Motera’s empty standing ovation

It shouldn’t have happened this way, for these simple reasons:

• This was India’s first Test in more than nine months
• It was local boy Parthiv Patel’s Ahmedabad debut
• India were batting — brilliantly — for most of the two days
• The stadium, recently been renovated with proper seats and other facilities added on, was in better shape than ever before.

Indeed, the atmosphere was probably anticlimactic for the visitors, whose pre-tour training sessions included noisemakers to replicate the sound of a typical Indian stadium. ‘‘We feel at home here’’, said the Kiwis’ team manager Lindsay Crocker. ‘‘In New Zealand we get similar attendance.’’

In a sense, he’s right. When India played the first Test of their two-Test series in Wellington last December, between 2,000-5,000 people came to watch. But that’s in a stadium whose capacity is 13,000, in a country that’s famously underpopulated.

It’s not something new to Ahmedabad, a city whose inhabitants are usually wary of giving up a day’s work if they’re not completely sure that they’ll be getting paisa vasool in return.

The day before the Test began, a number of cricket enthusiasts whom The Indian Express spoke to said that, though they knew it would be great cricket, they couldn’t spare time from work. Officials at the Gujarat Cricket Association, the hosts of the match, said they were aware of the general lack of interest.

Lack of interest in Tests is a global phenomenon — there was similar concern in Perth today as Australia and Zimbabwe began their series in front of 5,000 people. But cricket isn’t the number 1 sport in Australia — Rules Football is the most popular, soccer the most participatory — and there’s stiff competition from the Rugby World Cup, which begins there tomorrow.

Cricket is, however, India’s unofficial national game, and the sight of empty stands can’t be good for the game’s image. Especially when there are centres — Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Mohali — that have reasonably full houses even for Tests.

So should the BCCI juggle its match-allotment schedule to give Tests to those centres where attendance is guaranteed? ‘‘I don’t think so’’, its chief Jagmohan Dalmiya said. ‘‘While empty stands aren’t a desirable phenomenon, this is nothing alarming. In this age of electronic media and live telecast, you don’t judge the popularity of the game by empty stands.’’

Pointing at the bigger picture, he argued: ‘‘If you take the TV audience the argument falls flat. The game’s popularity is growing every day. So the BCCI isn’t too concerned. Of course, I would be the happiest person to see a cricket match being played in front of big crowds.’’

Perhaps he’ll see that over the weekend. GCA president Narhari Amin says ticket sales are rising for Saturday, when the holiday for Karwa Chauth could coincide with India winning the match.