The most knowlegeable and unbiased Cricket Crowds in India?

[vvvslaxman]

Just now, Gollum said:

You will find such old timers in most venues. 

 

Chennai crowd may applaud visiting players but it isn't as widespread like you see in Lord's or MCG. Still better. Ok but will they applaud if a Lankan player does well? Every state has friction with certain countries....most of North and West have suffered atriocities, terror attacks at the hands of Pak, so of course they will be hostile towards Pak. Likewise, Lankans did a genocide against their Tamils and continue to target TN fishermen, so there will be hostility in Chennai against them. Koi dudh ka dhula nahi hai, everyone has reasons to be the way he/she is. 

 

Most of the thing happened in the 90s and before. Nothing recently from my memory. But they do appreciate Kohli even though RCB vs CSK is always an ugly fight between fans. 

[zen]

And since any such list becomes random, below is my unscientific and random list: 

 

Ahmedabad 

Vadodara 

Rajkot 

Surat - though it does not host many matches 

Outside of Gujarat 

 

Nagpur

Raipur 

Mumbai 

Dharamsala 

Jaipur 

 

If stadiums are there: 

Udapur  

Jodhpur

Jaiselmer 

 

 

[Gollum]

Only knowledgeable crowd in Chennai is their chess crowd. Because I hear interviews of players and their favorite places to play. Chennai is often mentioned alongside Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Linares, Havana, Prague, St Louis...most of these cities have great chess history/legacy, and also aesthetic reasons where tourneys are played. Chennai and St. Louis are latest additions, today they enjoy the status what Moscow, Leningrad had in previous century. 

 

Kasparov visited there during 2013 WCC and made an observation that the Chennai crowd has many strong players, and they always ask the best questions to experts, commentators etc. (drew contrast with what he gets in London and New York) and how they break into spontaneous applause when they see good play. More recently, Carlsen, Giri, Aronian noted the distinction between the Kolkata/Goa crowds and the Chennai one. They often give simuls (on rest days or when they aren't playing) outside playing halls and always fare worse in Chennai, often losing to schoolkids. Btw Carlsen also gave a simul during his recce trip in 2013 and lost some 6-7 games in 20 boards, against children, his worst ever simul performance....two of the kids who beat him were Pragg and Vaishali, 8-9 years old. Legends like Kramnik and Gelfand felt self-conscious in Chennai when they were giving their analysis in front of the crowds. Svidler said he felt like he was walking in Moscow of 1985. 

 

I give credit where it is due. So please don't lump the CSK sloganeering Chuski fools with actual knowledgeable people. In general India isn't some place where you expect culture, class, curiosity or intellectual excellence. 

[vvvslaxman]

4 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Only knowledgeable crowd in Chennai is their chess crowd. Because I hear interviews of players and their favorite places to play. Chennai is often mentioned alongside Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Linares, Havana, Prague, St Louis...most of these cities have great chess history/legacy, and also aesthetic reasons where tourneys are played. Chennai and St. Louis are latest additions, today they enjoy the status what Moscow, Leningrad had in previous century. 

 

Kasparov visited there during 2013 WCC and made an observation that the Chennai crowd has many strong players, and they always ask the best questions to experts, commentators etc. (drew contrast with what he gets in London and New York) and how they break into spontaneous applause when they see good play. More recently, Carlsen, Giri, Aronian noted the distinction between the Kolkata/Goa crowds and the Chennai one. They often give simuls (on rest days or when they aren't playing) outside playing halls and always fare worse in Chennai, often losing to schoolkids. Btw Carlsen also gave a simul during his recce trip in 2013 and lost some 6-7 games in 20 boards, against children, his worst ever simul performance....two of the kids who beat him were Pragg and Vaishali, 8-9 years old. Legends like Kramnik and Gelfand felt self-conscious in Chennai when they were giving their analysis in front of the crowds. Svidler said he felt like he was walking in Moscow of 1985. 

 

I give credit where it is due. So please don't lump the CSK sloganeering Chuski fools with actual knowledgeable people. In general India isn't some place where you expect culture, class, curiosity or intellectual excellence. 

 

True.  main reason they attained this legacy is because almost everyone in the past are stat buff. If you look at Cricinfo most of the employees are from Chennai when it comes to analyzing stats. Also they have insane memory of old players and how mcuh they scored on what day. Ashwin is a classic example. It became a tradition. over decades. This is not exclusive to middle class family cricket enthusiasts. From auto driver to milk man would have casual conversation. Maamis would also be uptodate with stats.  In short cricketing geeks most of them in chennai. Everyone asked Sehwag when him and Dravid missed first partnership record for India by 3 runs he said he didn't even know who Umrigar or ROy is.  MSD is also not familiar with history of cricket.  This is a completely different crowd. We shouldn't be confused with the CSK Thala crowd.  Whatever i said was a tradition for decades. 

