The Green Park Stadium is full of cops, and the BCCI vice-president, Rajeev Shukla, admits there is “over-policing, but we have no choice.” Security has become cricket’s shadow in the sub-continent, notes K. C. Vijaya Kumar in his diary.
November 16: Indore’s Maharani Usha Raje Stadium is bustling with activity. It’s a lovely venue with good facilities for players, spectators and the media. At a media briefing, Paul Collingwood expresses his desire to play in the Indian Premier League. “Haven’t heard from them yet, I would love to play. The benefits are huge but playing for England, wearing our shirt with the three lions (the team badge) is paramount,” he says.
M. S. Dhoni, meanwhile, is riled by queries on an exhibition match at Bhandara, where he, Zaheer Khan and R. P. Singh played after the Rajkot ODI. “Let’s talk about the match tomorrow. If you want to ask about the friendly match, ask the BCCI. If you want ‘masala’, we could talk about that later,” says the Indian skipper.
November 17: Yuvraj Singh carves another hundred. Later, Kevin Pietersen is quoted as saying, “I will lock Yuvraj up in his hotel room.” It is a pleasure to work in the press box, a huge enclosure offering a panoramic view. The LCD televisions above help us catch up with the action missed while jotting down points or the scores. Later, a visitors’ logbook is circulated among the journalists, whose praise of the stadium and its facilities is spontaneous and effusive.
India wins the match and England searches for answers.
November 18: The first sight of the mighty Himalayas during the flight to Kanpur is a personal memory to cherish. The Kanpur Airport is small and as silent as a library. With our luggage in tow, we walk out and seek taxis, autos or even cycle rickshaws. No vehicles in sight. It’s a long walk to the main road and the only cheer is a fluttering peacock in the adjoining defence enclave.
“This is the quietest airport I have ever seen in my life. This is supposed to be a land of a billion people isn’t it? Where have they gone?” asks James Swift, a British tourist.
November 19: The Green Park Stadium is full of cops, and the BCCI vice-president, Rajeev Shukla, admits there is “over-policing, but we have no choice.” Security has become cricket’s shadow in the sub-continent.
The pre-match press conference is held right on the ground and as Dhoni, and later Graeme Swann, address the media, we are all ears to them, but all our eyes are on the nets as first Suresh Raina and later Kevin Pietersen threaten to smash our heads with lofted shots. As a Pietersen switch-hit almost knocks out a television anchor, Derek Pringle exclaims, “Kevin almost knocked out the princess!” A few minutes later, Pietersen gives another charge and yours truly screams “watch out”. Pietersen miscues though, and Pringle this time says, “Don’t over-react.”
November 20: The winter haze shrouds Green Park Stadium. The third ODI has a delayed start. Across the ropes, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan have a chat. This is a breather for them before they braze up in front of the camera.
The match starts at 9.45 a.m. and an excited scorer says, “Zaheer Abbas to bowl from the Pavilion End.” This sets off laughter in the press box before the scorer corrects himself — “Zaheer Khan to bowl.” Can’t blame the scorer, after all, the legendary Zaheer Abbas’ wife hails from Kanpur.
The match ends in darkness and as the Indian team prevails on the basis of the Duckworth-Lewis equation, a senior police official sitting in the press box says, “The paying spectator has been robbed of seeing the full quota of overs!”
November 21: There is a flight to catch and as the harried journalists hurtle across 70 kilometres from Kanpur to Lucknow Airport, the taxi driver, Ganshyam, points to the disparity in the highway. “See the road on the other side that leads to Kanpur, notice how well laid out it is, that portion was repaired just before the Indian and England teams arrived. Now look at our portion, bad isn’t it? Now when the teams depart for Lucknow they will ply on this side. Look at the attitude of the authorities, it is like ‘please come here in style but when you guys leave, we care a damn!’,” he says.
November 22: Back home in Bangalore. There is a gentle drizzle. Will the fourth ODI meet the same fate as the last one here in 2007, when the clash between Australia and India was washed out after the first session? Sachin Tendulkar is back in the Indian team and the tickets are sold out. Hope Sunday’s match is a cracker under lights.
Comments
SHARE