The Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad is as imposing as it is intimidating. To call it a coliseum would be an understatement. A few weeks before India met Pakistan in the world’s largest cricket arena for the World Cup’s biggest match so far, I had played a few practice matches there as part of the Bengal men’s cricket team. My teammates and I had wondered how crazy it would be to have the stadium filled with more than one lakh people. And then we saw it on our TV screens on Saturday. The noise was so deafening that we considered reducing the TV volume a bit. What could not be reduced was the adrenaline rush, with the entire Bengal squad watching on at the team hotel in Chandigarh (where Bengal are playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy). I can only imagine what the players must have felt on the field!
October 14 had begun with a morning of normal training for us, with the start of the domestic T20 season, against Maharashtra only a couple of days away. By 1.30pm, we were all done with our lunch and poised for the toss. All our doors were open and players were moving in and out of each other’s rooms. Given the slightly slowish nature of the pitch, I agreed with Rohit Sharma’s call to bat second, the same decision that New Zealand had taken before thrashing England in the tournament opener.
A once-in-a-lifetime experience, even for seasoned pros
The noise in the stadium reached a crescendo every time Jasprit Bumrah delivered the ball Getty Images
To witness the atmosphere at the stadium felt surreal. As the crowd bellowed in tandem with Jasprit Bumrah’s run-up, reaching a crescendo just as he was about to deliver the ball, I felt that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Even for seasoned pros. As professional cricketers, we are told, trained and taught not to let the setting and the crowd get to us. Overtly passionate fans can be a distraction, something I had first sensed while playing for Bengal in front of a raucous home audience in Karnataka. But I had to block out the sound to focus on my game. I had told myself that what happens on the other side of the fence is beyond my control. But I can take charge of doing what I know best in the middle. It is easier said than done, though, even more so in a World Cup game involving India and Pakistan.
Ritwik Roy Chowdhury has vivid memories of India’s iconic World Cup clashes with Pakistan from 2011 and 2007 TT Archives
Over the years, just like any cricket fan in this country, I have had my fair share of unforgettable Indo-Pak moments from World Cups. Just the other day, during practice, I was pointing out (to my teammates) the precise spot of the PCA Stadium where I estimated Virat Kohli taking the catch that drew the curtain on the 2011 semi-final in Mohali. Kohli had pouched the ball struck high and hard by Misbah-ul-Haq to give India victory against Pakistan as well as a place in the final of the World Cup. The catch had sent a wave of relief coursing through my terrace at home in Kolkata, where we had not moved much during a tense knockout game. The biryani was untouched until India’s win was confirmed. For some reason, I happened to wear green that day. I did not change given India were progressing well, notwithstanding the flak from my friends and family. I remember my dad turning into Nostradamus that evening, correctly predicting Sachin Tendulkar’s LBW reprieve (courtesy the DRS) even when it looked to all the world that the Little Master was out. He even foresaw the match-losing innings played by Younis Khan and Misbah and earned every extra grain of his biryani. Four years prior to that, I had screamed out of my window at any and every pedestrian who bothered to listen that India had won the T20 World Cup! I was in middle school at the time and was flitting between my house and that of my grandfather’s to find the right network as the weather in Kolkata turned as fickle as the contest in Johannesburg. When Joginder Sharma was bowling the last over, I felt as if my heart would come out of my chest!
With more of a calculated display, Pakistan could have reached close to 300
Babar Azam gets castled by Mohammed Siraj Getty Images
This time around, in 2023, we did not give Pakistan much of a chance. Although things were looking ominous when Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were batting together. In order to inspire a breakthrough, all of us in the Bengal team came into a single room. The magic worked! Babar was castled by Mohammed Siraj as Pakistan collapsed faster than a pack of cards. We went back to watching in pairs with our respective roommates, but kept uniting at key junctures. I was surprised by how aggressive the Pakistan batters tried to be after losing their captain. With more of a calculated display, I felt they could have reached close to 300 and made more of a game out of it. Having said that, Bumrah was brilliant. His dismissals of Rizwan and Shadab Khan were beauties. There is only so much you can do against quality like that. To back it up, India’s other pacers as well as our spinners were on the money. Even though I would have picked Ravichandran Ashwin to play on a track like that, he was not required. The way India bowled in the middle overs was a comprehensive display of excellence, something no other team in this World Cup has been able to replicate at the same stage of matches thus far.
In pursuit, Shubman Gill came out with some scorching shots. For a man who had just recovered from dengue, his movement was immaculate. I can vividly recollect a 19-year-old Gill making his Ranji Trophy debut for Punjab against Bengal in Amritsar (in 2017). Even though we had won the match by an innings, Gill had impressed (with 63) in the first innings. Over time, he has added power to his elegance and will definitely be instrumental for India in this World Cup and beyond. At the other end, what can one say about Rohit, who seems to find a new level altogether during World Cups!
The word that best fits Rohit is ‘bindaas’!
Rohit Sharma’s effortlessness is a product of years of unstinting effort, feels Ritwik Getty Images
Poetry in motion is one of those phrases that gets thrown around a lot in sport. But for Rohit, it is apt. Indian cricket owes a big thank you to Mahendra Singh Dhoni for spotting Rohit’s talent and backing him. Let us not forget that Rohit had not made the smoothest of starts to his international career. But he persevered, working tirelessly. Now, he is reaping the rewards as Indian captain. While everything Rohit does in front of the world may seem effortless, it is only possible due to the effort he puts in when nobody is watching. Off the field, Rohit, from what I have heard, is a sweet, simple guy, with no airs about him. Expressive strokemakers like Rohit can never be uptight individuals, I believe. Although the word that best fits Rohit is bindaas!
To see Rohit take Pakistan apart was to sense that he was feeling that intangible aura of invincibility at the crease. It is something I cannot explain in words. But as a fellow batter, I can relate to it. After Rohit hit Shaheen Shah Afridi for a six, one of my teammates said that he would do the same to Haris Rauf, who is, by some distance, Pakistan’s quickest. “It’s an ego thing. Rauf will bounce him and Rohit will smash him,” he said. That is exactly what happened. Once Rohit was in his stride, there was simply no stopping him. After three wins on the trot, it looks like India have found their stride, too. And there seems to be no stopping them either.
(As told to Priyam Marik)
Ritiwk Roy Chowdhury is a Bengal cricketer who has represented the state in all three formats. He is currently an integral member of the Bengal team competing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament in Chandigarh