ye India ka cricket hai bidooo’, the phrase from one of the popular tv commercials is just apt to describe the game. It is not exaggerated when people say cricket is a ‘religion’ in this country. This was  evident at the Chinnaswamy stadium during the five-day test match.

It was not only about going and watching a match. The planning and preparation began much earlier. From what to wear and what not to wear to how to draw the camera’s attention was on cards. Ofcourse, watching the game and cheering for the players was inevitable.

The hype

The hype and the crowd had also attracted a lot of vendors to the stadium. There were a number of them with the tricolour flags and paints to make the experience of the fans better. Binoculars, Indian teams’ caps, t-shirts were the add-ons.

Well thought of banners, some of them had made extravagant posters and an effort had also been made to analyse the sun-friendly colours and the colours that increase chances of attracting camera’s attention.
Outside the gates, one could come across many fans who would try their luck for a free ticket. And the sound of the roar of the crowd was the reason that had lured many to experience the  enthusiasm.

Through and through

Inside the stadium, the wave- cheer of the crowd that starts from one end of the stadium and ends at the other-and cheer at the drop of a hat would increase energy of the freaks to carry on with the cheering routine.

The experience was not very different from a Bollywood movie.

The synchronised whistles of people following regular beats and their unmatchable enthusiasm to continue that for the entire day was a loud, but perfect background score.

There was dance on cards too. Every four or six by ones home team will see the crowd on feet.
And amongst all this excitement, there were prayers that the country hits a six and one of them lands just near you.

Well, this would make one closer to the game and one might be caught on camera!
The camera crazy went to the extent of calling out to it. “Aee camera, idhar dekh naa!” Nanjunda would spring up every five minutes and have a chit-chat with the camera.

Men in blue

And although, the Indian cricket team was dressed in white, men in blue could be seen all over the place amongst crowd in the stadium.

People had shelled out close to Rs 150 for the t-shirts, however the cap came cheaper at Rs 25.
K Krishnamurthy, who had come with five people from his family, said the preparation costed them around Rs 2000. And they were happy doing it.

Off work

Siva, a techie, had taken leave for all five days to savour the match.

Such was the enthusiasm, that students who had exams had carried their text books to study in the stadium. Patkar, who works with a software company, said that his sister would bring the text books every day. “Watching match is also important,” he added.

And the icing on the cake was presence of a Pakistani fan, who apparently watched all Pak matches. He would come to the crowd and shout that his country wins.

Country winning-losing  became immaterial but the whole stand would engage in a war of words.

It is tough to imagine what the game is to this country unless one watches a match in the stadium.
Madness is the word that describes it.