New Delhi: ‘We weren’t doing anything, it was the crowd that got us inside’, said Shibu, a residence of Faridabad, the neighbouring city of Delhi. Along with his two friends, Shibu made it to the Arun Jaitley Stadium at 4 a.m. on Thursday. It was five and a half hours before the first ball was scheduled to be bowled in the Delhi vs Railways Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match.
There was a 2-kilometre stretched queue outside 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 hero-turned-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 that panned out at the Kotla weren’t regular, or in other words, never seen before in a domestic match. The 12000-strong crowd, which thronged the stadium, escaped a stampede with security finding it difficult to control it. Remarkably, the ones who arrived right on the cusp of the beginning of the match didn’t face the hurdles for entry.
“We left home by 6 a.m. and arrived here by 6:30 a.m. 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 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 who entered from Gate No.18.
Fan Frenzy: Stories of devotion
A lot has changed since Kohli’s last domestic match in November 2012. 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 pavillion 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 every day one gets to watch him play a cricket match without having to buy tickets.
As the norm stands by, the matches for the 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 the clash against Uttar Pradesh and eventually missed it.
The 45-year-old Bhatia, in a candid conversation with News9 Sports, was fervent to point out that Kohli was the crowd-puller and mentioned that domestic matches don’t often get such overwhelming response.
The enthusiasm among the 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 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 rushed their mathematical practicals to make it to the venue. One girl skipped her college’s NSCI meeting to watch the superstar play along with two friends. The common story among all was one – the craze to watch India’s one of the greatest players in the Whites. A fan also breached the security to touch the senior cricketer’s feet.
The return of the ‘King’ turns an inconsequential occasion into a special one
The crowd welcomed their ‘King’ with a huge roar when the Delhi players entered the field after skipper Ayush Badoni elected to field first on the wicket, which had plenty of grass for the pacers to find their foot.
“Everyone is excited and it’s 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 for 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 lunch break when he reportedly turned down his favourite food and ordered Chilli Paneer from the Kotla canteen. He was seen giving instructions to Badoni in between the game to make field adjustments.
At around 2 p.m., the crowds started leaving in anticipation that Kohli wouldn’t be batting on the opening day. The gut feeling turned true as Delhi finished the day at 41 for 1 after 10 overs after Railways bundled out for 241.
Delhi have a slim chance of qualifying for knockouts, making their final league fixture all but insignificant.
But the return of Delhi’s prodigal son turned an inconsequential occasion into a special one.
Virat Kohli’s return to domestic cricket in Delhi drew a 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
