Partying with friends while rooting for Team India

NEW DELHI: With the much-awaited India-Pakistan match today, cricket and

party

lovers are celebrating the T20 World Cup by throwing cricket-themed parties. While watching a match live is the ultimate dream for most fans, watching it with friends at home with buckets of popcorn isn’t a bad alternative either. School and college students are making the most of this time by hosting cricket-themed parties where they wear jerseys of Indian cricketers and root for their favourite players.

Saikat Mukherjee, a college student, is busy purchasing cricketing gear like bats, balls, bails, pitch gloves and helmets. He says, “Today, my friends and I have a grand plan to watch the Indo-Pak match. I am going to convert my living room into a mini-stadium by hanging various props on the walls. My mother is going to make popcorn, while all of us will wear the Indian team’s jerseys.”
Harshit Madhok, a student of Class XI, says, “With Holi almost here, we had to buy colours. But this year, instead of gulaal, we bought skin-friendly paints, which we will use when we watch the match and then later during Holi. So, to set the right mood for all the matches, all my relatives will paint their faces in the colours of their favourite team’s flags! My cousins are also planning to watch the India-Pakistan match at our place. So, it is going to be a family party – all thanks to the ongoing World Cup.”

Fans who have lawns at their houses are going for projectors, bean bags and chips and nachos, so that watching the World Cup becomes a grand experience. Manish Gulati, a DU student, says, “Our lawn remains unused for a large part of the year. This time, just before the T20 was about to start, my friends told me that they would love to come to my place and watch the matches in the lawn. So, I placed several bean bags and cushions there and we made arrangements of connecting the projector with our TV, so that we can watch the match live in the lawn.”
Niharika Jaiswal, a college student, is a cricket buff and a party animal, so the World Cup was the right time for her to combine both her interests. She says, “Partying while watching cricket with friends is great fun. For the weekend matches, all my gal pals gather at my place and we have a gala time. From chips, coke to painted faces and pom-poms, we party and cheer for our favourite cricketers, and dance in a circle when our favourites hit sixes or fours.”

Even the invites to these parties are cricket-themed. Gaurav Joshi, a student of Class IX, says, “Before the India-New Zealand match, I had made e-invites and sent it to my friends. We had a great time watching the match. Though India lost the game badly, we had a good time watching the match together and munching on cookies. Now, we are going to repeat the same during the India-Pakistan match!”
Kushal Mehra, a college student, says, “For me, cricket is about indulging on chicken lollipops while watching the match with friends. One of my friends has a huge LCD TV at his place, so during every match where India is playing, we go to his place and watch the game and gorge on chicken. It is a treat for all of us. We keep waiting for India to play in any match, so that we can go that friend’s place and enjoy!”