Cuttack, Jan. 19: Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) had its fingers crossed throughout the day, hoping that spectators at Barabati Stadium for India’s second ODI against England would exorcise the ghost of October 5, 2015. On that day, India’s poor show against South Africa had angered the crowd so much that they threw water bottles into the ground and brought the match to a temporary halt. At the end of today’s match, one can say the unsavoury past
has been buried.
More than 43,000 fans, who thronged the stadium from across the state, showed those watching today’s game live on TV around the world that they love cricket and discipline in equal measure.
The game proceeded smoothly with spectators enjoying every bit of the action putting behind unpleasant memories of the October 5, 2015, T20 match between India and South Africa.
If that was a one-off act of unruly crowd behaviour, the pitch must bear its share of blame. The OCA did not take long to understand its past mistake and laid out a sporting pitch for today’s match. This kept spectators riveted to the game with India batting first to pile up a big score. A free-flowing Yuvraj Singh and M.S. Dhoni added to their entertainment with their array of stroke play.
“We had prepared a sporting wicket that would help both batsmen and bowlers. Measures were also taken to reduce the effect of dew by trimming the grass on the outfield by at least 2cm,” said chief curator Pankaj Patnaik.
If OCA did its bit on the ground, social media regulars helped with their off-the-field activities. Various social groups and individuals carried out intensive campaign on Facebook and Whatsapp, urging spectators to showcase their sporting spirit.
“A lot of youngsters had started a campaign on social media and a group of individuals created awareness among fans to enjoy cricket and refrain from any kind of aggression. We are happy that the match ended on a peaceful note here at Barabati,” said Bhawani Shankar Mohanty, a cricket enthusiast.
Mohanty said the bottle-throwing incident in 2015 had brought a bad name to Odisha and the prestige of the state was at stake today.
All roads lead to Barabati
Since early morning, fans were on their way to Barabati trying to catch a glimpse of their favourite cricketers. Fans had a tough time reaching the stadium owing to the ongoing work on KVK Road and near Buxi Bazar. However, for those coming from Jajpur, Bhubaneswar, Choudwar and other parts of the state via Ring Road, the journey was comparatively easier.
Adequate traffic personnel ensured there was no congestion on city arteries as well as on the Ring Road.
“We had deployed over 63 platoons of police and 12 of them were assigned the task to regulate traffic at various places in the city during the match,” said deputy commissioner of police Sanjeev Arora.
Good show
Team India’s 350 plus run chase in the first ODI in Pune was fresh in the minds of fans who came in large numbers expecting a repeat performance.
In spite of India losing the wickets of skipper Virat Kohli, Sikhar Dhawan and K.L. Rahul early, Dhoni and Yuvraj steadied the innings. Though some fans were disappointed to see Virat get out cheaply, Yuvraj’s superb knock and his partnership with Dhoni made up for the captain’s poor show.
“We had especially come to see Virat play after his splendid run chase in Pune. Though he did not click, Dhoni and Yuvi made up for that adequately,” said Sweta Das, a cricket enthusiast from Bhubaneswar.
