They call you the wisest ever cricketer to have played in the Gopalapuram Corporation Ground in Chennai. How would you rate your experience of playing in one of the city's most crowded grounds?
Have you seen me bat?
Um..no but I've heard you're arguably the best batsman.
Why do you think I've not taken to the bigger arena? It is not because I can't, it is because I don't want to. Even if I were to play at the Lord's in London, I would rate the experience below the one at GG. Oh yes, that's how we call it. I think that says it all.
Yes, that does say it all Mr.<beep>. So, what is it about the ground that makes you rate it above The Lord's which is the one of the world's most treasured stadiums?
The GG doesn't offer the materialistic luxury that The Lord's does. It might not be as pleasing to the eye, but what sets it apart is the connection every person who has played in the GG, for a "considerable" amount of time feels. My connection with the ground goes back to my school days, when we were allowed at the ground for our Physical Training periods. There was no training, we had all the freedom and the feeling was unbeatable even under the blazing sun at 12 noon in the month of April.
What do you remember from your first few days at the ground?
Um..I was in my sixth grade and we were a bunch of twenty odd students dressed in white shirts neatly tucked into white shorts wearing white canvas shoes. After a couple of hours, we were a bunch of twenty odd ragamuffins dressed in brown shirts neatly tucked into brown shorts wearing brown canvas shoes. We would run to the centre pitch, the most prestigious pitch but (sadly) the only one in a ground that was twice as big as the Chepauk stadium, then. We didn't always get to play at the centre pitch. There is one peculiar feature of the pitches in the GG, which I will get to in a while. When the centre pitch was occupied by the Annas, there was no choice left for us, we had to take to that part of the ground that had the most even surface. We had earned our right to play at the centre pitch by the time we were in the eighth grade, we were Annas to a couple of batches of students.
You describe your connection with the ground.. but that does not explain why you or anyone else for that matter would rate it above the Lord's.
The Lord's is rated the best, (among?) among the stadiums recognised by the ICC, which means it has never been officially compared with the GG. The GG is more than just a ground.. itit.. it has taught me important values in life.
Sir, with all due respect, what you say does not make sense. What can a ground possibly teach you about life? Why isn't the ground recognised by the ICC?
The answers to these questions are related. To answer the first question, in short, I learnt the art of sharing from GG. These are values that parents try to ingrain in their kids but don't always succeed. GG taught me what my parents couldn't.
Next time you visit GG, choose one match, preferably one among the five that take place simultaneously in the basketball court and observe closely. You will notice you are actually watching two matches and not one. Two ends of the pitch are used for two different matches in GG which is the unique feature as I previously mentioned. In other words, the pitch is shared. The bowlers' run-ups are not affected that way and the space available is more effectively utilised. There are two bowlers at any instant to bowl on the same pitch. While one bowls, the other one covers his run-up. That taught me discipline and the importance of being on time. If you are not in track of the ball rate, you will have to wait for the other bowler to complete his next ball.
While the conventional game consists of two players on the pitch at any instant, at the GG, there are four and the situation is never out of control. Crowd needn't necessarily mean chaos, I learnt. Every minute I spent at the GG made me a better person.
The Marylebone Cricket Club (that lays down the rules of the game) doesn't make room for the pitch-sharing concept and culture followed at the GG cannot be changed due to its ever increasing crowd. I mean, these are effective solutions to the problem of our growing population on some levels.
Impressive Mr.<beep>. Very impressive, indeed. It is amazing how much the ground or the GG, I should say, could teach you.
<Nods his head>
How has the GG changed over the past few years? Say, from the time you've been associated with it.
A lot. The centre pitch doesn't exist anymore. The basketball court is the big main pitch where five of the most important matches take place parallelly, or I should say 10, in an ideal case of 100% pitch-sharing. We are the new Annas and that means we get to shoo away the kids. There are the new running tracks whose lines act as permanently fixed boundaries for cricket players like us. The basketball matches don't happen anymore, their court is our pitch. We are considering renaming the ground, The GCG, The Gopalapuram Cricket Ground.
That was an insightful conversation for me and the readers who are going to get to know about this underrated marvel of the city Mr.<beep>. I wish you the best of luck in convincing the ICC about the greatness of the pitch-sharing concept that not only utilises space more effectively but also addresses broader issues such as the increasing population.
Thank you, Mr.<beep>.
The pleasure is mine. <Smiles>.
This interview does not exist and the reason for the beep is unknown.
