New Delhi: ‘We weren’t doing anything, it was the crowd that got us inside’, said Shibu, a residence of Faridabad, the neighbouring town of Delhi. Along with his two friends, Shibu made it to the Arun Jaitley Stadium at 4 0’clock on the Thursday morning. It was five and a half hours before the first ball was scheduled to be bowl for Delhi vs Railways Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match.
There was a 2-kilometre stretched queue outside the Gate No.16 of the Kotla stadium in the wee hours. The spectators, who made it to the Gautam Gambhir Stand, had to go through the huff and puff movement before they could reach their seats. It was that enormous crowd turned up to watch their local-turned international mega star Virat Kohli in action for the Delhi cricket team.
The national capital’s premium cricket stadium almost drew parallels with India’s greatest religious festival – the Maha Kumbh – which is being held in Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) – with millions of devotees going to worship there.
The scenes which panned out at the Kotla weren’t regular, or in other words, unaccustomed. The crowd, which turned up in nearly 12,000, escaped a stampede with security finding it difficult to control it. The ones who arrived after 9 o’clock didn’t faced the hurdles for the entry.
“We left home by 6 AM and arrived here by 6:30 AM. When we came here, we saw there was a big queue covering 2 kilometres. We were waiting near Gate No.15 for the entry, only then we realised that the entry was from Gate No.16. As we came near the fence, it was a jam-packed crowd,” Manas Kanwal, a student of KVS in Ghaziabad.
“In that atmosphere, people in front of me had fallen down, and I was almost crushed. Somehow the security personnel pulled me in from inside, my shoes got lost, and I had to replace them,” he added.
The struggles were only limited outside the gate as once the fans settled in, it was all ecstasy in the Gautam Gambhir Stand. Just half-an hour before the match, the Bishan Singh Bedi Stand was opened for the other batch of fans from Gate No.18.
Fan Frenzy: Stories of Devotion
This was the first domestic match for Virat Kohli since November 2012, and a lot has changed thereafter. He has turned into a global cricket icon. The name of the venue, where Kohli honed his skills, has been changed, and there is also a pavilion named after him. Not that he doesn’t show up at the national capital donning the India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru shirt regularly, but then not everyday one gets to watch Virat Kohli play a cricket match without having to buy tickets.
As the norm stands by, the matches for Ranji Trophy are free of cost, domestic matches precisely. The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) had to open two stands instead of the regular one. Rajat Bhatia, who played 112 first-class matches in his career, was part of the Delhi squad when Virat last played in Ghaziabad in 2012, though Bhatia was ill for that Uttar Pradesh match and eventually missed it.
The 45-year-old Bhatia, in a candid conversation with News9 Sports, was fervent to point out that Virat Kohli was the crowd-puller and mentioned that domestic matches don’t often get such overwhelming response.
The enthusiasm among crowd was inevitable to watch their homegrown boy return to the citadel after an aeon. Rohang Minglani, who studies in Grade 7 at the Titiksha Public School, missed his regular school and attended the game with his mother to watch his hero Virat Kohli play. A young eight-year-old Gaurang, who trains at a local cricket academy, turned up in whites with his own jersey name behind it.
One person skipped his physics practical examination while a group of six students from the Carmel school missed rushed their mathematical practicals to make it to the venue. One girl skipped her college’s NSCI meeting to watch her superstar Virat Kohli play along with two friends. The common stories among all was one – the fervent to watch India’s one of the greatest player in the Whites. A fan also breached the security to touch the senior cricketer’s feet.
The crowd welcomed their ‘King’ with a huge blast when the Delhi players entered the field after skipper Ayush Badoni elected to field first on the wicket, which had plenty of gras for the pacers to find their foot.
“Everyone is excited and its good to have the king on our side,” Badoni said during the toss, reiterating the popular sentiment at the Kotla.
In his casual way, Kohli gestured the crowd to cheer for the team when Karn Sharma and Upendra Yadav showed resistance in the middle after an early collapse. Kohli was yet again at his animated best after the dismissal of Sharma, his former RCB teammate, ending the 104-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
The player obliged to take pictures with young spectators down the “Virat Kohli Pavilion’ during the lunchbreak. He was seen giving instructions to Badoni in between the game to make field adjustments. At around 2 o’clock, the crowds started leaving in the anticipation of Kohli won’t be batting on the opening day. The gut feeling turned true after Delhi finished the day at 41 for 1 after 10 overs.
Delhi has slim chances to make it to knockouts, which apparently made their final league fixture as inconsequential. But then it was the prodigal son, who influenced many to show at the Kotla and turned it into a vantage point.
Virat Kohli’s return to domestic cricket in Delhi drew an unexpectedly massive crowd to the Arun Jaitley Stadium, causing a near-stampede outside Gate No. 16. Thousands of fans, including students who skipped classes, waited hours in a 2-km queue. Despite initial chaos, the atmosphere inside the stadium was electric, showcasing Kohli’s enduring popularity. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
