2008 : Africa Cup of Nations

As I confessed last time, I'm not an avid sports person at all. Not even a spectator.

But with Egypt's recent win against Ghana in the semi finals of the 2008 Africa Cup and the celebrations that erupted all over the city 2 nights ago. I could remain ignorant no longer and had to brush up before the finals tomorrow. Because Football is all that this country is talking about right now.

Football is to Egypt what Cricket is to India. An insider tip in Cairo is that the best time to travel around the city is before the midday prayers on Friday, during Iftaar time in Ramadan and during a televised football match (when Egypt is playing another country or Al Ahli is playing Zamalek) This is when traffic on Cairo's otherwise congested roads is almost non-existent. The city looks like a ghost town.

Al Ahli and Zamalek are local clubs. More often than not it is the Al Ahli club that wins, but that doesn't distract the Zamalek loyalists. Matches between these 2 clubs are so fierce, that they are almost always officiated by foreign referees.

Coming to the Africa cup, its been held almost every alternate year since 1957 (making it older than the corresponding European championship). This year is the 26th edition. Winning this tournament is a big deal because the winner gets to represent the Confederation of African Football at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup which is a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Egypt has been a semi finalist 12 times thus far, but reached the finals just 50% of the time. So when Egypt won the semi finals against Ivory Coast (their co-finalist in 2006 Africa Cup of Nations) on the night of the 7th, the city turned 4-5 times noisier than usual. To those who have been in Cairo and thought it wasn't possible to get any noisier, I humbly invite you to be here during the finals and witness it for yourself.

Egypt is the nation that has won this cup the most number of times (5 of the 6 times that it has been in the finals) The other semi finals this year were between Ghana (host nation) and Cameroon - both 4 time winners of this cup.

The finals tomorrow will be between Egypt and Cameroon and the whole city is gearing up towards it. Flags are being sold on every street corner and major road (you might as well buy something patriotic when you are stuck in 3 hour traffic jams) Absenteeism will be at its highest tomorrow. If Egypt wins tomorrow, I don't even want to hazard a guess as to how long the celebrations will continue.

So if you are around during the finals, get home before the scoring starts and stay in no matter what the outcome because there will tons of people on the road post the match either celebrating or taking out their frustrations. Because whatever you may have heard: "It's not just a game!"

Twenty20 - Reactions From a Non-cricket Watching Indian

Nothing personal against cricket, but I don't watch sports ! (This is my first post where I've chosen "Sports" as the Section) Except gymnastics, ice skating and synchronized swimming.

Equally crazily, I am married to the ultimate cricket fanatic, who watches matches, repeats, highlights and replays on the news (that's all of them - not an either/or choice). Who remembers statistics from games I never knew were played. For eg. He just said "We have never lost to Pakistan in a world cup" OK, not a great example, but it needed repeating :)

Another of his gems just before the last ball "For a moment, I thought about the last time a Haryana bowler named Sharma had the last over against Pakistan in a final. New Sharma, New ending"

Now these nuances are lost on me, but I'm sure there is a large group out there who can appreciate them. (Like the employees of various MNCs in India who officially closed office at 4 P.M. today.)

Being away from India for the first time on a long posting, he quickly ensured that we got all the right technology installed at home for regular access to cricket matches.

There's a small population of desis in Cairo (about 500) and an even smaller subset of cricket "fan"atics. The previous matches in the last year went by without much community feeling and viewing in this country. But this 20/20 brought a large portion of the Indian community together.

A couple of rational reasons for this would be the shortened timings in offices due to Ramadan (offices close by 3, the matches started at 2 - Egypt time) and the BCA showing the matches on a big screen where desis could get together and watch the matches in a group with alcohol available to drown sorrows or celebrate victories.

The group did avoid meeting at the club on the day of the India-England match because of the larger number of British supporters. But they regretted doing that by the end of the match.

Many of the Indians met up at the BCA for the days the Indians were playing. The non cricket watching wives would sit around and watch each others husbands bemusedly, wondering which of them would make a bigger scene at a missed catch or a wide ball.

We were of course happy that the matches were shortened, it meant less time sitting around. But it also meant shorter, almost non existent ad breaks (except 2 very irritating Horlicks & Sensodyne ads on Ten Sports) to try and communicate with your cricket lover.

Some of them would sit in the same crazy position that they were in when the last 6 was hit or wear the same clothes/shoes to every match. All kinds of crazy stuff that only fans can indulge in.

