Cricket Fever

After a good night’s sleep of processing the craziness of where exactly we were, it was time to get started. We set off into town to explore the sights and eat some more food. The train we took was awesome; it was packed with people so we just hung out the door and lapped up all we saw.

We found some street vendors and just asked an Indian girl to order us something good. I got this incredible pancake thing that was filled with potatoes and came with a load of curry sauces for dipping. Masala Dosa was our new favourite dish!

While we ate we got talking to a young guy wearing a cricket top and we asked him if there were any matches happening soon. He told us that the last day of the test between India and the West Indies was happening down the road AS WE SPOKE! We then jumped in a taxi with our hearts racing and headed for the stadium!

When we got to the gates our short-lived dreams were shattered; they said that all tickets for the day were gone. But we hadn’t come all the way to India to fall at the first hurdle and I was somehow convinced we could get into the stadium if we wanted it bad enough. I talked the police guards and tried to play the white man tourist act; no dice. There was quite a crowd at the gates and I started just asking random people for tickets. I eventually found a guy who had one ticket, but he wanted a crazy amount for it. I told him one ticket was no good, but I would give him something. He eventually gave in and just as I handed over the money, the police spotted us... They all ran over to the guy and just started beating him with whips and Perspex batons! I reached for the sky and just shouted “TOURIST!! TOURIST!!!!”

The commander started shouting at me and I told him I was very sorry. I disappeared into the crowd and five minutes later a guy came, stood behind me and whispered that he had another ticket. I discreetly slipped him some dough and me and Josh headed for the gates!! Ten minutes later we were getting our tickets checked inside the stadium when the same commander saw us. He walked over and shouted, “I told you no mischief and you did more mischief!”

I just smiled like an idiot and he eventually walked away shaking his head, SUCCESS!!

We found some seats and sat down feeling like absolute champions. All the local men sitting around us explained to us which team was which and pretty much all the rules of cricket, as we really didn’t have a clue. They taught us some chants and when India hit a six we all went wild. When the match got boring a huge Mexican wave started and it lasted for ages!

A great day’s entertainment had by all, although India ended up losing the match by one run which was pretty devastating!