“People should watch the match peacefully,” Ahmedabad police commissioner Gyanender Singh Malik had urged via a news agency.
Ahmedabad abided.
The orange stands, empty to a fault, shone brighter under the sun as the 2019 finalists England and New Zealand met to open the 13th edition of the men’s World Cup. The blue of the upper stand, at least, balanced the stark emptiness of orange below.
Let’s blame it on the number 13, shall we? After all, it has its own phobia to boast of . Triskaidekaphobia. What else explains late schedule announcement, changes, chaotic ticketing system, no opening ceremony, and absent frenzy at the first match here in Ahmedabad!
Also missing were Kane Williamson for the Kiwis, recovering from knee surgery, and Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson. Tom Latham had the reins and the toss too; chose to bowl. Jos Buttler led Englishmen and the defending champions (he doesn’t like the term much as he thinks ‘all the teams have equal chance at lifting the Cup’. Way to stave off favourites tag and pressure!) kept it quite uneventful too. Or was it just the absence of atmosphere! The boundaries and the big ones did get some reaction, but the sound system had to carry the ambience on its shoulders.
Joe Root made the highest 77 in 282 for nine wickets. The captain pitched in 43. Matt Henry took the most wickets for Black Caps – three for 48 runs.
“Kaun magajmari kare match ke liye (why go to all the trouble for the match),” a friendly cab driver had said a day before, complaining of the long walks some have to endure to reach the stadium and inside it.
“I would rather watch it on my big screen. It is not India match anyway.”
The evening saw spectators crawling out of shaded area and closer to the ground seats. The numbers also increased. There were rumours going around that the spectators were being lured to the match for a free meal. If it was the Dharamsala stadium, it would have been close to a full house (Dharamsala capacity is 23,000).
Albeit at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, it is not even 20 per cent. The light effects at the top of the stands made an effort to make the evening look like it belonged in a World Cup. Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra’s (born in Wellington to Indian parents from Bengaluru is named after Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid) innings surely did.
Will Young was caught early enough by Buttler off Sam Curran. Conway and Ravindra took care of 283 among themselves. As belated as excitement looks for the quadrennial competition right now, delayed was the cheer for Conway too as he made his 100 off 83. He remained unbeaten and ended the game on 152.
Ravindra provided him the company with his unbeaten 123 and took the player-of-the-match honours. 36.2 overs were all that New Zealand needed. Ahmedabad sees India against Pakistan next on October 14. Navratri starts a day later. While the preparations for exciting days and nights of dandiya have already started, the World Cup buzz is yet to build.
“One thing I can assure, which I’m pretty sure that everyone knows, is that people are going to love this tournament here. The stadia are going to be jam-packed because people here in India love their cricket as much as they love their team,” India captain Rohit Sharma had said just a day before at the Captains’ Day event here In Ahmedabad. Spoken a bit too soon? Ahmedabad shall decide next week.
BRIEF SCORES: England 282 for 9 (Root 77, Buttler 43; Henry 3/48, Santner 2/37, Phillips 2/17) lost to New Zealand 283 for 1 in 36.2 overs (Conway 152*, Ravindra 123*; Curran 1/47) by 9 wickets.
The Absence of Razzmatazz Of Ahmedabad and Adrak
And, you thought the opening ceremony was the only thing missing from this World Cup? Try Calypso tunes, Caribbean charisma, or for the short of it – the West Indies.
How could the cricket’s biggest carnival be complete without the entertaining men in maroon? For a certain generation which has seen the gradual deterioration of the recent West Indies cricket, it is not too difficult to believe their absence.
Then there is one who has seen the likes of Garfield Sobers, and can’t believe how the West Indies went from there to here!
This edition of the World Cup might be promising its fair share of flair on the ground but the theatre will be missing. That lackadaisical approach, bordering on nirvana, unaffected by win or loss, or that impromptu jig or two à la Dwayne Bravo, and all that gold and glitter, were just some of our favourite things (to the Sound of Music).
The unchecked growth was never synonymous with humble ginger until an Indian movie in 2015 equated it with an Indian man’s post-marriage disregard for own physical appearance.
Delhi knows it, for the city is spreading its NCR wings to far and too far. Ahmedabad also seems to be in a bit too much of a hurry to join the league of expanding cities. If for one the city is almost unrecognisable after a decade and a half, the distinction between Ahmedabad and Amdavad could never have been more pronounced.
The locals agree.
The old part of the city, its Laal Darwaja and the hustle bustle is still the same. But the western suburb of the city, aptly called Satellite, is not a mere extension anymore.
The once-upon-a-time dusty roads and empty stretches have been taken over by real estate of every kind. So much for nostalgia dying a quick death!
The horizontal and vertical expansion is omnipresent. So, are the metro’s pillars, finished or otherwise. The broad and long ring road seems to be a walk-in buyers and sellers meet with its never-ending line of hoardings – almost crying ‘3bhk le lo, villa le lo, makaan le lo, dukaan le lo’. But it seems the takers don’t mind.
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