I’m lovin it

Note: This is a purely girlish post. I am not trying to pretend to be an oh-i-know-everything-about-cricket-mandira-bedi at all

Shani: ager tum cricketer hoti tou kya hoti?
Me: Hansie Cronje (with a wide grin)

Ok, this was way way back in ‘98. A time wen all my class mates had crushes on hollywood actors, footballers, tennis players….my favorite man in the world was Hansie Cronje. And No, it wasnt a crush. I just adored him for the clean image that he had, his intelligent looks, his prowess and his success.

The admiration was not only limited to Cronje. I quite liked the whole South African team and was an avid supporter in all their matches if they were not playing against Pakistan. I was actually quite sad wen they screwed up their chance of playing the final against Pakistan in the ‘99 world cup.

And then came the shocking news of Cronje being involved in match fixing in 2000. I felt betrayed.

Just two years later he died while he was trying to rebuild his life with dignity. I once again felt sorry for him.

In the meanwhile, South Africa continued being the best team around and yet losing all the big games.

The only knowledge that I have of cricket was thru the galli cricket that I used to play with all the boys of the muhalla during the summer vacations that we spent in Karachi back then. Still I am a keen spectator of cricket.

But lately, I had not been following cricket the way I used to. I didnt even feel thrilled about the World Cup. Frankly speaking, I didnt even know that T20 World Cup was about to start till around just two days before the World Cup started. The way Team Pakistan had been playing for a while might have been a reason.

I watched a match after a loooooong time (the last I watched was the One day that we lost terribly to Sri Lanka a few months back) and thank God I did watch it. It was a sure treat after the 18 hour electricity break down. It was simply an awesome match. Obviously, u gotta feel for the South African Team. They always lose the biggies but hey, wats more important is that we won.

Now, the result could have been completely the opposite. We won merely by 7 runs. Another bad over after that of Fawad Alam’s could have costed us the match. Obviously, a few more chokkas and chakkas during the last 5 overs of the Pakistan inning could have made life a bit simpler for the bowlers….and oh how can we forget the dropped catch by Umer Gul *ouch*

What the hell, why even think of what could have happened otherwise! For the time being, I’m lovin it