‘Yeh awaaz Kohli saab ke bat se hai’: Of rehearsals on the ground, in the sky and practice nets away from public gaze | Cricket-world-cup News

Just as the sun shed its scorch, with the afternoon drifting to the evening, swathes of schoolchildren in white uniforms began their flag-spreading drill rehearsals. Four of them held onto one side of the flag — those of all 10 nations in the World Cup were unfurled, first with enthusiasm and then with lethargy, The instructor though had a trick up his sleeve. He would keep them on their toes saying the Indian team would arrive any moment. The children would regain their energy, but the wait would go on.
Finally a few men in orange jerseys emerged and the excitement reached fever pitch and the children began waving and screaming their names, so much so that the edges of the flags slipped from some of the hands. The angry instructor would issue rebukes, before he himself got tired and told them to roll up the flags. In the end, the grisly instructor and his wards would occupy a corner and quietly watch the players and support staff take a pitch peep. A couple of angry security men would break their reverie & drive them out to one of the practice grounds outside the main stadium complex.
So near, yet so far
The eye-catchers of the day were not just the players, but the fighter jets flipping and flapping through spotlessly blue skies, leaving white vapour trail. The show is part of the Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team, and their test runs brought the stadium to a halt. Once the routine began, everyone on the ground left their chores aside and watched with wide eyes the maneuvers that unfolded.Most Read
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They began with a standard loop manoeuvre, wherein the pilot makes a vertical 360-degree turn, which had the crowd in thrall. The most spectacular stunt — the barrel roll trick in which the pilot travels a straight path before he flips the aircraft upside down — then arrives. Some of the spectators shrieked in horror, as though the aircraft would suddenly come crashing down. As per rumours, the most difficult and dramatic cobra move too is on the cards. The roar of the engines woke up the neighbours in the decrepit jumble of houses between the stadium and the GCA Clubhouse, them flocking to the balconies with camera phones in tow. The stadium is close to them, just lening to sounds emerging from the arena they could get the drift of the game. Yet a concrete barrier separates them from the action. They would be so near yet so far from the action. It’s the other side of the grandee.
A guessing game
The practice nets of the stadium are tucked far from public gaze. The cricketers would not have heard the noise of the multitudes that had thronged the main gate, making a vehicular mess on the road, where the policemen were running on fumes to control them. Even those inside could not watch the practice, unless you were an official or a cop. For, the hoardings of the World Cup obscured them viewing any bit of nets. Through the translucent netting, you could watch silhouettes moving, or rather the lower half of the body. But a group of tired stadium employees would start the guessing game to forget the hard labour of the day. “Yeh awaaz Kohli saab ke bat se hai,” one gushed when he heard a sound akin to the crack of a gunshot. When one ball soared into the trees that lined the nets, one screamed: “Shreyas ka chhakka.” They would tune their ears to len to the chatter of players, they would cheer for any shot that was loud and dinct.They would guess each player the acoustics of bat on ball.
The surroundings of the nets too was equally busy, the rehearsals of dance programmes going in full tilt. Bodies soaked in sweat lay sprawled on the grass, before another group began their session. One of the choreographers turned preachy: “This would be the biggest day of your young lives. So get good sleep. Make our great country proud.” The dancers were already half asleep and responded with scattered claps.