My First Live Cricket Match

In my yesteryears I always had this intent of going and watching an International Cricket Match.All these years, I have been dreaming about watching the Indian cricket players live into the stadium from a close distance. Then came this day, 21st Jan 2007, when India was going to play West Indies, the first ODI of the series in Nagpur, Vidarbha Cricket Ground. I had bought tickets 7 days prior. The tickets were of West End Stand.

We had started preparing cardsheet and Thermocol Banners. Me, Nadeem and Anu, all three of us were passionate about the whole thing. Anu who has always been a girl charged up with lots of energy ( I don’t know how she manages to get so much energy from 3 rotis per main meal ) and was very excited about the match. She had bought the Rs 1000 tickets for which we’ll tease her for the whole of her life.We had prepared 3 posters with our huge efforts, titled “ Stay Green”, “India Go Get It” and “We want the cup”. I suggested a few more like “If u win u get cherries , or else u get Cherries with blossom”, but to my dimay it was considered too very long. Nadeem is a real hard working guy. I could see him preparing the thermocol poster all over the night before the match although he didn’t contribute much during the whole day, bad boy. Anu was probably dreaming of all possible ideas, but as usual, she didn’t put them into action. I really hate this habit of her’s. Me and Ravi share a good chemistry and so I had ensured that both of us get the adjacent seats. I went to sleep at his house so that I can get up early in the morning. You see, I need someone to shake me up to make me come of my sleep.

The alarm rang at about 6.00 in the morning. At first it was Bala bhai’s mobile, then after 5 mins it was my mobile and then rung Ravi’s mobile. I got up at 6.10 and rushed to my place. I had brought the poster titled “Stay Green”, the night before as I was worried about it being mishandled by someone. .I got ready by 7.10 and reached office, were all my friends were to assemble. We started at 7:50 a.m. and reached the parking space at about 10 mins past 8. I was on Baalu’s bike. We parked the vehicle and entered the West Stand. The line was small and so it took us 5 mins to enter the VCA stadium through Gate No . 9. As we entered the stadium we could see a big crowd of about 10,000 people already in the stadium. I could see the Indian and WI players practicing in nets. The idea of getting adjacent seats was not that wonderful as nobody was allotted any chair and it was all stairs that were offered to us to sit. That’s not what I was expecting after paying 500 bucks. Anyways, there were posters of Nescafe with 4/6 written all over them. We decided to use them as seat and laid on them.

I lended Binoculars from Sunil Sir, my senior in . With those Binoculars,I could see Ganguly in his 91 no t-shirt and Dhoni in his long Bermudas. They were practicing before the match. I was excited to see them as this was my first time around. I had brought my Sony Ericsson w710i mobile phone with earphones, that would add to the whole excitement.

After about half an hr, came out umpires for the toss. West Indies won the toss and decided to field first. On a batting pitch this is usually not what was expected. India started their innings with Gambhir and Ganguly as openers. The match started and suddenly there was a slurry of 4’s all over the ground. On the batting pitch, both openers took good advantage of early field restrictions and smashed the boundary many a times. The beating did not stop in the rest of the innings and in almost every over there was a certain four. India ended up their innings for an awesome 338 for the loss of 3 wickets. The stadium roared all through the innings whenever there was a boundary of a ball. The stadium waves were seen and people were in full masti mood.

This was definitely a huge milestone to achieve. Windies batted well, especially Chanderpaul , who was later adjudged man of the match, but it was India’s day . Windies ended short of India’s score but lost by a mere 14 runs.

After the end of the match we packed up and moved towards the parking lot. It was our day as India had won.

Travelogue : Bhandardara : A must see spot in North Maharashtra

Lying 170 kms from Mumbai and 70 km,s from Nashik lies a beautiful spot in North of Maharashtra called Bhandardara. Famous for its scenic beauty, this place , though not developed enough, lies close to Igatpuri, which is hte nearest railway sation, about 45 kms from Bhandardara.

We caught train from Nagpur and reached Igatpuri at 5.45 a.m. The connect from Igatpuri to Bhandardara is still a problem, and is waiting for a solution. It was only till 8.00 a.m. that we could get a bus to Bhandardara. It was the much liked Maharashtra ST bus, which often produces a Mozart Symphony all through out the way.

The road to Bhandardara passes through Ghori, the only famous spot, otherwise. The roads are real pathetic and it takes 2 hrs to travel the 45 km distance. Another option is to go to Ghori and catch a Jeep that is a 16 seater. But in the morning at 8., it dint seem an illusion option. Ghori is 8 kms from Igatpuri.
The bus stops at two different stops in Bhandardara and rightly, we got down at the first stop. The Wilson Dam, which has stood for countless years is visible from the bus stop. All the motels and infrastructure is located near this area.

Bhandardara has some low to medium budget hotels and motels, in addition to the MTDC resort.

Tariffs at the resort range from Rs 400 for an economy room to Rs 1000 for a deluxe room and Rs 2000 for lakeside cottages. For bookings, contact MTDC, OppositeLICBuilding, Madame Cama Road, Mumbai. Tel: 022 - 2026713, 2027762. Fax: 2852182. MTDC bookings ( Tel Nos. : 628169 , 626867 ).


For visiting the places around Bhandardara, best option is to board a jeep that'sll ask for Rs 700 to cover Randha Fall, Mount Kalisobai Peak, Ghatghar, Wilson Dam, Umbrella Falls and Spill Way ( last three are close to each other).


Mt Kalisobai, the highest peak in maharashtra is also in Bhandardara.



Spill Way is worth watching, it is one end of the ArthurLake. The water gushing through the gates of wilson dam splashes over on the road and the winds blowing, give you a real cool natural feel .




Wilson Dam is a lovely site for picnicking. Built in 1910 on the Pravara river, the dam is almost 150 meters above the sea level and attracts crowds from all over the country. The cool placid waters of the river run by the miles.



The PRavara river is spread over a wide distance.





The other hyped spota like Amruteshwar Temple is really not worth spending bucks. Not ot hurt anybody sentiments its a site which is on the verger of extinction and does not give you much of a spiritual touch. Though, a boat ride to the Temple is real fun, but it is off most of the season.
One/ two days at max are sufficient to cover all the spots and it would take Rs 700 for the whole travel.




Another spot htta must be mentioned is the Ghatghar. At an altitude, it is the main place from which the canal waters are released. There are many beautiful sight seens on the way to Ghat ghar Avoid going to Ghatghar in foggy season when nothing is visible. If you are going in Navaratras u may get a chance to trek Mt Kalisobai Peak.

The on seasons could be just before rains or even at the onset, as it is lush green and provides a real good stop for the nature lovers