The weekend just went by - and while World Cup Cricket reigns supreme at home during the week days, weekends are obviously more concentrated with the game. The day began with Sury reeling off statistics about the Australia-New Zealand match - and the amazing scores and players - one snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and vice versa.
As I got on with the dusting and cleaning, I quite enjoyed the ongoing commentary about the historical records created and how today's players are calmly breaking them.
Do you know how many runs Chris Gayle scored?
Do you know who scored the maximum runs in one-day cricket?
Do you know who holds the record for ....
Do you know who got out for a duck...
You know Dhoni is always...
But Virat Kohli is...
This Umpire is the most...
De Villiers is going to...
Do you remember how (insert name) got run out in that match?
Poor (insert name)...too bad he's not playing this time.
Oh my God! Look at Sangakkara! Effortless and stylish! Do you know his average run rate?
I love it! I am not always up to speed with the stats of the game and would fail miserably if I had to face a World Cup quiz but I really enjoy the generously offered knowledge that goes with watching the game when Sury is around.
I remember when I was in the corporate world, it used to be so much fun to see the men in the office (No gender bias. I was the only woman employee there among the 20 in that branch) hating to come to work on the days a major cricket match was on. If it was in our city, even worse. They got so creative with their excuses for not being able to come in to the office - suddenly they had long distance client visits scheduled on those specific days. And of course, we had each others' backs when it came to queries from the head office.
Going back even earlier, in college, when television sets were unheard of in our homes, it was the little transistor that was the constant companion. While I enjoyed music during the breaks, my class mates had it stuck to their ears when the match was on. One day, there was a Physics lecture on and one of the girls screamed her head off when someone hit a sixer and was thrown out of the class. I have fond memories of quietly sneaking out of the class along with two others so we could hang out in the college canteen together.
Though times have changed, what remains a constant is the thirst for knowledge - the excitement of knowing who scored what, their history, their records, who broke them and their nicknames. These days, a whole lot of World Cup quiz books are available online - and right now, some fabulous deals are on. And of course, I can never resist a quiz!
What a joy to be so involved, even if I don't voluntarily watch the game. I can't even imagine what the finals will be like. Whatever it is, I am prepared to celebrate, that's for sure.
