At the start of the World Cup, if one had offered the ICC an India-Australia quarter final and an India-Pakistan semi-final, the ICC would have suggested that it was too much to ask for. Two of cricket?s biggest clashes within a matter of days on Indian soil and at cricket?s biggest stage, was just something the organisers could not have dreamt of. However, it has indeed happened.
To the delight of the organisers, India has put it past Australia in a tight encounter and is now all set to face Pakistan in the mother of all sports contests. Thanks to these two games, the tournament is already a commercial success. The demand for tickets has skyrocketed, rates for advertisement spots being sold by the host broadcaster have been doubled, if not quadrupled, and the television ratings for the India-Pakistan match at Mohali are all set to shatter all existing records of viewership in India. This is just what a World Cup should be like, cricket?s biggest stage in cricket?s new home.
Moving on to the experience of viewing the World Cup, it has been a mixed experience. Media facilities in India need to improve if the country has to compete with the standards set by Australia and England. Despite the best intentions of the ICC, and they really need to be commended for the effort put in, the internet facilities on offer in several media boxes across the country have been below average. The sound system in the post-match press conferences, again, something absolutely integral to electronic media coverage of the World Cup, has also been a letdown.
Far more importantly, the placement of outside broadcast vans has been the most contentious issue, making World Cup coverage a real nightmare for the non-rights holding electronic media. At several venues, the walk to the OB van is more than 3kms and with the 40-degree plus heat, it has been an unbearable ordeal. Add to this, the mobocracy in India, and you realise why we need to seriously improve our spectator culture to match up to the viewing experience at Lords or Melbourne. To give an example, after an Indian victory it is only natural that the crowd will turn hysterical and will want to voice its sentiments on camera. However, what isn?t expected is that they will try and snatch the reporter?s wallet, his or her sunglasses or assault the correspondent, damage the camera in the process and create utter confusion in the coverage. So much so that, bemused foreigners have questioned the crowd?s determination to destroy the camera!
Having done a series of post-match shows from venues, I can safely assert that to be able to do these from among a mob has been the most difficult assignment of my life. Not only are they unruly and uncivil on occasions, but their scant respect for female colleagues is just a testimony to the sexist behaviour that continues to plague Indian society. When a female colleague from a television channel walked out in desperation, failing to cope with the demands of the mob, she was hurled the choicest of abuses for having dumped the show!
The point is simple?when one takes stock of the success of the World Cup it is not simply the commercial success that we should take into account. Nor is it only about the number of people who have made it to the ground to watch India play. Rather, India will only become the true nerve centre of world cricket when we can evolve a spectator culture which can stand the scrutiny of civil society and a crowd which has instilled in itself the codes of respect and integrity.
Unless such a thing happens and unless the basics are adhered to, India can never be a favoured cricketing destination for scribes from around the world. Yes, we will continue to have the passion, but we will also continue to be labeled the brash and nouveau riche cricket market, which still has some distance to go to match the acceptable standards of sports viewing across the globe.
The writer is a sports historian