KT edit: The magic of sports

As much as the finale on Tuesday night was a toast to the mettle of the players and organisers, it was also a salute to the UAE’s can-do spirit that didn’t let the pandemic upend the sporting calendar

There’s excitement and euphoria in following a sport and witnessing your favourite players excel. Only fans can attest to this feeling. It’s magical when people cheer a team or a player hysterically — at the stadium or in front of the screen. The experience is cathartic. Time zones don’t really matter for fans of cricket, or for that matter any other game, when the pitch is set and fight is on for a perfect score. The Covid-19 pandemic threatened to steal from us this joy and delight. In fact, it did succeed in the first few months of the year when countries globally were unsure of how to deal with the rising infections. The Japan Olympics were postponed and many sporting events cancelled.

The Bundesliga swung back into action in May, and many other international leagues followed, including the NBA and cricket. The latest edition of the Indian Premier League was the longest ever at 53 days and ended smoothly. As much as the finale on Tuesday night was a toast to the mettle of the players and organisers, it was also a salute to the UAE’s can-do spirit that didn’t let the pandemic upend the sporting calendar and brought the joy of cricket to our lives, allowing many of us to bask in the glory of fandom once again, albeit with masks on. The roar of spectators was missing from the stadia, but the pure joy of listening to the commentary and watching the players brought back the social imagination that had been missing for a large part of the year.