Chaos mars debut tie at SCA stadium

A world-class stadium and a match full of runs to mark its international debut. Saurashtra Cricket Association had every reason to celebrate the occasion in the grand manner it did.

A spectacular laser show and the equally impressive fireworks, for a moment, helped spectators overcome the disappointment of India’s narrow nine-run loss to England in a high-scoring game.

But in their enthusiasm of the successful conduct of the first of the five-match series here at the Khandheri facilities on Friday, the SCA officials appeared to have forgotten the fact that the process of hosting a game doesn’t end once the post-match presentation ceremony is over. It was obviously lost on Niranjan Shah, the all-powerful secretary of the SCA, and his company that there will be mandatory press conferences, addressed by captains of both sides and possibly the performer of the day.

It’s through these media interactions that captains, depending upon the result, offer reasons for the outcome. It’s only via this mode that the cricket-loving public, the biggest stake holders in the game, get an opportunity to clear their doubts, one way or the other. Yes, on many a time the questions posed don’t make much sense and some of them get repetitive but that’s an unavoidable hazard that even the players realise.

Dhoni, too, acknowledged the importance of dissemination of information to the public. “Everybody wants to know what exactly happened,” the Indian skipper had remarked on the eve of the Chennai one-dayer against Pakistan late last year. “If you have not done well, then as captain you have the responsibility of explaining what were the reasons behind taking a particular decision and if it didn’t go your way.”

For example, there might have been many who would have been wondering about the logic behind the exclusion of Shami Ahmed who made an impressive debut against Pakistan in Delhi. Whether they find Dhoni’s explanation convincing or not, at least they know the reason behind the move.

The SCA, however, reduced both the pre-match and post-match press-dos to a farce, resulting in Alastair Cook and Dhoni cutting their interactions short once each. On the eve of the match, English skipper Cook continued with the conference despite constant disturbances. With the microphone not working and the chatter inside and outside the hall going unabated, he had no choice but to call off the proceedings after a while.

On Friday, Dhoni had barely answered three questions when the power supply was snapped to facilitate the laser show. The hall plunged into complete darkness and with the spectators having easy access to the conference area, it just wasn’t advisable to continue with the meet. Cook walked into the hall unawares but given his experience the previous day, he appeared little surprised. To his credit, the southpaw spoke amidst blaring music and ear-splitting sound from fire crackers.

On Thursday, Dhoni had spoken of smaller cities getting recognised worldwide because of international stadia. Surely he didn’t mean it this way. While the new stadium definitely impressed everyone, the chaos and the utter mismanagement of certain things didn’t present a pretty image of the place. It was ironic that an association that has proudly replicated the press-box structure of the hallowed Lord’s didn’t take enough care for the smooth conduct of media interactions, more so because the SCA has always been one of the few media-friendly organisations in the country. Last but not the least, there was also a small matter of showing some respect to the captains of two important cricketing nations.