1983-Facts and Fiction

Night after the final

New characters from the previous OS:

Opener Sunil Gavaskar (Sunny)

Medium pacer Madan Lal (Maddi)

Batsman Sandeep Patil (Patla)

Wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani (Kiri)

All-rounder Roger Binny

All-rounder Ravi Shastri

***

'Champagne pe champagne ke bottle khul rahe the, log pee rahe the, lekin mai darr raha tha—ki inke paise kaun denge? Aakhri din tha tour ka, kisike paas ek paise nahi bache the. Mai aaj tak nahi janta uske paise kisne diye.

Khushi se hume bhook hi nahi lag rahi thi, aur jab bhook ka khayal aya, sab kuchh bandh ho chuka tha. Jis din hum world cup jeete, khali pet soye the, magar dil bhara huya tha.'

~Kapil Dev

***

Sunny was the last to arrive in the common room of the team's hotel owing to a long phone call from his family, and found the room spilling over with excited Indians dancing, at the center of which his own team was also dancing at various levels of intoxication.

For moment he tried to count the number of empty champagne bottles rolling on the floor, but gave up when the count reached eight.

"SUNNY BHAI!" shrieked Ballu in his ears. "I'M THE BARTENDER TODAY, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE?"

"Nothing at the moment," said Sunny hastily, checking Ballu's face carefully to see just how drunk he was. He was plenty drunk, he concluded, but still in his senses and not, as Patla scoffed about people with low tolerance, 'out'.

"Who made Ballu the bartender?" he muttered to himself as he pushed though the crowd to check on the others.

"Common consensus," said Maddi, voice slurry, but eyes sober.

"For Greenidge's wicket?" asked Sunny.

"Yes!"

"What do you get in return of Viv Richard's wicket, then?"

"Opened the first champagne bottle," said Maddi brightly.

"You guys are irresponsible drinkers," said Sunny, rolling his eyes. "Look at the state of you."

"Hey, we're sober!"

Considering the amount of alcohol they must have ingested, Sunny had to admit his team looked mostly sober, owing no doubt, to their tolerance made high by the amount of secret parties they'd had.

"Sunny bhai, Sunny bhai, Sunny bhai, want to see me juggling with the bottles?" yelled Patla, appearing at a run.

"Here he goes," said Sunny under his breath.

Patla's juggling exhibition was met with much cheering and hooting from everyone in the room, and Sunny thought he'd go find the captain and vice-captain, so that the only three sober people could leave the room and sleep in peace.

"Where are you going?" demanded Maddi.

"To get Jimmy and Kaps," said Sunny drily. "Where are they, d'you know?"

"Somewhere around there," said Maddi vaguely. "What do you want with them?"

"Oh, I'll—I thought I'd treat Jimmy to dinner in return of his Man of the Match award," said Sunny, improvising quickly.

"He already had a return gift, he got to drink from the first bottle that was opened..."

"Maddi, you fools did not let Jimmy drink," said Sunny in horror. "Lala ji's going to kill—"