Despite facing severe inconveniences, Indian fans turned up in numbers to cheer their team at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
Credit: DH Photo/ S K Dinesh
Bengaluru: Where Indian cricket is today is solely because of the unconditional patronage it receives from the fans. Their passion for the game and the adulation for its purveyors fuels its robust economy that has helped the Board of Control for Cricket in India flex its muscles at the International Cricket Council. But do the biggest stakeholders in the game get a fair treatment? The answer unfortunately is a big no and no single venue in the country can claim to be an exception to this "rule".
The issues vary from parking to transport hassles, from buying tickets to getting through the high-handed security personnel and from lack of access to clean toilets to affordable food and beverages. The fans who flocked the M Chinnaswamy Stadium for the opening Test between India and New Zealand were put through needless inconvenience as they were made to wait at the gates in the rain on the first two days of the Test.
The KSCA officials washed their hands off while passing the buck on to police, and the police in turn blamed the organisers for opening the gates later than the scheduled time.
The conventional practice everywhere is to open the gates two hours before the start of a white-ball international while it's about one and half hours before the start for Test cricket. On Wednesday's opening day, which was a washout, a few hundred spectators had gathered around 8.00 am but were let in only at 10.00 am, all the while braving the rain.
It was the repeat of the same on the second day, with the ticket-holders getting the entry only after 8.50 am whereas the turnstiles should have been thrown open by 7.45 am for a 9.15 am start. The game eventually started at 9.20 am after it took some extra time for the floodlights to be fully operational.
Ramakrishnan, one of the spectators, complained while commenting on the ESPNcricinfo fan engagement page: "Already the crowds are thin for Test matches, this attitude by the organisers of not letting people in with tickets is pathetic. I have watched a T20 game in India, definitely the experience was one of the worst."
"We're just 10 mins away from the toss, and 30 mins away from the start of play, but they haven't opened the gates yet to the spectators at the Chinnaswamy Stadium," complained another spectator.
On the opening day, a spectator posted a photo on X (earlier Twitter) of a chair that was smeared with dust and bird droppings while on the second day, the food at the N Stand (formerly BEML stand) was over in 15 minutes after the lunch break.
At a time when Test cricket is struggling for survival, there are a few pockets in the country that have steadfastly supported the longer version and Bengalureans have been among one of the foremost in that category. A little bit of compassion and concern from the organisers, whose entitled positions are a byproduct of passionate fans, would go a long way in making watching a game at the ground a happy experience.