Wankhede Stadium

For far too long, the average Indian cricket fan has been pushed, jostled and hustled about, even as the thought of watching a cricket match enters their mind. To get a ticket for a match in, say, the Wankhede, is nothing less than a nightmare. The levels of brokers, and the sub brokers involved in the process are far too many, so that by the time, one has sweated it out getting hold of the right people who may have had the sniff of these elusive rectangles of paper, the costs have soared beyond comprehensible limits.

And this is just the beginning. Things usually spiral out of control on the match day, with the queues to the likes of a mile each, outside the gates at least four hours before the match begins. If someone makes the cardinal error of trying to get into the stadium, like one usually does in a cinema multiplex – ten minutes before the start – then no-one, exactly no-one, usually remains in the position to help you. If it is a fifty over encounter, you could be rest assured of missing the first half, and watching the second half on your heels. That is simply because your seat has been occupied by the rest of the ‘junta’ who were lucky enough to know that one ought to enter the grounds a day earlier. At least.

One would need another couple of reams of paper to describe the ‘joys’ associated with the actual viewing; it is nothing short of a boot camp. Water usually tastes like anything but water and costs four times more than an equivalent amount of tequila. Or almost thereabouts. Food is for free, but for that you would need to remain at home, in a usual Indian stadium, it costs a bomb, and the probability of surviving the next two days become as minimal as one’s chances of surviving a plane crash. The seats are normally unmarked, giving uninhibited access to those who reach there early, where as the rest of them get the privilege of standing through. At least their back sides do not get squeezed to a pulpless orange like it does for them who sit.

Hopefully, the DY Patil stadium, at Nerul, defies belief and proves to be a trend setter of sorts. After all, it is this stake holder – the audiences, TV or stadium – that gets the coffers of BCCI jangling with the dollars.