Long Off or Slip?

Deep Breath before Semi-Final

    It wasn’t like leaving a conflict zone, but there was an undeniable sense of relief about leaving Ahmedabad. To say there were mixed feelings about returning would be unfair because we all want to experience a World Cup final with South Africa in it. But the feelings weren’t as pure as they should have been. At least we know what to expect now, should we be fortunate enough to get a second chance.

    Three days in Mumbai makes no sense whatsoever with South Africa belatedly travelling to Kolkata on Sunday, but the bookings were made two months ago. It wasn’t quite the toss of a coin. A basic, dispassionate analysis (guesswork) of the group matches led me to conclude that South Africa would finish fourth and therefore play their semi-final here.

    Not that the time here is regretted, especially with Bentley’s Hotel spreading it’s dusty, chai-stained arms in a welcome-back embrace. Sort of. On the face of it, it’s a very ordinary establishment. But it was once grand and, somehow, the history lives on.

    Whereas the first ‘hotel’ in Ahmedabad was a modern, cheap, money-laundering sham, the dirt on the walls of Bentley’s could be half a century old. It has heritage. The cockroaches here have residency rights stretching back thousands of generations, unlike the yuppy upstarts last week getting fat on the droppings from take-away food.

    The chaos on the streets outside, so confrontational a couple of weeks ago, is now MY chaos. I have returned home, a fact confirmed by personal greetings from the water-seller outside, the chef at ‘Allem Bakery’ and the security guard outside who even gave me a hug. He’s not really a security guard, as such. He opens the elevator, helps with bags (if they are not too heavy) and sleeps on a mattress on the ground floor at night.

    Being a Saturday afternoon, a visit to the Maidan was compulsory. Cricket is played there seven days a week but there was Mumbai Premier League stuff going on today, red ball and white ball. There are 10 squares on the maidan, each with around eight pitches. They are close enough together for long off in one game to be fielding alongside first slip in the game next door. There are no boundaries. You run them all.

    It’s good to be back, briefly. Kolkata’s Eden Gardens beckons and a fifth semi-final for South Africa. But, for now, a deep breath. Followed by a hacking cough if you happen to be outside when you take it.