The India England ODI match, 27th Jan 2013, Dharamshala- the first cricket match that had the fortune of having me in audience, apart from being the first international match in the “stadium with a view”.
I learnt a lot of new facts…
1. Every alternate over, bowling direction is actually reversed. Till now, I thought the batsmen switch sides. Logically, switching bowling direction makes sense- to damage the pitch evenly from both side, nullify the effects of wind, light etc. (These are my reasons, might not be the same as the actual reasons! No, I am not enthu to search the actual reasons, although you are welcome to teach me thru comments.) Just that it never occurred to me before!
2. The bowler is permitted two over-the-batsman’s-shoulder deliveries every over.
3. Bowlers often use the above fact to their benefit towards end of an over, especially to unnerve a batsman who has just arrived at the pitch.
4. Sometimes, Indian men can be really really disgusting in their behavior towards females, more so if the lady happens to be a white non-Indian. Education, age and background (rural/urban) do not seem to have any correlation to the behavior.
5. Cricket matches can be boring. After a while, even the awesome view of the mountains fails to entertain. In fact, the view makes you want to leave the stadium and roam outside.
6. Training is important. Like training the traffic police how to handle the huge traffic resulting from over 15,000 visitors to a town with population of 19,000. I could not blame the guys posted there, they had no experience and no guidance for such a situation.
7. Steven Finn is super cute. Perhaps the reason why I did not whine much during the first innings.
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