India Pakistan World Cup Semi Final 2011 - I was there!

The Planning and Ticket

It all started when my friend JD called me on Saturday, March 27, about the tickets of this game. All the news channels and newspapers are constantly telling that tickets are sold at very high premium, and not easy to get. I never planned to attend this game in the ground, as it was in Mohali, around 300km away from my place. But just knowing that JD is going, and emotionally, I too was completely attached to this game, decided why not? It took me just 5 seconds to decide about paying Rs 22,000/- for Rs 500/- ticket of this match. It’s not that I bought the ticket from black market on a premium, but ours was a package from official Tour Partner of World Cup, TUI.in, and it includes a T-Shirt, transfer from Chandigarh to Mohali and back, apart from the ticket. I know what you should be thinking after reading this, yes, we paid premium for the ticket, but at least, we did not pay it to some black marketeer selling tickets on high price, illegally. So, this left us to plan for Delhi-Chandigarh travel on our own. But before that, I already started telling people (and on Facebook/Twitter) about our prized possession of tickets for this match! We got the delivery of tickets and T-shirt on 28th March, in Gurgaon only. Then we called around and got a decent deal on Cab to take us to Chandigarh and back to Gurgaon after the match. There was no option of staying in Chandigarh, as we don’t know anyone there, and all hotels were completely booked due to match. So, we knew it would be hectic, but again, it’s India vs. Pakistan in World Cup Semi Final! The Game is not on a Wednesday, but it’s on The Wednesday!

Journey to the Stadium

The excitement and the fact that we have the tickets which are sold out as high as Rs 75,000/- combined with the plan of starting at 4AM in the morning, did not let me sleep on the night before the match day. Another friend of mine, Kaushik was planning a day trip to Chandigarh, to meet his friends, so we asked him to travel with us. He was only going till Chandigarh, but it was good that he was with us, as we gave our phone to him, instead of putting it unattended without any security in the bus. We started a little late, at around 4:30AM, and drove without any stop in between for breakfast or tea or even nature calls. We were at the meeting point (Piccadilly Hotel) in Chandigarh at 9:30AM. We let the TUI guys know that we are here, and were told that the bus will leave at 11:30AM for the stadium. Then we had our tea, courtesy of TUI (I forgot to mention earlier, the package includes high tea as well). 

With some time to spare, we realised that we have not taken anything with us; looking at everyone else, we realise the need of cap at least, to protect us from sun and heat. Well, we went to Sector 22 market and got us Caps, then a big 4X6 Indian Flag from Khadi Bhandar! That was the biggest flag they had in the store. So, equipped with this, we came back to the pick-up point again, only to understand that cell phones are not allowed due to security! That was a big downer for us, as we were planning to take pictures from our cell phone cameras. In fact, it’s not just cell phone, binoculars, cameras nothing electronics were allowed. There was no clarity on this, but the organisers called up their sources, plus checked with people who were at gate, already entered to understand this. At the same time, some people were claiming to have spoken with people inside the stadium with their cell phone already with them. So, the information was not clear, but again, as per the tour organisers, police was asking to throw away the battery and take the phone inside. So, according to them, if we are taking the cell phone with us, it’s on our own risk, and they suggest against it. We both had expensive phones, and don’t want to be in a position when we have to throw the batteries away (In fact, JD has iPhone, where you can’t take out the batteries). So, heart-broken, we decided not to carry our cell phone with us. This is one of the disappointments, as I don’t have a single photo of the ground or me there! It’s only in the memories, and no pic. Later we saw that security was not so rigid, and it depends on individual police to allow or not allow your cell phones. A lot of people were inside with their cell phone. We thought that we could have taken the risk. But it was too late by then. 

The Security – or the lack of it

We travel to the stadium, and then walked up to the Gate 5, from which we needed to enter the arena. But the crowd was like anything. There was no queue, or to be more precise, there were multiple queues, with people pushing each other to go in, there were three checkpoints, but security was not very tight, as it was supposed to be. I don’t think you can cope up with so many people coming inside the stadium, and check every individual. I could have taken anything in my socks or shoes, as no one checked these. Also, I only saw a police checking people with metal detector, casually, and only checking the pocket area around my waist. If I had anything below my knees, he would not have known. Frisking was also going on, but limited to pockets, and was not going below Knees. There also I realised that we should have taken our cell phone with us. Some people around me took their cell phone, and no one objected. But one policeman told me that if detected, we will ask to throw the battery before you enter the arena. Both Prime Ministers were in open ground, and greeted both teams, before the start of match. With this kind of security, I think they were lucky. We went to Chandigarh, from Delhi, and there was not a single checking done of our cab throughout the journey. Then again, we went directly to the stadium, without any checking of the bus. We were inside the stadium, with very minimum security check. Maybe people in our stand were not treated as security risk, as the angle of both PMs from there was not making it an easy target. But, I still think that security was not enough. 

