‘Bucket Hatters’ light up Wankhede, give game’s largest stakeholder a voice

With whistles, innovative chants and high energy, the Bucket Hat Cult, a fan group dedicated to women’s sports, is trying to make the stadium experience inclusive, enjoyable and accessible to all.

The Bucket Hat Cult was named after the group’s ‘uniform’ - a bucket hat in any colour or design. | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini/The Hindu

The uniting power of sports can often be a tired cliche, sometimes even seeming a bit too good to be true. However, a bunch of ardent women’s sports fans in Mumbai have proven why getting together in the name of the game can go a long way for the sport and those who play it.

They’re called the Bucket Hat Cult, named after the group’s ‘uniform’ - a bucket hat in any colour or design. This group of fans from different walks of life got together and lit up the Garware pavilion of the Wankhede Stadium during the Indian women’s cricket team’s winter fixtures in the city.

With whistles, innovative chants and energy levels dialled up to 200, this group went viral for their ‘sledging’ of the Aussies and added a splash of colour to the viewing experience for the players, those on the ground alongside them and those following along on broadcast.

“The first time some of us met was at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, during the first session on day 3 of the India vs England Test. There were just six or seven of us, but we had about 100 schoolkids seated next to us, and we used their voices to create an atmosphere. After that, the India vs Australia Test match marked the origin of the Bucket Hat Cult in its current form,” says Parth Suri, one of the founding members of the group.

Hunar was among the many enthusiastic supporters joining the Bucket Hat Cult in their cheers for the Indian women’s cricket team at the Wankhede Stadium this week. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

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When one visits stadiums in Mumbai, irrespective of the teams playing or gender, there’ll be one group that will scream “Sachin…Sachin..” during a cricket match. It’s wired into the DNA of the public, and understandably so. And so to hear chants like “Bhuk lagi hai, wicket do, wicket do...(We’re hungry, we want a wicket)” when the Indian bowlers marked their run-up or “Kaun humari superstar, Pooja Vastrakar...(who is our superstar, Pooja Vastrakar)” was a refreshing change.

Impact of the WPL

Deep Gadhia, a Mumbai-based sports analyst, credits the Women’s Premier League (WPL) for galvanising the ecosystem.

“The WPL was a turning point in women’s franchise cricket not just for players but for fans also here because I don’t think many of us have had the resources to watch the Women’s Big Bash League just yet. A lot of us met there. We would follow the women’s game from our homes and the corners of our offices, but we never had a group or community to come together and enjoy the sport. That’s something the WPL facilitated. Australia’s tour of India this year helped this collective to blossom into something more beautiful that also gave us the Bucket Hat Cult,” he says.

The WPL was staged entirely in Mumbai, as are most women’s cricket fixtures off late. While the consequences of that trend warrant a conversation, fans in the city have made use of it to acquaint themselves with the calibre of players in the system.

“The best part is that children were joining us and even leading our chants at some point,” said Akshay Dutia, a member of the Bucket Hat Cult. | Photo Credit: Sportzpics for BCCI

“The best part is that children were joining us and even leading our chants at some point. There was a kid, who made a very cheeky comment during the first ODI about Perry being no Glenn Maxwell (when she cramped up during the first ODI), but that kid took charge and led our chants multiple times. There was a little kid at the DY Patil Stadium too, from the school group. I haven’t seen a more accomplished chant leader. He knew how to tempo the cheering, he knew how to keep it going, how to engage the crowd. If the chant was dying, he knew how to switch content. In all my years of watching sport, watching someone so young take over cheering duties like this was the stuff of dreams,” Akshay Dutia, a chartered accountant, adds.

“In one of the games, I overheard a conversation about Shreyanka Patil and the chances of her debut in the ODI series,” Ashwini Patil, a producer and anchor, says. “There are people who are educating themselves on the game, and then there are casual fans who just want to be entertained. Everyone is welcome,” she adds.

Information asymmetry

Crowds were sparse for the first few days of the England Test, but fans picked up momentum as the fixtures passed. Radha, a management student, says this boils down to better planning.

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“People are interested to go but they don’t know about it or soon enough. I’m able to watch as many sports as I do because I actively look out for the schedule and buy train tickets on the same day. I think it stems from the fact that it’s not marketed enough,” she says.

“One thing we want to do is make ourselves visible on TV and make the stadium experience interesting enough for people to want to go to games, so people say, ‘I want to be a part of this, when is the next match?’ The information asymmetry has been an issue for a very long time and continues to be. The tickets being free or priced at Rs.100 don’t make much of a difference because you have to invest your time to go to a stadium and watch a game,” she adds.

This prompted the group to get on social media, with accounts being made on a train ride from Churchgate to Lower Parel, Prabhadevi and Dadar. Jargons associated with the Mumbai Local makes it to their chants, a nice homage to the network’s role in their emergence.

“We asked a hawker outside Churchgate station where one can get the kind of hat I was wearing. He curtly replied, “Outside Churchgate platform 4.” Nothing fits our account’s bio better.” Radha remembers.

“Sanjay dada (the hat seller) is also in on the fun and is ensuring bucket hats are available for all matchgoers,” says Saurabh, another member of the collective.

Giving fans a voice

Ashwini says the conversation needs to be about the larger viewing experience of a women’s cricket match too. During the England T20Is, fans with tickets were turned away due to a lack of space in the couple of stands that were opened for the game.

“During the third T20I against England, the crowd was crazy, but the crowd management was very poor. Fans remember these things about what happened the one time they came for a women’s game,” she says.

Another member, Adwait, hopes the resources of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the richest board in the world, allow them to invest more in the stadium experience.

“BCCI is a very well-to-do board, and no one has the comfort of being able to invest in the women’s game without getting hurt too much financially. It’s a luxury most countries don’t have, and we should capitalise, he adds.”

Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Megan Schutt and Tahlia McGrath with members from the Bucket Hat Cult. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

What it means to players

The group’s innovative cheers tickled players from across the aisle, some of whom the group got to meet after the Australia Test thanks to assistance from seasoned journalist Annesha Ghosh.

“Smriti told us that the team was discussing our chants and that they didn’t have to sledge the Aussies because we did it for them,” Ashwini says.

“When we met Meghan Schutt, she took a dig at Tahlia McGrath, who was also there and said, “You’re batting was so boring, the chants kept me entertained,” because she was defending and giving dot after dot for a while. To hear all of that was so refreshing and humbling for us,” Deep adds.

Rohan Pai, a financial risk manager, says, “I remember reading an interview of Smriti from a few years ago where she said, “Even if people are criticising poor shots or bowling, at least they’re talking about us. Earlier, there was complete silence when we used to play. At least now there’s a conversation.” That’s what we’re going for here - to get people talking.”