Chargers on the Storm !!

Prologue

As I take out time to blog after more than a month’s grueling cricketing action, not just for the players but also diehard fans like me who had to juggle between Late Night Cliffhangers and Early morning office meetings.

India; a cricket frenzy nation where it doesn’t take more than couple of seconds for a completely random strangers to bond over a game of cricket by merely asking “boss score kya huva”. A billion heartbeats thriving on the success and failure of the National Cricket Team which binds this nation together. The IPL however managed to bring in a completely new dimension to cricket by drawing battle lines alongside a regional franchisee based system. No longer can you safely tap the shoulder of the stranger next to you and “assume” that both of you are cheering for the same team.

The stage was set for the Delhi-Daredevil vs Deccan Chargers Semifinal last weekend, After hopping by at a couple of places hoping to catch the Live Screening, we settled for IndiJoe’s; As we were hooting screaming and clapping; trying to match Gilly’s scintillating strokeplay; we realized that somewhere between all of that we managed to entangle ourselves in a verbal battle with the guys on the next table who were Delhi-Daredevils supporters. Not sure if it was Gilly’s batting or the couple of budwisers that gave me the high; but I was in no mood to relent inspite of being aware of the violent & unpredictable behavior of jaats.

As Gilly continued to plunder the Delhi attack, our banter was getting louder & confident and we managed to corner the jaats and send them packing; not before they expressed their frustration by fighting among themselves. Helpless and Outnumbered by Hyderabadi’s and Outplayed by Gilly.

I had got my revenge, after being taunted and ridiculed by my friends from Delhi during the whole of last season when Deccan Chargers were subjected to humiliating defeats & finished last on the league table.

When the IPL-2009 season had began the time had come for the Deccan Chargers; he players were eagerly waiting for an opportunity to make a statement; As a fan I was more than eager to make statements of my own. I got myself a Team Jersey (pic below) 2 weeks before the beginning of the IPL and much before the actual Team got one. As people continued to mock me and my fanatic support for the Chargers calling me “The only Deccan Chargers fan”; also claiming that the only way the owners would make profits was from the team jerseys I had bought (3 jerseys in all). I was subjected to mockery even before the season had began.

I have nothing to say except for the few lines I decided to plagiarize and pen down

(no points for guessing the original song)

Chargers on the storm
Chargers on the storm

Like a wooden spoon we were thrown

A team without a spine
it’s the zeal that got us crowned

With the warriors on a Song
and the Chargers on the storm

There’s Gilly on the road
His brain is running like a code
The rivals can take a holiday
while the underdogs continue to play
If ya give this man a ride

He will rise against the tide

And push you down the slide

Killer on the road, yeah

It’s time for everyone to move on especially the sore losers; As we all need to unite and cheer for TEAM INDIA in the World T20 Championship starting June 5^th.

All the sore losers see you in Champions T20 League in Oct-2009; May be we Indians will have another reason to fight.

As I conclude this post; My take on the IPL Controversies.

1) Increasing the 4 International Players/Team Limit – Unfortunately the hypocrite Indians want to see more local cricketers playing; however none of them would be taking this tournament seriously if it was a pure domestic affair

2) Lalit Modi calling for 2 IPL seasons/year – He is on a high after the success in South Africa. Let him come out of the hangover

3) Indian Captain lifting up the Trophy – Either Ban All foreign players from captaining IPL teams. No matter what; there is some foreign hand involved in the success/failure of each of the 8 teams or become more broadminded.

4) Deccan Chargers win was a fluke – Get a Life

5) Lack of talented local players in Deccan Chargers – We lost most of them to the Rebel ICL League, the rebel franchisee called “Hyderabad Heros” won the 2008 tournament. Most of the players from the rebel league are going to join the Deccan Chargers for the 2010 season.

P.S.: Special thanks to my parents for putting up with the late night loud volumes; Thanks to TataSky+ for allowing me to record and rewind matches; Thanks to all my Deccan Chargers Supporter friends for staying with the team and tolerating my occasional pessimism and for spreading the belief that this team is going to win.