Knowledgeable Chennai crowd. It is a phrase that has stuck with Chennai for a long time now. Youngsters who have grown up hearing that phrase – appreciating quality cricket even when India are not involved or on the losing side – are now middle-aged. And the fans who turned up at the MA Chidambaram Stadium showed that the phrase will remain relevant for years to come.
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On a Monday evening, after Afghanistan stunned Pakistan to throw the former champions’ campaign into crisis mode, it was the former’s turn to take a lap of honour, much like the latter did on that famous day in 1999. It wasn’t just a win, it was a statement from Afghanistan as they won by 8 wickets while chasing 283 to defeat Pakistan for the first time in this format.
It was not the older generation that turned up in numbers to keep the ‘knowledgeable’ tag alive. Out of the 21,500 in attendance, almost a majority of them were below 30, who cheered and cleared their throats almost every delivery, keeping the proud legacy of the venue intact. The sizeable crowd kept shifting their allegiance between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It happened often for the same delivery. For instance when Iftikhar Ahmed launched the ball into the twilight sky in the last over, there was a collective roar anticipating the ball to travel the distance, but as Azmatullah Omarzai pouched it at long-on, the decibel levels once again went up.
Long before the game began, at Wallajah Road there were a sizeable number of fans who were buying t-shirts with Babar Azam’s name printed at the back with number 56. When local news channel cameramen hovered over them, a fan even requested not to picture him with a Pakistan jersey fearing backlash. But as he saw more and more around him in a dark green t-shirt, he would eventually show his face. They would even request few of those newsmen to normalise them wearing Babar t-shirt. ‘It is same as wearing Williamson for the previous match. We are here for cricket. Not for hatred,’ that fan would say. At one of the gates, a couple of them would check with policemen on duty if they can buy a Pakistan jersey, before wearing it over the CSK one.
In the middle, both Pakistan and Afghanistan ensured they put up a contest that only elevated the World Cup to another level. On a slow pitch, where spinners were expected to call the shots, the batting from both the teams stood out. Of course, Afghanistan’s batting would eventually overpower Pakistan, but not before Babar played a knock that seemed to be worth a lot more than the 72 he registered on the board.
That DJ Zen greeted Babar to the number “Karupu-Vellai (black and white)” from “Vikram Vedha” only added to the theatrics as Chepauk roared when he got off the mark with a cover-driven boundary. There is indeed something black and white about Babar. Despite having 19 ODI centuries, there is criticism around his strike-rate of 88.95, which is considered low by modern standards. But, in a team where there aren’t many all-weather, reliable batsmen around, it is easy to empathise with his approach which is built on a safety-first mentality. On Monday, against a tricky opponent, he anchored the batting effort, shielding the lower-order from being exposed to the Afghanistan spinners.
Despite showing promises of being back to his free-flowing best, he once again resorted to playing a grinding knock. He is a captain under pressure, and with his team’s dwindling fortune, his inability to inspire those around him is already leading to several Pakistan greats calling for him to step down. That he appeared clueless on the field later on while his struggled to defend 282 was definitely not lost on the occasion. Instead of being proactive on the field, he let the game drift away waiting for the never-arriving hope that Afghanistan will self-destruct as Chepauk got firmly behind the underdogs. Not even hundreds of school kids who were seated at G stand, chanting “Pakistan, Pakistan” could lift Babar’s men as they looked deflated when Afghanistan was all over them.
And as Afghanistan threw the World Cup wide open, beating their arch-rival against all odds, Chepauk joined in the celebration with the Afghan fans who had turned up in numbers. Each time Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi dared to dream, Chennai cheered along.
As the DJ played “Enga Ooru Madras, athuku nanga thaana address (we are from Madras and we are the identity of the city) during the chase, it seemed every bit fitting. A lot of things have changed over the past two decades. AR Rahman, who looked peerless all those years back, rarely finds his track at Chepauk DJ’s match-day playlist these days. Yet, the tag ‘knowledgeable Chennai crowd’ looks set to last forever, just like how Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan keep showing the younger lot, they are here to stay. 
Venkata Krishna BVenkata Krishna B is a Senior Assistant Editor based out of Chennai, w… read more
