quick single. 26 of 9 and Zaheer was at strike for the first time in the game. I could feel my heart beat becoming louder and restless like the crowd. The field was brought up immediately in a resemblance to the power play overs as they wanted Zaheer to face the remainder of the over. Next one from Malinga was a sheer class delivery as it pitched on the off stump and shaped away, leaving the bat untouched on its way to the keeper’s gloves. The speed gun clocked 147 and I guess my heart also beat at the same speed.


26 of 8 needed as Zaheer examined the field again. Long on, Long off and a deep mid wicket patrolled Zaheer’s favorite hitting areas as Malinga ran in to ball the next one. Another beauty in the same mould, pitching on off and leaving the bat at express pace, but, one that made the umpire stretch his right arm and yell ‘No Ball’. 25 of 8 with Zaheer facing a free hit, the excitement in the air was palpable. Malinga made the cardinal mistake of bowling a good length delivery on the line of leg stump and Zaheer in his inimitable style dispatched it over wide long on. As I looked to my right, the crowd in the ‘B’ block of the West stand went berserk as the ball landed among them. 19 of seven and Zaheer finding the middle of his bat were ominous signs for Mumbai Indians. Malinga is the name of variety and clever changes of pace and I was sure that his pride was badly hurt as he ran in to ball the final delivery of the over. As guessed by me, he did change the pace, bowling an off cutter at 108 kmph that faintly turned towards the pads as Zaheer wound up and sent it sailing to the same part of the West stand, the only difference being that, this time it went higher and landed into the upper storey ‘A’ Block. 24 runs of the over and Malinga’s reputation as well as self confidence was hugely dented as he trudged back to third man to field for the final over of the evening.


With 13 needed of the last over, Sachin threw the ball to the highest Indian wicket taker in Tests and ODIs among those presently playing international cricket. The wily Sardar had his own ideas and he probably would have tried anything and everything in his repertoire to prevent his ex-team mates from defeating his side. The very first ball pitched on the leg stump and turned sharply towards off. Tiwary squeezed it towards point where a nimble Rohit Sharma prevented any possibility of a run. The equation on the giant screen read 13 runs needed to win off 5 deliveries’ and once again the excitement rose sharply. The next ball drifted towards Tiwary’s pads and he gleefully dispatched it into his favorite hitting zone. The crowd in the ‘D’ Block of the West stand got their second grab at the battered white ball and the noise levels again threatened to literally blow the roof. At the same time, the fans in other stands felt a bit disappointed as the West Stand crowds were getting all the joy and not a single six was being hit in their direction. 7 off 4 were needed as Harbhajan bowled his next delivery. A typical Bhajji slog over delivery that was fired into the pads at over 100 kmph and Tiwary barely managed to bring his bat down in time, but, for no runs. 7 off three and the scenario of the game resembled a see saw where hopes went up and down with every delivery. Tiwary jumped out of his crease in a bid to hit the next one over long off, but, the ‘doosra’ turned sharply to slide past the bat and connected to the top of the leg stump. The crowd couldn’t believe what it saw and even the sudden hush appeared to be a wild scream of disappointment as Mithun walked in. 7 off two with Mithun on strike looked really a tough call and I wondered whether anything could change the script which had assured me of the RCB win.


Zaheer walked down the pitch to have a word with the youngster and I could see Mithun nod his head in agreement to Zaheer’s words. Bhajji bowled a flighted delivery which turned sharply and found the outside edge of Mithun’s bat as it sped towards Malinga stationed at third man boundary and the batsmen crossed over for a single. It all had now come down to a single delivery off which six runs were needed. Not impossible, but, as difficult as it can get. Every face in the stadium was tense, apart from the face of the guy who was tasked with making all the difference. Zaheer looked at ease and supremely confident in his demeanor as he took guard to face the final offering from Harbhajan. Sachin took a long time in setting the field right, though, we all knew that the fielders didn’t mean anything at all now. The ball had got to sail into the crowd for an RCB win and anything else (barring a no ball or a wide) would have been useless. The girl standing to my left stopped sipping her cola as she stared at Zaheer with abated breath. Bhajji ran down again and the ball pitched on the good length spot and turned marginally. It was a ‘Doosra’ and it again connected as the frenzied crowd watched, but, connected to the middle of Zaheer’s bat for a change. People in the ‘M’ block of the stadium looked up at the white speck in the dark night sky as it zoomed in towards them. For a very brief second, every heart froze, every mouth was left agape and all the noise was muted as more than 50 thousand pairs of eyes were focused on the white speck and the huge frame of Kieron Pollard positioning himself right at the ropes to grab it.


The floodgates of vocal chords opened once again as he helplessly watched the spherical object sail overhead and into an insanely happy crowd.


“Damn!” I let out a scream as I felt the icy cold cola spilled all over my RCB jersey.


“No amount of screaming would do. You have to get up and go for your morning jog.” She replied bitterly.


“Whaaat?”


Oops, I realized that I just went through a wonderful dream as the cola throwing girl took the form of my mother and the cola was nothing else, but, the glass of water that I had kept on the shelf of the bed!


Well guys, a dream it was, but, it had all the makings of a real blockbuster IPL game. The script for April 12th evening is yet to be written, but, my RCB fanatic brain is at work already! 