Hyderabad: A mother made her World Cup debut on Friday.

Away from the 22 yards, one of the corporate boxes at the Shivlal Yadav Pavilion at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here caught the eye. One could easily call it a mini-Netherlands as its occupants, dressed in bright fluorescent orange, were rooting for the Dutch. Among them sat Padmavathi Pallekone, mother of Teja Nidamanuru, the 29-year-old batter who featured in the Netherlands’ XI for the match against Pakistan.

Teja did not have the best of World Cup starts, however, as he lasted all of nine balls and scored just 5 runs before he was caught at deep backward square when he tried to pull Haris Rauf. But Padmavathi’s day wasn’t as bad, at least not till the time her son got out.

Dressed in an orange sari, Padmavathi did not want to miss a ball of the match and would not allow any distractions. Like a watchful debutant, she dealt with every ball on its merit, occasionally surfing on emotions whenever there was a reason to cheer the Dutch team.

Teja’s family hails from Vijaywada, about 300km from Hyderabad. Besides his mother, many of his other family members, including his sister, grandmother and aunt, were at the stadium on Friday to watch him play live, probably for the first time.

“I am very excited... I feel my son is very fortunate to play in this World Cup. I’m especially happy to see him play here, in Hyderabad,” Padmavathi told The Telegraph at the innings break.

Asked if she had bought the orange sari specially for the occasion, Padmavathi almost blushed before breaking into a broad smile. “Yes (chuckles)... Because it goes well with the colour of the Netherlands jersey. We all have planned to synchronise our dresses in support of the Netherlands.”

Before migrating to the Netherlands, Teja, the cricketer, honed his skills initially in New Zealand where his mom worked as a dialysis technician.

“He played for clubs there in New Zealand... We thought he would get to play the U-19 World Cup for New Zealand, but he didn’t. He is very passionate about cricket. So I advised him that besides being focused in his job, he also needs to look at other opportunities. That’s when he went to the Netherlands, where he also got a job. That made things easier for him,” the proud mother said.

But whom would she support when India play the Dutch on November 12 in Bangalore? “I will support the Netherlands because my son plays for them. But whoever wins, I will be happy.”

Mothers are like that.