BANGALORE: Except for the match against New South Wales, the galleries at the Chinnaswamy Stadium wore a deserted look when most of the other nine games of the Champions League T20 cricket tournament were gone through, the presence of local side Royal Challengers notwithstanding.In the first place, the publicity for the event got off on a rather confusing note. There were huge hoardings all over the city screaming or bearing down on motorists and pedestrians at vantage points who were forced to look in that direction whenever the lights brought traffic came to a standstill.According to the hoardings, the matches were between ‘Bengaluru’ and Australia, South Africa, England, Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand etc and not between RCB and club or county or provincial sides from these nations who had won or placed second in their domestic T20 competitions to earn the right to be here.The same was said about clashes between Mumbai and these teams.In hindsight, it probably caused some confusion in the minds of people as to how a city team could play against a national team as was being made out in the advertisement campaign.The purported attempt to lure people with improper representation in the advertisement campaign clearly backfired.For people have access to the right information from other reliable Media instruments.Secondly, the campaign never highlighted the stars who would be representing these teams in the competition.Only after NSW’s David Warner slammed his first century against Chennai Super Kings in Chennai, did followers of the game realise that it was the same Warner who had turned out for Delhi Daredevils in the domestic IPL T20 tournament.Thirdly, the pathetic performance of the Indian team on the tour of England gave the impressions that the India cricketers who would figure in the event were far below their known form.And that it was pointless to go and see them play.Consequently, except for some die-hard supporters of teams like RCB or CSK, the response was less than lukewarm.That you are the king in your own den was proved beyond doubt too when Mumbai Indians and RCB played the final at neutral Chennai.The Chidambaram Stadium possibly had less than 40 per cent occupancy.Mumbai also had not home support as they were playing their games in Bangalore, Hyderabad or Chennai.The nature of the wicket at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore aided the pinch-hitters and invariably, the matches were high-scoring affairs. As such, the likes of Chris Gayle and Warner managed to pull some people out of their homes.That playing only such pitches probably cost RCB the title is a different matter altogether. But these conditions which were attractive for batsmen were negated by the incessant rains.One game was abandoned, another was decided by the D/L method, many were interrupted too.Who would want to venture out in these conditions and suffer in a neither at home nor at office situation only watch the ground staff busy at work? Then there is the undeniable fact of people coming out to support the national team over all else.So with no national team involved, no mass club support in the true and permanent sense where fans identify with their clubs and travel with them too as has been the case in European soccer for more than a century now, the terraces needed very little cleaning.The tournament did not catch the imagination of the people in 2009 when it was first held here. It was no different in 2011 as well.By the time the circus comes back again, the organisers have the task of showcasing it better that what has been done now and two years ago.
Comments
0 comment