The ‘Pongal Tests’ at Chepauk used to be a significant event in India’s cricket calendar. This, though, is a lost tradition these days; the last time the MAC stadium saw a Pongal Test was in 1988 when the West Indies toured India.
Tests during Pongal could be a marketing men’s delight, what with three (or more depending on how close it is to the weekend) days of holidays. Not that holidays are needed to fill up the stands for a Test match in Chennai.
The weather here around that time is pleasant too, with the post-monsoon sunshine, and a nip in the air as Chennai emerges from its winter.
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The venue rotation policy of the BCCI, the Future Tours Programme and a packed international calendar have made it hard for a Test match to be scheduled at Chennai during Pongal, says R.I. Palani, honorary joint secretary of the TNCA.
The FTP that is in place now sees Test series in India pencilled in around October-December, he said. “But it is unlikely to extend till January.”
The rotation policy sure has its merits. But it cannot be denied that patronage for this format at some venues has not been great.
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In comparison, the stands at the MAC are almost always full during Tests. Fans are often spotted standing in the pouring rain, raincoats on, to purchase tickets for a match, which, in all likelihood, would be washed out.
Even at the recently concluded Ranji Trophy match against Uttar Pradesh, there were those regulars who hardly ever miss an opportunity to watch cricket live. They are a vociferous lot; they cheer lustily and do not hold back when airing their views.
A good shot, a wicket and even a good stop are all greeted with enthusiastic applause, and this is not just for the home side.
These regulars and the old-timers vividly recall all of those stand-out moments: like G.R. Viswanath’s knock against a formidable West Indies in the 1974-75 season, the tied Test against Australia in 1986, Sachin Tendulkar’s brilliance in a lost cause against Pakistan in 1999. And the standing ovation the Pakistan team was given after beating India in the same match.
That all centres are within their rights to milk the cricket cow cannot be denied. But cannot the rotation policy consider patronage and attendance too?
The trends suggest that ODIs would be better received at the smaller centres, not to mention the T20Is and IPL games.
Let Test match cricket be confined to traditional centres that have elicited warm reception to the form in the past.
A game is made greater by the participation of the crowd. And nowhere else will Test cricket see crowds such as those in Chennai.
It is continuity that creates tradition. Like with the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne, the Pongal Test does have a potential to emerge as a regular fixture on the calendar.