The year is 2042. A cricket-crazy dad named Raju Prabhakar (not named after Venkatpathy Raju or Manoj Prabhakar, in case you were wondering), takes his son, Ishaan (not named after Ishan Kishan either) to watch a cricket match in Los Angeles, CA. India are playing the West Indies as part of the annual cricket championship. LA is the latest cricket ground considered a “Home” venue for the Windies. Ishaan is an 11-year old lad who isn’t entirely enthused with the idea of watching a cricket match that lasts as long as six and a half hours, but is here to fulfill a promise he’s made to his father. We catch the action at the 10-over mark in the first innings.
“I thought we had a deal.”
“Just because I get a headset doesn’t mean I’m not watching.” He tries to avert eye contact but then looks up while absently chewing on his hat.
“That hat would look better on your head, and would help a bit with this sun too”, Raju looks up at the sun. It’s a real scorcher. “Hopefully it’ll start to cool down as the second innings kicks in.”
“Ok, can I at least have my phone back?”
Raju is unable to hide his frustration.
A similarly aged (read: old) man seated on the row in front looks back and regards Raju with a sympathetic eye. “My son is exactly the same”, he says, before turning his attention back to cricket.
Ishaan, probably sensing an opening, keeps making his case. “I just want my phone to check on the other cricket. Don’t you remember the Jaipur Jets are playing the New York Casanovas?”
“Are those even cricket teams?” Raju seems perplexed.
“Surely you’re joking, dad. Don’t you remember, this is a huge match for Jaipur! They may get promoted to the IPL next season if they’re able to make a good run in the second division.”
Raju is genuinely confused. “But I thought the team from Jaipur were called the Supernovas, or something.”
“That was last year. This year, the owners of the NY Jets purchased a stake and rebranded the club.”
“If only you paid as much attention to, you know, your studies.”
“Dad, remember, we had a deal? No lectures.”
“Oh, now you remember deals?” Raju knows he had his son there. Just as he prepares to gloat, however, they are interrupted by a cheer. The ball had been clattered for a huge six, with the ball landing only a few rows to their right.
“Finally, something to watch!”, Ishaan says, appearing somewhat interested for the first time. “And despite that they’ve only scored 70/1 in 10 overs and there are 30 overs to go for just one innings!”
“Honestly, that’s not very long”, Raju protests. “You know, there used to be a version of cricket that lasted a full five days. I mean, many still consider that to be the real cricket.”
Ishaan rolls his eyes. “Five days? That’s just absolutely insane. I can’t believe anyone had time for that.”
Raju opens his mouth to say something, but thinks the better of it.
“You know dad, Arsenal play Chelsea in an hour and then the Storm Troopers play the Neanderthals.”
“Ok, now you’re just making stuff up. There can’t possibly be teams named that.”
“No, I’m not”, Ishaan says. “Now if only you gave me my phone, I’ll show you.”
Raju seems defeated. “Here, take it.” Just as he hands the phone over, the batter plays a gorgeous cover drive.
Ishaan grabs the phone but seems spellbound by the shot. “Shot”, he says, admiring the drive on the big screen. But the next five balls are dot balls and Ishaan’s attention has now been taken over by the phone.
***
It’s the mid-innings break, and Raju and Ishaan have grabbed themselves something to eat. Ishaan seems happy, as he devours his hot dog.
“What did you think of the hitting in the last few overs. Those were some shots, huh?”
Ishaan nods absently. “Oh yea, that new kid - how old is he?”
“He’s just 19. Wasn’t he good?”
“Yea, he was! Did you see that shot that landed all the way out of the ground?” The last 10 overs of the innings have produced 129 runs for India and that has seen them rack up 332/8 off their 40 overs. “But dad, like, why play all those overs? Might as well cut off the middle and just play 20 overs, you know?”
“But see, the ball was swinging in the first few overs. Had the openers not negotiated that, the middle order batters would not have been able to get that platform. Son, sometimes it’s important to grit it out and not just have it so easy all the time.” By the time he’s done with that sentence, Raju realizes that he’s gotten into dad mode again and has lost his son’s attention.
“Arsenal won!” Ishaan screams. “They have a 19-year old wonderkid too, who scored the winner in the 91st minute. I love what Cesc is doing with this team. I’m telling you dad, this is finally going to be Arsenal’s year.”
Raju just nods and smiles. The West Indian openers are at the crease and the Indian fielders are getting organized to defend the total. By the time the bowler is ready to bowl the first over, Ishaan is buried into his phone again.
