About 30,000-odd people sat in silence for over an hour and a half as Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson of New Zealand built a 181-run third-wicket stand against India in the World Cup semifinal on Wednesday. Among the audience were a sprinkling of Hindi movie stars, David Beckham and Rajinikanth.
The atmosphere at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai before that had been of rumbunctious revelry as India had piled on 397-4 in their 50 overs. Residents in buildings hundreds of metres away from the stadium reported getting cues of roars, that prompted them to check on television for the latest big hit. Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer struck centuries after Rohit Sharma cracked a belligerent opening stand with Shubman Gill that gave the audience exactly what they had come for.
But Mitchell and Williamson, coming together after Mohammad Shami had New Zealand down to 39-2, stitched along a steady partnership. The crowd settled down, not in awe of the fightback, but with growing anxiety. Mitchell’s 134 included seven clean sixes and nine boundaries, but hardly any of those impressive hits elicited a murmur from the crowd.
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It was only after Shami returned to bowling, got rid of Williamson and Tom Latham in the same over, that the crowd found its voice again. But somewhere in India’s win and New Zealand’s loss, was a sign of how the Indian cricketing audience had lost its ability to appreciate sport, its ups and downs and to acknowledge the skills of the opponent.
Every time Mitchell reached a landmark, a fifty and then the century, and Williamson got to his 50, TV cameras would pan to a few in the audience in NZ jerseys, a small subset that had made it into a predominantly Indian show. While this was natural—the match was being played in India—there was no section in the stands that cameras could pan to which would show Indian supporters applauding a valiant resistance.
Mitchell finally got his well-deserved applause when he was dismissed, from a relieved audience that was assured of an Indian win, as opposed to an exciting, close contest.
For long, Mumbai, along with Chennai, were considered to be venues that respected sportspeople and knew how to honour a good effort, irrespective of what the cricketer’s nationality was. But if this World Cup has shown anything, across venues, it is that supporters are at the venue only for an Indian win. All of India’s 10 victories so far have come comfortably; the 70-run margin in the semifinal and a four-wicket one over NZ earlier were their tightest wins.
The partisan support has not gone unnoticed—it possibly cannot. Commentator Harsha Bhogle mentioned more than once the silence in the stadium that accompanied Mitchell and Williamson’s partnership. Pakistan’s team director, Mickey Arthur said after India beat Pakistan in the early part of the tournament that, “It didn’t seem like an ICC event tonight, let’s be brutally honest. It seemed like a bilateral series, a BCCI event.”
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There were reports of religious chants during that match in Ahmedabad. Pakistan captain Babar Azam was booed before he spoke after the toss (No Pakistani fans were given visas to travel). Some fans in Pune are said to have attacked a Bangladeshi supporter and his stuffed toy when India played there. Cheering has been egalitarian only in matches not involving India, though The Indian Express reported that when Pakistan played Afghanistan in Chennai, the crowd’s allegiance was to both teams.
Two notable features of this World Cup have been India’s dominance in all their matches—making them the overwhelming favourites for Sunday’s final—and the absence of close matches. Glenn Maxwell provided that edge-of-the-seat thriller when Australia beat Afghanistan and South Africa made things difficult for Australia in the other semi-final. But many of the other matches have been relatively one-sided.
The excitement in this World Cup has therefore come from Indian players, their batters, all of them in form, and their bowlers, menacing. It’s come from Virat Kohli’s record-equalling 49th one-day-international (ODI) century and then a record-setting 50th. It’s come from Mohammed Shami’s scarcely believable figures, match after match, that read like this: 5-54, 4-22, 5-18, 2-18, 0-41, 7-57.
But the team’s fans have disappointed. Indians prided themselves on being good hosts, which is not being seen in stadiums. The sport’s most (financially) powerful team in the world has supporters that have lacked a generosity in spirit. The need for a win, a title has far superseded the euphoria of watching a close battle.
When Australia takes on India in the final, little would change. The stadium in Ahmedabad can seat a hundred thousand people, all gunning for an authoritarian Indian win, which is now expected. A slight change in the narrative would send them into a collective sulk. An Australian charge, whether with the bat or on the field, might make the visitors feel like they are playing in a post-pandemic empty stadium. The silence of a lakh would fill the arena with a lack of grace, their inability to understand that while the desired result might be the destination, the joy of sport lies in the twists and turns during the journey towards it.
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