(Blues refers to India's cricket team, that won 2 out of 4 test matches in the Dec 2020-Jan 2021 series and won the series 2-1 with victories in Melbourne and Brisbane, with Sydney being a draw. This victory was against all odds as Indian team had multiple injuries and were widely considered the inferior side; the final Indian victory in Brisbane where Aussies hadn't lost in 32 years was considered a historical triumph. This is a poem in tribute)
Winter isn't dark, just a veneer
The air isn't frigid, the Sun's glorious rays do rear
A plague isn't, the euphoria does eclipse
Lost in the crowd say some, just mere blips
Not so fast, in the first innings said Rohit, Sundar and Shardul
We Sports fans wait with bated breath, forgetting the political bull
As we reach an improbable 336 makes our goblet of hope full
Social media debates on current events sound tinny and shrill
Oblivious, we are glued to the TV watching our boys work the till
To keep their second innings total to run-of-the-mill
The symphony slowly quickens as we witness a masterclass by Gill
To start off day five where our demise was being bet
A prideful nation's media extolled the unreachable target
Gabbatoir their press coined, lambs designated for slaughter
Until our lads changed the script and their plans started to sputter
Small details gone awry as to whose heads were on the block
Flashbacks started happening as down wound the clock
Melbourne the Baggy green's batting was a pile of crock
Us leveling the series was a bit of a shock!
In Sydney they tried to give us the old heave ho' off the dock
Valiant resistance however was their bane
The hamstrung Vihari and the battered Ash stopped the train
As victory eluded them, out came the sledging as a familiar refrain
They and their media had sworn, in fortress-Gabba we will be slain
Smug in their knowledge that injuries had us fried
But all Blues backers, on adrenaline high, witnessed the turning of the tide
The sports chatter on the web intensified, all aboard for the ride
As Gill, Jinks and finally Pant-bull appeared on the crease signaling Red
Their bowlers tried incessantly to breach Puje's head
They hit him and hurt him but courageously he led
While at the other end, our boys smacked them behind the woodshed
The lead inexorably diminished as the red ball frequently found the ropes instead
Until after the Tea recess, to their great consternation and dismay
The game had transmogrified into a chase unworthy even of a T20 fray
Samurais Pant and Sundar wielded the bat like swords causing disarray
As the Aussies heads dropped realizing that vanquished they would be with a bang
Until the final blow caused the fortress to be stormed and the closing bell rang
Cacophony and jubilation as the web and social media posts exploded
What a series, what a game, what a magnum opus finally concluded
A fitting tribute to our Blues in White,
ReplyDeleteThe series tested them without respite.
But, heroes were born from the ravages of crises,
They turned the tables, and sprang surprises,
The Kangaroo sledged in vain,
But, failed to contain,
Their collective and individual demises.
Well written.
Though, to be honest, I came in expecting the Blues to be a reference to Dems.
Thanks Sid!
DeleteWow! A review in verse! Great writing, Mrigank!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sipra!
ReplyDelete