Online exclusive: India wins the Cricket World Cup

India created World Cup history when it became the first host nation to win a Cricket World Cup. India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final of the Cricket World Cup in Mumbai. This was India’s second World Cup win in the one-day form of the game.

Meanwhile, back in Portland, international students from India pulled out all stops to see the match. The game was not televised in the United States, but this did not prevent the students from watching it through the early hours of Saturday morning on live streaming channels on the Internet.

“Electric, would be the word I would use to describe the atmosphere that night,” graduate student Sujit Reddy Kondaveeti, the vice president of the Indian Students Association said. “Everyone were shouting, screaming and cheering for every run we scored, hi-fi’s and hugs all around, no body moved from their places, not for a single bit. I don’t think there was ever a bigger match than this.”

Kondaveeti had checked out a projector and saw the game with 25 other cricket fans at his apartment. The students experienced raptures of ecstasy and jubilation when India finally hit the winning runs of the game.

Graduate student Rahulkumar Koche, who is also the event coordinator of the Indian Students Association said, “It was like a dream come true to me. I have no words to express my happiness when I saw the winning moment. Tears of happiness rolled down my eyes.”

Koche too had watched this game at home on a projector screen with a bunch of friends at home. “As an Indian, I am very proud of the Indian Cricket team. All the Indian students are very happy over India’s win in the World Cup that this makes us all very proud.”

Portland State’s Rec Club Council added Cricket to its arsenal of Rec Clubs last year. Cricket, often referred to as the gentlemen’s game, is the second most played game in the world, after soccer. It is popular in pockets of the globe ranging from Australia and New Zealand to England and the Caribbean.

The club is open to all Portland State students and a club fee of ten dollars is charged to utilize the club accessories, gear and training facilities.

The major differences between baseball and cricket

• You can’t strike out. Swing and miss as much as you like.
• There’s no foul territory. Hit the ball anywhere you like.
• The pitcher is even allowed to bounce the ball on the ground before it reaches the batter.
• There are no walks either. If you get hit by a pitch, tough.
• If you hit the ball, you only have to run if you think it’s safe to do so. Otherwise, stay where you are and take another pitch.
• If you reach home plate and score a run, don’t go back to the dugout. Stay there to face the next pitch. Or keep running on to first again if you wish.
• When you get out, no matter what base you’re on, the next batter comes in to replace you where you were.
• The bases are always loaded.
• So if you hit a home run, that’s 4 runs. But don’t bother actually running the bases, since that’s pointless. Just stay where you are.
• Take the gloves off the fielders.
• Once you’re out, you can’t bat again in the same inning.
• The team’s inning is only over when 6 players are out, since this leaves only 3 players who aren’t out to man the bases.
• Let’s increase a home run to scoring 6 runs, but still the batters don’t move any bases when one is hit.
• Reduce the number of bases from four to two.
• Replace each base with three upright wooden poles in a row, 28 inches high, with the outermost two 9 inches apart.
• When batting, you are out if the pitcher hits the poles with a pitch, or if you get in the way and he hits you. You better defend them with your bat!
• If the ball hits the wall around the field, let’s automatically score 4 runs and the ball is out of play, like if a home run is hit.
• Increase the number of players from 9 to 11 per team. So now, the inning is over when 10 players are out, since that just leaves one player and two bases to man.
• Reduce the number of innings from nine to two.