Nigel Llong adjudged Sachin Tendulkar LBW but the fan celebrating his farewell Test at the Eden Gardens remained not out.

From the Eden veteran who whistled away the Sachin setback to the two friends who came up with puns and posters every few overs, the stands weren’t short of characters to keep the fun alive till stumps on Thursday.

Metro was with them through the hush that descended after the little master’s dismissal for 10 and the hurrah that echoed in the stadium when debutant Rohit Sharma raised his first Test ton.

The whistleblower

If you ever heard a series of rhythmic whistles in the din of Eden, chances are Alok Choudhury, 53, was nearby.

The resident of Salt Lake has been a regular at the stadium since 1975, entertaining fellow spectators with his whistling prowess.

Sachin Tendulkar takes a run before his innings was cut short by Nigel Llong’s LBW decision. Pictures by Gautam Bose, Rith Basu and Sushovan Sircar

“I hope I can whistle at a Sachin century in the second innings,” said Choudhury, who went on to set “a record” with 45 continuous whistles after Rohit’s century in the last session of play.

Choudhury discovered that his whistling could spur a sedate crowd during the Hero Cup semi-final in 1992.

“South Africa needed 6 from 6 balls and Sachin was to bowl. The 100,000-strong crowd had gone silent out of nervousness. So I started whistling and everyone began clapping along. We won the match, of course,” recalled Choudhury, who owns an IT firm.

When Sachin being declared out on Thursday had the same effect on the spectators, it was Choudhury who used his whistling to lift the mood. From then on, every little milestone was punctuated with his “whistle podu”.

Choudhury carries his sense of humour to the stadium along with his whistling ability. “Sirji, ek aur baar ho jaaye (One more time, sir),” screamed a row of spectators after Rohit and R. Ashwin completed a 150-run partnership.

The 53-year-old, just behind them, quipped: “Pichhle waale ke baad thoda saas to lene do (At least let me catch my breath after the last one).”

Poster boys

Whether you want to rant about Sachin being given out or rave about Rohit’s innings, a post on Facebook or a tweet on Twitter is apparently the socially sanctioned way of updating your feelings in the age of smartphones and T20.

Friends Karan Dhurka and Kushal Agarwal show what they think of the English umpire

But Karan Dhurka, 32, and Kushal Agarwal, 23, believe in the old-fashioned way of saying it with handwritten posters. The duo, who came armed with chart papers and markers, stood out in the crowd with their posters that advised, encouraged or wisecracked, depending on the state of the match.

“We use our posters to show our appreciation or anger, as was the case when Sachin was wrongfully given out,” Karan said.

So if the message was “Nigel, it’s a long way home” after the English umpire’s finger sent Sachin back to the dressing room, the sense of despair turned into a show of delight when Rohit reached his century.

A poster with a bullseye drawn on it was accompanied by the words: “Rohit, make this the 19th hole!”

Match ‘fixed’

Ankita Sharma and Akansha Dubey, fourth-year students at the National Institute of Technology in Jamshedpur, admitted to “treason” on Thursday.

“We had been watching the match on TV on the first day and praying that the West Indies would not be bowled out quickly,” said Ankita, who hails from Jaipur.

But why would any Indian fan wish so? “That’s because we wanted Sachin to come out to bat only when we were in the stadium,” Ankita said.

In 2010, Ankita had gone to Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium to watch Sachin at nets in between her IIT-JEE papers. She ended up losing her admit card.

She and friend Akansha, a Calcutta girl, reached the city at 9pm on Wednesday and were at Eden by 8 the next morning. Their immediate reward was a glimpse of Sachin and the other players practising yards away from their seats in Block B.“We got many good pictures,” Akansha said.

Neither girl is fond of Test cricket, though.

---

The index finger went up at 10.20am and a billion dreams came crashing down. Umpire Nigel Llong’s contentious decision that sent Sachin Tendulkar back to the pavilion after 40 minutes at the crease turned the 44-year-old Englishman into an instant villain among those who had turned up to watch their hero bat in his last Test at Eden.
Metro overheard several Llong wisecracks that were flowing thick and fast in the galleries.

Friend 1: Lagta hain ye Llong ko apne parivaar se pyaar nahi hain. (Seems Llong doesn’t love his family enough.)

Umpire Nigel Llong from England at Eden on Thursday

Friend 2: Haan, agar hota toh woh Eden mein Sachin ko galat out dene ka himmat nahi karta. (Yes, if he did, he would not have dared to give Sachin out incorrectly at Eden.)

A spectator, on hearing the barrage of criticism being hurled at the umpire:Seems like this is going to be Nigel Llong’s farewell Test as well!

Another face quipped: At the end of the Test Sachin will be showered with rose petals and Llong with thorns.

At one point, Ishant Sharma (12th man) ran to hand MS Dhoni his cap. A voice in the crowd said: Bhai, Llong-er jonnyo ekta choshmao niye aaye. (Brother, please get a pair of glasses for Llong.)

Llong, lamba lamba pa phele bari chole ja (Llong, take long strides and head home.)

One friend to another: Kali Puja-r koyekta chocolate bomb ekhone beche achhe. Llong-er hotel room-er number ta jogar kor to. (I have some chocolate bombs left from Kali Puja. Try to find out Llong’s hotel room number.)

Dhoni comes in with India languishing at 83/5 and hits a four and a fan says: Jamaibabu, Llong ke ek baar long-on pathao to. Byata ke dekhe nebo.
(Son-in-law, please send Llong to long-on for a bit. We’ll take care of him.)

Llong walks back to the pavilion at lunch and pat comes a quip: Oke jeno emon lunch khawano hoye jaate o pet kharab hoye aar berotei na paare.
(May he be fed a lunch that will force him to remain inside with an upset stomach.)