Bas de Leede’s face glowed like a child who has just received his birthday gift — a long-awaited, much-cherished one — when he said that cricket is being broadcast live in the Netherlands for the first time in four years. That’s “massive” for the game in Dutch-land, he says.
That was on Thursday evening. A couple of hours before that, as Pakistan’s team bus, navigated by hooter-blaring police vehicles, entered the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here, a Hyderabadi in his mid-twenties looked bewildered as he stood outside the main gate of the venue. “Who are they,” he asked the on-duty security man, who scoffed at him for his ignorance.
The two incidents, apparently unconnected, sum up the World Cup, more precisely the current chaos in cricket, perfectly. The game, which has thrived despite its complexities of rules for years, weirdly gives a shrunken and grandiloquent feeling at the same time at present.
On one hand, a Bas de Leede is discovering bliss in the unlikeliest of facts, on the other, the common man of a puffed-up so-called cricket-crazy nation is completely unaware that a tournament of the stature of the World Cup is being held in his city. On one hand, the BCCI is counting thousands of crores in media rights, on the other their organisational expertise is being questioned given the chaotic build-up.
The opening game of the 2023 edition, between England and New Zealand, began at the gigantic Motera stadium in Ahmedabad with only a few thousand people in attendance. The “tickets sold out” talks looked ridiculously off the mark.
One also wonders why the host nation wasn’t playing the opening game of the tournament. That has been the usual practice since 1999 and rightly so. Isn’t that an easy route to generate public interest?
Has the BCCI and the ICC then done enough to promote the mega event it is hosting?
In Hyderabad, in the almost an hour-long journey from the airport in the outskirts to the stadium in Uppal, one hardly found a roadside banner or a cutout or anything that
remotely links up with the World Cup. If the T20-loving public is being held responsible for the dying interest in the 50-over game, the authorities, it seems, are playing the Pied Piper.
No one must have missed the in-your-face marketing ploys every time the IPL emerges. How many advertisements for the ongoing World Cup have you seen? Many can jog back to the catchy De Ghuma Ke theme song from the 2011 World Cup, but how many of us know what it is this time?
One is not sure if Hyderabad will be as sleepy as Ahmedabad in embracing the one-day showpiece when Pakistan take on the Dutch in their tournament opener on Friday, but after the warm reception that the Pakistan team famously enjoyed upon their arrival in this city, there is no harm in being optimistic.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam surely falls in that group.
“We weren’t expecting such a reception, to be honest. Many people showed up at the airport when we arrived here. They cheered for us and showed us support. A large crowd turned up in the last match. They seemed to really enjoy the game. So it feels
nice. I feel if we would have had Pakistani fans here, it would feel even better,” Babar said on Thursday.
Pakistan, indeed, seemed a happy outfit as they practised on Thursday afternoon. An elaborate fielding session, followed by watchful net practice.
The Netherlands camp too sweated it out, but in the evening.
The pitch, from far, looked like concrete carpet and one wouldn’t be surprised if
Friday’s game belongs to the batters.
Having said that, Pakistan will have to be alert against this ambitious Dutch side who dream to make the semis. The Dutch heroically chased a 375-run target against
the West Indies a few months ago in Harare and tied the game before winning the Super Over.
While spectator interest remains a debatable topic, security at the stadium was foolproof for Pakistan. Even the scribes were not allowed to watch much of Babar and Co.’s net session on Thursday.
Nothing to lose, Dutch aim high
The Netherlands last played in an ODI World Cup in 2011. So, making a return after 12 years, they have set themselves a high target of reaching the semi-finals at least.
But even if they don’t, they would not be crestfallen.
“For us, obviously it’s special being back for the first time since 2011, but we’ve set our goal high, which is making the semi-final. But I don’t think if we don’t make it, we’re a failure or anything like that,” Bas de Leede said on Thursday.
“If we don’t make it, but we have played our best cricket, we can still be proud of ourselves. But by setting the goal to make the semi-final, we can probably do more than what people expect from us.
“So I think it’s a mixture of having nothing to lose, but also trying to perform at our best again after 12 years... We’re here and that is already big,” said the 23-year-old all-rounder, whose father Tim represented the Dutch in three World Cups.
OUR CORRESPONDENT
