Where were you when India went down by 1 run to New Zealand in the T20 cricket match at the M A Chidambaram stadium?
There are only two possible responses that a Chennaiite could have given — a) at the stadium or b) stretched out in front of my 32-inch LED TV.
If you’re someone who chose the second option and cited ‘I’m sure the tickets were sold out’ as the reason, then you’d be mistaken. And yet, in the land of the cricket-crazy fan, thousands thronged the stadium at Chepauk to watch the Indian cricket team live and at a binocular-length away. “I try to make it for every match that takes place in Chennai. The excitement begins even when I’m standing in line to buy a ticket,” says Rohith Khanna, a student, “The sheer energy of the crowd that’s present in the stadium is what draws me here,” he adds.
“Watching it on TV with instant replays and commentary is easy for a person, but the experience of a live match is incomparable,” explains Ramesh Kannan, a marketing manager in a pharmaceutical firm. It is this zeal to watch the game along with thousands of others — flags waving, constant yelling, Mexican waves et al — that has kept pulling people to live venues. “Cheering our team on together with other fans is an awesome feeling,” adds Khanna.
The advent of the IPL in 2007, has ensured that Chennai gets to watch at least 7 matches a year. This effectively means that a cricket fan won’t have to wait for a year to enter the stadium. And how ever crazy about cricket people are, there is such a thing as overkill. “I bought a season pass for the IPL this year and also watched every world cup match in Chennai last year,” reasons Mohammed Shabir, an architect and Sachin Tendulkar junkie, “I just didn’t feel up to waiting outside the stadium and moving with the crowd,” he shrugs.
And as always, a considerable number of people went to the stadium as a result of last-minute cancellations, “A friend posted on Facebook that he had five Rs 1,000 tickets that he didn’t need. I managed to get them for Rs 750 each, so my colleagues and I rushed there from work,” says Rakesh R, who works with a private airline.
Though the stadium managed to fill out considerably an hour into the match, quite a few cricket lovers admitted that they’d rather watch the match at their homes. “I love cricket. But after having been to the stadium once, I have realised that it’s not my cup of tea. It has only been cricket on TV for me,” says Adeline Jeyaraj.
Comments
0 comment