The Week India – July 14, 2019

50 THE WEEK • JULY 14, 2019

WORLD CUP

ICC

2019

A true Blue

team was dispatched from the broad-

casters’ room to locate Patel and the

ICC and BCCI digital teams made a

beeline for her. “I am over the moon.

I have never experienced such a thing

before,” said the die-hard cricket fan

from her London residence.

“I got the tickets after a lot of

diffi culty. I did not have a wheelchair

ticket and I had to sit in the com-

mon stand. But I am thankful to the

authorities who provided me with a

wheelchair and was given a proper

seat later on,” she said. Patel was

born to Indian parents in Tanzania

and used to follow the sport since

her time in Africa.

Th e octogenarian has seen some

of Indian cricket’s fi nest moments

in England. She proudly revealed

that she had seen the ‘Kapil’s Dev-

ils’ in action in the 1983 World Cup.

She even watched India’s match

against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge

Wells, where Kapil Dev scored a

historic 175.

Patel says she tries her best to

catch games at the grounds. If not,

she is glued to her TV. “I took a Sky

subscription just for cricket. I am so

crazy for this sport that even if I do

not get my food, I am fi ne with it. I

just love cricket. People would often

give me cricketers’ photographs

and newspaper clippings. Some

would give me India caps,” she said.

Her trip to Birmingham has end-

ed up giving her much more. At the

end of the game, she was taken to

meet the Indian team. She blessed

both Virat Kohli and his deputy, Ro-

hit Sharma. “I blessed him (Kohli)

and told him to win the World Cup.

Th ey then took me to meet the

entire team. Rohit touched my feet

and took my blessings,” she said.

why the ‘intent’ question kept coming up especially

when “MS was striking the ball really well”. Bangar

said that Dhoni had good intent against England. “It

is just that the English bowlers stuck to their task re-

ally well—they used the angles and the large bound-

aries to their advantage,” said Bangar. “I did not really

fi nd anything wrong in MS’s innings. He was batting

beautifully. He struck a few big blows. It is just that in

the last four to fi ve overs the diff erence between runs

required and balls left just kept creeping up. Except

for the odd innings, he [Dhoni] has performed the

role.”

“Who would have liked to play the way they (Dhoni

and Jadhav) played [against England]?” asked Gaek-

wad. “Th ere was something more to it. Maybe, the net

run rate was on their mind,” said Gaekwad. Jadhav

BY NEERU BHATIA

STAR STRUCK

India captain Virat Kohli

meets Charulata Patel

after the game

AFP

CHARULATA PATEL was happy but

tired by the time she was through

with watching the game between

India and Bangladesh at Edgbaston.

Th e 87-year-old London resident

had arrived an ordinary fan but was

returning a celebrity.

Patel was with her granddaughter

Anjali in the stands when the offi cial

broadcaster caught her on camera

blowing a trumpet after a Rohit Shar-

ma boundary. And, a star was born. A