Record turnout for India’s 1st Guyanese game in 17 years

Story and photos by Jemima Holmes

Although it was not a Caribbean Premier League (CPL) sized crowd, Guyanese cricket fans turned out in their numbers to witness the first-ever T20 International played by the Indian national team in the “Land of Many Waters”.

It was the final T20I in the three-match My Team 11 series, and Guyanese from each ethnicity and all walks of life braved the rains that seemed unstoppable in the earlier hours of Tuesday morning. But any sensible Guyanese would know that rain only signals a welcome to cricket at the National Stadium, Providence – an unwritten tradition of sorts.
The last time that an Indian national team graced the “Land of Many Waters” was in 2002, contesting a Test against West Indies at the historic Bourda Ground in Georgetown, Guyana. However, a bit of Guyanese cricket history was made on Tuesday, August 6, when the boys clad in blue led by the ecstatic Virat Kohli made their way into the middle of the National Stadium, Providence, for their first battle in the shortest format of the game in Guyana.

Looking back at Bangladesh’s visit to Guyana in July 2018, while there were many die-hard fans of the boys in maroon who showed up to cheer on their team, the Providence Stadium was far from ‘filled to capacity’. It was the polar opposite for the first India game, with droves of spectators, equally clad in blue and maroon, pouring into the venue to witness one of the most consistent cricket teams around.
Guyana is usually known for its record turnouts on game day, but given the particulars of the West Indies vs India match, many speculated that the Guyanese Diaspora would not live up to their expectations. But even on a weekday, affected by rain and a starting time which is fairly early for T20s in the Caribbean, Guyana saw attendance from over 7000 patrons, ranging from the elderly to infants.
The boisterous and eager fans, however, were not the only ones who were happy about the match at Providence and the atmosphere. India’s Captain, at a post-match press briefing, shared that he was elated about visiting the soon-to-be-oil-laden land for the first time.
“It is pretty good; I hadn’t played here before, so I was pretty excited to see what the Stadium was like and how the atmosphere was going to be. I think there was a lot of people in the crowd here and everyone enjoyed themselves. We had a good day here as a team, so we’re very happy about coming here,” Kohli told media operatives.
Tuesday morning’s game was testament to the fact that Guyanese patrons will always show up once cricket is being played and that the love for the game which seems to be dwindling around the wider Region is in fact alive and well in the “Land of Many Waters”. One can only hope that this acts as an eye opener for those who are responsible for the distribution of international games around the Caribbean region and that Guyana would be more often considered as the right venue for West Indies cricket.