Less than 12 hours after defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore and securing our first points of the 2018 Vivo IPL season, the champions returned to the Wankhede Stadium for a memorable time under the sun on Wednesday.

The occasion was the business end of the ESA Cricket Tournament. Not only did four of our superstars play for the two finalists, a few others contributed to the gala atmosphere by commentating, umpiring and having a whole lot of fun.

Shishu Vikas Mandir won the top honours by getting the better of Aseema to win the coveted tournament. The children from Aseema, an NGO that has been working towards providing high-quality and value-based education to those from marginalised communities for 17 years, beat Oscar Foundation in the first semifinal. Shishu Vikas Mandir, which helps children develop with education, sports and life skills, overcame the team from Aarambh, an organisation that works with families of migrant workers residing in Navi Mumbai.

While Jasprit Bumrah and Krunal Pandya lent their weight to Aseema Achievers, Shishu Vikas Mandir benefited from the services of Hardik Pandya and Lasith Malinga. Head coach Mahela Jayawardene was the umpire. Even skipper Rohit Sharma took up that role for a while as the Men in Blue and Gold regaled the 1,000-strong gathering of children — from ESA’s partner NGOs — seated at the Garware Pavilion.

Those who didn’t play with the children cheered from the boundary line. The players were in a relaxed but upbeat mood following Tuesday’s big win. What’s more, skipper Sharma even batted left-handed and smashed many a ball into the stands where the children pulled off some superb catches.

Mrs. Nita Ambani graced the occasion by felicitating the teams and presenting them with medals. It was very sweet of bowling mentor Malinga to hand over his medal to a child sitting in the stands.

Bumrah and Hardik kept wickets for their respective teams. There was more fun in store when Hardik had big brother Krunal stumped. And, boy, he celebrated heartily even as Krunal refused to accept he was out. All in jest, of course! Sharma was very impressed by the quality of cricket dished out by the girls playing in all four teams. He also applauded the teams for their sporting spirit. It was Hardik who hit the winning runs for Shishu Vikas Mandir.

Sharma was happy to officiate the game after Jayawardene took a break. “No pressure at all. I’m just umpiring today, so there’s no pressure. I don’t have to take any pressure of chasing a score or posting a score. It’s a relaxing day today,” an energetic Sharma said. He was happy to engage with the children because it reminded him of his days in junior cricket.

JP Duminy played the role of emcee and pitchside reporter. And he played his role to perfection. “We’re live at the Wankhede Stadium. After a great victory against RCB, the team is out here playing against the Reliance Foundation kids. What a great day to be out. We got Rohit, the MI captain, here after a great performance last night, now playing with the kids. It’s a great atmosphere here at the Wankhede Stadium. We’re here for Education and Sports for All (ESA) Cricket Tournament. The Reliance Foundation is doing a great job for these young kids out here in Mumbai. What a great place to be,” Duminy said. His proficiency behind the mic was laudable.

Paul Chapman, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, jokingly ridiculed Krunal for being stumped! “Terrible! Terrible performance. Really disappointed. He definitely needs a lot of practice against these kids. One hundred per cent,” ‘Chappie’ said.

Ishan Kishan, who looked perfectly fine following Tuesday’s unfortunate incident, happily joked around too. “We were expecting a lot from Krunal Pandya today. He must have scored big runs. But today, he got out early. And the credit goes to Hardik and the kid who bowled well. But, still, we were expecting a lot more from him,” Kishan said.

The young wicketkeeper-batsman also said that Malinga wasn’t bowling in the match because “he’s too old now”. That evoked peals of laughter from his teammates standing close by. “But still I think he should bowl. I think he should bowl one over. The kids should get a feel of his weird bowling action,” he added.

Malinga was humble as ever. Asked why he didn’t bowl, the Sri Lankan legend said, “These kids are better than me.” And when told what Kishan said about him, ‘Slinga’ said, Yeah, that’s right (too), but these kids are bowling better.”

Pandya chose not to bat because the rules of the game didn’t allow six-hitting. He said his game plan was not to bat because he is “not good at hitting boundaries”. In other words, he wanted to hit sixes but given that only fours were allowed, he was better off not batting!

Sharma praised Malinga. “As you can see Malinga is the captain out there. He’s setting the field. When asked how many Krunal would get, he said, “None. I don’t think so. These kids are very good players of spin bowling. So I don’t think he will get any. I must say Mahela is a good umpire,” he signed off.

All in all, it was a day of relaxation and joy for our champions and, more importantly, some wonderful cricket from the children.