Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Tete-a-Tete with the Bharat Army

When and how did Bharat Army come into being? What was the thought behind forming the Bharat Army?

The Bharat Army was founded in 1999 during the World Cup in England where 4 passionate followers of Indian Cricket met for the first time while following the Team during the World Cup. Since then we have been supporting and following Team India around the world for the past 15 years!

We felt with the passion Indians around the world have for the game we needed a common voice in support of Indian Cricket so the First Official Team India Supporters Group was Born.

How much planning goes into preparing for a match/tour? What are your preparations for tours ? And how do you guys manage work and finances ? What has been the largest contingent of Bharat Army at a venue/tour till date?

The Bharat Army is now a non-profit making organisation, in the past we worked with a Travel Company that was recommend to us by the Barmy Army to sell Tours to the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. We ended up taking 900 Supporters to the World Cup but unfortunately it turned out to be a disaster as we got knocked out early!

As we are now recognized around the world for being Team India's No.1 Supporters Group we manage to get block bookings for tickets in the stadiums around the world, you would have seen a strong presence this summer in England but also during the World Cup in 2011 in India going back to South Africa in 2007.

We raise funds to run the Bharat army by selling Merchandise and use the profits for the running of our Website and Social Media activities but also contribute to Indian Charities.  This year during the summer in England we supported Yuvraj Singh's YouWeCan Foundation and also a Charity in India called The Aware Foundation which supports the Education of Underprivileged children on India.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

My IPL Diary# Pepi Kern De Nobrega

I arrived in the UAE on 15th April 2014 in 38 degree Celsius unaware of the fact that I would get the biggest culture shock of my little life. I had a mild panic attack at the Abu Dhabi airport when I lost my fellow dancers during the Immigration check points. I followed a family from England who knew exactly where they were going. Apparently first class passengers had a faster check point than the rest of the travelling peasants. By being clever I ended up waiting at the baggage conveyor belt for almost an hour. My first time travelling, my first time going through immigration and my first time getting lost in a place where no one speaks English. Lets just say, by the time my friends arrived, I was mortified to find out that I illegally missed fingerprints scan and an eye test.
Later that afternoon we arrived in the most beautiful hotel in the center of Dubai, The Yassat Gloria. Two girls shared, not just a room but an apartment. A fully equipped kitchen, white marble bathroom, LG washing machine/tumble dryer which ruined everyone’s whitie tighties. We lived in luxury for 14 days. Ate in great restaurants, saw the most beautiful sceneries, and paid desperately R210 for a single Budweiser. Life was great.
When it was game day, you could feel the electricity in the air. A ghd and hairspray didn't help my hair stay down. I was ready. I was ready until we danced our first routine and I melted from the inside. Make-up running down my face which looked like a mudslide. Hair needed to be readjusted, looking nothing like I first stepped out on the field. But the crowd gave us the adrenalin to keep going. Four hours felt like fifteen minutes. We felt like celebrities. Camera flashes going wild as we walk back to the bus. As we drove back to the hotel, we couldn't wait to jump in the showers. Celebrations were in order.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

RIP Norman Gordon


Norman Gordon (South Africa) (1911-2014)

Cricket's first and till date only ever centurion against time bids farewell.

Well played Sir.

The longest lived Test cricketer - a record which will stand for some time.


Nishant Kumar for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Nishant on Twitter @NishantSKumar