IPL cricket, saw game at Kolkata last night

[LongbridgeMGRover]

 
i've just got back from the cricket game on my day off from working in India, and i am so glad i went!!
i feared i would not be able to see a game this trip, which is something i simply had to do as part of my learning and my experiencing of contemporary Indian culture.
 
Eden Gardens holds 75,000 but every ticket had been sold out long ago [this was a bit like someone turning up in England and fancying seeing Man Utd play!].
nevertheless, a friend of a friend of a friend got me a £15 ticket for which i paid an extra £15, but thirty quid barely gets you in to see Birmingham City these days and this is once in a lifetime stuff................
 
 
As a Yorkshireman, there must be some cricket in my blood, my Uncle Arnold played for Yorkshire's second eleven once, and my dad won an ash tray with a cricketer on it for his exploits with the works team, amazing
now how smoking and sport mixed!!
my cricketing career peaked at Donny Grammar with a few appearances in the second team, where i was known as Heidi and there was more comic value in my efforts than any runs scored or wickets taken.
and if i can be really honest i always found cricket slow and boring compared to Football and Rugby League, but i rather admire what the Indians have done to this sport and was ready for the action in Match 58 of 2012s Indian Premier League.
 
and, just in case Kolkata Knight Riders were a man short, i had treated myself to a team shirt and was ready to step in if they needed me..........
 
the first thing i noticed was a build up of excitement before the game even; disco music, lots of colour. indeed lots and lots of colour; KKR play in rather lurid purple and gold, with a liberal splattering of sponsors logos, while Mumbai Indians play in Bright blue and gold.
also disturbing was the use of cheerleaders we never had this sort of thing in the rain back in Yorkshire, and we certainly didn't have Bollywood Starlets in the crowd at Headingley in Leeds, maybe Thora Hird or Cathy Staff graced the hallowed ground with their loveliness but that is as good as it got!! 
 
 i never saw another English face in the entire 75k crowd, but it was all so friendly with supporters of both teams mixing freely, unlike at our football games!!
 
anyway play progressed and there was much excitement as India's favourite player Sachin Tandulkar, who plays for Mumbai, was quickly bowled out. Mumbai then went on to score 182, and every time a 4 or 6 was scored, those cheerleaders were in action, they must have been worn out, poor things, having to dance around 20 times in the 100 degree heat, [the Vikettes at Donny Rovers games barely break into a sweat by comparison].
 
that total soon appeared unassailable, despite Kolkatas best efforts and the constant noise, chanting of 'KKR, KKR, KKR' from the home crowd. Three and a half hours later the game was over and it was now very dark and the floodlights were on.   for me it was an unforgettable experience, fantastic, and yet another reason to keep returning to India !!!!!!!!!!!
 
so, we've had disco music, excitement, colour, cheerleaders, noise and fantastic entertainment.
 
'it just isnt cricket' would be the predictable reaction in Yorkshire, and poor Uncle Arnold would be turning in his grave..........if he hadn't been cremated.
 

[RedJ]

that's a really interesting account, I've always wondered what made the IPL so attractive for the fans and from this I can really see it - must go on the to do list.