Watching a Test match in India is quite an unpleasant experience. One of the worst of them all will be watching it at the MCA stadium in Pune and there are two profound reasons for it. Firstly, the location of the stadium, which is so far away from the main city that even if the person is drenched with rain, the stadium had no such protection.
A lack of public transport coming towards the ground means unless the fans need to have a personal vehicle to reach the venue And, of course, the parking condition has a plethora of loophole into it. Secondly, it does not provide any cover in the stand, exposing people to extreme heat and humidity, even rain if it comes.
On a day where Virat Kohli created plenty of records, sadly hardly was watching it live from the ground. And, you really can’t blame the people for it. For, who would travel all the way to the outskirts of the city and watch 5-6 hours of cricket in stands which are bereft of any shelter from the sweltering heat and humidity? The 4000 people that did turn up would testify that.
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Talking about the same to the Indian Express, a fan said, “At least give me a roof, a place where there is shade, then I will bring my kid again.” A disappointed Bhushan Sahu lashed out at the authorities asking them to at least provide them with a roof to shield him as his family said that he paid a thousand bucks for a north-stand ticket but was exasperated to see there were no covered stands.
Another fan, Namdev Patil, who tried to bring one inside the stadium lashed out at the authorities as he said, “A simple umbrella would do the trick or at least make the experience more bearable, but it’s not allowed inside the stadium. There is no roof, I don’t want myself to be roasted in this heat. At least an umbrella should be allowed, na? Going back also now is not easy.”
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At a time where cricket boards around the world are trying to make the viewing experience in the longest format better for the crowd, this wasn’t really a good advertisement. In fact, this was the perfect case study of how to move the fans away from the game.
