Tears of joy and sorrow fall at Kensington Oval instead of rain drops

By K.R. Nayar
From Kensington Oval, Barbados

Emotional scenes followed after India lifted the World Cup. Most of Team India players, including coach Rahul Dravid, shed tears of joy. The South African players literally shed tears of sadness after being so close and yet not lifting the trophy. The way the match swung from one team to another was compared to a man drunk after having Barbados’s famous Rum Punch.

After walking out of the ICC 2023 World Cup 50-over final like a funeral procession, this time it was like walking with a marriage procession. The saxophone was constantly played, and drum beats that began at the start continued even after the match. Many people I approached for comments had no voice as they had screamed cheering for India and lost their voice. “My husband will be happy and at peace for a few days,” said a woman fan who had lost her voice, candidly laughing away. It drizzled soon after the match ended, making it seem like Barbados, too, shed tears of joy over hosting one of the finest finals in the history of the T20 World Cup.

 Kohli fans calls Kensington as 'King'sington  

Despite Virat Kohli not being among the runs, many of his fans had coined interesting placards for him. As Kohli is known as King Kohli, some made posters renaming Kensington Oval to King’ston Oval. When King Kohli started off by hitting big shots in the first over, someone said, "King will rule the day." In the second over, when Keshav Maharaj took the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, someone remarked, "Maharaj rule has been imposed on India." Kohli was also compared to a ticking bomb. “For the last few matches, he was ticking, and finally, in the final, he blasted.”

With Roger Binny, President of the BCCI

Rohit mixed freely with the media after the post-match press conference and posed for a group photo with the World Cup. He was happy to sign on my accreditation card too. It was a delight to interact with Roger Binny, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. He recalled the 1983 World Cup final and said that catches turn matches. In 1983, it was Kapil Dev’s catch of Viv Richards, and this time it was Suryakumar Yadav’s catch offered by David Miller. “Happy I witnessed both of them,’’ he said.

 

Rohit Sharma's autograph on my accreditation card

Many seats were vacant despite being a final, and when queried about it, a volunteer said that many fans, despite having tickets, were at the nearby beach. Be it cricket or any event, if there was a chance to dance and beat the drums, fans here would prefer to do that. When Chris Gayle and Mia Mottley, the Barbados Prime Minister, brought out the World Cup to place it on a pedestal, someone shouted, “Gayle hit the Cup for a six.”

When it looked like India might lose despite posting the biggest total in a T20 World Cup final, someone commented whether India are the new chokers. The Kensington Oval roof has is solar panels all around. When South Africa started their shower of sixes onto the roof, the stadium authorities were worried that some of those panels may have been damaged. 

Rohit Sharma with the media soon after India's triumph

According to weather reports, a hurricane is expected to hit Barbados on Monday, and many fans who are here from other countries are worried about their flights getting affected. Massive queues were seen at a grocery store on the way after the match. It seems most people were stocking goods in case the hurricane shows up.

Long queues as people stock up food due to a hurricane forecast 

After Suryakumar Yadav, popularly known as Sky, took that brilliant catch off Miller to nearly end South Africa’s chase, the joke was that he could not have dropped it since it had come from the ‘sky’.