100...

Location: Cafeteria of my office.

Around 35 people sitting, a sizeable number standing in front of an LCD tv hung overhead. The DTH connection is very poor, so we can see pixels and frames instead of the live streaming video, and this happens frequently, frequently as in every ball.

But nobody moves an inch.

Surely something historical is happening?

Nah!!!!

A guy named Sachin is on 99 and on strike.

Ball pitches outside off at good length, nothing special about the delivery and for (once on TV we see the whole sequence perfectly) Tendulkar tries to guide and misses.... and next was what I couldnt believe, a collective gasp of breath from the audience.

Its not that the guy is on 99 for the first time!!!!!

A group of guys turned around to look at one of their colleague just walking in and threatened him to go off now and come back later, so that he wouldnt jinx Sachin!!!!

Nobody was worried about the enormous target, the climbing run rate, only 2 regular batsmen to follow, the mighty Aussies piling up the pressure.... all they wanted was a glide down the third man which the master duly obliged amidst pixels and frames( we didnt know what happened...but one frame froze to a familiar picture, Sachin without the helmet looking up the sky!!!). There was a loud cheer, and even those who dont know the difference from a wide and a no ball, were muttering "sachin must have scored a century".

There was a collective commotion and atleast half of them left to go back to their seats and continue their work. The moment was over.