A SLIPPERY OUTFIELD

With the World Cup coming to a country where cricket is followed just like a religion, does the system beneath able to satisfy the most possible? The other day i was at the M.Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore trying to purchase a ticket for the high profile game between India and England. This game was shifted to Bangalore which was previously scheduled to be held at the prestigious Eden Gardens, Kolkata. As a cricket lover, i feel that a ground like Eden garden wasn't ready to host a big game is a real shame. The schedules for the matches were out very well in advance and it is unfortunate that the men in charge were unable to get a ground which has witnessed some great games including the finals of the1987 edition of the World cup.The deafening noise of 100,000 fans is  a sight that only can be experienced. Its a honor for many cricketers to play in this ground. Anyways, as the game has been shifted, it is a test for the newly appointed group at the Karnataka State Cricket Association to make this game a special one. Such a game calls for thousands to crowd up at the ticket counter. But there seems to be no facilities that can cater to such a number. The tickets for the members representative are given only at one counter. It took me four hours to get myself a ticket. The line is stagnant, no clear announcements regarding which category of tickets have been sold out. All that we get are rumors regarding which category of tickets are sold out. There were a few people who left when they got to no that the tickets they could afford were over, unfortunately for them within a span of ten minutes of them leaving the same class of tickets were available.With so much technology around, they could speed up the issue of tickets by probably using a technique of scanning the member cards so that it saves time of data entry . The tickets issued to the public the next day had about 3 counters. We are talking of 1000's of people and just three counters to serve them. It is absolutely ridiculous. Recently, there was an announcement that the server for the online booking site for the Final game at Mumbai crashed because of an over load. It is not new that people want to watch a game of cricket and moreover the finals. This has always been the trend in India but there seems to be no parallel improvement in the additional facilities. 

Lets compare this with the Football World Cup. The grounds can accommodate more people and they are as enthusiastic as we are about cricket. But, did we hear anyone complain about the facilities?

There are talks going on regarding the downfall of Test and ODI Cricket in the near future. Lack of facilities is only going to cater to this downfall. The BCCI should make it easy for people to get there ticket at the venue otherwise it will disinterest people. 

It is time that the BCCI took a stand and adopt a more professional way of working. We boast about having the richest board in cricket but why are the facilities so weak? The BCCI should look at hosting the World Cup as a honour. The last time India hosted it was 15 years back, we don't know when we are going to host the next one.

Nevertheless, I had a moment to cheer, when my friend and myself got a glimpse of the Indian team getting off their bus and get into the nets. The sight of Sachin Tendulkar gave us  goosebumps.

Lets hope all twenty two men in blue gives us a competitive game to watch and that any grey clouds above the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium disappear.