Indore wears festive atmosphere

Col Nayudu's city abuzz with activity ahead of its first Test

For a city that has produced the pioneers of Indian cricket and an immensely respected BCCI president, it has had to wait more than eight decades to finally stage a Test match! A long wait that is definitely going to invite fanfare and Indore has thrown its arms wide open, adding further buzz to the already festive Dussera atmosphere.

Both India and New Zealand were accorded a rousing reception on Wednesday night on arrival with fans waving and cheering as the respective team buses made their way to the hotels. Thursday morning, fans formed long queues outside the Holkar stadium to snap up the remaining tickets while around 2,000 of them cheered the practice sessions of both the teams.

Be it Kane Williamson, Mitchell Santner, Rohit Sharma or Ajinkya Rahane, the boisterous crowd kept egging them on with calls for a ‘sixer’ every time a batsman padded up to face the bowlers at the practice nets. The fans, who arrived at 9.00 am, stayed till evening until the Indians wrapped up their session with plenty of activity outside as well.

“It is unbelievable,” said New Zealand bowling coach Shane Jurgensen. “On our arrival last night the streets were lined with people, probably three-deep in some parts. It's very exciting to see the reception we’ve had and even while training today, they're clapping wickets and fours and sixes. It is going to be a pretty loud Test match I think, so it is actually good training for us.”

Indore is the city that gave India its first ever Test captain — Col CK Nayudu — and the first centurion in away Tests — Syed Mushtaq Ali. Leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani, who moved to Indore as a teenager, and off-spinner Rajesh Chauhan — who played 21 Tests — are the other prominent cricketers to have been churned out from the State. The great Rahul Dravid was born here.

Administratively too Indore has had some famous names. Madhavrao Scindia served as the president of BCCI while Sanjay Jagdale, the current president of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, has been a former secretary of the Board. Jagdale was a national selector as well.

Despite all this, Indore, like many other second-tier cities, was not able to stage any Test matches as the Board rotated the games amongst the major venues. This happened for decades before it changed its stance and inducted six new venues for the bumper season ahead.

MPCA, having finally got its due reward, is leaving no stone unturned. The entire stadium has been cleaned up with workers washing every seat. Fans have been instructed not to litter and spit anywhere and with them abiding by it, the Holkar Stadium looks very clean. There is a sense of orderliness amongst the fans as well with many showing patience to grab their tickets — all quite a rarity in many venues.

“We have staged IPL and ODIs but never a Test,” said MPCA secretary Milind Kanmadikar.

“This is our chance to prove that smaller venues can host a Test match. We are totally prepared.”

Judging by the preparations and the fans’ reception so far, Indore could act as the catalyst for the five others waiting in the wings.