Monday, June 22, 2009

Unforgettable Memories of June 2009

The World Twenty20 is over but the euphoria refuses to die down; particularly for the Pakistan fans.

Covering the entire tournament on Well Pitched has been one hell of a memorable experience for me.

The previews, the calls, the take-aways, the reviews, the Pakistan strategies, predicting things, the discussions, the fickle Pakistan fans and so on kept me on one big high for the last 3-4 weeks.

Since September 2007, when Well Pitched came into being, this was the first cricket tournament involving all international teams.

I had covered both the IPL seasons, but largely as a neutral observer; during the World T20, I discovered that it was difficult to keep the emotions from pouring out out in my posts.

Before we move on to more cricket with India in the West Indies, Pakistan's tour to Sri Lanka, and the Ashes; here's a list of things from June 2009 that will remain in my memory for years.

Besides the fact that Pakistan lifted the World Twenty20 trophy!

  1. "Q from Well Pitched" mentioned on the radio - KiwiFM.
  2. A call I received on the 1st day of the month from someone who asked me whether it would be worth watching the World T20 from a Pakistan perspective, because he did not want to go through needless heartbreak. I told him not to worry about it and that we had a good chance of winning it. That caller watched all the games, including the semi final and final with me. He didn't regret the decision.
  3. Bored Cricket Crazy Indians transforming into Bored Cricket Crazy Indians... and Pakistanis!
  4. Indian and Pakistani bloggers coming together to cover the India vs Pakistan warm up game LIVE.
  5. My back and forth discussion with RGB when I called Pakistan the best T20 team before the World T20 began.
  6. Stuart Broad's final over against Netherlands.
  7. Chris Gayle destroying Brett Lee.
  8. My calls to get Fawad Alam into the XI, Kamran Akmal to open, and dropping Salman Butt coming to life.
  9. The Dilshan / Dilscoop.
  10. Kyle Coetzer's catch against South Africa.
  11. Raj's continuous support of Pakistan and his faith in the team, which was more than what the Pakistani fans had.
  12. Australia dumped in the group stages of a world cup; my statement that the last time that happened, Pakistan won the cup.
  13. The Shahid Afridi one hand raised salute.
  14. The new look Well Pitched.
  15. The launch of a 17-year old left arm Pakistani pacer.
  16. Angelo Mathews flying in the air outside the boundary doing a Micheal Jordan to a cricket ball.
  17. Younis Khan calling 20-20 cricket the WWF!
  18. Well Pitched on Cricinfo.
  19. Dwayne Bravo's performance against India.
  20. The return of Abdul Razzaq.
  21. Q vs Damith on BCC!
  22. Lendl Simmons catch to dismiss Gautam Gambhir.
  23. Shahid Afridi's catch to dismiss Scott Styris and his celebration.
  24. Umar Gul's 5-6.
  25. My facebook profile converting into a cricket blogger's feed.
  26. Chris Gayle's yellow sunglasses.
  27. Kamran Akmal's and Misbah's red sunglasses.
  28. Lendl Simmons innings against South Africa.
  29. The return of Shahid Afridi the batsman.
  30. The number of smses I got referring to my "open letter to TD" when Dilshan got out for a duck in the final.
  31. Abdul Razzaq's bowling effort in the final and his great fall.
  32. Shahid Afridi, legs apart, arms raised, bat in one hand, helmet in the other, face glowing, smile wide, celebrating Pakistan's victory.
  33. Shoaib Malik hugging Afridi.
  34. The number of congratulatory smses I got when Pakistan got the winning run. More than I have received on Eid or my Birthday!
  35. Everyone who turned up at Time Cafe to watch the semi final and the final. You all made victory all the more special.
  36. And all of you who followed the entire World T20 with me on Well Pitched, facebook, gmail, and on the cell phone.
The GREENS are the CHAMPIONS!

Make your pitch on this post...



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13 Pitched:

  1. raj said...
     

    oh Congrats Q! It is really heartening to watch a talented team winning the cup. Who can deny the brilliance of Afridi, Gul or Ajmal? or Younis?

    Remebering that a Misbah failure won the cup for India last time against a mediocre Joginder Sharma, I'd say this was a more deserved trophy win than last time. There are hardly any passengers in this team.

  2. Leg Break said...
     

    I’m picking that your radio career will really take off in November / December.

  3. straight point said...
     

    now this is what we call...having cake and eating it too...

    great going WP...great going pak... :)

  4. Q said...
     

    Raj,

    Thanks man for everything!

    As I said, u were our Sunny Gavaskar :-)

    Definitely a more deserved trophy. The entire team rose to the occasion!

  5. Q said...
     

    LB,

    Fingers crossed for that - hope the series goes through..

  6. Q said...
     

    SP,

    totally! Loved the cake.. as sweet as victory ;-)

  7. Leg Break said...
     

    Yup; deafening silence from this end on that one. Any news or rumours from your way?

    Mind you, NZC still has to agree on dates and format for the Sri Lanka tour, supposedly due to happen in August. There are the new contracts (effective next Wednesday) to agree on, and they have still to work out what to do with the returning ICL boys.

    Fun times

  8. Q said...
     

    LB,

    No news here either.

    We're due to tour Australia in December, so I guess it would make sense to come to NZ before that...

    Though there was talk of having the series in Dubai..

  9. Leg Break said...
     

    NZ in November can be pretty grim.

    The temptation would be to rush you guys into a test in the South Island as soon as you get off the plane.

  10. Abdullah said...
     

    ITS BEEN A LIVELY MONTH !

  11. Abdullah said...
     

    AND AN EVENTFUL ONE !

  12. Q said...
     

    It sure has Maza!

  13. Q said...
     

    LB,

    If November is grim in NZ then I guess the matches will probably be in Dubai.. cos Dec Pak are due in Australia..

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