Month and a half after travelling the length and breadth of the country, the World Cup caravan arrived in Ahmedabad for one last time. Back to the place where the tournament got underway on October 5, the setting was ideal for a spectacle. A grand spectacle.
Unbeaten India were in the final on the back of some clinical performances in the ten games they played and were up against the mighty Australian side, which rediscovered their mojo after an off-colour start.
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Two great teams were going to fight for the ultimate glory at the Narendra Modi Stadium – the largest in the world – in front of at least one lakh spectators. First, the spectators fell short by over 7,000 and then, the 92,453 which turned up wore a distant look and weren’t turned on like the ones we had seen in centres like Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. They were loud, had to be when so many of them come together in the same place, when India batters hit a boundary or bowlers picked a wicket but remained detached for most of the contest.
The spectators kept waiting for cues from DJ or action in the middle to make a move. For the remainder of the match, they sat like ducks either clicking selfies or recording live action for the potentially viral Instagram reel. To be fair to them, it was a very arranged setting in the stands where majority had flown in from different parts of the country by pulling last moment strings for tickets. They didn’t have the connect with action like we had seen in the traditional centres. And on top of that, they continued to be partisan. Like they were in the game vs Pakistan on October 14.
Mumbai had a different buzz with their chants for different players and even coach Rahul Dravid, Chennai’s intelligence was on display during India vs Australia and Pakistan vs Afghanistan, Kolkata had their own way of triggering a Mexican wave without a cue and Delhi turned out in numbers even for the non-India games at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, and made their presence felt. None of it was witnessed and felt in Ahmedabad.
There are occasions where big is not always better, and final was a classic example of one. The final was probably the only occasion where Virat Kohli, in spite of thousands in the stands, walked out to a sombre response, Jasprit Bumrah had to wait for DJ’s cue to hear “Boom, Boom Bumrah” reverberate in the stands and Mohammed Shami didn’t hear his name often. For most part of Rohit Sharma’s whirlwind knock, it was only the boundaries and sixes which got the crowd going. Not often did they go “Rohit, Rohit” when the opposition bowler was in the follow-through. Something which was common wherever India played before the final.
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Not suggesting it could have swayed the match in India’s favour but crowd support can rattle even the best in the business, and mighty Australians would have been no different. They had crowd factor in mind but the crowd just wasn’t tuned enough to make the right noise.
Pat Cummins spoke about it at pre-match presser, Marnus Labuschagne said there was nervousness while waiting to bat but Australia made sure to keep the thousands silent for most part of the game as the fans kept waiting for a cue from the DJ who too lacked the buzz and spark for the grandest fixture of the tournament.
This World Cup will be remembered for a lot of great matches, India’s clinical campaign, Australia’s title but certainly not for the spectators at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
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