Overall, it took us 1.5 hours to enter the stadium, due to mad rush and no order outside. I think it should have taken only 30 min, with proper queue and if the order is maintained. But again, it’s not easy to control thousands of people, especially when police don’t want to use force. I do like this about the Police, as they were trying their best to maintain order, and advising people to form a queue, to enter, no force was used. Police could have used their sticks to maintain queue, but that would be a spoilsports for the fans. So, I think they took the right decision of not using the force on public. Anyway, the only two disappointments I got with this match was that I don’t have any photo, due to my cell phone not allowed, and the way I had to push myself into mad rush of public trying to get enter, and spend 1.5 hours to get entry. 

Inside the Stadium

JD and me, inside cheering one India win!

When we enter the stadium, it was already 1:15 PM, so we decided to eat something before taking our place inside. The food quality was terrible, but again, who can complain about this? Item’s rates were not very high, which explain the food quality. So, after just samosa, we decided to stick to packaged food like Chips, ice-cream etc. Water Bottles are not allowed inside the stadium, and no pouch was available, as polybags are banned there. We got into Arena at around 1:30PM, and instantly fell in love with the ground. It is a small stadium, and both India and Pakistani players were practicing in the ground. We can easily see them very near to us. It was nothing like Eden Garden where you are so away from the ground, without the binoculars, you can’t identify any player.  We enjoyed watching our players as Indian team was practicing in our corner. Sachin was the closest of all, and you know how people are mad about him. So, the cheering and shouting were already started. Thanks to people of TUI, they were already inside and block some extra seats for us and others like us. This was good, as we were trying to find out two seats for us, and mostly we were getting one empty chair in each row. So, thanks to TUI (another worth of money we paid), we got decent seats. 

The Match

India won the toss, and decided to bat first! This was no surprise, as the analysis in the morning newspaper also suggested the same thing, bat first, score at least 280 run, and bowl with attack to take wickets. Then what all happen, you know it already, you watched it on TV, or projected screen, or live streaming. If you have not seen the match, The Match, The India Pakistan Match, what the hell you are doing here? Why are you interested in reading my experience on the game? 

Ok, back to the topic, the point is that there is no point writing all about the game, as it’s already known to everyone. So, I limit myself to the specifics of the game, with my experiences. 

Well, the match started with all the hype, the fours, the score from Sachin and Sehwag, people cheering with every run coming out. We were 47/0, and everyone was thinking about 350 score target, then we lost Sehwag. But Ganbhir continued till some more time, before he got out as well. So, initial overs of India was great to watch, cheer, but when we started losing wickets regularly, and Yuvraj gone on first ball, it was all slow. The crowd was not finding anything to cheer about. Yes, Sachin was still on the ground, inching towards his century of century. But even Sachin’s inning was also not hard hitting or spectacular. He got multiple lifelines throughout the inning. He went out after 85 runs added to India’s score. This contribution added to the 29 run victory of India. Well, overall the middle of Indian inning was boring to watch. There were nothing to cheer about, and regular wickets made it more painful for Indian fans. Our flags were tucked. People in our stand decided to try Mexican wave. After 5-6 tries, we were successful and it started. Then almost for another hour or so, we enjoyed doing the Mexican wave. Then Raina hit some good strokes at the end, to take India at 260/9 in full 50 overs. 

