A walk around the Kotla

It was destiny. And Wasim Akram knew he was only delaying the inevitable. The hat-trick ball was fended off. As was the next. Then came the edge. The sharp catch by short leg. The familiar roar of joy. The tenth wicket. Anil Kumble was hoisted on his team-mates' shoulders. Feroz Shah Kotla stood to applaud a man who had just attained cricketing immortality.

Though it might be the image that comes most easily to mind, Kotla has seen its share of cricket history being created, and pre-written destinies being fulfilled. From the golden days of Bedi and Prasanna opening the bowling and running through line-ups, to Sehwag and Gambhir tearing it up for the Delhi Deardevils, the Kotla has seen cricket in transition.

As one goes from the bustling, overcrowded streets of Daryaganj to the sprawling, luxurious open roads of Lutyens' Delhi, Feroz Shah Kotla is one of the first structures that comes into sight. It stands at the threshold of the ancient and the modern.

Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, leading to the stadium, reflects this duality perfectly. Right alongside the wide, spotless road, one finds humble cycle-rickshawwallas waiting for the next customer. On the perfectly tiled pavements one finds tiny peddlers selling cheap eatables to hungry passersby. Little traces of the old and familiar infiltrate the new - much like the kind of cricket one would witness within the stadium today.

A visit to the Kotla is incomplete until one takes a walk around to absorb the many sights and sounds the city has to offer. On days when the rain comes calling unexpectedly, or when the famous Delhi fog halts play, or if one just happens to get there before start of play, there are a wealth of places to explore, all within a 15-minute walk's radius.

The most immediate, and perhaps least talked-about, destination lies immediately adjacent. Head out of any of the gates opening to the south-east and you walk right into a world more than six centuries old.

Feroz Shah Kotla, the imposing citadel of Firuz Shah Tughlaq - and the structure that gives the ground its name - was built in 1354. And while most of it lies in ruins, these do not fully mask the grand vision it must have been in its prime. If anything, they give it a vulnerability that is magnetic to the lay visitor. The many small and large structures and their remains - the Asokan pillar from the 3rd century BC, the step-well, the Jama Masjid - all make for interesting stops on a lovely evening walk through a time shrouded in intrigue.

If you are one for crowds, however, and if you're lucky enough to have a Sunday to spare, walk 15 minutes north on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg to one of Delhi's most eccentric offerings: the Daryaganj book bazaar. On this day every week, more than 200 pavement sellers put their goods out on display - think rare and not-so-rare books on everything from philosophy to engineering and cookery to fiction - at unbelievable prices. You name it, and a very patient search later, you may have it. It may not be for the claustrophobes, the germophobes and the impatient, but if you persevere it will definitely leave you with a ton of stories to tell.

However, if you've had a tiring long day at the cricket stadium and are looking for a quiet evening of reflection, you only have to take a short walk to the east, to Rajghat, the resting place of Mahatma Gandhi. Be humbled by the simple but profound sayings of the Mahatma on stone plaques around the perimeter, and try to imagine the surging sea of humanity that gathered, grief-stricken, to bid farewell to one that our generations scarcely believed could walk in flesh and blood upon this earth.

On another day take a stroll around the Dolls Museum. Or soak in the sights, sounds and smells of Old Delhi in a cycle rickshaw. Or check out the latest exhibition at Pragati Maidan.

Together they give you a glimpse of a city that is still coming to grips with an intense past, an unstable present, and an unsure future. Let yourself fall in love. And if it is only cricket that appeals to you, know that the Feroz Shah Kotla will not let you down. Several generations will testify.