Guwahati, here I am...and what a Pleasure

Jonathan Knowles witnesses the city's first Test.

Unrepentant cricket lover and some-time contributor to Manners-on-Cricket, Jonathan Knowles, gives us a fans’ view of a famous Test - and the city.

“The sun rises at 05.45 over the Brahmaputra river here in Guwahati (a river which flows through Bangladesh and into the Bay of Bengal) - and it sets at 16.30 - and a 20 minute, 300 rupee (R40) tuk-tuk ride from the city centre gets you to the Assam Cricket Association Stadium, which is hosting its first ever Test match this week.

The drop off point is about 500m away as the roads surrounding the stadium are closed, and are instead lined with posters of Temba Bavuma, advertising the match. He is very well-respected in this part of the world after his heroics at both Eden Gardens last week and in leading SA to their World Test Championship victory. Also on the surrounding streets is an array of Indian cricket shirt vendors: shirts are 200 rupees each and most have “Virat” and “Rohit” written on their backs, even though neither plays Test cricket these days. Virat, of course, is a legend in this country and you can’t miss his face on many a billboard.

On my early morning 7.00am walks around the city so far, I’ve seen games of cricket being played everywhere. I can’t think of anywhere else where you’d see cricket matches at that time of day. The local people are extremely proud of their city hosting its first Test (a lot of the crowd with whom I have sat have reminded me: “this is our first test match”, and they are all very excited to see their favourite players in person for the first time.

Entry into the ground has been surprisingly efficient. Tickets, which cost between 100 and 300 rupees, are now all mobile tickets with QR codes, so there’s no need to go to the local doctor’s surgery to buy them as I had to in Delhi 10 years ago! Body searches still take place - and any item other than the clothes you are wearing, your phone, wallet and flags are prohibited.

Crowds in India grow as the day progresses, with very few people being in their seats for the first ball. With the early sunset, the first ball is at 9.00am - and the early start has meant that the lunch and tea sessions have been swapped around. The stadium is quite intimate as the stands are steep so, once the crowd is in, it’s a fantastic atmosphere, especially when India are doing well. But when a South African batsman scores a boundary, there’s almost a deathly silence. Truth be told though, when Muthusamy scored his maiden test hundred on Sunday afternoon, a lot of the crowd did stand and applaud his magnificent achievement.

The people here are, as always, extremely friendly. Everybody wants to talk to me and find out where I come from, and with whom I came to India. I get asked how long I’m here for, where I’m staying, whether I’m married and who my favourite Indian cricket player is. There are lots of handshakes and “Welcome to Assam”s. They ask what I think of Guwahati and tell me about the local tourist attractions (which includes a reserve with one-horned rhinos). They rattle off the names of former South African cricketers; AB De Villiers is always everybody’s favourite, but I was surprised yesterday when somebody actually mentioned Jonty Rhodes’ name!

Another popular request is for a selfie - and I always gladly oblige, even if my mouth is full because I’m in the middle of lunch. On that note, food options at the ground are small pizzas, chicken biryani, vegetable samosas, KFC, crisps, popcorn and ice cream. Everything costs less than 250 rupees. Available drinks (at 50 rupees each) are India’s own version of Coca Cola products (Campa) and water, all served in paper cups. No plastic bottles and definitely no alcohol.

Campa sponsors the big purple sunshades on the edge of the field and, during drinks breaks, the sunshades are carried out to give the players some shade whilst they enjoy their drink. It’s been quite funny watching Dewald Brevis acting as the designated sunshade holder for the South African batsmen. Junior player prerogative, I suppose.

With the early sunset, the lights have been turned on just after 3:00pm each day so far, and play has been called off at around 4:00pm. The journey back to the city centre is certainly not as easy as the morning journey to the ground. With the large crowd all leaving at the same time, tuk-tuks are in short supply. It does, however, mean that there is more time to look at all the Indian t-shirts and caps for sale, pose for more selfies, shake more hands, and contemplate on a wonderful day of Test cricket with the friendliest of people...”

Many thanks, Jonathan! An appropriate eulogy to Marco Jansen and a Test overview will follow soon. (Any coffee contributions, for me and Jonathan, always welcome.)