The ACA Stadium in Guwahati's Barsapara which will host the second India vs South Africa Test from Saturday. (Express Photos by Lalith Kalidas)“The rhino, chai, and the late Zubeen Garg.”
Arman Choudhary, the cab driver, fits the essence of his home state in three words as he puts his sunglasses on and steers the vehicle onto the highway from the Guwahati airport. “Jacket pehen ne ki mausam ab tak aaya nahin hai iss baar (it’s still not time for the jackets this year).” Dismissing weather apps data, the early November sun is indeed warmer than expected.
Even as digital hoardings at the airport terminal hosted Shubman Gill, Temba Bavuma, and the Freedom Trophy, Arman affirms that “football is still more popular” around these parts. One begins to get the drift after an hour and some 25 kilometres away.
Cricket isn’t a thing in an Indian city when people have no sight or sound of an international game, a historic Test in this regard. He might still be in the minority, but Rahul Das admits to being oblivious to the landmark India-South Africa clash, starting Saturday, just 10 minutes away from his grocery store. In the “Gateway to the Northeast”, two distinct variations of Hindi meet while striking up a conversation.
With a genial smile, Das moderates his pace, offering directions to the stadium that can be perplexing for the unversed, even from within city limits. The picture soon gets clearer.
Cricket may not be an indispensable thing in the city yet, where two rickshaw drivers agree to drive in starkly opposite directions at the mention of a stadium that has hosted the IPL and the Women’s World Cup in the last eight months. Luckily, one of them was correct.
Mired in raging construction works, the tattered roads, and the choking air en route to the ACA Stadium in Barsapara can be a disservice to the occasion.
There isn’t an army of hopelessly hopeful fans waiting for the Indian team bus to glide into the stadium through the Itabhata road, for the selfies, the autographs, and chants that set up a rousing reception. Nobody seemed to care, really.
Curiously, flex boards of the South African skipper and the trophy are largely spotted in succession through the street leading to the main gate on the northern end on Thursday, two days out from the game.
Inside the complex, though, the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) staff are leaving no stone unturned. In the stands, efforts are in full swing to recover the colour on the sooty yellow plastic seats, by scrubbing, of course.
“This is a moment we have long been waiting for. In fact, all of the Northeast. We have had almost every other format happening here, but I am really glad that the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has been able to bring Test cricket to Guwahati,” says former Assam Ranji Trophy cricketer, Parag Das.
His son, Riyan, an IPL sensation and a sure-shot India contender, has long been the only torchbearer of cricket in the city and all of Assam. Test cricket, though, could be a fillip to Assam’s budding dreams, feels Hridip Deka. Called up to the India nets, the tall seamer watches on his maiden wicket on U-23 state debut, Devdutt Padikkal, bowl gentle off-breaks to Sai Sudharsan.
“It’s a great feeling to have the Indian team come over. Nothing matches up to what Test matches mean to all of us. I have interacted with a few of them at the NCA and played with Padikkal and Nitish Reddy in the age-group circuit. Hopefully, the turnout will be great,” Deka tells The Indian Express.
Saikia, who rose to the BCCI top brass as secretary in January this year, is expecting a North-East movement to begin from his hometown this week.
“It has already created a ripple across the breadth and length of our state, as well as other North-eastern states,” he tells in a media briefing.
ACA president Taranga Gogoi expects a sellout on day 2 on Sunday in the near-40,000 seater stadium, with about “19,000 tickets sold for both Saturday and Sunday already.”
The rapidly dwindling daylight, past 4 pm, has raised a social media storm over whether the host’s ingenuity in forwarding the start by 30 minutes can save enough sunshine for 90 overs.
The pitch-black 5 pm skies and the early cuckoo calls before dawn break at 5 am cast some apprehension. For now, Guwahati hopes Barsapara’s red-soil arrangement finds resonance with India’s wonts and vindication with a victory of skills in the 300th men’s Test in the country.
Maybe then Arman will make amends when he picks up every tourist from the airport, expanding Assam’s iconic symbols to a well-rounded quartet.
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