Cricket- India's Festival.

George Bernard Shaw said," Cricket is a game played

by 11 fools and watched by 11,000 fools." which is true

in my homeland-India.Though hockey is the official

national sport many regard cricket as the unofficial

national sport of India.India is a country where cricket is

a religion,cricketers are the

gods and stadiums are the temples where hundreds and

thousands of worshipers come with faith,determination and

expectations.

One who hasn't experienced it might feel I'm exaggerating.I too had no interest in the sport ,until one day when my best friend ;Prabhat or Gavar, as I like to call him won two tickets to the Delhi v/s Punjab IPL match which was supposed to be held at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, New Delhi.

When he asked me to join him for the match , I was hesitant but being a firm believer of 'Never say Never' I decided to give it a try.

For those who don't know, IPL or the Indian Premier League,is an annual Indian Twenty20 cricket tournament, founded in 2008 by the BCCI. It is contested between eight franchisee teams representing various Indian cities.

We went to the stadium early to avoid the hustles and chaos but everyone else was already seated and the stadium was almost full.We got general seats in the tenth row from the ground.I had never seen so many people together live at once.It was so hard to believe that I was watching it in real and not on the screen.

After a few minutes when I could finally manage to look away from the majestic field my eyes fell on a person making tattoos.I got DD painted on my right cheek to show my support for the Delhi Daredevils.

Everything in the stadium was being sold at exorbitant rates.

I still remember how people shouted in a unison when the players entered the fields.Then the toss,the final match and Delhi winning-People cheered with the same excitement throughout the match.

It was surely one hell of an experience.Now I know why Indians are madly in love with this mad sport.Thanks Prabhat.

That's why Never say Never.