CHENNAI: Bowler M Ashwin was ready. Batsman Ricky Bhui had already got his game face on. Play, though, was momentarily held up between Tamil Nadu and Andhra on Thursday at Pachaiyappa’s College. After Bhui had sent the ball deep into Harrington Road, the crowd, only separated by a thin line of chalk, en masse entered the field and mobbed Murali Vijay, who was fielding at deep square-leg.
Cell phones and selfie sticks at the ready, the students formed a circle around the India opener and started clicking away. Even as a new ball was passed on from the pavilion to the on-field umpires, the crowd around Vijay only seemed to increase. It was surreal watching on as time stood still — a few guards had to come and ask the students to get back to sitting so the match could continue. On a couple of other occasions, the 32-year-old was obliging autograph hunters even as the bowler was in his delivery stride.
That was a taste of what was to come after the match (TN won by 37 runs). It looked like a couple of classes worth of students were made aware of Vijay’s presence. Just as he was making his way off the ground, he was again mobbed. Clicks were clocked at more than 5 per second as there was a competition to see who would get to stand closest to him.
It was amusing to see Vijay patiently accepting all the requests. A pleasant surprise when most modern sportspersons start thinking about hotel rooms and home food 10 minutes before the completion of a match. Some were left disappointed but for the majority, it was a once in a lifetime experience. “Don’t worry, both of us are there in the picture I clicked and we are standing next to him. The image isn’t blurred,” one of them said. The reply evoked laughter. “Hopefully I will get more than 100 likes on Facebook for this.”
This supposedly isn’t the first time that Pachaiyappa’s has come across an India player. There is an apocryphal story regarding Yusuf Pathan, who had come here for a Buchi Babu match. He had asked for water and the crowd refused for some strange reason. Following that, Yusuf had muttered something. A few responded by promptly tapping a water bottle on top of his head. The Baroda man wasn’t happy and registered a complaint with the TNCA. It’s unlikely that Vijay will take the same path.
swaroop@newindianexpress.com