This was a good opportunity for us to get together and celebrate being Indian outside of India. Yuvraj's 6 sixes was obviously the biggest highlight till today's match. He does deserve the quarter-million and its good to see the BCCI giving something back to the players.($2 million for the team)

We watched today's match at home, but the phone calls kept coming and going throughout the match from across the world. Reactions & moods of the husband were oscillating from wild elation to extreme dejection at each ball. The little bits of the match that I did watch, I found it difficult to keep track since I couldn't recognise more than half the players (I had completely lost track of cricket from the time the slide started, plus this team had tons of newcomers to the international field)

But it was good to see a young team selected and though they had their health problems, they kept at it. Their confidence and perseverance are to be commended & rewarded. The cup and the 40 lakhs each are just a beginning.

Dhoni from all the conversations I caught, more than proved himself as being an able captain willing to take risks (who else would play a complete newcomer as opening batsman in a world cup final?)

He also showed more class in taking his shirt off and giving it to that little kid (I didn't catch who the kid was) rather than waving it around :)

From the strange tie breaker at the last India Pakistan match to the 6 sixes, to the final world cup win, it was an amazing journey even to the part time spectator.

The final run around the field with the Indian flags was a "rungte kadhe hone wala" scene that would warm the cockles of any Indians heart.

Way to go Indian team. This is a victory to savor for a long time and I hope it paves the way for more new comers into the playing Indian team.

By the way, we did this without a coach !



Photo Credit : Cricinfo.com

cricket fever in Chepauk...

CHENNAI, OCT. 17. The contest on Day four of the India-Australia Test Match at Chepauk was not on the field but in the stands.

``You might be FANATICS, but we Indians are LUNATICS,'' read the chart from the Indian fans sitting right below where the Australian cheerleading squad, Fanatics, was positioned in the Pepsi Stand.

The Australians responded with the thumbs down gesture and broke into one of their many songs, which, amidst the din in the stadium, was difficult to comprehend. But the tit-for-tat continued through the day.

Only a few rows away, another Indian fan sported a red-tee shirt that said: One good thing about bad reputation is that it is easy to maintain.

``Contribute Rs. 5 towards Gillespie's haircut fund,'' read another as the lanky paceman dropped anchor, steering the Aussies out of trouble in the company of Martyn.

Much later in the day, when Darren Lehman and Martin Clarke came together, the banter in the stand continued.

Just after tea, an Indian fan with a video camera rushed to the edge of the Terrace T-3 stand as if to cock-a-snook at the Australian `fanatics' in the nearby stand.

He challenged the Australians that India would win the Test tomorrow. Soon the Australians were cheering: ``Look at the scoreboard ... Look at the scoreboard'' punctuated by three claps, pointing to the giant screen.

The score was 347 for the loss of six wickets.

Anil Kumble answered the fan's call by claiming two wickets in three balls. Now it was the Indians' turn: ``Look at the scoreboard ... Look at the scoreboard.'' The sportive Fanatics rose from the seats to give the crowd a series of bows.

What's cooking?

Food at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium has been unbelievably good. Among the most popular food stalls were the ones managed by Fruit Shop on Greams Road, Galloping Gooseberry and Frankie's.

Back in the stands, there was a different kind of `cuisine' lined up.

The Australians put up a yellow banner that read: ``Today's menu: Butter Gloves Patel, Kumble No Tikka, Harbhajan Masala. Warning: Very Expensive. Will give Aussies the runs.''

After the loss of a couple of Australian wickets, the Indian fans struck back: ``Today's Indian Menu: Kangaroo Burger, McGrath Biriyani, Warne Pizza, Martyn Masala, Gilli Roast, Aussie Meals.''

Birthday boy

Indian and Australian fans found ways to wish Kumble on his 34th birthday today.

The Australians broke into a birthday song during a drinks break and completed their tribute with their trademark series of bows.

Another Indian fan, meanwhile, came up with a poster idea: ``How about Kangaroo Kabab for your birthday?''

Another person came up with a gift idea. The poster carried names of the Australian batsmen who fell victim to the spinner today, who ended with a match haul of 13 wickets.

The climax

The Indian celebrations were restricted to three small spells through the day — twice when two wickets fell in an over and once when Sehwag came out to bat.

The last 15 minutes of play, however, was what Indian fans hoped would be a sneak preview for the final day's play.

Passions of the Indian cricket fans were fuelled when the close-up of verbal exchange between Virender Sehwag and Glenn McGrath was flashed on the giant screen. The last ball of the day was smashed for a boundary.

As the fans were leaving, plenty of them were scheming how to stay away from offices on Monday.