A tale of two cricket games
India vs England, World Cup 2011, Bangalore, India
England vs India, Day 5, Lords, London, England
Getting tickets
My wife and I were in Bangalore, when the news came out that they were shifting a World Cup cricket match from Kolkata to Bangalore. The fact that it was India vs England, the original rivalry, was icing on the cake, and I was immediately scrambling to find tickets. The official channels were quickly deemed to be unviable and I reached out to a “connected” uncle to find out if he could pull some strings. He came through, and on the morning of the game we picked up our tickets.
Four months later, we had just moved to England and India was coming to town to play a 4-match test series. We had purchased tickets to Day 4 of the Lords test match. It was an absorbing day of cricket and day 5 was setting up quite beautifully, with the fabled Indian batting line-up having to bat out a day for a draw. The tickets for Day 5 were first-come, first-served, so a group of friends and I showed up bright and early at 8:30 am to get our tickets. After 2 hours in the queue, we were in, with tickets in hand.
The queues
In Bangalore, we had been warned that the queues would be long, but nothing prepared us for what we saw when we got to the ground. The queue was a mile-long and then some. For some inexplicable reason, the authorities decided that they would only start letting people in an hour or so before the start of play. As a consequence, the game was well and truly underway while thousands of potential spectators were still queuing outside. News that India was batting came in, and the crowds started getting restless. Before you knew it, there was a near-stampede situation as people were trying to push their way in. The 3000 policemen (I am not exaggerating) who were on duty continued to sip their coffee and do nothing. Some members of the crowd started self-policing which brought some order to the proceedings. However, we still saw many families getting out of the queues as they were afraid for their children. We decided to stick it out, and eventually we were in.
On day 5 in England, the queues were just as long as they were selling all the tickets at the gate. However, they opened the door early and all of us were in with time to spare. There were instances of some fans trying to sneak ahead and jump the queue. However, the policemen were quite alert to it and I saw multiple instances of burly (and often drunk) interlopers being pulled out of the queue by the police.
The atmosphere
In Bangalore, once we were in, we were immediately pulled into the madness of a one-day crowd. Sachin made a flawless century and the crowd greeted every shot with huge cheers. There were Mexican waves and flags everywhere, not to mention DJs and dance music. People were coming and going as they pleased.
In England, the first thing you noticed at the gates was spectators being asked to turn in their flags, horns et al. While this was mentioned in the terms and conditions, it was a bummer for those coming to have a blast. Lords is the home of cricket after all and they didn’t want the rarefied atmosphere sullied. At one point during the game, to add some excitement during a slow period, the rowdy sections of the crowd started some Mexican waves. The wave was clearly picking up momentum, until it reached the famed Member’s pavilion, which is occupied by the MCC faithful. No one budged. The wave was picked up at the other end of the Pavilion and it went another full circle. When no one budged the second time the wave got to the Pavilion, the rest of the crowd started booing in jest. It was all in good fun, but it was a clear portrayal of the clash in cultures.
In India, it was all people – a relative got us our tickets, the spectators self-regulated the queues, the atmosphere was electric, the food-stalls were swamped, but still functional by having doubled the staff.
In England, it was all process – the tickets for day 4 were ordered online, day 5 was a well-run queue, the policemen were at the top of their game, the atmosphere was “British”, the bars and burger joints worked like clockwork.
And for what its worth, even the 2 teams played their cricket in accordance to the plot. The Indian effort in India was characterized by the individual brilliance of India's two heroes, Sachin and Zaheer. The English dismantling of India at Lords was a complete team effort – with three players (Pietersen, Prior and Broad), none of them superstars, in contention for the Man of the Match award.
Two countries, two ways of being, one game.
England vs India, Day 5, Lords, London, England
Getting tickets
My wife and I were in Bangalore, when the news came out that they were shifting a World Cup cricket match from Kolkata to Bangalore. The fact that it was India vs England, the original rivalry, was icing on the cake, and I was immediately scrambling to find tickets. The official channels were quickly deemed to be unviable and I reached out to a “connected” uncle to find out if he could pull some strings. He came through, and on the morning of the game we picked up our tickets.
Four months later, we had just moved to England and India was coming to town to play a 4-match test series. We had purchased tickets to Day 4 of the Lords test match. It was an absorbing day of cricket and day 5 was setting up quite beautifully, with the fabled Indian batting line-up having to bat out a day for a draw. The tickets for Day 5 were first-come, first-served, so a group of friends and I showed up bright and early at 8:30 am to get our tickets. After 2 hours in the queue, we were in, with tickets in hand.
The queues
In Bangalore, we had been warned that the queues would be long, but nothing prepared us for what we saw when we got to the ground. The queue was a mile-long and then some. For some inexplicable reason, the authorities decided that they would only start letting people in an hour or so before the start of play. As a consequence, the game was well and truly underway while thousands of potential spectators were still queuing outside. News that India was batting came in, and the crowds started getting restless. Before you knew it, there was a near-stampede situation as people were trying to push their way in. The 3000 policemen (I am not exaggerating) who were on duty continued to sip their coffee and do nothing. Some members of the crowd started self-policing which brought some order to the proceedings. However, we still saw many families getting out of the queues as they were afraid for their children. We decided to stick it out, and eventually we were in.
On day 5 in England, the queues were just as long as they were selling all the tickets at the gate. However, they opened the door early and all of us were in with time to spare. There were instances of some fans trying to sneak ahead and jump the queue. However, the policemen were quite alert to it and I saw multiple instances of burly (and often drunk) interlopers being pulled out of the queue by the police.
The atmosphere
In Bangalore, once we were in, we were immediately pulled into the madness of a one-day crowd. Sachin made a flawless century and the crowd greeted every shot with huge cheers. There were Mexican waves and flags everywhere, not to mention DJs and dance music. People were coming and going as they pleased.
In England, the first thing you noticed at the gates was spectators being asked to turn in their flags, horns et al. While this was mentioned in the terms and conditions, it was a bummer for those coming to have a blast. Lords is the home of cricket after all and they didn’t want the rarefied atmosphere sullied. At one point during the game, to add some excitement during a slow period, the rowdy sections of the crowd started some Mexican waves. The wave was clearly picking up momentum, until it reached the famed Member’s pavilion, which is occupied by the MCC faithful. No one budged. The wave was picked up at the other end of the Pavilion and it went another full circle. When no one budged the second time the wave got to the Pavilion, the rest of the crowd started booing in jest. It was all in good fun, but it was a clear portrayal of the clash in cultures.
In India, it was all people – a relative got us our tickets, the spectators self-regulated the queues, the atmosphere was electric, the food-stalls were swamped, but still functional by having doubled the staff.
In England, it was all process – the tickets for day 4 were ordered online, day 5 was a well-run queue, the policemen were at the top of their game, the atmosphere was “British”, the bars and burger joints worked like clockwork.
And for what its worth, even the 2 teams played their cricket in accordance to the plot. The Indian effort in India was characterized by the individual brilliance of India's two heroes, Sachin and Zaheer. The English dismantling of India at Lords was a complete team effort – with three players (Pietersen, Prior and Broad), none of them superstars, in contention for the Man of the Match award.
Two countries, two ways of being, one game.
posted by Karthik at 4:01 PM
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