🏏 Stayed till the last ball at the SRH game for once

I've supported Sunrisers since the first season, so I know what it feels like to leave a match early. A few seasons ago I left 4 overs early, got stuck in traffic at Uppal, and heard the roar from the car. I decided then I'd never do that again. Then the team kept giving me reasons to. Last month I went with my cousin and 2 friends. Tickets, a bag of peanuts, and a borrowed jersey. I'm not going to talk about the score. Nobody in our row was watching the scoreboard anyway. The man next to us had a flask of tea and kept offering it around. 2 strangers said yes. When a wicket fell, the whole stand jumped up, and my cousin spilled cold drink on my shoes. I didn't care. I was too busy shouting at a player I normally complain about on my phone. For years the team felt like a group of strangers who'd been given the same shirt. Lately the batting order looks like somebody made a decision and then left it alone. My friend Imran, who quit following them in 2021, texted me during the match asking who the new guy was. I told him to come next time. He said he'd think about it, which means yes. I know 1 good month doesn't fix years of chopping and changing. I'm not that naive. My father still says wait for the playoffs before you get excited, and he's been saying it since 2013. But I'm keeping the borrowed jersey. My cousin wants it back and he's not getting it. Next home game I'm staying till the last ball, whatever the traffic at Uppal does.

I left early once too, during a different season, and my uncle still brings it up at weddings. I was 14, it was raining, and I wanted dosa more than the last 3 overs. So I understand why you're keeping the jersey. Ask your cousin to buy his own, that's fair. Was it hard getting tickets? I'd like to take my kids but I keep hearing it sells out.

I'm one of those who quit following them in 2020, so your friend's text made me laugh. I still watch the highlights on my phone, and I'll admit the team looks calmer lately. Calm isn't the same as good though. My brother says ask me again in 2 months. The peanuts and the stranger's tea sound great. That's what I miss about going to the ground.