Cricket Fever

Bhaswati Bose

Whoever knew that cricket mania was a common affliction in the Club? Every time India won a match in the ongoing ICC World T20 series (and even earlier), Bhaswati Bose would be the only one to celebrate -- usually with a toffee for Ved Prakash Grover and also Vijay-bhai and Suresh Samel (both non-members). Apparently, they were the only ones to share her passion towards the game and claimed to have watched the match the previous day.
Today, Bhaswati ran out of toffees. From Shekhawat to Arun Patil to Kajal Babani, Bijoy Gupta, Mallika Kagzi and Yusuf Rassiwala, everybody claimed to have watched last night’s encounter at Mohali to the last ball leading to India defeating Australia by six wickets.

Harbans Kaur

This came after another nail-biting finish last week at Chennai where India sneaked past Bangladesh by just one run.
The common element in both the matches was the swashbuckling knock by Virat Kohli, hailed as India’s match-winner -- outclassing even skipper M.S.Dhoni. “What batting!” exclaimed Yusuf R, echoing the sentiments of all present this morning. “That boy is like a one-man army!”
“But for how long can we depend on just one player?” questioned Grover.
Swati Punjabi pointed out that “our opening batsmen were complete flops” while Kiran Prakash drew comparisons with the sterling performance of the Australian openers. Tara Chand Seth was particularly upset over Yuvraj Singh “wasting so many balls when he knew he could bat no more with a twisted ankle”.

Monthi Serrao (l) treats us to Easter cake

“I watched the match till the end even as my eyes just refused to stay open during the last two overs,” said Mallika Kagzi. Some like Arun Patil and Vijay-bhai said that they remained awake till well past midnight, switching channels to catch the celebrations across India. So fixated was everybody with the match that many even raised slogans hailing Virat Kohli, something unprecedented in the Club.
Meanwhile, news comes in explaining Harbans Kaur’s continued absence since last week. Her husband has taken ill with a bad back. “They have called their son over from Australia,” informed Monthi Serrao this morning. “As it is, he had been suffering from a serious kidney problem. But the back ache seems to be much more severe. Let us hope and pray he recovers soon.”
Monthi had come with an Easter cake – a treat she unfailingly lavishes on us every year.
Bihari Milwani:
Bhaswati has given toffees to ensure India's victory in the next match. If India loses, everyone will have to return the toffees.
Lt Col Angad Singh (from Mohali):
Cricket mania is throughout India. Everywhere people were glued to the TV. As soon as India won the match, people came out of their houses and celebrated the win by bursting fire crackers. It was a scene to be watched. We wish good luck to the Indian team in fixtures ahead.
Kiran Prakash:
It is difficult to say whether Bhaswati is breathing air or cricket these days. Apparently she has infected everybody with this fever. Of course, she has had to invest on a few toffees for those who claimed to have watched the match. Honestly, I now watch the matches for her toffees -- just in case she asks me something about a match. Hope India wins and we get something bigger from her.