Notes from BOXING DAY TEST, Australia v India, 2024
DAY-1:
1. We see people on the streets at 8:30 heading to the match that starts at 11. I am a little confused - we don't expect long queues to enter the stadium so why are people out so early.
2. There are free shuttle trams to the stadium. We see people meandering through the beautiful botanical gardens
3. There are banners - Boxing Day Test Summer Fest. Wow, they really take their cricket seriously - they have branded displays for just this test match!
4. The atmosphere outside is festive - drums, people on stilts, food, art and music stalls. We take a picture with the cricketers on stilts who also needle us about India losing.
5. No one has pushed me so far and I haven't yet stood in a queue!
6. We meander over to the Shane Warne statue. It looks really good, I miss him. It captures his spirit, not just his bowling action.
7. Hang on, where was the security check and the queue? Are we really inside a stadium in under 5 mins for a packed match
8. The MCG shop is buzzing, we get an India jersey for Milan but it's friction-free and I don't even know that I am about to be mind-blown even before the cricket starts...
9. We decide to use the washrooms before making our way to the seats. I enter the women's bathroom and I am overcome with emotion - the emotion is anger. There are almost 100 cubicles and they are clean. For everything that's wrong with india our reasoning is population + poverty. Cricket really doesn't have this excuse. It suddenly dawns on me that those 2 are excuses, not reasons. We are never going to get here.
10. We are in our seats, no one has hustled us or checked. And the view is spectacular. We are so close to the action. We settle in for some pre-action with the teams warming up.
DAY-3:
It's Day 3 of Boxing Day. India is trailing by 280 runs with 5 down. The last 30 mins of Day 2 went Australia's way. They have the upper hand and the Indian fans are here more with hope and emotion.
Milan and I have come here hoping we catch atleast a session of India batting and then pray for the rest.
The crowds are tense and intense. We don't get the tram because it's packed, brisk walk to the stadium and make it just as the first ball is being bowled.
It's Pant and Jadeja batting. On the first half hour, Pant gets out playing a cheeky shot. It's Nitish and Jadeja batting. We are hoping they will bat till lunch, and then ours hopes grow as NKR's assurance on the crease grows.
As an Australian fan you are seeing a 'boring' day of cricket. Not too many runs, not too many wickets. But as Indian fans we are glued to our seats with our hearts in our mouth. Movement bans are in place - don't get up to pee, don't change seats...
DAY-5:
We are here for Day 5. I didn't expect to be here. I had booked a walking tour but ofcourse the only walk we make today is back to the MCG. Game status: Australia 330 run lead and last pair batting.
Every cricket fan and their family is here today. Biggest turn out for our group and looks like the biggest turn out for Day5.
We drop our luggage at the station and head to the stadium. Surprisingly none of us need to be rushed, we are all up and about and ready well in time. Maybe just a sign of the excitement brewing beneath the surface. All possibilities are open for the game and we are looking at a full day of play.
Australia lose their last wicket in the 2nd over and everyone is charged up. India has to see our the first half of the day and then perhaps they will try to win the match. We lose Rohit and Kohli cheaply despite everyone's hopeful predictions of one or both of them coming good. At tea we are 3 down but it's clear that india isn't trying to win the match. It's beginning to get boring for Milan and at one point he says 'maybe if they all get out quickly it will be good. I just want to leave the stadium'.
There are multiple kids in the group today, the dullness of the game is interrupted by games of hand cricket, role playing and snacking. MCG didn't expect such a big turnout, we have together set the record for most live attendance at a test match in MCG. It is perhaps as much a sign of the growth of the Indian 'rich' class, as it is of the quality of cricket. Fan votes seem to align with the number of Indian supporters who have travelled for 12+ hours to be here.
Many plans have been cancelled, Snigdha and Murali have ditched the penguins, Ashish's family has ditched some kids' sightseeing plans.
Milan and I decide to walk to the top storey of the stand to get a change in view and some blood flowing after hours of sitting. We hear loud cheering as we make our way up, and Jadeja is out. We sit in the top tier for a while and as we are chasing each other down ramps, we hear loud noises again and another wicket has fallen - NKR this time.
By the time we are back in our seats, things seem pretty hopeless. Rain, clouds, poor light... We will take anything but a defeat. And then Australia takes a review. Jaiswal on strike, and they appeal for a catch. On field umpire doesn't give it and the evidence seems weak from the replays. Snicko doesn't seem to catch anything but it's given out.
Nitin has spent the last ten minutes getting Milan up to date on the game and Milan has been watching closely when the DRS happens and Jaiswal is given out. He gets the full import of this wicket and he is in rage and tears. For the next 15 mins he is out of control. We are all feeling the emotions and I am living them vicariously. We all want to cry and scream to express our hopelessness and sense of being cheated... But we intellectualize instead. We have to be 'grown up' about it. He doesn't. So he lets it roll - in tears and words and unintelligible screams.
Two more DRS from Australia later, the game is over. India has lost. Everyone's crying silently inside. Milan has calmed down by then but the sadness stays. We huddle together for a last group pic. An extremely heart broken Indian fan helps us take the pic. He was a stranger, but his emotions were ll too familiar.
We stumbled out of the stadium to hydrate our sorrows and ofcourse we never mention how sad we are. We only intellectualize. Milan has given tears to all our collective emotions, what more is left to do. We don't pause to soak it in, we argue over the squad for Sydney to distract ourselves. Milan, Nitin and I head to Sydney straight from there.
SHRUTI KAPOOR
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