Nagpurians ‘Bleed Blue’ as India triumph

By Paritosh Pramanik

THE six-year wait for a One-Dayer finally ended on a happy note as Nagpurians enjoyed the moment cheering, shouting, applauding, dancing during their 8-hour memorable stay at VCA’s Jamtha Stadium on Thursday.

India and England started their preparation for Champions Trophy at the right earnest as the hosts defeated the visitors by four wickets under lights extending their supremacy at Jamtha Stadium.

Though the match started at 1.30 pm, fans made a bee-line at the gates from morning itself. With banners, placards the fans made a serpentine queue to occupy their seats well in advance.

They all came beautifully dressed, some wore turbans, hats, traditional dresses, camouflaged T-shirts to look attractive and get noticed by the broadcasters’ cameras and photographers lens. Some patriots even painted tricolour on their cheeks.

The stadium turned into a sea of blue with spectators wearing India Blue jerseys. 

With the DJ blaring at every fours and sixes, the fans danced to the tunes soaking in the atmosphere.

There was a tight security blanket in and around the stadium but the men in khaki were at ease and let the fans celebrate the ‘festival’.

The chants of Jeetega bhai jeetega....India jeetega, Vande Matram.... Bharat Mata Ki Jai reverberated from the stands with fans uniting common cause — watching India win.

Shouts of Shubman...Shubman, Iyer...Iyer.....after Rana...Rana.... continued to breach the decibel level as Indian cricketers took control of the game.

India responded to fans’ faith by restricting England to 248 with debutant Harshit Rana and experienced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja taking three wickets each.

Fans were shocked when they got the news in the afternoon that one of the best One-Day players Virat Kohli won’t be playing the match due to sore knee. But Shreyas Iyer, vice-captain Shubman Gill and Axar Patel made it sure they return home happily.

Iyer hit a fine 59 with nine boundaries and two huge sixes to entertain the crowd.

Gill  and Patel (52) then made the celebration more bigger with a match-winning 108 runs partnership. Gill added icing on the cake with a fine 87.

There was a moment when the stadium fell silent when India lost debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal (15) and captain Rohit Sharma (2) cheaply early in the innings. But Gill, Iyer and Patel lifted their spirits hitting boundaries and sixes.

All in all the six-year wait for an ODI in Nagpur was worth as fans returned home with some cherished memories.