In what wasn’t exactly a warm response to a home team underperforming, the disruption of the second T20 cricket match between India and South Africa in Cuttack threatens to be an unflattering reflection of spectator dynamics in the country. The sight was quite unlike the days, when a Chepauk crowd for the India-Pakistan test match in 1999 gave a standing ovation to laud a spirited performance of a neighbour country, despite being on the losing side by a margin of 12 runs.
On a wider scale, in much contrast, the shady memories of Eden Gardens, Kolkata, at the semi-final of the 1996 World Cup, the bottle-throwing scene continue to haunt. Otherwise too, similar incidents on the ground, in a showy display of disappointment or celebration, isn’t much of an alien one for a regular spectator for cricket matches held in the country.
In fact, Dhoni’s understated response to the same was quite a valid one in the post-match press meet.
“It’s always about the first bottle being thrown and the rest join in for fun. Here, it was aggravated due to our poor performance too. I once remember a match in Visakhapatnam where bottles were thrown although we won it,” was what he suggested.
The atmosphere in a stadium is something that gives a certain section of miscreants the onus to make a mark. Beyond sports, stadia or anything else, Maruthi Raghuveer, a Hyderabad-resident who is a regular to sports events through the city and the country, feels, “This is something that is seeped in a majority of our lifestyles, to show off, to own the atmosphere and brush in insecurities.
Moreover, in similar crowd gatherings, you see the tendency to comment on everything that’s happening without any particular reason.”
He adds, gone are those times where fans celebrate players as much as the Sachin’s or the Ganguly’s. “There are certain places in the country those are relatively more passionate about sports. However, reactions such as these in Cuttack are notorious ways of proving a point, and are not sport-driven.”
Saloni Saini’s presence in and around Delhi’s sports events too don’t elicit any different reactions. “It has become easy for people to comment on the personal lives of the sportspersons too, especially when we talk about Yuvraj Singh or Sreesanth. The crowd comments near a boundary area is something players deal with, even in other countries. However, it’s a worrying sign if it disrupts a section of a game altogether,” she avers.
Another sports-freak, Charan, says, what they do is to pass off as an act of humour or identity without looking at the larger picture.
“Fans come in to such matches, especially in sports such as cricket, purchasing tickets for huge prices. So, the tendency to take back something productive out of it is always there. We need to realise, when we are playing host in a series, whatever we do, seemingly or unobtrusively is a representation of the country that we project. Thus, the larger care needs to be taken heed of.”
Will a two-year ban on international cricket in Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, as suggested by a former cricketer like Sunil Gavaskar be a solution then?
Probably, yes, if that throws up gradual hints of a culture change.
