Bangalore, April 16 (IANS) Thousands of frenzied fans descended again late Tuesday on the Chinnaswamy stadium here for another exciting contest between hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and minnows Delhi Daredevils, who are yet to win a league match in the Pepsi IPL-6 T-20 tournament.
Putting the sensational loss on the last ball to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Chennai Saturday behind, die-hard fans are rooting for RCB to recover from the shock defeat and win on the home turf for the third consecutive time.
Of the five games the home team played so far, it won three in Bangalore over Mumbai Indians (MI) April 4, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SH) April 9 and Kolkata Knight Riders April 11 but lost two away games against SH in Hyderabad April 7 and to CSK April 13.
As RCB won the previous two games here chasing, its captain Virat Kohli again opted to field after winning the toss, which made hundreds of fans who were late in coming heave a sigh as none wanted to miss its explosive opener Chris Gayle rocking the stands with mighty sixes and lofty boundaries.
Though the league match began at 8 p.m., there was no dearth of enthusiasm or energy among fans even after a long working day, as many of them had come to watch with families in tow.
“I am come with my wife and two kids to not only enjoy the match, but also back the home team, which deserves our full support as it been more consistent this time and were very unlucky to have lost two games narrowly in Hyderabad and Chennai. If they maintain the momentum and remain consistent, I am sure they will reach the final and lift the trophy at least this year,” travel executive K. Vinod Kumar told IANS in the western stands.
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Testing time for fans from traffic snarls & stringent security
Evening rush hour on a working day and heightened security following an advisory from the union home ministry of a terror threat to IPL matches’ tested the patience of thousands of fans who had a tough time in reaching the stadium in downtown.
After negotiating the notorious grid lock the tech hub is known for and entering the stands, they had to go through three layers of checks and frisking by cops and private security guards.
“We received a communication from the home ministry in the evening to ensure fool-proof security at the stadium in the wake of twin blasts at the Boston Marathon in the US Monday. As we can’t take any chance, we had to impose stringent security, including frisking, restricting vehicular movement, banning parking around the stadium and maintaining strict vigil,” said a senior police official at one of the entrance gates.
Traffic snarls and security hassles, however, did not go well with hundreds of fans as both the irritants delayed their entry into the stadium and led to heated exchanges till many of them settled in the stands.
“It took me two hours to reach here from home, which is just 6km away in the eastern suburb, as I got caught in traffic jams and too many signals en-route. Traffic regulations and ban on parking 1 km around the stadium delayed my entry into the stand further as I had to tough time in finding a slot for my car. Long queues and security checks almost spoiled my mood to watch the game,” lamented Vinay Singh, a techie with a multinational in the city.
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