As Sourav Ganguly rung the customary bell, Eden Gardens woke up, breaking its two-year long sleep with a deafening roar… The roar which is the signature of a packed Eden, the roar which eggs on the home team to run a yard more, the roar which turns into a nightmare for the visiting teams.

The Eden looked a blooming garden once again as it staged its first international game after two years on Sunday. And as the crowds returned, so did the familiar Mexican wave.

There has hardly ever been any complaint regarding the turnout at the Eden even during inconsequential matches. Though Sunday’s game was of no consequence, the attendance at the stands appeared to have crossed the permitted 47,000-mark (the state government’s directive allowed 70 per cent of the stadium capacity).

It might not be a welcome sight for everyone in these pandemic times, but then the Eden was too busy celebrating life and sport on Sunday to pay heed to such concerns.

It was as if Sunday’s events at the iconic venue offered the crowd a chance to break free of the shackles of Covid-19 and welcome normality back. Not just the area surrounding the stadium and the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) premises, but almost the entire Maidan was buzzing with excitement, noise and thrill more than even an hour before the game got underway.

The demand for tickets was on the surge right through the week with never-ending requests for “an extra or two” even on match-day morning. The CAB officials tried their best to keep all such requests.

Black marketing of tickets, another common feature before every game at the Eden featuring India, happened on this occasion as well. Touts were seen to be roaming around just outside the venue, especially close to the gates near Akashvani Bhavan, ever since the association started distributing the match tickets from November 16.

Among the well-known faces who turned up at the game were the city’s outgoing mayor Firhad Hakim and the state fire and emergency services minister Sujit Bose. Giving them company in the President’s Box was Sourav, the current BCCI president and a former India captain.

All in a bubble

While Covid protocols went for a toss in the stands as the crowd immersed itself in the joys of the game, that was not the case in the areas which involved movement of the team members from both the camps.

The organisers ensured that a strict bubble was maintained inside the ground, between the dugouts and in and around the dressing rooms as well. In an effort to make the arrangements watertight, even police personnel were not deployed around the dressing room zone. That definitely was a first at a venue where fan frenzy often becomes uncontrollable. The only ones allowed in bubble-restricted areas were team security members and hotel staff, who were obviously a part of the bio-bubble put in place for the game.

Siraj gets ready

Mohammed Siraj, who is nursing a finger injury on his left hand, trained under the supervision of bowling coach Paras Mhambrey before the match started. The team hopes to get him ready before the two-Test series begins in Kanpur from Thursday.