Match mania

Cricket fans are ready for an action-packed weekend as India and Sri Lanka get ready for a face-off during the day/night Test match
Cricket enthusiasts queue up to purchase tickets for the upcoming  Test match at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday | Shriram BN
Cricket enthusiasts queue up to purchase tickets for the upcoming Test match at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday | Shriram BN

BENGALURU: There’s a palpable buzz in Bengaluru in the run-up to the day/night Test match between India and Sri Lanka. While cricket matches anyway draw large crowds, the enhanced excitement this time is owing to the fact that it’s the first live one to be held in two years.

What is really pumping adrenaline among cricket fans is witnessing Royal Challengers Bangalore player Virat Kohli in action after a long time. Many cricket fans flooded the ticket counters at Chinnaswamy Stadium recently to buy their tickets for the Test match. Aditya Patankar and his friends were among the lucky and early ones to get the tickets. A student of industrial design, Patankar actually left his PG in Yelahanka at 5.30 am and got his tickets at 12 noon. “The queue at the stadium to buy tickets was massive. My friends and I are from Mumbai, and for the first time we got to witness the craze the city has for Kohli. We are just hoping that some historic moment unfolds in this test series against Sri Lanka,” says the 20-year-old, who waited for five hours in the queue to get the ticket.

The last Test match that Prateek Thakker, a Bengaluru blogger, watched in Chinnaswamy Stadium was way back in 2010. Thakker described this as an iconic match that witnessed Cheteshwar Pujara’s Test debut and Sachin Tendulkar’s double century against Australia in namma Bengaluru. More than a decade later, Thakker is all pumped up to watch yet another iconic moment unfold in Bengaluru’s cricket scene on March 12 when India and Sri Lanka battle it out on the sprawling grounds of the stadium.

“It is after 10 years that I am gearing up to watch a Test match in Bengaluru. I am all excited to see Kohli’s 101st Test match happening here against Sri Lanka. It’s a day and night match and I have booked the tickets for three days. I hope to get an opportunity to grab the pink ball this time,” says Thakker.

For marketing professional Pratik Dogra, this Test is expected to create some good memories. “I really hope that Kohli gets his long-awaited century in this Test match. Although the opposition is slightly weaker, we can expect some drama. In addition, it is the first day/night Test match in Bengaluru and I am really looking forward to Jasprit Bumrah creating some magic under the lights,” says Dogra, who always recalls the World Cup quarter finals between India and Pakistan in 1996, when he visits Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Akansha Rohera, who is a contemporary art student in Bengaluru, is watching a cricket match in the stadium after nearly four years. “I want to experience that cricket vibe that we were used to. Moreover, I am looking forward to seeing Bumrah bowling and picking up some wickets. I am from Mumbai and I came to Bengaluru to study. The whole funda is to join my friends here who are also from Mumbai to experience the cricket match as a family,” says Rohera.

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