Is India really cricket-crazy?

[ucilite]

I can’t believe how few people have been watching the Test in Mohali. Each day I hope it will get better, but it hasn’t. When reading about India it’s "cricket mad this", "fanatical that". Not in Tests in the Punjab. At times during this match it has made a sparse crowd in Hobart, Australia’s smallest venue, seem gigantic. The first day was the saddest, when so few saw Sachin Tendulkar’s record, but by Sunday, a holiday and with India well on top, there were only a sprinkling of supporters in the morning. Throughout the day there was a gradual build up, but the ground was still barely half full. One reason for so many free seats is that Chandigarh is a small city by India’s standards (Mohali, a suburb, has a population of about one million!) and the well-equipped stadium is a 20-minute drive from the centre. Another is Twenty20. This stadium apparently bounces at capacity when the Kings XI Punjab play in the Indian Premier League. It’s shocking to experience such a different atmosphere for a Test in a series that now rivals the Ashes in prestige. Here it’s like the locals have been introduced to Formula One and no longer have time to watch cycling. In Bangalore the crowds were noisy and the Saturday was a fabulous day, but to me something is still missing in India. I saw Greg Chappell walking along the beach in Goa a few years ago and expected him to be swamped by fans. More people were trying to sell me beads than talk to him. The love of Indians for cricket is not a myth, but so far I’m finding it’s greatly exaggerated. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/tourdiaries/ my 2 cents: the attendance during this test series has been extremely disappointing...hopefully it will improve for the remaining games...

[flamy]

Test Cricket is not Real Cricket, brah.

[TaNk]

Test Cricket is not Real Cricket' date=' brah.[/quote'] wtf :whack:

[bharat297]

Well Punjab has never been a cricket mad part of India (relatively) anyway. If they played the matches in the heartland areas ... that is, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras ... they would get a sellout or very very close to one Even Delhi should produce a better turnout.

[flamy]

wtf :whack:

:--D:--D

[TaNk]

Well Punjab has never been a cricket mad part of India (relatively) anyway. If they played the matches in the heartland areas ... that is, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras ... they would get a sellout or very very close to one Even Delhi should produce a better turnout.

agree 90% of the turn out would be kids in punjab ... unless its a T20

[Predator_05]

India is still cricket crazy, but not as much as it used to be. Teenagers these days have interests in other sports such as football and tennis. Coverage of Premiership football and the Champions League is second to none in Asia. Last time i was in Delhi, i would visit the local park quite often and was surprised to see more people playing football than cricket. The passion for cricket just isn't the same, and i can definitely see where the author is coming from when he says that India's reputation as a cricket crazy country is grossly exaggerated

[ludhianvi]

Here's my take on this: The capacity of a ground is dependent on two factors: the type of match i.e tests, ODIs, or IPL and the second being the ciity hosting the match. ODIs and t20 have seen full houses if not almost full stadiums throughout the country. Test matches, in general, see a lot less crowd fill up the grounds. If the match is being held in a metro city of India such as Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, or Mumbai, then the stadium attendance goes up when compared to a remote city. We have seen empty stadiums for domestic finals. Compare this to a domestic soccer league in Brazil. Contrasting atmospheres! Mohali is really on the outskirts of Punjab. One of the reasons that PCA got the locaton so cheaply. Had the ground been built in the heart of the state, then we might see more attendance at the matches. Another contributing factor is the tremendous security in place especially in the North due to the recent bomb blasts in Delhi. Perhaps, people are wary of this and find it a bit tedious to go through all the strict security.

[punjabi_khota]

Well Punjab has never been a cricket mad part of India (relatively) anyway. If they played the matches in the heartland areas ... that is, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras ... they would get a sellout or very very close to one Even Delhi should produce a better turnout.

Hockey is big thing in Punjab...or atleast used to be a few years ago..cricket prolly doesn't dominate as much is does in other parts of India.

[Willow_on_fire]

Well Punjab has never been a cricket mad part of India (relatively) anyway. If they played the matches in the heartland areas ... that is, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras ... they would get a sellout or very very close to one Even Delhi should produce a better turnout.

also another reason could be that Yuvraj did not qualify to be in Test matches...after all it is his home ground....just a innocent thought...:winky:

[fineleg]

Who is more crazy abt cricket? NRIs or 'amits-pure' Indians? maybe pure are into other sports, and NRIs hangin' onto cricket?

[PaiN_KiLLeR]

Mohali, inspite is being rated as the best stadium in India, doesn't seem to be too spectator friendly. The crowds have no roof to shield them from the sun. One has to be an absolute cricket fanatic to be willing to get roasted for 7-8 hours to witness a day's play. Most people would definitely prefer watching a D/N ODI or an IPL fixture. Bangalore, which is a fairly spectator-friendly groudn had good turnouts for the first test.

