Decentralize!

Saturday evening game, ambient weather, pre-tournament hyped match-up (Dada vs KKR) is what KKR vs PWI had to offer in game number 70 of the IPL. But as IPL-5 has turned out, this match was no more than for academic interest; for the position on the table for either side wouldn’t be affected with the result. 8 consecutive losses isn’t the proposition you would want before you venture out to watch and support your team! Yet there were 45000 seats that were occupied at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium yesterday; an indicator that team form and results are invariant of crowd support at ‘smaller’ venues.

Pune doesn’t have an identity on the cricket globe as of now; neither a big player who has represented India for a long time nor any national academy or a famous cricket centre. But what it surely has is a horde of ‘live-action-hungry’ people! The day Sahara bought the Pune franchisee, facebook statuses and tweets from ‘Punekars’ conveyed the sentiment of anticipation of being a part of competitive cricket and the joy of being able to watch the glamorous avatar in their backyard. The IPL as a product attracts families to the stadiums and Pune was no exception. Witnessing a 60-year old playing the bugle joyously or a 20-member family enjoying the 3-hour package, you can safely infer that the IPL as a product has won on this front, hands-down.

The new stadium has provided a new lease of life for cricket in and around Pune. Exquisitely designed, carefully sculpted, inclusive of all the modern amenities, the picturesque venue has a lot to let you fall in love with it! Build on the outskirts of the city, the organizers have managed to have space of land on their side; thereby ‘potentially’ hosting thousands of people without much hassle. This being the first year of stadium the organizers would have learnt lessons out of the experience of hosting 8 matches; with regards ‘crowded’ parking bays, tiny and few entry and exit points (for vehicles), sluggish walking path towards the stadium.

Barring these few glitches, which hopefully the organizers will rectify as soon as possible, the stadium boasts of most ‘spectator’ facilities, which have been a shortcoming with most old-fashioned venues across the country. Just as you cross all the security levels you find a couple of cops stationed at the ‘first-aid’ table, the washrooms are easily accessible, berth location is a user-friendly exercise, drinking water (not cold-drinks, potato chips etc.) wasn’t too far and the stands had a few ‘active’ volunteers and security guards keeping things in check. These are minor things which don’t generally make it to the discussion forums or advertisement brochures but form an integral part of the overall outlook and appeal of any public centre. Thus if you are willing to have patience while coming in and going out of the stadium (which at the moment is a very time-consuming activity), then a visit to the Sahara Stadium is a recommended exercise; even if you happen to not be an ardent cricket follower!

The attendance at PWI’s home games add to the growing feeling that cricket needs to decentralize itself to the smaller centres. The growing concern of sustaining crowd interest for international cricket in India could have a solution, with centres like Ranchi and Pune coming up. A couple of ODI series and a IPL season may not be the ideal illustrations to prove the above point, for there would plenty of people who come to watch ‘heroes’ rather than teams, or who like to spot ‘celebrities’ rather than being actively intensified in the game! Hence observing say an IPL season sans Ganguly or an ODI series vs a lesser-followed team at smaller venues would be sufficient to prove or disprove the growing sentiment.