“That is Chennai for you,” smiles K Sriram, joint secretary of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA). The answer here was to a question about how the fans have filled the stands for all non-India games so far in the ongoing Men’s T20 World Cup.
From the first game at the venue on February 8 — New Zealand vs Afghanistan — till February 19, Chennai has hosted six games, and irrespective of who played, fans have shown up in thousands to cheer for the players and witness good cricket. So much so that the MA Chidambaram Stadium has seen an average of nearly 20,000 fans turn up for every game. The highest attendance was recorded at the New Zealand-Afghanistan tie, when 24,991 people filled the stands.
While many fans narrow it down to the love of cricket and the accessibility of tickets, Sriram believes that Chennai always makes any team feel at home at this venue. “You can always expect that from the Chennai crowd,” he says. “We have been good hosts. We don’t make the people who come here feel like they are playing away from home. We treat them like they are playing at home,” he adds.
It is not an exaggeration. In the past, Pakistan (1999) and Afghanistan (2023) teams have given a lap of honour for the crowd’s sportsmanship and appreciation of good cricket. This World Cup has been no different, as New Zealand, Afghanistan, the Netherlands, and even the USA team have got massive cheers from the crowd.
And now, the fans are expected to paint the stands blue as India are gearing up to face Zimbabwe in a must-win Super 8s match tomorrow. “Definitely, it is going to be a full house. Firstly, India are playing, and secondly, it’s been a week since our last match. Any match we host at Chepauk, it is always expected. Chennai has always been a lucky ground for India,” says Sriram.
While the TNCA is currently focusing on the successful completion of the World Cup, in the background, they are also preparing for the next season for Tamil Nadu Cricket. Sriram says that they are trying to revamp the TNCA league and Division cricket. He admits that work needs to be done for the Tamil Nadu men’s team after the forgettable season they had and says that they are trying to take one step at a time. “They are playing proper cricket, but we want them to be on par with the board. We are trying to make it four days. We want to make Buchi Babu [tournament] more competitive. The league system, we want to start from scratch, even in the lower division, because this is a graduation school for the higher division. We want to make that more competitive,” explains Sriram.
For now, however, the focus remains on the World Cup. The defending champions are in a tricky spot. They have remained unbeaten through the league stages, but a 76-run loss against South Africa in Ahmedabad has caused a massive dent in their campaign. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir are feeling the heat — not just in a literal sense in Chennai — but also in the campaign. If West Indies beat South Africa in the 3 pm game on Thursday in Ahmedabad, things may get worse, but the defending champions can only focus on what is in front of them — which is to turn up in Chennai and beat Zimbabwe by a huge margin in front of a passionate Chepauk crowd before the tourney moves to Kolkata.