A cricket correspondent for the season?

MY WEEK

"Let's meet before 3. I don't want to miss a minute of the match," says the chirpy voice. Ah, another cricket fan "" I think to myself. This manic Monday will be a tough not only for Team India playing against Pakistan at the ICC World Twenty20, but also for business journos requiring a quote for their stories.

A media friend informs that the official broadcaster of the tournament ESPN-STAR Sports has managed to rake in Rs 8 lakh for 10 seconds of commercial time for the final ... that kind of astonishing rate has never been seen before.

By 5:25 everyone at work is in a frenzy. Reporters are battling with stories as 99 per cent of the people refuse to answer calls. Deadline approaching and almost every correspondent has filed his/her copy in time to tune in. And whoopee, we won!

TUESDAY
Well, the 'victory' I learn is just the beginning of the euphoric cricket reportage. Right from the first call, the response is standard, "You are the nth person calling for a story on cricket. So, what are your questions on the Twenty20 win, then?" And this is before I get a chance to say hello.

A friend calls even as I am packing up after a thrilling day "" my story is headed for page one "" and wants to know when the Twenty20 champs are arriving. The giggled explanation is, "My cousin wants to go to the airport." Now I know for sure that our story, "Champs to bag high scoring ad deals," will appeal to millions of cricket fans.

WEDNESDAY
It's not going to be easy getting responses from people today. Most media friends have calmed down and could be put off by a reporter wanting inputs. Or so I thought. "Hi! So what's the peg today?" says a cheery voice. What more could Pallavi and I ask for? And then, everyone at work pitches in with his/her expertise. The Banking Bureau head is number crunching, and a colleague from Delhi adds his inputs to our story "" the amount of money advertisers are betting on cricket in the next 90 days. This story is also headed for page one!

THURSDAY
Our story for the day centres on whether the Indian Cricket League will attract advertisers after the country's victory in the Cup. "The [Twenty20] format is the hero ... My belief is that the Indian Cricket League too will churn potential players," is the reply from a leading media company.

FRIDAY
The day kicks off on a happy note "" no more cricket stories. But past 4 pm, I realise the game is not over yet. The announcement on the eighteen new players on board with the Indian Cricket League comes in, followed by the fabulous ratings clocked by ESPN-STAR Sports, the official broadcaster of the ICC World Twenty20. My boss reminds me that India is playing Australia on Saturday. "Keep a tab," he says.

Can we please have a cricket correspondent for the season?

ALSO...

And on a side note, cricket enthusiasts who usually run parallel betting 'rackets' (the winner buys a big cake and tea for the rest) during every cricket match, were a quiet bunch on the day of the final. Maybe they didn't count T20 as a big tournament. No one, including the BCCI, did till the boys won, right?