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Loading ...I wonder how that compares with middlesex championship games at Lord’s. I mean, if Lord’s capacity was increased to 45000, how full would it be for a championship game. I realise the final of the Ranji trophy is more like the C&G, and suppose to an extent it is surprising. How much does it cost to get in, and how does than compare to the weekly wage?
India domestic cricket
By Jenny 2 years ago, mid-April Leave a comment on this post
Jenny Thompson
OK, so cricket is everywhere in Mumbai. Further proof – every morning, just metres from my apartment, I pass nets for 30 or so juniors. The national team are superstars. You can’t move for cricket. Brilliant.
But what never ceases to surprise me is how little anyone cares about domestic cricket. In a cricket-mad country – arguably the cricket-mad country – you’d expect domestic matches to be a sell-out. But the recent Ranji Trophy final, the showcase event, drew crowds of - and I kid you not - 100 to the 45,000-capacity Wankhede Stadium.
Why? Well, it’s just not glamorous for a start. My colleagues tell me that only the big names count in the sport. They also say that in cities such as Mumbai, who get their share of internationals, domestic cricket by contrast has a lesser appeal. Hmm, that still doesn’t stack up for me. Sure, we all love to watch the big boys at play but me, well, I’d watch any type of cricket and I know I’m far from alone in that.
But then, there’s the experience of going to a game. It’s just not comfortable to sit in the stadium, on the concrete slabs, without water, much shelter and limited toilet access. When the temperatures are sweltering at around 40C – and the shade isn’t much better – well, it all adds up to, erm, not much fun, really. Yet, even so, there’s still something that’s not quite right…
If anyone else knows why domestic doesn’t do it out here then do leave a comment.
Jenny is my colleage at Cricinfo and is out in our Mumbai office pretending to work. In fact, I doubt she’s even pretending…
Tags: domestic, india, jenny-thompson, mumbai |
9 Responses to “India domestic cricket”
April 17th, 2006 at 1.06 pm
April 17th, 2006 at 1.34 pm
Good point! I’ve just checked with my colleague Kanishkaa, who went to the final, and - check this! - he said it was free! So it’s not anything economic … Curioser and curioser. Anyone?!
April 17th, 2006 at 1.46 pm
Stop asking us and ask the lads in the Mumbai office Jenno! They’ll know, no?
April 17th, 2006 at 1.57 pm
I just have! See above!
April 17th, 2006 at 4.58 pm
Because the board hasn’t realised the potential domestic cricket can have in the country yet. As a result of it, there has been callous attitude towards domestic cricket.
In a domestic game in Calcutta in which I went, Ganguly happened to play. Two blocks were jam packed. This without any marketing, promotion.
Ranji finals in the 60s/70s are known to have good crowds at least. But with negligence, the fan following has wavered off. I am more positive about a domestic revival in the near future though than I have ever been.
April 18th, 2006 at 12.18 am
You guys are totally right,but i live in Canada and here almost every candian is following Ice-hockey.There is only one small stadium in Canada.But if you look at the mumbia its a shame that the big faces you call come from Domestic crickcet.They work their way through tough conditions of indian stadiums.That’s how they become big cricketers.But if you look at canada.Its worse than Domestic cricket.That’s my reply.I will reply more if i can.Bye guys.Hope that domestic cricket will be improved.
April 18th, 2006 at 9.21 am
Jenny…you’ve listed ALL the known reasons..stop searching for more 
Sure, as Pratyush said, the board needs to market the domestic games better (and ironically, having tv coverage would improve popularity, and get more people in the stadia, in the long run) but marketing or popularising involves some or all of those aspects that you already mentioned.
April 18th, 2006 at 9.47 am
Another reason: time. Cricket’s a time-consuming sport as it is, and with the amount of international cricket to watch, who has the time for domestic games?
And let’s face it, cricket’s made all the more interesting by its characters. The last Ashes series was not a huge attraction just because the games were good. If it was against Bangladesh, would there have been as much interest? In no small part, the series was important because of the opponents, their decade-long domination of cricket, their mile-high reputations and their performances. Everybody knew all the players. A novice might have not given a second thought to Adam Gilchrist being dismissed cheaply time and again, but we all knew how important that wicket was. The point I am trying to make is, if you don’t know the players involved that well, it doesn’t hold AS MUCH interest.
May 6th, 2006 at 10.26 pm
Nice blog.
Thank you.
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