November 16, 2017. The second Test between India and Sri Lanka commenced in Eden Gardens Kolkata. After returning from office in evening, suddenly a thought crossed my mind. With the next day being a holiday — why don’t I head to Eden in the morning to witness the Test in physical terms!
So the very next morning, my son and I headed for Eden. While I expected a long queue, I was pleasantly surprised to see that hardly 2 persons were in the line! Getting hold of the tickets, I stepped in the majestic stadium for the very first time! Even our allotted seats were just above the ground level near the fence providing a full and clear view of the entire playing arena. Almost all the stands were sparsely populated with real connoisseurs of Test cricket. What a nice experience in my debut at Eden or any live Test match, with the soothing sunrays of approaching winter gracing the environment! So we promised ourselves that from now on, we would watch all the forthcoming Eden Tests. Hence the news of Bangladesh coming to Eden to play the second Test of the series landed us in heavenly joy!
But how could we know that destiny is playing a different game and smiling at our “foolishness”!
Hardly a month earlier, Sourav Ganguly emerged as the BCCI President from nowhere! And one of his first decisions was to launch India’s first day-night Test on his home turf with the sole aim to bring in a bigger crowd! And indeed, it was a masterstroke played by Ganguly!
In came the media with its zealous hype! For 3 weeks prior to the Test, “Pink” became the only issue! The Bangladesh and Indian Prime Minister will attend it along with a galaxy of stars from the cricketing to the film world! Pink flowers to be showered from above by helicopters! Special pink tickets will be issued and what not! Those not attending it will miss the opportunity to witness unfolding of “history”!
In the meantime, online tickets were launched. Yet the fool in me continued to nap! Why so much hurry! We will just go to the ground on our selected match day, buy tickets from the counter and enjoy the Test! But how could I envisage that within a few days, all the tickets would be sold online, thereby allowing no provision for counter sales!
In the last Eden Test that we attended, the opposition was Sri Lanka. Yet the crowd was sparse despite the Test being very much alive in the second day and India yet to complete their innings! In contrast, Bangladesh is a non-entity, which has been rendered toothless with the absence of Shakib al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.
How could this miracle happen! Obviously, relentless hype! Though I feel very sad that I could not succeed in enabling my son to have another glimpse of an Eden Test, which he has been eagerly waiting for; it also enlightened me about the immense power of zealous hype and advertisement in today’s “modern” era!
A huge population, which shunned quality Test cricket to immerse in the T20 and IPL circus, have been turned into connoisseurs of the highest form of the game overnight! Why such hype can’t be manufactured to turn the communal brigade into a secular one!
