I had just woken up after a memorable night of T-20 cricket — my very first experience of watching a T-20 match live, and that too the final.

The adventure began in an exciting way when my driver and guide, Vidhani, decided to take me to the stadium on a scooter rather than a car.

“Easy hoga, sir. Lot of traffic near the stadium. Scooter is easier,” he said.

I liked the idea. A scooter is nimble and, being small, much easier to navigate through heavy traffic than a car. I remembered that whenever I travelled with my friend Tiwari, we also used scooters a lot. They are the best way to move around crowded city areas and are perfectly suited for heavy traffic. This was exactly what was needed.

“Sir, mera number aap blog mein likho,” Vidhani said.

So I am sharing the number of this wonderful guide, host, and taxi driver from Ahmedabad with all my readers. +91 95126 72647 is Vidhani’s number. If you want to travel through Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, or even beyond, he is the man to contact. Whether you are travelling alone or with family, I highly recommend Vidhani as a taxi driver and guide.

He is also a great fixer. He arranged tickets for the T-20 final in no time and made sure that I reached the stadium and checked in on time.

We navigated through a huge crowd of fans singing and chanting, all wearing blue caps and T-shirts, with flags flying everywhere. We had to walk some distance under a massive bridge to reach the stadium.

I got my face painted and wore a blue cap just to get into the festive mood.

We reached the stadium steps at around 4:30 PM. When the gates opened, I slowly made my way inside along with thousands of fans. It took me some time to navigate through the crowd and finally find my seat.

Sikandar

The first few hours were all about enjoying the entertainment — dancing performances, fireworks, and spectacular stage displays. There was singing and dancing, and the sound and lighting system was incredibly impressive.

The match finally started at 7:00 PM, and as expected, the Wi-Fi stopped working due to the huge crowd. But I kept taking photographs and soaking in the atmosphere. It felt like a truly immersive experience. I kept glancing at the giant scoreboard to follow the action and watch the replays.

The crowd was loud and electric, cheering wildly for every four and six.

India batted first, and Sanju was the star of the innings as he powered India to a formidable score of over 250 runs, which would be a massive challenge for the opposition.

The stadium facilities were quite good. After the Indian innings ended, I grabbed a pizza. During the break, I also had a few cups of Pepsi. There were food stalls and cold coffee outlets inside the stadium itself.

However, everything was expensive — ₹100 for a Pepsi and even a bottle of water was costly. Anyone coming to watch cricket should always carry good change.

The most spectacular moment was the laser and light show. The entire night sky lit up, and I was truly amazed by the scale and majesty of the stadium. There must have been a crowd of over 1,20,000 people, if not more.

Perhaps it was God’s will that India won the match by a huge margin, as New Zealand hardly put up a fight. When the final wicket fell, India lifted the T-20 World Cup.

Fireworks exploded across the sky. The entire stadium lit up with lasers and dramatic neon lights.

And that was it — I had watched India win the World Cup, ball by ball.

What more could I ask for?

It was truly an experience to remember.

At around 11:30 PM, I walked out of the stadium happy and content that I had witnessed history being made. I could proudly tell everyone that I was there when India lifted the cup.

As expected, Vidhani was waiting outside to take me back to the hotel.

“You are my responsibility, sir. I am here to look after you,” he said confidently.

I sat behind him on the scooter as we navigated through the traffic and the cricket-crazy fans, riding back through the night to our hotel.