I broke my finger while watching an India-South Africa match!

Cricket is usually regarded as the gentleman’s game. It is, after all, not a body-contact sport. However, despite the low chances, players tend to get injured. Nevertheless, this is the story of a fan getting injured, that too while watching the game. Ayush Gupta discusses his experience of breaking his own finger while watching the sport.

Yes, you read it right! I broke my finger while watching the game of cricket, not playing. Now, you must be wondering how somebody can get injured while watching the game, rather than playing it. Hmmm… seems interesting. So keep reading on and you will get to know how it all happened.

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It was back in 2012, during my graduation days in college. The date was March 30. It was a Saturday. There were several big games lined up through the day, including actions mostly in football. I am myself a big football fan, as I intensely follow the English Premier League and a big-time supporter of Manchester United.

Thankfully, no game was scheduled on the day for United that day. The next big game had to be the Twenty20 International action. India were taking on South Africa in a one-off tie at New Wanderers. Being an Indian, I love cricket, and the game being a T20 format, it pumped me up.

I switched on my television set at 9:00 PM IST to catch the action live on TV. India bowled first, which disappointed me as the track seemed to be a flat one — reminiscent of the typical subcontinent pitches. However, I was happy as India had a good record of chasing successfully in this format of the game.

I was watching the game alone, and was enjoying every single bit of it. Just before the first ball, a close friend of mine called me up and asked my opinion on the outcome. I said that I was keeping my fingers crossed, since I was aware of the quality of South African cricket. I obviously pined for an Indian victory, but put South Africa ahead since the match was being played at their home. He asked if I could put a small bet of an ice-cream, since he was rooting for India. I eventually agreed.

The match started. As I had feared, South Africa were off to an explosive start with Richard Levi and Jacques Kallis smashing the ball. The first over went for 13 runs, but I did not panic. Nineteen overs were yet to be bowled. Irfan Pathan soon accounted for Levi, and I was happy.

Unfortunately, I had no idea what was about to transpire next. Out came Colin Ingram. He was off with a boundary off the very first ball he faced from Irfan. Slowly and steadily, within six overs, courtesy some good hitting from both batsmen, South Africa reached 55 for 1 in the Powerplay overs.

Things were not looking good. I got the sinking feeling that this was going to be high-scoring tie as expected.

Both batsmen kept going on. The Indian bowlers found it hard to break through. 100 came up from a mere 11.2 overs, and it seemed 200 was just a matter of time away if India did not break through. The batsmen had scored their respective half-centuries. They also put up the 100-run stand from just 71 deliveries. This was where I started biting my nails vigorously.

After putting up 119 runs, the partnership finally came to an end in the 15th over. Kallis was dismissed for 61. The score read 141 with five overs to go. I heaved a sigh of relief.

However, there was more to come. Farhaan Behardien joined Ingram, who continued to batter the Indian bowlers. The 17th over (from Vinay Kumar) was appalling: he was smashed for 20 runs.

My temper was slowly on the rise and the only thing I remember saying was “How much more punishment is in store?”

Nevertheless, the very first ball of the next over from Suresh Raina put a break on the acceleration, as he dismissed Ingram for 78. Justin Ontong walked out, and along with Behardien, started smacking it all over the park.

The pair put up 35 before Ontong was dismissed for 22 in the 20th over, once again by Raina. Albie Morkel came to face the final three deliveries and it was followed by a six, a four and another six. South Africa finished with a whopping 219.

I was scratching my head and kept wondering as why MS Dhoni bowled first on a flat batting track. Just when I was looking for an answer, I got a call from my close friend, only to be abused by him in a friendly fashion, claiming me to be a match-fixer. I laughed it off, but it did not reduce the tension going through my head. I was clearly not thinking about the bet, as I would be happy to lose it for the sake of my nation.

Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir walked to the field with an uphill task against a quality bowling unit of South Africa. Lonwabo Tsotsobe opened bowling. The openers were off to a slow start, scoring only seven in the first over. I covered my face with my hands and murmurded, “Speed up the innings, big shots is the only option for us to win the game.”

Things started looking good as the second over from Albie was smashed for 16 by Gambhir. I punched my hand and said, “That’s what you need, idiots. Go for more.”

The third over from Tsotsobe was a quiet one, followed by another big over from Juan Theron that cost 13 runs from Gambhir. He was looking in some good touch. India reached 40 at the end of 4 overs in no time. I still kept my hand on the mouth and kept uttering, “Come on, you can do it. Just don’t mess up the momentum.” India reached 51 by the end of the Powerplay overs.

At this point, I was absolutely clueless regarding what could happen as the match was still wide open. The only thing I was relieved with that India had not lost a single wicket. Gambhir continued to fire. Uthappa joined the party as well, smashing Johan Botha for four in the first ball of the seventh over.

I was getting more and more excited. I was happy to see India bat so brilliantly. I also got a thought that the pitch was probably playing its part for batsmen who specialised in this format. I just wished it stayed the same till the end.

Gambhir continued his good hitting in the next over of Wayne Parnell. Then, out of nowhere, it started raining, just before the last ball of the eighth over. The umpires took the bails off and players rushed out of the ground.

I just slapped my hands back into my face and uttered just three words, “WHAT THE HELL!” I was absolutely furious. The last thing I wanted was the momentum to be broken, and with India having managed to do so without losing a wicket, it was rain that broke the momentum. I simply wanted the rain to get over with and play to resume soon.

I quickly checked the Duckworth-Lewis par score. India were 11 runs behind. “Damn! I never saw that coming. Nobody ever predicted for the rain,” is what I said. I just wondered if that was the reason Dhoni chose to bowl first, but failed to grab a proper answer. As I stayed glued to the television set and kept checking on the websites for the updates, I was hardly getting any good news and was also getting a feeling that how were South Africa able to conspire against us with weather.

Do I sound childish? I was more or less a child at that time. As the clock struck midnight, I received an update on a cricket website, saying that the match had been called off due to persistent rain playing spoil-sport.

Damn! India were well on a course to pull out an emphatic win, but the rain had to play the foul game at the end of the day. I was so down and so livid that I punched the wall hard this time. The very next word I uttered was “OUCH!”

Yes, that did hurt. I immediately covered my middle finger with ice. After a few moments I quickly strapped the finger with a leucoplast tape. I called up my friend and came to know that he too was upset with the result as me. Although I had won the bet, I withdrew the bet out of my love for my nation. It turned out to be a fracture.

The next morning, I explained the situation to my mother. She was livid with and threatened me to ban from watching the sport. I just stayed calm and told myself, “Another storm that is soon to pass out.”

I went to my coaching centre in the evening, where my friends and Professors made fun at my experience. However, the professor praised me for my passion for the game and inspired me to become the journalist I am now.

(Ayush Gupta is a reporter at CricketCountry. A passionate supporter of Manchester United, he idolises Roger Federer and is also a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) maniac. He can be followed on Twitter @Ayush24x7)