Thanks to Sanjay (left) who manage to get his mobile inside, for all pics

Pakistan started with the hard hitting boundaries. And after 8 overs, they were 44/0 with target of 261 looking very easy to them. I was tried, like everyone else, and the match was not going into right direction. I felt a little sleepy as well, because of no sleep last night. So, decided to get some coffee for me. As I took my coffee, crowd roared like anything. It was the first wicket of Pakistan. I rushed back into the stadium. But this has not done any major damage to Pakistan, as the game continued like before. We all were discussing that we don’t have much score, so taking wickets is the only option India has now. Again, at 15th over, I decided to get something to eat. I went out, but came back immediately as another wicket was gone. This was taken as lucky for India. The whole row as well as people in the next row up and down started telling me to take another walk and come back, every 10-15 minutes.  At first, it looks odd to me, but what the hell! This is part of game, and being a cricket fan myself, we know the meaning of being lucky or unlucky for India team. So, believe me, I have not seen any wicket taken by India, apart from the last two, Gul and Misbah, as the game was already in our hand, and I don’t need to go out to help India. Also, it’s worth mentioning here that, all my visits outside the Arena took a wicket, so I can considered myself lucky for team India. Or maybe it’s the other way round. I am not lucky for India in the stadium. The earlier matches I have seen in stadium, I don’t remember India wining any of these. So, that was the reason Pakistan’s wickets were not falling when I was present in the ground. 

We were not very happy in the Pakistan’s inning. The target was very close to them, and as the wicket were falling frequently, game was still interesting, but not in control of India. So, we all were worried, and even at the end also, when Misbah was playing, the crowd was not happy, as we all knew Mihbah can hit hard and turn things around even with just 1 wickets in hand. But it becomes clear in the last over, with 30 runs needed to win.  The crowd went crazy on every ball of the last over. And after the last wicket, crown erupted like a volcano! I am sure all of Mohali must have heard the cheering of crown inside stadium. Everyone was yelling their lungs out! It continued till the presentation started. 

The Match – beyond the game

Rahul Gandhi made an appearance in next stand, and spends some time with normal people. There were lots of police around, and noise as well. We thought that someone must be fighting over some issue, and then only Police is there. But within minutes we came to know its Rahul effect. I read in the newspaper today, that both Sonia and Rahul both sit in the common stand, but can confirm it was only Rahul, and not Sonia. 

There were songs played at the end of every over, and as it’s Punjab, the songs were Bollywood hits or Punjabi songs. And what else people need, than songs to stand and start dancing? Match did not allow them to cheer much, but the songs kept us on our foot. The dancing increased with songs from Chakk De India, Lagaan, Rang De Basanti, and on Punjabi Bhangra songs. 

The start of the ceremony was with both team in the ground, big flag of both teams in front of them, and the national anthem playing in the background. The first was Pakistan’s, and then it was ours. I never had an opportunity like this in my life. I was standing, along with 25,000 (minimum) people, all standing, and singing our National Anthem! This was a feeling I can never explain in words. You have to be there to experience it. For me, this was the best moment of the game. Then, again, after we won the game, the song Vande Mataram was being played. This was the A. R. Rehman version, “Maa Tujhe Salaam”, and not the original national song. But again, the whole stadium was singing along. I again felt something inside me, while singing Vande Mataram with such a big crowd! This song started just after we won the game, so this moment of winning the game and singing Vande Mataram with 25,000 more people is the second best moment for me in this game. 

Cricket unites India. We did not know each other, and never introduce us throughout the game, but everyone siting around us were talking like we know each other for years. We all had single goal, we are supporting India. We cheered together, we shouted together! Even people across the stalls or different stalls were with us, and we started Mexican wave easily, multiple times. It was like everyone is bonded with each other.

Post the Match

Well, the traffic was horrible. None of the vehicles were moving an inch for an hour. Not sure what was the reason, but we found our bus, still in the parking lot, waiting for everyone. So, we waited another 30 min, and made a start. We were sure that the 15 min journey to hotel, will take at least 2 hours today. But, the bus driver knew a short cut, and we reached our hotel in just 20 minutes. This was another privilege of the premium we paid for the ticket. The main roads were full of fans running around in bikes, cars shouting and celebrating the victory. People were openly drinking in their car or on road. I did see Police closing one of the eating joint where we were finishing our dinner, and asking everyone to clear the area. Few guys were beaten up by Police as they were drinking Beer on the road. Well, I saw the opposite of Police action, as in the morning, they were very controlled, and not using any force on public trying to get into the stadium. But in the night, I think Police waited till 1 AM, and started the drive to send people home. After all, Police had a hard day as well. So, it could be an isolated incident, of Police beating up some teens for drinking beer. After the dinner, we started at around 1:30 AM for Delhi, and were at our home by 6:30 AM. I slept throughout the journey, and the day today. I know JD has to attend office, and I cannot imagine how he will work. After 15 hours of sleep, I am still tired. Maybe the night sleep will help me regain some strength as I also have to attend office tomorrow.