WHY WATCHING CRICKET AT THE GROUND IS NOT ENJOYABLE

Why would I watch the cricket from the ground when I can watch it on TV said a young boy passing his friend standing in the ticket “pickup” queue located in central of Hyderabad, almost 20kms from the stadium. The young man struggled to answer the question and after the first day outing at the Uppal Stadium it was extremely sensible question. 

On the arrival in Hyderabad I was advised all tickets were sold out for the first day.  As soon as I had entered the ground I was surprised to find the stadium was only 60% full.  Either the cricket association was making a mockery of the tickets or perhaps half the crowd had turned away knowing the difficulty of reaching the stadium after picking up their tickets 20kms away.

A young fan outside the ground said “They have built the stadium so far and only opened the ticket pick up counters after 7:30am, how can we get to the ground when it is so far away”. 

Hyderabad cricket association has two offices one in centre of the city and the other is next to the stadium, so it baffling to know why the tickets could not be picked up at ground. Also there is no public transport to ground so it trip out to the stadium is time consuming with traffic jams a common sight.

If the fan is brave enough to get inside their mobile phones need to be left outside and majority will remain exposed to the sun since the stands are not covered. 

“The ticket saga is one thing but the least the cricket association could do is providing water inside the ground” said yet another fan.

Just when you feel it was easier for a media person then think again. After Bangalore, Hyderabad is supposed to be the thriving on back of IT revolution so it must be embarrassing the basic amenities for the press are absent.  The internet is a modern day commodity so it extremely frustrating when it fails every few minutes.

“In Chennai there was no issue, why can’t they test all this connection before the match begins rather than during the match” said a senior Indian journalist.

Considering the stadium was recently renovated the views from the press box are horrible. While it is situated above the bowlers arm the concrete pillars obstruct the view of the field. If that is not bad enough the difference in height between the front row and the second row is minimal so it yet another hindrance.

Overall, Hyderabad cricket fan deserves more and unless the administrators get a hold of themselves then the answer to the question “Why you could go to the cricket when I can watch it on TV” will be simply – It is too much of hassle.