[SachDan]

Mohali, inspite is being rated as the best stadium in India, doesn't seem to be too spectator friendly. The crowds have no roof to shield them from the sun. One has to be an absolute cricket fanatic to be willing to get roasted for 7-8 hours to witness a day's play. Most people would definitely prefer watching a D/N ODI or an IPL fixture. Bangalore, which is a fairly spectator-friendly groudn had good turnouts for the first test.

You can expect the same kind of turnouts in Delhi and even Nagpur..pity that BCCI didn't choose Chennai as a venue for this high profile series.

[vadodaravictor]

I think cricket craze in India is in pockets. That's why we see regional teams from certain parts almost always doing better & producing more national players.

[Lord]

Mohali, inspite is being rated as the best stadium in India, doesn't seem to be too spectator friendly. The crowds have no roof to shield them from the sun. One has to be an absolute cricket fanatic to be willing to get roasted for 7-8 hours to witness a day's play. Most people would definitely prefer watching a D/N ODI or an IPL fixture. Bangalore, which is a fairly spectator-friendly groudn had good turnouts for the first test.

great avatar:hysterical:

[Lord]

i live in chandigarh n it is certainly not as small as people make it sound.if we have a good game at a right time,it'll be a fullhouse.the fact is its freaking hot here and as somebody said there are no roofs to protect urself.also security arrangements make it too tedious.also people in punjab are fun loving and like to see 4s and 6s and hence prefer odis /t20s to tests.

[Willow_on_fire]

i live in chandigarh n it is certainly not as small as people make it sound.if we have a good game at a right time' date='it'll be a fullhouse.the fact is its freaking hot here and as somebody said there are no roofs to protect urself.also security arrangements make it too tedious.also people in punjab are fun loving and like to see 4s and 6s and hence prefer odis /t20s to tests.[/quote'] good for you bro...chandigarh is a cool place....yeah, may be test cricket sounds more like a 'tuk tuk' cricket...but the second test was very interesting...:eyedance:

[Chandan]

Mohali, inspite is being rated as the best stadium in India, doesn't seem to be too spectator friendly. The crowds have no roof to shield them from the sun. One has to be an absolute cricket fanatic to be willing to get roasted for 7-8 hours to witness a day's play. Most people would definitely prefer watching a D/N ODI or an IPL fixture. Bangalore, which is a fairly spectator-friendly groudn had good turnouts for the first test.

True. Plus a newspaper gave reported this: Getting to the ground is hard enough - the police don't allow anyone other than VIPs to bring their cars within a kilometre of the stadium. One of the most ridiculous security procedures was to force people down a 200-metre path when there was another, more direct route a quarter of the length. "That route is meant only for VIPs," a security official said. Having reached the ground, the spectator is faced with restrictions on carrying water bottles and umbrellas. The only covered stands are those for members; non-members sit through the day under the sun, on plastic chairs that can get very uncomfortable in temperatures touching 30 degrees Celsius. Why walk a kilometre, then spend seven hours under the sun when you can watch it all on TV? Along with this , Mohali has always been empty, as have other small centres like Kanpur. Mohali stupidly enough does not have too many covered stands, and in the october heat its ridiculous. With no umbrellas and no cover on the head, who'd sit for 6-7 hours in that heat?!

[Lord]

True. Plus a newspaper gave reported this: Getting to the ground is hard enough - the police don't allow anyone other than VIPs to bring their cars within a kilometre of the stadium. One of the most ridiculous security procedures was to force people down a 200-metre path when there was another, more direct route a quarter of the length. "That route is meant only for VIPs," a security official said. Having reached the ground, the spectator is faced with restrictions on carrying water bottles and umbrellas. The only covered stands are those for members; non-members sit through the day under the sun, on plastic chairs that can get very uncomfortable in temperatures touching 30 degrees Celsius. Why walk a kilometre, then spend seven hours under the sun when you can watch it all on TV? Along with this , Mohali has always been empty, as have other small centres like Kanpur. Mohali stupidly enough does not have too many covered stands, and in the october heat its ridiculous. With no umbrellas and no cover on the head, who'd sit for 6-7 hours in that heat?!

now we know the true reasons.stupid security people.:protest:

[Lord]

good for you bro...chandigarh is a cool place....yeah' date= may be test cricket sounds more like a 'tuk tuk' cricket...but the second test was very interesting...:eyedance:

atm its hot:giggle:and to add to that punjabis are not too are not too much into techniques and all.for most of us,sehwag is always better than dravid bcoz hes more entertaining. even then i was dissapointed with the turnout though:((