[Gollum]

Only time where I was actually blown away by fans happened in Kalinga in a Pro League game in 2024. I was in the city for a conference and luckily found free time and a ticket to the India-Australia game there. We played well but lost. 

 

I found myself in the company of a couple of youngsters, probably mid-20s. And they were predicting the pattern of play, PCs, tactics to a T. They were big time hockey nerds and being in their company was such an enriching experience, they were literally predicting how we would take a PC or which Aussie player would do what, when a strategic foul or break of play was coming etc.  I usually can't name/identify more than 3-4 foreign players, but they knew the entire biodata and deep analysis of each of their players, including their strong side, whether they would play in flank or how they would approach the D, preference for aerial play, combos. Waqai mein uss time laga ki ICF mein ham log kya jhant analysis karte hai. 

 

Iske alawa I have never been close to impressed in company of Indian fans, in any sport, and I must have attended around 30 games in stadiums in India.

[vvvslaxman]

2 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Only time where I was actually blown away by fans happened in Kalinga in a Pro League game in 2024. I was in the city for a conference and luckily found free time and a ticket to the India-Australia game there. We played well but lost. 

 

I found myself in the company of a couple of youngsters, probably mid-20s. And they were predicting the pattern of play, PCs, tactics to a T. They were big time hockey nerds and being in their company was such an enriching experience, they were literally predicting how we would take a PC or which Aussie player would do what, when a strategic foul or break of play was coming etc.  I usually can't name/identify more than 3-4 foreign players, but they knew the entire biodata and deep analysis of each of their players, including their strong side, whether they would play in flank or how they would approach the D, preference for aerial play, combos. Waqai mein uss time laga ki ICF mein ham log kya jhant analysis karte hai. 

 

Iske alawa I have never been close to impressed in company of Indian fans, in any sport, and I must have attended around 30 games in stadiums in India.

 

I love pattern analysis in cricket.  My first pattern analysis was published in sydney morning herald i think. There was this guy Daniel laidlaw whom i sent my pattern analysis of don't even know what it was lol Long back. I sent to him in email. He responded to me to come up with few more details. They published it.  

[Gollum]

5 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

True.  main reason they attained this legacy is because almost everyone in the past are stat buff. If you look at Cricinfo most of the employees are from Chennai when it comes to analyzing stats. Also they have insane memory of old players and how mcuh they scored on what day. Ashwin is a classic example. It became a tradition. over decades. This is not exclusive to middle class family cricket enthusiasts. From auto driver to milk man would have casual conversation. Maamis would also be uptodate with stats.  In short cricketing geeks most of them in chennai. Everyone asked Sehwag when him and Dravid missed first partnership record for India by 3 runs he said he didn't even know who Umrigar or ROy is.  MSD is also not familiar with history of cricket.  This is a completely different crowd. We shouldn't be confused with the CSK Thala crowd.  Whatever i said was a tradition for decades. 

Bro, let us agree to disagree. I don't think remembering stats or history is that special. Maybe the type of crowd that goes. Surely better than dehat but nothing to flaunt. I maintain that Indians are among the least curious and analytical qaum when it comes to intellectual endeavors. There is no culture of reading or intellectual hobbies except perhaps a small segment of Kolkata's bhadraloks. That is why even the broadcasters overload with cringe, even some Pak shows like pavilion are more watchable than our dross. Forget Sky coverage. 

 

Ashwin tries to be analytical, I also post his YT videos and collabs with Kimber, Ganjoo, sole videos etc. But for every Ashwin you also have a generational moron like Srikkanth, or most people in the Tamil commentary team who are more interested in discussing Thuppaki than the game. 

[vvvslaxman]

Just now, Gollum said:

Bro, let us agree to disagree. I don't think remembering stats or history is that special. Maybe the type of crowd that goes. Surely better than dehat but nothing to flaunt. I maintain that Indians are among the least curious and analytical qaum when it comes to intellectual endeavors. There is no culture of reading or intellectual hobbies except perhaps a small segment of Kolkata's bhadraloks. That is why even the broadcasters overload with cringe, even some Pak shows like pavilion are more watchable than our dross. Forget Sky coverage. 

 

Ashwin tries to be analytical, I also post his YT videos and collabs with Kimber, Ganjoo, sole videos etc. But for every Ashwin you also have a generational moron like Srikkanth, or most people in the Tamil commentary team who are more interested in discussing Thuppaki than the game. 

 

IN my personal experience even in small TN villages aunties were upto date with stats. If we look at only last 15 years you won't see much. You have to go furhter back.  Whatever you see now is remotely a reflection what it was for decades. David Gower's  article kinda echo the same thing.  It was when there were no 24/7 serials, netflix series and all the other stuffs.

