Jelly belly jiggles!

 

 

Gautam Bhimani

ESPN Star Sports Commentator Not too long ago, Daniel Radcliffe was immortalised in wax at London’s Madame Tussauds. Sachin Tendulkar had a tête-à-tête with the young Mr Radcliffe (or should we call him Master Radcliffe?). To top it all, a member of the Indian cricket team was christened Harry Potter by a gentleman (I use the term “gentleman” rather loosely I must confess) from the English team.

I discovered the last connection the evening after India’s great escape at Lord’s. I was reminiscing about the game with India’s showman Sreesanth, and all he could talk about was his new nickname, doled out by Kevin Pietersen when he walked out at the bitter end. His contact lenses hadn’t arrived, and, as a result he went out to bat with spectacles and was greeted with “come on boys, let’s finish this off. Harry Potter just came in to bat” by KP!

From the great escape, the Indians headed for one of many social escapades, this one at the historic Notts County Football Club banquet hall. Local businessman Professor Nat Puri is not shy of demonstrating his benevolence and this time he handed out a fat cheque to Sachin Tendulkar (like he really needs it!) But the occasion was also an excuse for the team to indulge in some gupshup with the local Indian community and gorge on some gourmet Indian food. (John Gloster looked on in disgust as his strict dietary regimen went out the window when the oily curries arrived) Usually a family occasion, this time was no exception with many of the wives and kids in attendance. Vijeta Dravid, Shailaja Laxman, Dona Ganguly and Mrs Powar were there with kids in tow. Present also were Ayesha Jaffer and Nikita Karthik. Offie Ramesh Powar took charge of putting his daughter to sleep, the doting daddy looking very different from his on-field avatar of flowing hair and bright red Oakleys.

Day one at Trent Bridge began where Lord’s had finished. Wet. Wet. Wet. In fact the area had received so much rainfall that parts of the turf had to be dug up and replaced. Finally, the match began with a mat being laid out inside the playing arena at the dampest spot! Though once it did begin, and by the time weekend came around, weather was forgotten and fancy dress took centrestage (ahead of the on-field theatrics). Elvis turned up, as did the Vikings, and Sylvester, a group of nuns, cowboys. Quite a motley bunch. The game itself was filled with drama. Players on both sides improved their vocabulary. A few tiny colourful edible chewies called jelly beans ended up provoking Zaheer Khan to lead India to a famous win. Not unlike the manner in which a few pork and beef laden cartridge shells had provoked the soldier mutiny in another infamous chapter in the reign of the British Raj.

Minutes after the victory, the Indian team dressing room turned into what could easily have been one of the buzzing pubs not far from Zaheer’s restaurant in Pune, or why, a Bhangra belting bar anywhere in urban India! Batsmen turned into DJ’s, bowlers into bartenders as the latest Bollywood chartbusters were accompanied by plenty of celebratory liquids. Test victories overseas are a rarity for the team and the intensity of the celebrations proved that. Instantly, memories of Johannesburg in December 2006, when India won their first ever Test on South African soil, came flooding back. One youngster who was closest to the celebration and had looked on incredulously that day was little Samit Dravid, who had involuntarily found himself in the dressing room, in a proud father’s arms, looking on at these grown up children at play, wondering what exactly it was his dad did for a living.

At Trent Bridge too, little Samit was there in the dressing room, seven months older but none the wiser as to the true cause of the raucous celebrations.

TAIL PIECE: Usually when England’s cricketers tour India, a phenomenon known as the Delhi Belly has been known to strike from time to time. At Trent Bridge, the hosts decided to try and return the favour and inflict a case of Jelly Belly on the Indian team. Needless to say, it failed.