Determined not to allow any sort of racial abuse sully the city's image during the first Indo-Pak Test match, cricket authorities at the Ferozeshah Kotla have warned spectators that any such nuisance would invite instant ejection from the ground.Memories of Andrew Symonds being subjected to monkey chants during Australia's tour of the country fresh in mind, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) put the message in banners, which read 'Spectators are reminded that racially abusive comments and actions would result in ejection.'And to help everyone get the message, both the Hindi and English versions of the warning were on public display.Fearing that may not prove enough, they also flashed another message on the electronic board."Spectators shall not engage in any conduct, act which offends, insults, humiliates, intimidates, threatens, disparages, vilifies the other person on the basis of that other person's race, religion, colour, national or ethnic origin," the message said.While it's not known how many took notice of the warning, there was other banners that caught the eyes in Kotla.The ongoing Test not only provided an excellent pretext for the companies to promote their products, but it also became a platform to run public interest campaigns."Bowl out polio from India," screamed one poster on the stands.Going by the sea of brand and product advertisements inside the stadium, it was not easy to fathom out how much popular cricket is as a vehicle to send commercial messages across.At least three different bikes, two cement companies, as many mobile service providers, banks, constructors, a cold drink giant, a lubricant oil, a hair oil brand, a nascent newspaper, a Hindi TV channel and even a brand of atta and besan also jostled for public attention.But with India dominating the first two sessions and then the Pakistani batting order wagging its tail, the slow and low 22-yard strip remained very much at the centre of focus even though the crowd returned home a little dejected after their heroes failed to polish off the arch-rivals and let them survive to fight another day.
