I am not crying, I am sobbing. The reason? I know I am the one of the best and arguably the best stadium in the world (if you consider the atmosphere also). Many great matches have been played on me that has re written the history of Indian cricket again and again. After all it was I who had witnessed the first ever hat rick by an Indian in test. I witnessed the miraculous win of India over Australia after being asked to follow on. It was I, who prestigiously hosted the world cup 1987 final when many doubted I would be able to do so. Many people describe my greatness in terms of capacity, being one of the largest stadium in the world with a capacity of over 100000. Many great players including the legendary Sachin Tendulkar have described that playing on Eden is extra special than anywhere in the world. It is I who witnessed India fighting with South Africa to win the test to maintain the world No 1 test rank. When it seem nothing is working and draw was inevitable then suddenly something miraculous happened, that which I believe can happen only here. The entire crowd started cheering Harbhajan and in no time he took the last two wickets to finish South Africa with just 20 min more to go. I am the pride of this country as I always battled with Lords, England on the grounds of which one is better overall(Crowds, stadium, capacity, atmosphere). Many few people know that during this period of competition people often sold their blood to BloodBank and use that money to upgrade my capacity. Often countries like New Zealand and Zimbabwe have complained to BCCI that why don’t they get a match in awesome Eden when they are on tour. They say that the aura in the stadium cannot be explained but can only be felt. The passion of crowds that come to see matches have sometime resulted in matches being ruined but that is part of the atmosphere that you get over here and this is why I am unparalleled.
However, during the past few years cricket administrators have seemed to forget that I am the pride of the country and not of a particular state. They took the headquarters away from me. They took important matches away from me. They gave me 4 inconsequential matches of world cup 2011. Shouldn’t the best stadium in India host the World Cup final. Shouldn’t my sons make me feel like Lord’s who has infact hosted 4 world cup finals. Do I deserve such shoddy behaviour from BCCI who is putting more interest in Wankhade than it should put on me? Moreover, the tardy CAB officals haven’t done justice to my repertoire. They dragged the work on and on which resulted me getting robbed off the India vs England match, the only important match in the venue. As I look past behind my glory days I wonder I am still the best stadium in the world at least to majority of people, I still produce magical moments then why this happened to me. I should have more support from my sons(CAB, BCCI) who has now forgotten my glory and the country’s glory and are now indulged in cheap regional based politics. I sob because I am Eden Gardens- the best stadium in the world.
