A Match that Ended in Violence

Non-government organisations, social societies and recreational clubs have often engaged in organizing different events from time to time with the sole intention of recreation or charity. The BPL Club of which I am an active member organized a cricket match in collaboration with Abhilasha Club in which the teams of the both clubs were to play against one another. So entry passes for the event were sold and advertisement was also done on a good scale by both the clubs. The day of Baisakhi was fixed for the match and Guru Nanak Stadium was selected as the venue,

I went there with four of my friends. As soon as we reached the venue, we saw a great rush at the stadium. People had thronged the stadium in large numbers. When the clock struck eleven, the teams entered the stadium and were hailed/greeted with loud slogans. The organizers announced the rules of the game and also announced the prize for the winning team. The BPL Club team players wore blue jerseys whereas the Abhilasha Club players came in red. The Abhilashas won the toss and decided to bat first.

The match began with the crazy fans. Cheering the players all over the pavilion. The captain of the Abhilashas gave the match a fantastic opening by scoring two sixers and a four in the first three balls. Other players also played well. The total score of the team was 267 runs in fifty overs. The players of this team seemed to be professional cricketers who did not miss a single chance of scoring runs. The supporters of this team were all agog. They were shouting cheers for the players and would start dancing the moment a four or a six was scored. There was a break of half an hour. During the break, singing and dance performances were given by the members from both the clubs.

Everything went well till the turn of the BPLs came. Their opening was a complete contrast to the opening made by the Abhilashas. The BPLs lost two batsmen in the first six overs. One lost it out to leg before wicket and the other was run out. The game became interesting when a tall and robust boy resembling Dhoni, came to bat. He scored five sixes and two fours and was playing extremely well with the team captain. The duo scored seventy-six runs together when suddenly the tallboy yielded it to leg before wicket given by the umpire. He demonstrated bad and poor sportsmanship by abusing the umpire and the bowler and by trying to hit one of the rival players with his bat. The other player, fortunately, escaped. The rival players surrounded him to take him to task following which that foul-mouthed fellow used abusive words again. Within seconds the supporters entered the field to favour their teams and the play-ground or the stadium was turned into a battle-ground. Both sets of fans took the pitch and threw bottles and flared at one another. There was a great uproar. The General Secretary of the BPL Club also lost his temper in the mass melee.

The police were called to halt trouble at the stadium. The tall player had sustained serious injuries. The police arrested some of the violent players for showing aggression at a public event. The supporters dispersed when they saw the police approaching. The violence was caught on cameras by channel number seven. The announcer and the General Manager of the Abhilasha apologized before the public and pleaded with the unruly mob to behave themselves. The blast of the loudspeakers and the arrival of the police brought the people back to their senses.

People started leaving their seats, cursing the players as well as the organizers for the poor show. My friends also criticized the lack of sportsmanship in the modern players. The incident exemplified the rise in the cases of violence and aggression in the modern times. The hoardings of the match put up across the city which promised some hours of entertainment were proved wrong. Instead of entertainment, the match gave us headaches and ruined our day. Thus, a wonderful day was spoilt by a poor show and everything ended in a fiasco.