Racial slurs, violence at sporting events, opposing groups of fans having to be segregated by tall, steel fencing; we’ve heard it before. It’s dramatic and so media love it.
However, despite what the mainstream media would have you believe, this isn’t all that’s occurring in the stands at sporting events. There may even be hope for humanity after all.
On Sunday, I attended the One Day International between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval. As I entered the ground and made my way towards my seat directly in front of that glorious old scoreboard I noticed the staggering number of Indian fans around the ground.
It wasn’t that it came as a surprise. I do not reside under a rock and so was obviously aware of the large number of Indians living in Australia. It was just something else all together to witness with my own eyes. The dancing, chanting, beating of drums, singing, flags, it was all happening right the way around the ground.
Like most of Adelaide Oval seating, the section of seats I was sitting in consisted of Australians and Indians scattered evenly amongst each other right throughout.
Cricket crowds often get a bad rap, especially in various forms of media. However right from the coin toss at 1:50pm there was a great mood around the ground and what a day it proved to be.
Admittedly, yes, there were one or two few drunk folks stumbling about and of course you get the odd goose here and there who get themselves thrown out. In the end though, even if they do disturb others it usually isn’t for long, as the police get hold of them, while they’ve ruined the whole day for themselves by getting evicted from the ground.
Speaking of being disturbed, at one stage my eyes were cruelly exposed to a monstrous, unforgivingly hairy, giant of a man parading around the hill in a skimpy, white, open back dress. At least the only thing he was ruining was the appetites of startled onlookers.
Scruffy drunk folks and 6 foot 5, middle aged ballerina wannabes aside, the crowd was great. They were very well behaved and enjoying the great cricket that was on display. Not only that, but in my section specifically, everyone was getting on like a house on fire. I’m sure it was similar, if not exactly the same, around most of the ground.
Countless hilarious instances come to mind involving opposing fans just having a great time with each other.
“I smell cucumber!”, yelled an Australian fan completely out of the blue as he grinned and scanned the area around him. It seemed unlikely that he’d smelt correctly but seconds later the Indian man in front of him was delightedly handing out slices of cucumber slices out of a lunchbox to him, his friends, and anyone else within arms reach who was keen for a Vitamin C boost.
In one break in the play, The Macarena burst onto the speakers, prompting one enthusiastic Aussie to leap to his feat and start doing the accompanying dance.
Despite those around him thoroughly enjoying the impromptu performance, he initially struggling to encourage anyone else to join in.
Just as his effort was looking to be largely in vein, an Indian man leaped out his seat at the far end of the row, much to the delight the Aussie man as well as the suddenly large number of people watching. The two men finished their little routine to laughter and applause as play resumed.
At one stage an enthusiastic Indian singing and chanting was met with thunderous chants of “Aussie, Aussie Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi”, not surprisingly.
The final ‘Oi’s concluded when one Indian man right by the boundary stood up, span around to face the Aussie at the back, said with in a distant voice and smirk across his face as if to correct them, “India” and promptly sat back down as he was met with joyous laughter all round.
As I filed out of my row, receiving thumbs up from the group of Indian fans who were sitting behind me all day, I couldn’t help but think about not only the game, its tight finish and how much fun it was laughing and joking around with the opposition fans.
However I also couldn’t stop thinking how the presence of the Indian supporters complete transformed and enhanced the overall atmosphere at Adelaide Oval.
Australian fans (generally) tend to sit in their seats, clap politely for good play and provide a standing ovation upon centuries. There’s nothing wrong with that at all, that’s a pretty standard way of doing things here.
I’m not suggesting for a moment that Australians are poor fans or that Indian fans are in any way better.
People from each country simply take a different approach and it was great experiencing the Indian approach.
The Indian fans (once again this is generally speaking) take supporting a team to a whole new level. Every Indian boundary and wicket is celebrated like it’s a World Cup win. Hell, even good fielding receives a similar ovation but I mean this as a testament to how great the Indian fans are, not as a swift kick to the ol’ testicular region.
Their love of the game, passion and energy is incredible and infectious. Many of them are out of their seats and on their seemingly all game, singing, dancing, cheering, chanting and beating drums. For lack of a better phrase, you just gotta love it.
Like most things in life though, not everything is peachy. There’s a negative side to the Adelaide Oval crowd.
To use a recent example, Virat Kholi claimed to have been insulted by fans and had some words for the Adelaide spectators, not unlike they supposedly did for him.
“It is really, really frustrating at times because they say stuff which shouldn’t be said on a cricket field.”
“You go out there to play, not to get abused like that.”
“They’ve (the fans) come to enjoy the game of cricket. They should do that and not get drunk…”.
Kholi’s assessment of the Adelaide crowd is partially accurate. I don’t doubt that insults were hurled Kholi’s way and it wouldn’t surprise if anyone if it came from some of the more alcohol fuelled members of the crowd.
However, drunk and disorderly behaviour is only an accurate description of certain members of the crowd. Most are fine and simply are there enjoy the cricket. Regardless of whether Kholi was generalising, the entire Adelaide crowd should not be labelled as drunks as this simply isn’t true.
It’s no secret plenty of Aussies go to the cricket primarily to drink, and those that do are usually looking to get drunk. It seems to me that some of them view the cricket as merely incidental. They could be playing tiddlywinks out there for all some of these guys care, as long as they have an excuse to get plastered.
For the Indian spectators, this couldn’t be further from the case. It’s all about the cricket.
Cultural differences can likely go a long way to explaining the differences in drinking mentalities and habits, but why would the Indian fans want to be drunk anyway? Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag just stepped out into the middle and these absolute fanatics they don’t want to miss a second of it.
Whenever its game day, watching and supporting their team is all they are concerned with.
Last night’s game was a spectacular one, in which India narrowly snatched the win by scoring the required 13 runs in the final over.
However, there are countless of articles which elaborate on the game details. I’m here to tell you about other fantastic happenings, things you would not have seen or heard on the radio or TV coverage.
The crowd experience and interaction of fans from each side last night was truly special. Those (likely and hopefully in the minority) unhappy with an ‘Indian Invasion’ and isolated themselves as a result, are missing out on one of the true beauties of sport.
It brings people together. Not only that, but it does it in a way so few things can. Cliche? Yes. True? Yes.
Race. Gender. Age. Religion. None of it mattered last night. Nor did the problems or hardships of anyone’s personal lives.
It was all forgotten as people from different countries and beliefs got together and enjoyed what was a pure celebration of cricket.
Much like the game which started all this, it really was a thing of beauty.
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