When the schedule of IPL 2022 was announced, it was clear that covid norms will be followed strictly. Along with that, there was a hope of finals in Ahmedabad. The reason was simple, the new stadium hadn’t got enough matches and if the IPL finals are played in the biggest cricket stadium, it will be a treat for the fans.
It happened as expected, Qualifier 2 and the Final got scheduled at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
As soon as the sale of tickets began, I booked the tickets for qualifier 2 along with my colleagues. I am a big fan of Sanju Samson so I wanted to see Rajasthan Royals in action and I don’t think that I would have got a better opportunity than an RR vs RCB qualifier.
Booking process
I booked the tickets as per my preference. There were offline as well as online windows to book the tickets. Offline windows were open at certain places in Ahmedabad. I went for online booking and booked through ‘book my show’ app. In online booking, there was a different window for ‘RuPay’ card holders. First preference to choose the seats was given to them.
I don’t have a RuPay card but one of my colleagues has one. So with his card, we booked our tickets.
Office Scene
As I mentioned, the tickets were booked by my colleague. He booked the tickets in the office. So we created a buzz about IPL finals in the office.
On the day of the match, seven people left the office early. I along with my 4 colleagues left the office around 4:30 pm. We were excited but our bosses were more excited than us as they left the office at 3:30 pm.
Before entering the stadium
We knew that there will be limited options available and the prices will be higher. Thus, before entering the stadium, we decided to eat. We stopped at the restaurant that was a kilometre away from the stadium. After having delicious food and a glass of sugarcane juice, we started approaching the stadium.
In the Stadium
In 15 minutes, we reached the gate of stadium. And right from the entry point, the crowd was going ballistic. With about 2 and a half hours to go, we were crawling in the stadium, taking in all the vibe around. People in RCB and RR t-shirts were crossing us. we were in normal t-shirts and were stopping and taking pictures here and there. Watching all the big banners of the players and teams, I started thinking about my unfulfilled dreams of playing at the national level.
Finally, we reached our block and started looking for our seats. We found our seats and made ourselves comfortable. After a few minutes, we started finding a better area in our block to click pictures as the stadium was still filling up.
Warm-up
In 30 minutes, commentators started moving around the pitch and 15 minutes later, players entered the ground. They entered one by one and started warming up. It was a treat to watch each and every player’s warm-up. After watching it, I realised each player has his own style of warming up before the game. The high-catching drills, bowling drills and batting drills with coaches are something every aspiring player should take note of.
Around 7 pm the toss happened and Rajsthan Royals decided to bowl first. After the toss, slowly, the warm-up equipment started moving in and the red carpet and IPL trophy came out.
Match
As Virat Kohli walked out along with Faf du Plessis, the roar of fans cleared that the support for RCB is more than the support for RR. The RCB contingent was silenced as Kohli was dismissed early. Rajat Patidar along with du Plessis and Maxwell helped RCB go past 150 but that was not enough in front of the form of Jos Buttler. Buttler scored the fourth century of the season and secured RR’s place in the final.
Cheering Battle between RR and RCB fans
Throughout the match, there was a cheering battle between the RCB and RR fans. As RCB was batting first, the RCB contingent was in full flow. They were in our ears as their team scored almost 160 runs in a pressure game.
I was supporting Rajasthan Royals and when Buttler and Jaiswal started the run-chase, I started cheering every single run made by them. In a row behind us, there was a group of 13 students. 10 were supporting RCB and 3 were in support of RR. I am mentioning this because it was the ratio in the whole stadium.
When we (me and my colleagues) started cheering for RR, two rows in front of us started giving us stares. So the scene was two rows in front and one behind us was full of RCB supporters. Whenever RCB took a wicket, they were in our faces and ears. It was an intense cheer battle between the supporters of two teams.
It was about to get ugly as the rows in front of us were getting an equally good reply from the rows in front of them. As the Rajasthan Royals got closer to the target, RCB fans started leaving the stadium. And the cheering battle ended gracefully. At the end of the day, it was just a cricket match.
After a long time, it was good to see things getting normal. And will there be a better way to normalcy than a game of cricket?
I will not be able to watch the final but I hope that Ahmedabad will get more matches next season onwards as now we have the home team in the league.
Your post introduced me to Narendra Modi stadium for the first time. I still remember the inaugural post. Since then it is my greatest wish to visit there and feel the adrenaline rush
Wow!! It seems you had a lifetime experience, I really wish to watch the match in Stadium someday. Thanks for sharing this whole experience.
I have seen this stadium only in the news channels and can see the grandeur for sure. Glad to have read this detailed post about the same.
I was not aware that there is a stadium named after Narendra Modi, thanks for letting me know … But I am not an IPL fan because from my view points it lacks the real essence of Cricket match fought between nations and not like this.