Work day, 'missing stars' may hit T20 turnout today

GUWAHATI: The last time Team India set foot in the city it turned out to be a dampener as the ODI World Cup warm-up game against the 2019 champions England was washed out with a thunderstorm hitting Barsapara Cricket Stadium after the toss.

If you expect the stadium will be chock-a-block when Suryakumar Yadav-led young India side take on Australia in the third T20 International, hold your expectations! With the state coming out of a four-day long weekend and the side missing stars like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya among others, the response is likely to be lukewarm on a Tuesday evening even as there is a nip in the air.

Friday was a state holiday due to Lachit Borpukhan's birthday, then Saturday, Sunday followed, and Monday's Guru Nanak Jayanti added up to make an extended weekend - making Tuesday the first working day of the week. Add to that the marriage season which kicks off in the late November and you get the whole picture which is likely to contribute to a low response towards an India game, absence of crowd pulling superstars being the topmost reason.

Prabin Gogoi, a college student, who came to the stadium in the evening searching for a counter where he could get a hard copy for the online tickets he bought, testified the general feeling. "I am big fan of Virat Kohli and a cricket enthusiast, so I will be coming for the game tomorrow. I had bought four tickets including my friends but two of them is likely to give the match a miss as none of the stars are coming. They have a relative's marriage to attend in the district, so they said that 'it's not worth it to miss a close relative's marriage for this match. We could have stayed back if Virat, Rohit, Gill and Rahul would have come'. Now I have call other friends or relatives to come for the match or two tickets will be wasted," said Gogoi.

However, with the Barsapara track likely to be true to its nature, the crowd present will surely be entertained by the in-form Indian batters in a 38000-capacity stadium. Indians have hit 36 fours and 24 sixes in the previous two matches and come Tuesday the likes of Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav will be eager to add many more to the tally.