Friday evening. About 26 hours away from the start of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s final Indian Premier League 2019 game, against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Several vehicles enter and exit the gates of M Chinnaswamy Stadium. A stern security guard stops and demands a press accreditation card as I try to enter gate number 10. My colleague, a sports journalist, tries to explain that I will be watching just the practise session from the stands and, hence, don’t require an accreditation card. The guard doesn’t budge. My entry is made possible only after a phone call to an official.
“It is easier to enter on days when there aren’t any matches,” my colleague informs me.
At the P1 stand, several fans await RCB players to enter the ground. The groundsmen have pitched the nets for practice. Some of them sweep the pitch with coconut brooms. Some have marked the lines and adjusted the sightscreen.
“On match days and a day before that, it is a little hectic,” the ground’s curator Prashanth Rao tells me. “The shift begins at 7 am and ends between 7 pm and 8 pm on days before the match. On match days, it can get really late.”
He is right. RCB’s last match (on April 30), ended past midnight due to rain. By the time, Prashanth and his team — a co-curator, two assistant curators, three mechanics, an equipment in-charge and 25 groundsmen wrapped up work, it was 1.45 am.
The camerapersons, meanwhile, are setting up their devices. Among other things, they check the audio-video sync, microphones and cameras — about 30 of them, including the remarkable spider cam, connected to the ground’s four floodlights. Naveen Lakhera, who works for the tournament’s official broadcaster, Star Sports, says, “Every camera has a specific task. We make sure everything is in place today. Nothing is left for tomorrow.”
- M Chinnaswamy Stadium is known for its batting-friendly tracks, especially in limited-overs cricket. Here is a list of three memorable knocks played over the years at the venue.
- Chris Gayle’s 66-ball 175 in IPL: Most people wouldn’t have dared to imagine this score in a T20 game until Gayle demolished Pune Warriors, scoring 175 with 17 sixes and 13 fours.
- Rohit Sharma’s first ODI double hundred: Rohit scaled Mt 200 for the first time against the Aussies, joining his compatriots, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. He’d go on to reach the landmark two more times.
- Brendon McCullum’s epic 158: McCullum, then playing for Kolkata Knight Riders, pulverised the home team, RCB, with a knock, 158 off 73 with 13 sixes and 10 fours, that kickstarted the IPL in 2008.
Four crews, of about 80 each, work across different venues of IPL. Naveen and his team require about a day to set up the equipment. The security personnel check amidst the camera wires for explosives with Chitti, the sniffer dog (a German Shepherd), who after a thorough check around the boundary, rests, with his tongue hanging out.
The scattered gathering is excited as players enter the ground from the pavilion. RCB coach Gary Kirsten, bowling coach Ashish Nehra and a few players arrive. But the one most people have been waiting for — Virat Kohli, doesn’t walk in.
“Dada, when will Kohli come?” a little girl longingly asks her dad.
“He will, he will… in some time… let us see,” replies the father.
Not convinced by this reply, the girl tells him: “If he doesn’t come, let us go to him.”
RCB bowler Yuzvendra Chahal receives a strong cheer as he strides into the ground.
“Hey Chahal, Chahal…” a few boys yell, pleading with the cricketer for an autograph or a selfie. Chahal gestures to indicate he will come after practice. He first bats in the nets. Then, sheds his helmet, bat and pads to bowl. Then, he proceeds for a fielding drill with Kirsten.
Kirsten, with the lightweight catching practice bat, hits the ball high for Chahal to catch near the boundary. The latter catches most of the hits. On one occasion, Kirsten hits the ball beyond the boundary and throws both his arms up in mock celebration.
As I am about to exit the stadium, RCB’s team bus arrives with a few more players. Among them is the most sought after name in world cricket. A few people rush for selfies. But he hurries into the pavilion. The selfie seekers’ quest has failed. But a little girl at stand P1 will be delighted when he steps on to the field for practice. King Kohli has arrived.
Game-time
Saturday evening. There are people on seats, people on steps, people waving red-and-black RCB flags, people making an enormous murmur.
“Hey, hey, hey, Bengaluru, make some noise,” yells the MC on the mic as the ‘Decibel Meter’, an indicator of the crowd’s noise, on the jumbotron surges from 92 to 101 to 136.
A few minutes later, the crowd in my stand, M4, alone made as much noise when Kohli ran towards them while warming up.
A minor miracle ensues at the toss: Kohli wins. After six straight wrong calls. He can’t stop grinning. “This (match) is especially for our fans,” he says after electing to field. “Last game it was pouring and these guys were still here.”
With eight losses in 14 games, RCB is out of reckoning for the playoffs. But RCB’s players, staff and fans want to end their campaign on a high. And, Shimron Hetmeyer’s 47-ball 75 helps RCB chase down Sunrisers’ 175.
Kohli says after the game, “It has not been a season of a lot of happiness, but we can really be proud of the way we have come back.”