At a time when Test cricket is finding it hard to sustain fans’ patronage in the onslaught of T20 cricket, the big crowd attendance for the rain-hampered opening Test between India and New Zealand here was a heartening reminder that the traditional format still has many takers.Barring the opening day, which was a complete washout but still saw a few hundred odd spectators flock to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, all the remaining four days saw impressive occupancy. Despite rain being around the corner all the days and India behind the eight-ball after being shot out for 46 in the first innings, spectators filled a large part of the 34,000-capacity venue.It’s unfortunate that the exact numbers couldn’t be obtained as the Karnataka State Cricket Association had decided to do away with turnstiles that would have registered the footfalls, but they were anywhere between 15,000 to 20,000 on each day.“Hats off to the crowd, honestly,” Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said after the match.
At a time when Test cricket is finding it hard to sustain fans’ patronage in the onslaught of T20 cricket, the big crowd attendance for the rain-hampered opening Test between India and New Zealand here was a heartening reminder that the traditional format still has many takers.Barring the opening day, which was a complete washout but still saw a few hundred odd spectators flock to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, all the remaining four days saw impressive occupancy. Despite rain being around the corner all the days and India behind the eight-ball after being shot out for 46 in the first innings, spectators filled a large part of the 34,000-capacity venue.It’s unfortunate that the exact numbers couldn’t be obtained as the Karnataka State Cricket Association had decided to do away with turnstiles that would have registered the footfalls, but they were anywhere between 15,000 to 20,000 on each day.“Hats off to the crowd, honestly,” Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said after the match.
