Take your kid to Kohli Day

England 283 all out
v India 271-6
close on Day 2

Sunday 27 November 2016

Played at Mohali

Twitter @ball_sup

9 Indian Beer Ticks

Local Colour

Today was a great day for us Indian Gazers. Saturday - India lose toss & inevitably field. Phone your mates. Get the Polyester Replica Shirts washed. Get a good night's sleep. Fill the car with 4 Star. Get both mobile phones fully charged. Because. My. Friends. Today. Sunday. Is KOHLI DAY.

I had the privilege of sitting in The North Pavilion with a lad whose Tenth Birthday was on Saturday. Today, Sunday, he'd been driven four hours from Delhi. With/by his Dad, Brother, Uncle & Cousin. He was seeing his Hero, Virat, bat in the flesh for the very first time. Go well fella…. In eight years time, on your eighteenth, a three match trial with the Ball Sup Army is on offer. You've got my number.

And he was not alone. They'd all come to see Virat bat. Whisper it. But they can fuck off. Adil, Batty, Stokes, Woakes, I'd come to SEE THEM BOWL. And the World turns.

And one point, the Indian guy behind made a telling comment. When asked "will there be a bigger crowd today?". He answered "yes, India are playing today". Of course, India had NOT PLAYED on Day 1. They'd been just BOWLING.

Parthiv Patel went LBW on review to Rashid. England Fans & our co-opted Indian Cannon Fodder cheered the DRS to the rafters. Poor fucker. His wicket has been cheered by his own fans, the Indian Masses. They're glad he's gone. More Kohli Time. The Mad Bastards.

The Beer

Another BrewPub. My third in Tricity. The Great Bear in Chandigarh. Very “Western”. Music blaring out. Mock graffiti on the walls. Dark. The brewing kit is behind glass in the middle of the two rooms.

Four listed. Three on. No ABVs listed. The waiter automatically, ie without being asked, brought over a four glass tasting tray. (The fourth one was “Green Apple” - nominally cider I suppose).

The Great Bear, Weiss Beer. Very much at the citrus, lemon end. Nice & refreshing. But, lacks a bit of punch & complexity. A bit too sweet.

The Great Bear, German Bock. I can't really comment on the colour in the glass. It's too fucking dark in here. Looks OK in the photo with a Flash. Tastes good & authentic. Quite a lot of sweetness there. But, that's the deal. Hint of yeasty Marmite. Just ever so toasted. Quite a lot going on.

The Cricket

England stuck at it. Were very economical in parts. Spilled a few chances. Went dead in the field at times. But, were lively at others. Great dive & pick up & direct hit by Buttler  to run Nair out. Ashwin is still there & dangerous. New Ball only a few overs old. Because of our poor show with the bat, we're still in a bit of trouble. But having them at 271-6 keeps us in the game.

Take a Sicky, Kohli might bat again on Tuesday.

409/838