The Fall of Eden

As Rice and the South Africans were paraded around the sprawling lawns of Eden Gardens,one lakh fans greeted them in unison. Explains Rice: “It was the most unbelievable experience of my life. And I don’t think I will have another day like that.” For sometime now,nor will Eden Gardens.

If you have had the privilege to experience a cricket match at Eden Gardens as a spectator — your voice powered with 99,999 others — you will know that when the ICC shifted out the India-England match from the stadium,the city of Kolkata and its 18 million cricket manic citizens were robbed once again due to a few bad administrators. It isn’t the first time that Eden is at the receiving end of poor administration,but following the World Cup debacle,it could be the last time the great stadium is deprived of international cricket.

Two questions beg to be asked here. First,how can a stadium that only needs refurbishing (not even reconstruction like Mumbai’s Wankhede) miss a deadline when it was known five years ago that India would host the World Cup? And how can India host a World Cup without the services of its grandest stadium,Eden Gardens? Both questions have the same answer. The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB),the state’s cricket board,and its high-profile president,Jagmohan Dalmiya.

It all dates back to when Kolkata hosted the BCCI annual general meeting in 2004 with Sharad Pawar and Ranbir Singh Mahendra vying for the top post. Dalmiya expelled Shashank Manohar from the meeting to ensure a safe ride for Mahendra. Still,after the end of the voting,it was a tie. Dalmiya then used the president’s casting vote to keep Pawar at bay.

CAB officials say that after taking over the BCCI,Pawar (with Manohar,N Srinivasan and IS Bindra by his side) was determined to ensure that Dalmiya’s city didn’t receive its cricketing dues,and Eden Gardens paid the price. So in the last six years,Eden has hosted a total of three Test matches.

In Kolkata,Eden Gardens occupies the same emotional quarter as Wembley does in London. So any breach to its glory fails to stay restricted to just an assortment of ground realities and logistics. Established in 1865,the first Test match was held here in 1934,incidentally,a match between India and England. Ever since,Eden has stood testimony to magical cricketing moments and a lot of it courtesy,its mercurial spectators. Old-timers fondly recollect Kapil Dev’s ODI hat-trick against Sri Lanka in 1991 — the first by any Indian cricketer. Or the miraculous Test against Australia in 2001,when VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh forged India’s greatest victory (no arguments there) after being imposed the follow-on.

And like all great fairytale heroes,it had its share of monsters to fight. A generation found it difficult to forget the 1996 World Cup semi-finals against Sri Lanka held on the grounds. A sobbing Vinod Kambli leaving the grounds after the crowds had set the stadium on fire was its darkest hour. Or the adrenaline spillovers at the India-Pakistan match in 1999 where the crowd decided that Sachin Tendulkar was tricked into getting run out by Shoaib Akhtar and once again set the stands on fire before being evicted by the police. The remaining part of the match was played in an empty stadium.

Eden Gardens had worn its heart on its sleeves for very long. Until its sleeves started fraying at the edges. The signs of decline were evident a year ago. A massive power failure led to a complete blackout in the middle of a match in the last IPL season. A sizeable section of Kolkata’s discerning audience realised it was the tip of the iceberg. The recent debacle was an accident waiting to happen.

“As a Kolkatan,I am sad no doubt. They have taken the cricket-loving audience of Kolkata for granted for decades. They know that no matter how bad they treat the people,they would still come. Well,at least now,one hopes that they might clean up their act. After all,Kolkatans should be used to this now. Industry. Jobs. And now cricket. There is a pattern here. Anyone smart would see,” points out writer Arnab Ray,who goes by the name of GreatBong in the blogosphere.

Ray has for company Harsha Bhogle,who recently tweeted,“Giants cannot live only on reputations. What next for the mighty Eden?” Arijit Dutta,managing director of Priya Entertainments Pvt Limited which produces films and owns theatres across the city,agrees. “You can’t live off reflected glory for very long. It’s disgraceful that Eden Gardens is having to do so,” he says.

It’s having to do so apparently because it hosted seven IPL matches spread over a month last year,thus stalling the renovation work that was on for the World Cup matches,despite warnings by the construction company handling the renovation. A top CAB official admits that the CAB is paying the price for its efforts to “make a quick buck”.

Bengal Hockey Association treasurer and ex-CAB working committee member Gopinath Ghosh feels that better administration could have prevented such compromise. “We don’t have a strong sports administrator at the moment. That’s the plight of Bengal cricket. Despite all his follies,Dalmiya was an excellent administrator,but he never tried to develop a worthy successor. For Eden Gardens to get back its lost glory,we need someone who can be a big player at the national level,” says Ghosh.

Cricket writer and analyst Ayaz Memon says that it’s the whole “chalta hai” approach to infrastructural projects in the country that is to be blamed in this case,and feels it doesn’t bode well for the sporting atmosphere in the country. “It’s a little unfair to question the city’s sporting culture. Look at what happened before the Commonwealth Games. But incidents like these just turn away sport lovers and supporters – and no sport can survive without popular support,” he adds.

Despite the loss of the February 27 fixture,it’s not all over for Eden Gardens,as it will host three non-India matches. And a few stray incidents apart,the ground has been India’s most non-partisan. Whether it was a packed house that adopted Australia as its own in the 1987 World Cup final (also because England and Graham Gooch had kicked India out in the semis) or readmitting the South Africans into cricket with a thunderous welcome,Eden Gardens has greeted its visitors with open arms. Only this time,it isn’t Rice who is blinking back tears; Kolkata is too.

With Piyasree Dasgupta