DPL T20: The second edition of the Delhi Premier League (DPL) T20 began on August 2, with fans giving the tournament a cold response. Besides the largely empty stands at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, poor anchoring by specially hired personnel with little knowledge of cricket, casual commentary by a few, and at least one instance of a person possibly breaking the prohibition on mobile phone use in the players’ area were among the other ‘lowlights’ of the first few days of the competition. The lone consolation was that rain did not affect the first five matches played until August 4.
Only a few thousand turned up on each of the first three days; on August 3, 3,200 were present. Attendance has been particularly thin during the second matches on the double-header days. The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has priced tickets in two denominations: Rs 100 per day, including the double-header days, for general enclosures, and Rs 3,000 per day for the marquee tent, where ticket holders can have unlimited food and snacks.
“However, there are still not many takers. In any case, one should not expect more than 10,000 fans on any day of the league phase in a stadium that can accommodate close to 40,000 people. However, they may come in hordes towards the business end of the tournament,” a DDCA official told Patriot.
This, despite DDCA having given two tickets each to its approximately 4,200 members and 10 tickets each to its 111 affiliated clubs. “If you include the complimentary tickets distributed to the police, approximately 9,000 tickets per day have been given away,” the official informed.
Also Read: Mohammed Siraj lights up The Oval as India script thrilling 2–2 series draw
Dhull off to a flier
Meanwhile, Central Delhi Kings, one of the two new franchises, have begun well, thanks largely to Yash Dhull. They registered wins in their first two matches — the only team to do so thus far — and took an early lead on the table with four points.
Dhull, an Under-19 World Cup-winning India Captain and former Delhi Ranji Captain, cracked the first century of the season when the opener notched an unbeaten 56-ball 101 (8x4s, 7x6s) in his team’s eight-wicket win against North Delhi Strikers on August 3. The next day, Dhull smashed a 34-ball 55 not out in the Kings’ nine-wicket win against New Delhi Tigers.
Meanwhile, Purani Dilli 6 have named Vansh Bedi as their replacement Captain for an injured Rishabh Pant, who has been ruled out with a foot fracture. He sustained the injury in the fourth Test against England recently and missed the fifth match as well.
Poor presentation
The DDCA has, through Perfect Pitch Events and Sports, an event management company, hired five female anchors for Rs 1.10 crore — apparently to add some glamour to the DPL, besides conducting interviews. But one of the female anchors caused much embarrassment to the DDCA when she forgot the name of the Outer Delhi Warriors captain. She introduced Siddhant Sharma as “Shivam Sharma” after his team’s defeat to New Delhi Tigers, who won by 40 runs on August 3. Siddhant looked visibly embarrassed and promptly corrected her.
Even if one ignores this basic mistake on the anchor’s part, most of the questions asked are amateurish and expose the lack of cricket knowledge of these anchors.
Possible transgression?
During the Outer Delhi Warriors–New Delhi Tigers match on August 3, a person was seen using a mobile phone while leaning against the advertising hoardings, close to the boundary line. The BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit has barred the use of mobiles in the designated players’ area — in the vicinity of the dressing rooms — barring a few officials.
“The two guys sitting could be the groundsmen. Usually, the area is used by the ball boys; they don’t carry phones. Groundsmen keep away from the field of play, so they keep their phones. We dissuade people from using mobile phones in and around teams’ dugouts [close to the boundary],” an official aware of the security protocols told Patriot on being shown the photo of the person using the phone.
