Notes From Chinnaswamy

My observations from the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore: (I watched third day's play of first test match between India vs Australia LIVE at the stadium)

Logistics...

0. Getting on the spot tickets for one day of a test match in Bangalore even on a weekend was not at all difficult. You only need to reach stadium two and a half hours earlier and stand in a queue. Everything else flows smoothly.

1. I loved the first sight of the ground. Such a beauty! But my idea of cricket grounds was hit big time. C'mon! Even I can hit a four (or a six for that matter) on Chinnaswamy. Ground did not at all seem too big.

2. There was a decent arrangement of chairs in the stand. Refreshments were available just outside the stand on a little highr than normal price. Whole stadium is covered for spectators so one need not carry an umbrella even if ones' Yahoo! Weather widget predicts thunderstorms.

Now coming to pre-match scenario..

3 . One hour before the start of play, Gary Kirsten arrives into the stadium with MOST of the team members. They divided themselves in two groups and played a rugby-like game (part where players fall over each other- was missing) . Senior players other than Sachin were least bothered to get the ball and score a goal for their team. Dhoni and Bhajji were the most active players. Others were just making up the numbers.

4. Next, all of them formed a circle. Gary took the center and started exercising. Players tried to follow him. But sad part is that they were never in sync even while doing the exercises.

5. A peek into pre-match batting practice time: Sachin (1-2 minutes), Dravid (2-4 minutes), Saurav (5 minutes), Laxman (3-4 minutes), Sehwag (3-4 minutes), Gambhir (5-7 minutes)........HARBHAJAN (15-20 minutes). NOT surprisingly Harbhajan ended up as the highest scorer of the day (with a half century). After all, practice makes a man perfect :D.

Cricket :) ....the game begins...

6. If you are not sitting in the stands right in front of the pitch, you won't be able to guess the line of the delievery :( , which happened with us. You also struggle to notice if somebody gets out.

7. And the worst part is that, they don't show replay for dismissals even on that large electronic screen. They do show replays for a few select delieveries (which don't raise a umpiring error concern) .

8. Harbhajan was definitely the best batsmen on that day. Everybody else struggled more than him. Dravid edged more than ten delieveries and Ganguly was very uncomfotable at crease. Sachin looked good but did not last long.

9. It also drizzled for some time and play was held up. Got bored during the break. But Harbhajan made sure we got the worth of our money. He played some exquisite strokes all around the ground.

summing it up...

10. It was a great experience for a cricket addict such as me. I loved every part of it.