The passion for cricket here was most fanatical than one has ever seen.
They won the inaugural season of IPL. They were found involved in betting. They were caught in the spot-fixing scandal. They were denied making use of the home venue. They were suspended for two years. Yet during the first match at the SMS Stadium after a hiatus of four years, Rajasthan Royals are in even greater demand. The break has made the fans hungrier than ever before. It is quite evident from the enthusiasm and their vociferous support for their team. The chants of Halla Bol are deafening!
“Three of us bought the tickets 20 days back. We have come from Udaipur and will be watching all the seven matches that Royals will play here. We were here when RR played here last in 2013,” said Rajendra Singh who was accompanied by two of his friends.
ROARING ROYAL ARMY
If one has to sense the delight of a cricket starved fan on the prospect of watching live the heroes he has long-worshipped, SMS Stadium was just the place to be at on Wednesday evening. Govind Patel was with his gang of 10 people who had come from Barmer. “Royals are playing here after four years and given that we are big fans of the team, we decided to pack our bags and come to Jaipur. We are looking forward to watch Ajinkya Rahane in particular,” he said.
The passion for cricket here was most fanatical than one has ever seen. An XI class boy Bhuvey was carrying with him a stack of flags and RR jerseys and was waiting for his friends to do Halla Bol in the stadium. Unlike the majority, he has come here to watch D’Arcy Short who impressed him during BBL.
Fans created a sea of blue as they came donning the Royals’ jersey, carried along pom poms and all the possible merchandise of the team. Outside the stadium, there was a vendor who was selling the Royals’ merchandise and had come from Mumbai in hope of making a lot of profit as he was anticipating huge fan rush given the IPL games at the SMS Stadium were being held after four years.
MERCHANDISE MANIA
Stalls put up by Royals’ sponsor JK Laxmi Cement paid put to the plans of other retail vendors selling the team’s merchandise inside the stadium as the former was selling all the products free-of-cost. “The company’s plan was that since the matches are being held after a long span, we should try and add more happiness to their experience here at the stadium. In all the matches we will be selling the merchandise for free,” said Saurabh and Utsav managing the sale at one of the four stalls.
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 "Rajasthan Royals")
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