Having solely examine smog in textbooks and newspaper articles, this reporter acquired to expertise it firsthand for the primary time in his life throughout his maiden Ranji Trophy task, a match between Haryana and Kerala in Rohtak.
Apart from the gloomy welcome by an acrid blanket of this man-made climate phenomenon, the reporter was shocked by a prescient cab driver who predicted the primary day’s play of the sport wouldn’t start till 12 pm, because of the all-encompassing smog that had actually engulfed the city.
Regardless of the warning, the reporter determined to move to the stadium in Lahli — positioned amidst limitless swathes of farmland.
The cab driver’s judgement proved correct, and never only for the primary day, because the smog ate into the official play time at each ends all through the match.
When gentle permitted and the 2 groups lastly clashed, there occurred an occasion of such rarity that it had occurred solely twice earlier than within the historical past of the Ranji Trophy.
Haryana pacer Anshul Kamboj managed to say all 10 wickets in Kerala’s first innings, changing into solely the third bowler, after Premansu Chatterjee (1956) and Pradeep Sunderam (1985), to attain the feat.
| Video Credit score:
Pranay Rajiv
This reporter, who had earlier cursed his luck for being the only journalist masking the sport, was now thanking his stars for being current on the scene of historical past.
Fortune additionally allowed the reporter to seize movies of Kamboj’s tenth wicket and his proud stroll again to the pavilion – which turned out to be the reporter’s most viral publish on X.
An interview with Kamboj was quickly sourced, options had been filed, and a duplicate of the scorecard was acquired – for memorabilia’s sake.
Sadly for Haryana, Kerala managed to beat Kamboj’s heroics, clinching the all-important first-innings lead and the resultant three factors.
Quickly, the reporter, grateful for the random stroke of probability that allowed him to witness such a uncommon episode in cricketing historical past, bid farewell to Rohtak and its smog — and in addition to his hoodie, which is virtually of little use again in Chennai.
Expectations for 2025
Hoping India performs nicely within the Champions Trophy and the Girls’s ODI World Cup. On a extra particular be aware, it could be fantastic if Jasprit Bumrah stays injury-free and continues to interrupt bowling information.