[putrevus]

3 hours ago, Sean Bradley said:

Rank the most knowledgable (&unbiased) crowds for cricket in India. My List.

 

1) Chennai

2) Mumbai

3) Kolkata

4) Tiruvanantapuram (though dont get enough games)

5) Mohali, Chandigarh

6) Bangalore

7) Nagpur

8) Guwahati

9) Vizag

 

Rest are all crap. Ahmedabad the worst !

 

Chennai is defintely on top. Kolkata in my view as to rank lower, Bangalore and Vizag little higher.

[Gollum]

8 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

IN my personal experience even in small TN villages aunties were upto date with stats. If we look at only last 15 years you won't see much. You have to go furhter back.  Whatever you see now is remotely a reflection what it was for decades. David Gower's  article kinda echo the same thing.  It was when there were no 24/7 serials, netflix series and all the other stuffs.

I can agree with you that it is better than most other Indian venues. But nothing exceptional, or something we can flaunt. 

 

We must improve our standards, and I don't mean just sports/cricket. 

 

Even in academics. In US/UK their researchers do these wonderful outreach activities where the communicate their science to aam taxpaying janta. Sometimes turning up in pubs and giving science talks for the masses (if you are in USA, I stongly recommend 'Astronomy on Tap'). When India reaches a level close to that, main maan jaunga. We don't even have the culture of public libraries, museums, reading. 

[vvvslaxman]

2 minutes ago, Gollum said:

I can agree with you that it is better than most other Indian venues. But nothing exceptional, or something we can flaunt. 

 

We must improve our standards, and I don't mean just sports/cricket. 

 

Even in academics. In US/UK their researchers do these wonderful outreach activities where the communicate their science to aam taxpaying janta. Sometimes turning up in pubs and giving science talks for the masses (if you are in USA, I stongly recommend 'Astronomy on Tap'). When India reaches a level close to that, main maan jaunga. We don't even have the culture of public libraries, museums, reading. 

 

Cross culture permeation is something we cannot stop. You slowly lose your identity, shift in behavior, more divide between old and young so you will lose some traditional aspects. It got accelerated after IPL as thala worshipping has taken over.  Uncles like @Chaos  will be stuck in the past :)  . This is a funny video about caribbean uncles and their  incessant whining about coach this or that.

 

 

 

 

 

[Laaloo]

Any crowd that lights a fire in the stadium, burns seats, newspapers and throws bottles at the opposition players should not even be in consideration. 

[Chaos]

50 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

Cross culture permeation is something we cannot stop. You slowly lose your identity, shift in behavior, more divide between old and young so you will lose some traditional aspects. It got accelerated after IPL as thala worshipping has taken over.  Uncles like @Chaos  will be stuck in the past :)  . This is a funny video about caribbean uncles and their  incessant whining about coach this or that.

 

 

 

 

 

Abhey who is uncle raaa 

[vvvslaxman]

2 minutes ago, Chaos said:

Abhey who is uncle raaa 

Wathc the video he gives a details explanation of who is uncle who is not lol

[Chaos]

3 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

Wathc the video he gives a details explanation of who is uncle who is not lol

Respect elders and eat ur sambhar n idli which i love from madras 

[Chaos]

1 hour ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

Cross culture permeation is something we cannot stop. You slowly lose your identity, shift in behavior, more divide between old and young so you will lose some traditional aspects. It got accelerated after IPL as thala worshipping has taken over.  Uncles like @Chaos  will be stuck in the past :)  . This is a funny video about caribbean uncles and their  incessant whining about coach this or that.

 

 

 

 

 

Why does @Chaos get mentioned in every post my madras dosa eater? 

[Vilander]

Chennai is swag chill toward sport, its not a jingoist event there. 

[Ultimate_Game]

3 hours ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

I love pattern analysis in cricket.  My first pattern analysis was published in sydney morning herald i think. There was this guy Daniel laidlaw whom i sent my pattern analysis of don't even know what it was lol Long back. I sent to him in email. He responded to me to come up with few more details. They published it.  

 

Share the link with us

[vvvslaxman]

7 minutes ago, Ultimate_Game said:

 

Share the link with us

Gone long back. I searched archive for a long time lol Wish i had taken a screen shot of it. Also my article on Carl hooper on cricinfo has disappeared.

Edited March 7 by vvvslaxman

[Ultimate_Game]

6 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

Gone long back. I searched archive for a long time lol Wish i had taken a screen shot of it. Also my article on Carl hooper on cricinfo has disappeared.

 

Check wayback machine or internet archive. You can get articles or pages which are no longer around...

https://waybackmachine.im/

Edited March 7 by Ultimate_Game