Monday, November 14, 2022

Disappointment, delight and regret: MCG sees mixed emotions among fans as England take T20 world crown

Melbourne: All roads led to the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. With so much talk about rain, fans were extra cautious and both the jackets and umbrellas were packed before starting their journey to the iconic venue. Excitement was in the air, but so was disappointment. The massive Indian fan base in the city was disappointed to not see their side in the final, that too against Pakistan. But Pakistan fans weren’t complaining as the side, riding on luck and performance, made it to the venue where they lost to India in a nail-biting contest earlier in the group stages of the tournament.

The city was literally painted green as plenty of fans had the Pakistan flags out and the jerseys on ahead of the title clash vs England. There weren’t many English supporters around and it would be safe to say that even Indians outnumbered the English in the stands. Would have been tough to see their arch-rivals in the finals, that too from the stands?

“Well yes and no both. India aati to maza hi aajata. Yaha mahaul dikhata fir mai aapko. Itna banda aata ki chakka jam lag jaata sheher mai (It would have been fun had India reached final. I would have shown you the atmosphere here then. There would have been so many people… traffic would have come to a standstill in the city),” said Harman Singh, a passionate Indian fan who also attended the India vs Pakistan fixture at the MCG.

Melbourne was clearly missing Team India in the final but Pakistan fans did put up a show in and around the MCG. The official attendance was over 80,000 and it seemed like a home fixture for the Babar Azam-led unit.

The DJ played the latest Punjabi tunes – Nach Punjaban, Amplifier from Imran Khan – and the energy was absolutely electric in the stands. The oohs and aahs were very vocal as the two sides engaged in an exciting contest between bat and ball. It wasn’t the ideal crowd pleasing high-scoring thriller but Pakistan managed to make a contest while defending the modest total and were certainly in it till Shaheen Afridi hurt himself while taking a catch in the deep.

The left-arm quick was off the field but returned soon as the game entered the business stage. MCG reserved the loudest cheers of the night for two occasions – when Haris Rauf returned to bowl in the death overs and when Shaheen walked out to the field and started stretching for his last two overs while fielding in the third-man region. Haris in particular was the crowd favourite on Sunday. The seamer plays a lot of cricket here in Melbourne during the Big Bash League and certainly knows a thing or two about how to go about at this venue.

Shaheen’s injury, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes breaking free in the last few overs meant Pakistan had to wait for their second T20 World Cup title as England laid their hands on the trophy after 12 years. During the victory lap, Buttler and his men were kind of finding it hard to spot English supporters in the stands but did manage to find a stand that had the white and red flags up.

For most of the game, the only white colour visible in the stands was the white in the Pakistan flag. Even after tasting defeat, the fans and supporters weren’t down on energy and were celebrating the team’s run to the final and how they gave everything while defending against England.

“Jaan laga di, itne kum run mai ladko ne choda nahi. Jeeve Jeeve Pakistan, Pakistan zindabad. (They gave it all, didn’t give up even with the small total. Long live Pakistan),” said a large group of Pakistan fans outside the MCG, after the game, before they broke into wild celebrations. England fans on the other hand were in minority but didn’t mind as their side won the title and reaffirmed their white ball dominance.

“Oh yeah, we’re in minority but we won right, that’s all that matters. It was an incredible game and the atmosphere was absolutely crazy,” said an English woman who was very vocal after the win.

A large section of the crowd, however, quietly walked out, saw the Pakistani’s celebrate and made their way from the MCG to the CBD (Central Business District) via the Singing Bridge. It was the section of Indian supporters who had booked the tickets way in advance, anticipating their side’s entry into the title clash. More transactions happened when Pakistan reached the final as no fan was going to miss an opportunity to watch the India-Pakistan final at the MCG.

Some sold their tickets, some gave them to friends but there were some who decided to keep them.

“I have tickets but I am not selling them now. Let it be. It would have been a sea of blue in the city had India reached the final, but it wasn’t the case. After the India-Pakistan game in the group stage, it took me 2.5 hours to get out of the city. Mood kharab ho gaya saara (mood spoiled as India not in final now),” said a taxi driver who comes from Vijaywada in India.

For Indians, Mission Melbourne remained unaccomplished. Pakistan certainly put up a show after their disastrous start to the campaign but it was the English who showed why they are the giants in white ball cricket and have certainly assembled a group of world beaters.

The writer is in Australia on the invite of Visit Victoria

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