Author: Sharmistha Gooptu

Sharmistha Gooptu in London It was almost 10 this morning at Lord’s. Unlike other days, the Indian team was still not seen inside the ground, with about an hour before the start of play. Some members of the England team were seen warming up. A handful of men in blue were conversing at the other end of the ground, too far for the birdie to make out who’s who. Then, I spotted Ravindra Jadeja in the distance, striding out from the ground on the side of the media centre – the gate opposite the Nursery end. Fans have assembled early…

Sharmistha Gooptu in London As India and England stood evenly poised at the end of the third day’s play, and I enter to the early buzz in the media centre here at Lord’s on Day 4, I’m replaying in my mind the closing scene of the last over of yesterday’s play. Much has already been written and commented on the drama of the last over with Zak Crawley’s delaying tactics, and Shubman Gill and KL Rahul coming into a heated exchange with the England opener. Mohammed Siraj was seen running in to add a few words. And at the end…

Sharmistha Gooptu in London Today, I was watching from my place at the head of the media box who was the first of the Indian team members coming into the ground. Straining my eyes, I caught the movements of Rishabh Pant, who was one of the first to enter. In between, I logged into our different streams — Bangla, English and Hindi to check the quality of the reception or audience feedback as I do every day. And in the Hindi live which was then 20 minutes in the stream, I saw our reporters Rohit Juglan and Subhayan Chakraborty in…

Sharmistha Gooptu in London We are at Lord’s for India versus England – the third test in the ongoing series, and the mother of them all, a Test match at the ‘home of cricket’. And yet, the day started off on a much larger note – on the note of cancer awareness and to generate awareness and support for families facing the loss of a member to the dreaded disease. More specifically, the Ruth Strauss Foundation, named after the deceased wife of ex-England captain Andrew Strauss, on this day raises awareness and funds via the game of cricket, for children…

Sharmistha Gooptu in London Lord’s is the king of all battles and today it is the battle royale here set to start in a few minutes from now. As all match days, I’m early in the media centre, it’s just 9 am here in London – the spaceship-like structure that’s going to be my workplace for the next few days. The England team was already warming up, and within the next half hour the Indian team was on scene. Unlike Birmingham, where the birdie had a neat view of the pitch, at Lord’s the media centre is at a further…

Sharmistha Gooptu in London It’s not only the Lord’s Test, starting tomorrow, that’s heated up the scene here. It’s also the sun that’s been blazing down in London since yesterday. The Test match days are set to be record highs, with the mercury crossing 30 Celsius on some days. The Indian team came in after 12.30, and walking from the Grace Gate side to the North Gate, I spotted Indian superfan Sudhir waiting outside the Grace Gate with a couple of supporters. ‘When is the team coming in, ma’am?’ he asked. ‘Should be anytime,’ I replied. ‘Captain’s PC at 12.30.’…

Sharmistha Gooptu in London “Which of these two is that balcony? The famous one!” I asked a colleague who is a veteran at Lord’s. He laughed and pointed out: “That’s the one with the Indian flag flying.” The balcony of course etched forever in our collective psyche and pop culture, where the then India captain Sourav Ganguly opened his shirt and waved it after India won the 2002 NatWest Series final against England. And it’s remarkable that today happens to be Dada’s birthday. The birdie marvels at the coincidence of her first visit to the Home of Cricket. Watching the…

Sharmistha Gooptu in Birmingham When we waited this morning for the rain to stop, then for the match to start and again as the rain came, the conversation around me had veered around to the hand of God and wagers. An English journalist said to his colleague: ‘Somebody’s prayers are being answered’ – that, with rain, there would be the possibility of a draw. Another person seated right next to me bet somebody on the phone ten dollars if it was a draw. But the prayers of hundreds of Indian fans overturned that one, and though there was an atmospheric…

Sharmistha Gooptu in Birmingham I was again one of the very first in the press box today, as my colleagues were on their live shows on different streams for RevSportz. The teams had come in and were inside the ground, warming up, playing ball and generally bantering. Some of the Indian players were playing with a football and the body language from my positing high above in the glass box seemed relaxed, with high levels of bonding and camaraderie. After several rounds of heading the ball around, one of them, possibly Karun Nair (I need to carry a pair…

Sharmistha Gooptu in Birmingham The media enclosure has just a few people when I come in everyday around 9 or 9.15 am after grabbing a coffee in the media lounge. The others in our team are outside the stadium doing their live shows on the different streams. Most media people arrive by 10 am or so when the media enclosure starts to buzz. The ground is empty more or less except for a few staff persons or the ground-staff doing some work around the pitch. This morning, Gautam Gambhir and the Indian support staff arrived earlier than usual and from…