The first over goes by without incident and it’s a maiden. It’s time for the second over to start and there is a buzz around the ground. There is a youngster from Punjab playing his first match for India and he’s supposed to be fast. The crowd make a lot of noise as he runs in to bowl, making Ishaan look up. The first ball is a thunderbolt, bouncing awkwardly and making the batter fend. “Whoooaaaaaaa”, Ishaan exclaims. “Did you see that?” 94 miles per hour, the speed gun on the giant scorecard reads. The next ball is even quicker, crossing 95 miles an hour. “Indian fast bowlers are just the best!”, Ishaan proclaims.
“You know, it wasn’t always like that!” Raju says. “There weren’t any really fast bowlers bowling when I was growing up. It was all spin back then.”
“Wait, really? India used to have spinners?” Ishaan seems shocked.
The next few balls of the over are just as exhilarating, and Raju decides it's time for another teachable moment. “See how exciting cricket can be when there’s some spice in the pitch? No point making flat pitches and seeing one big score chase down another big score …”
Raju gets cut off by the loudest cheer of the day so far. A fast, swinging yorker has demolished the middle stump. Most of the partisan crowd, including Raju and Ishaan, are on their feet. “That was like, really crazy!” Ishaan yells as loudly as he can.
The next few overs make for excellent watching. The sun has now set, and it’s a pleasant evening. The ball is moving under the lights and the Windies lose another wicket, but one of their openers, Shepherd, keeps counterpunching and is looking in good touch. They get to 80/2 from their first 12 overs. “Shepherd is the best”, Ishaan exclaims. “I can’t believe the Mumbai Indians traded him to the Cobras.” Ishaan hasn’t touched his phone for a while. Raju has noticed, but does not say a word, not wanting to jinx it.
***
It’s starting to become a real humdinger. West Indies need 56 from the last 5 overs, with only 4 wickets in hand. However, one of their most destructive hitters, King, is still at the crease and it can be anyone’s game. Ishaan hasn’t touched his phone now for a record 38 minutes straight.
To everyone’s surprise, the captain throws the ball to a leg spinner.
“Oh dear, this could be bad.” Ishaan, clearly, isn't happy with the decision. “I don’t think this is a great matchup for the bowler, especially against King.”
“It’s definitely a gamble”, Raju agrees. “But the lefty is going to have to hit to the long side of the ground.”
The first two balls disappear for huge sixes over midwicket. Ishaan hangs his head. “I knew this was a bad idea.” Raju doesn’t say anything. He’s too nervous.
The bowler bowls another flighted ball and King hits it high in the same direction again. For a while, it looks like it could end up sailing past the boundary, but it has gone high rather than long and the fielder on the boundary takes a well judged catch, much to the delight of the crowd. Raju and Ishaan both heave a sigh of relief. By the time the over is done with, the turnaround is complete. The spinner has bowled two dots and has bamboozled the batter with a vicious googly that spins through the gap and hits middle stump.
The match goes down to the last over. The Windies need 14 off it with 2 wickets remaining and the debudant speedster needs to close things out for his team. He looks nervous. So does Ishaan.
The crowd lives every ball. After a boundary off the first ball, the bowler does well to only concede only two singles and a two. It’s now down to 6 off 2. Ishaan can’t bear to watch. “C’mon, c’mon”.
The bowler delivers an inch perfect yorker clocking nearly 90 miles an hour and traps the batter lbw! There are loud cheers all around. Now the Windies need 6 off the last ball with a wicket in hand.
Another perfect yorker, which the batter manages to edge for a boundary behind the keeper, but it doesn’t matter. India have won a thriller by 1 run!
***
On the way out, Ishaan doesn’t say much. Raju thinks it’s probably because he’s tired, which he is, but he seems lost in thought. After a little while, he finally speaks. “You know dad, that was pretty cool.”
“It sure was”, Raju says.
“You know, what I mean is, this game … I mean the match lasted almost seven hours and it came down to the last ball.”
Raju smiles and nods.
“So, you know, I was thinking, in those five day matches, did that ever happen? That it came down to the last ball, or something?”
Raju thinks about it. “Not that often. But you know, there were times when it did and let me tell you, those were some of the best matches to watch.”
Ishan nods. “I think I get it. That would be kinda cool.”
Raju just smiles. He knows that “kinda cool” is one of the best compliments possible in Ishaan’s book.The day has gone better than he could have ever imagined.
“When is the next match, dad? Let’s do this again.”
By now, Raju is grinning ear to ear. “I’d like that”, he says. “I’d like that very much!”
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