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| A Chennai Super Kings supporter dons a head gear and waves his team’s flag outside Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. |
Cuttack/Bhubaneswar, May 7: The turnout was expected to be huge and the crowd did not disappoint. As the IPL returned to the city after two years, Barabati Stadium was packed to its capacity as top IPL teams Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab clashed here today.
Even though Barabati Stadium is the home venue for the Kings XI Punjab, there was equal support for the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings. The atmosphere around the stadium was like that of a fair with frenzy of cricket all over the city. As all roads led to the stadium, cops struggled to regulate traffic in and around the venue.
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| Girls wait in a queue to enter Barabati Stadium |
Even though the match was scheduled to start at 8pm, cricket enthusiasts started queuing up near the stadium to gain entry since afternoon. But the gates opened only after 6.30pm.
“This is a unique experience for me as it is for the first time I got an opportunity to see my favourite players at Barabati,” said Akash Dixit, a spectator from Bargarh.
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| ( From top) MS Dhoni’s wife Sakshi has fun in the gallery, a Kings XI Punjab supporter says it in style and Kings XI Punjab owner Preity Zinta waves to fans in Cuttack on Wednesday. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das |
“We had booked our tickets to watch a good game and as both teams are playing well in this IPL season, the demand for tickets was certainly high,” said Kartik Swain, a spectator from Bhubaneswar.
Spectators said that they were denied of a proper match in October last year when rain played spoilsport. Braving the heat, a large number of spectators were seen preparing themselves for the big match by purchasing team jerseys and other merchandise being sold outside the stadium.
Vendors from neighbouring states such as Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand had gathered near the stadium to sell jerseys, headbands and flags, while amateur artists were ready to paint the spectators in their favourite colours.
Jayasingh Pratap, a vendor from Bihar, said that the IPL had certainly brought smiles on their faces as small traders like him were able to eke out a decent livelihood by selling these merchandise at different parts of the country.
“Earlier, we used to travel to major cities, especially during one-dayers. But these string of IPL matches has benefited us,” said Pratap.
However, the non-inclusion of Odia cricketers had left a lot of spectators disheartened as this year Biplab Samantray, who had played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in last IPL season, was not picked for this season.
Leaving nothing to chance, police had in place elaborate arrangements for smooth conduct of the match. Nearly 36 platoons of police were deployed in and around the stadium.
Besides, over 300 private security guards were also deployed for physical verification of tickets to restrict the entry of outsiders into the stadium. Closed circuit television cameras were also deployed at all the entry and exit gates for better crowd management.
“A three tier security arrangement was made for the IPL match besides quick reaction team was also deployed at the stadium,” said deputy commissioner of police Sanjiv Arora. However, in the evening prior to the toss black clouds hovered in the sky with thunder and lightening. Gusty wind blew bringing the fear of the match might be cancelled. The last International match between Australia and India was also cancelled here due to heavy rain following cyclone Phailin.