April 5, 2005!
Another Match day!
I came home for lunch and it was my regular routine to check the scorecard.
| India Vs Pakistan |
This time, it was even more special. It was the day, when a phenomenon called "MS Dhoni" entered my life. With an unbelievable score of 148 of 123 which almost sounded like a dream.
As a 5th standard boy, I never knew about ‘Class’ in cricket. I never wanted to see a batsman's defence. All I wanted to see was the ball sailing over the fielders into the crowd.
And, that was exactly what this man was doing.
Same year, exactly a day before Diwali!
| India Vs Sri Lanka |
India had a huge target to chase against Sri Lanka. And to everyone's surprise, ‘My Man’ came up to bat at No. 3, this time.
He tonked the ball all over the ground and ended up scoring a whopping 183*, despite an injured leg. That was probably the day I stopped "watching" cricket, and started "following" it.
I still remember the headline in Dinamalar, the very next day “சிங்கத்தின் கால்கள் பழுதுபட்டாலும் அதன் சீற்றம் குறைவதுண்டோ”That innings had everything to convert any cricket fan into a MSD fan and I was one of the victims of the MSD effect. Rest, as they say is History!
It was very difficult to be a Mahi fan back then, for you were one among the 10 of them. The rest were Sachin's fans, who would mock you for no reason. But, MS never disappointed me. Right from the 2007 World Cup to CB series win in Australia and winning a lot of other matches in his trademark style, he had always given me a lot of chances to defend him in all my debates with friends.
The amount of happiness I had, when I first came to know that Chennai bought MS in IPL auctions is simply immeasurable. I still remember the first few seasons of IPL, where I had to fight hard for the remote with my paati in the 5 minutes advertisement breaks during her serials.
From "TV off பண்ணுடா! கண்ல வெளிச்சம் அடிச்சா தூக்கமே வரல" to staying up with me to watch that last ball six against Kulasekara to lift the World Cup, the impact that Dhoni had on me and indirectly on my family has come a very long way!
If I am given a chance to pick 5 best days of my life when I die, this one will surely be there.
The sound of whistles, the chant of CSK.. CSK.. Dhonii.. Dhoni.. will forever reverberate in my ears!
Credits: Subramani Hariharan
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