Packed stands and a charged-up atmosphere were traits that were taken for granted at the Eden Gardens. Sadly those days of a full-house have become mere historical footnotes at this hallowed venue.
The second Test between India and the West Indies, was played in front of largely empty stands. The die-hards did attend but their numbers have dwindled at an alarming rate. The average daily attendance was conservatively bandied around between 6,000 to 10,000 but these are numbers far below the refurbished capacity of 67,000 seats.
Cricket Association of Bengal officials however opted for an optimistic veneer. “Like Delhi and Mumbai, Kolkata too has become a fast-moving city and people are busy with their lives. This Test was held from Monday onwards and the crowd was bound to be less but even then the numbers are good and on some days we got close to 20,000 here. The West Indies team too doesn't have any big players except for Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Within the circumstances, the turn-out was good,” said Biswarup Dey, joint secretary, CAB.
Laxman's lament
The lack of buzz has also caught the players' eye and V.V.S. Laxman said: “We always felt that Kolkata was one place where you had a lot of support for Tests. It's quite strange and I am not sure what is the exact reason behind this.”
Rahul Dravid, Laxman's partner in many key alliances, echoed similar sentiments. “In the nineties, there were 1,00,000 watching a game of cricket. There was a magic about this ground when 80,000 to 1,00,000 people were cheering. It is a little sad but that's the way it is. It is not only about Kolkata. All over the world, it's becoming tougher for people to come to the ground. People follow cricket a lot on television,” Dravid said.
The public may be giving a thumbs-down but the Eden Gardens still tugs at a cricketer's heart-strings. Last month, Kevin Pietersen braved an injury and played here because he did not want to miss out on the ‘Eden-experience.'
The current indifference from the fans is a terrible contrast to that day in 1977 when they thronged the stands even on the fifth day while India stared at an inevitable defeat against England. The then England captain Tony Greig recently tweeted, “Eden Gardens looks and sounds like a morgue.” Truth could not have been more terrible.
