Sachin Tendulkar’s 199th Test: Ticket farce at Eden Gardens hurting Indian fans

The presence of Sachin Tendulkar is enough for fans to flock to the stadiums © AFP

Day One of the first Test between India and West Indies witnessed sparse crowds, much in contrast to the mad ticket rush that took place following the announcement of the series. Aayush Puthran feels the fact that ‘real’ cricket fans have been denied their right to watch the match and this will impact the popularity and interest levels in the game for the future.

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Going by the scenes in the streets of Mumbai, the kind of passionate following for cricket that was once an unsurprising phenomena, no more exists to the extent it used to. The electronic stores are not mobbed as much when India is playing or the streets don’t go deserted anymore when Sachin Tendulkar is batting. Offices don’t shut down and the most the quintessential ice-breaker between strangers in local train, ‘Score kya hai boss?’ (What’s the score?) isn’t heard that often. The last time something of this magnitude was seen, was when India was playing Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup final.
 
There is a massive and evident shift in the way the game’s popularity has dipped in the city over the last decade. Funnily, it has coincided with India’s rise to power as a cricketing powerhouse.
 
It is a strange co-incidence one may wonder in the shorter run, but for a longer period, it is a dangerous trend. Unlike the English Premier League, which swamped the Indian audience with aggressive marketing, commercialisation of cricket doesn’t seem to have worked for the game as much. There seemed hope for a repeat of that interest level when it was announced that Tendulkar would be playing his last two Test matches. The mad rush for tickets ensued and so was the elaborate preparations planned by cricket bodies to honour the Little Master. Everything was going well, before the final crowd turnout on Day One of the first Test against West Indies at the Eden Gardens left a sour taste, for the stands were disturbingly empty.
 
It also raised a critical question, as to who got the tickets for the match? Is it the fans who got it, but wouldn’t come to the stadium for anyone but Tendulkar or were too many tickets reserved by the black marketers? Or in a bid to please the bigwigs of the corporate, political and the entertainment world, has the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) denied the ‘real’ cricket fans with a chance to watch the match in the stadium?
 
The fact that CAB had, in their favour argued, that the Eden Gardens would be the perfect stadium to host Tendulkar’s farewell Test as it can accommodate more people than any other stadium in the country, makes it all the more worse and embarrassing.
 
While there is little transparency in the way tickets have been distributed for the Eden Gardens Test, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has made it clear that only 5,000 tickets would be available for the general public for Tendulkar’s 200th and final Test. The rest, as they said are “commitment tickets”, reserved for the affiliated clubs and gymkhanas. One wonders why were many of these “commitment seats” empty all these years when Test matches were played at the stadium? Do the so-called keepers’ or promoters of cricket in Mumbai throng the stadiums during Ranji Trophy clashes?
 
Irrespective of who is pleased at the end of the day, the real fans have been devoid of the opportunity of watching their hero play in the stadium in his farewell series. It will be intriguing to know Tendulkar’s reaction to this harsh reality. It was the Little Master himself who had realised four years back that bringing in more crowd was important and suggested free tickets for students to watch Test matches.
 
The cricket boards need to realise soon, that no amount of gimmick will help the game sustain its popularity for long. The fans need to be given their due. With the hero of millions walking into the sunset, the board needs to administer more efficiently towards the promotion of the game than simply hogging the limelight by throwing lavish parties. If not, Indian cricket stands to lose.

Sachin Tendulkar Retirement

(Aayush Puthran is a reporter with CricketCountry. Mercurially jovial, pseudo pompous, perpetually curious and occasionally confused, he is always up for a light-hearted chat over a few cups of filter kaapi!)