Recovering Chennai, Chepauk turn focus to cricket

Recovering Chennai, Chepauk turn focus to cricket

Wind velocity of 87 miles per hour. Uprooted trees, half-constructed buildings falling, cars and buses spinning and toppling. These were the scenes in Chennai on December 12, when in Mumbai India were completing their third-Test victory against England. Soon after this they would travel to Chennai after the worst of the storm had passed.

On Wednesday (December 14), there is not a single road in Chennai that doesn't tell you a story of what happened. Over 3000 trees fell on the roads and the process of clearing them out of the way is ongoing. Alongside the Chepauk stadium, which is set to host the fifth and final Test starting Friday, the scenes remain the same. The worst-affected around the ground is the Victoria Hostel road, through which many a spectator will enter, which continues to teem with fallen trees.

Just like the city that is getting back to routine, inside the ground too there is work going on frenetically to get it in shape on time. The cyclone damaged the sight-screen severely, both inside the ground and outside in the practice area. This has forced both teams to take a break on Wednesday. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) had informed the respective teams that there will be no practice possible on Wednesday.

Initially, it was reported that practice might not happen on Thursday as well, while there were also suggestions of an alternate venue for practice. But that was insisted upon. So both teams right now are scheduled to have just one practice session on Thursday before getting into the final Test. As of Wednesday afternoon, there was still a chance that even that practice session will accommodate only fielding drills but there are arrangements being made inside the ground too to have a makeshift 'net' which isn't usually the norm at Chepauk. The players might not be complaining though given the amount of damage the city has taken, and with the series already being decided.

The dead rubber though holds a lot of importance to TNCA, and with it the city of Chennai, which hasn't seen Test cricket since 2013. In addition, the locals here largely feel robbed off cricket action after the ban on the IPL team Chennai Super Kings, and the fact that the city wasn't given any of the men's World T20 games earlier this year. The latter was a result of the ban on three stands from being open to public, and there has been no solution for that even now.

So the cricket-crazy fans of the city, many of whom were also wondering about the possibility of the match even during the worst cyclone in two decades, have been left jostling for the remaining available seats. They wear their cricket-love with pride and the last of the TNCA's worries is about fan turnout, which cannot be said about a lot of other associations in the country.

Right now, work is going on in earnest inside the ground to make it worthwhile for everyone involved. The pitch is being dried using heated charcoal, new sight-screens are being mounted and the outfield is being trimmed. Large parts of the stadium also have chairs that aren't affixed to the ground; they remained piled up in a corner on Tuesday but have already been replaced and restored in order.

There is little in the outfield that portrays any sign of a recent disaster, there is little from inside the ground that shows the effects of the cyclone - in direct contrast to what lies outside. For all the fans - from those who have already bought tickets to those still hoping to get in - that will come as a sign of comfort. Come Friday they can get back to thinking about velocities of the ball, stumps being uprooted, the ball spinning and wickets toppling again.