STUART HESS | World Cup tour diary: a bit of a (de) c**k-up

Accreditation

They love ensuring that you go where you’re supposed to in India. But in a first, passengers disembarking a Kenya Airways flight in the early hours of the morning at Mumbai International Airport had to show their boarding passes to a security official as soon as they stepped off the plane.

As for media accreditation for matches, that needs to be looked at by anything from five to a dozen officials — and that after it has been scanned. Bags are scanned, then searched and at the Wankhede Stadium it’s at least three pat-downs before one is allowed in the stadium.

Food matters

On the cricket circuit it is widely accepted that Lord’s has the best grub, be that in the players’ rooms or press box. But the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai put forward a strong case to be considered with a substantial lunch and supper menu over two days.

Mutton  biryani (like nothing you’ve eaten before), mutton samosas, chilli prawns, chicken curry, dahi puri, pani puri and for dessert Gulab jamun or Gajar ka Halwa (a sweet carrot offering). Ja, Chennai was memorable.

Rugby

Wherever New Zealand and SA teams have gone in the Cricket World Cup, the overlapping rugby tournament in France has followed. Whether it be sending their best to the All Blacks and the Springboks, Tom Latham and Temba Bavuma have answered lots of rugby questions in the past few weeks. That will now cease and they can look forward to focusing on cricket — though the Proteas will still face questions about doing “a double” the longer they keep alive their chances in this tournament.

Pune

The first line on the Wikipedia page about Pune describes it as sprawling. It certainly is. It’s also a city that is one enormous building site. From the new metro system under construction, with columns all over the place, and apartment blocks going up as far as the eye can see, this is a city under development. The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium is about 15km from what used to be the city centre.

There is nothing notable about the venue itself, unlike the MA Chidambaram stadium with its high stands that creates a cauldron-like atmosphere, the MCA has one prominent stand and rows of seats elsewhere.

The MCA

Accessing the venue had its challenges before Wednesday’s Proteas vs Black Caps clash. Instead of our taxi driver dropping us off at the correct entry gate, he created a Google Maps of his own that left us somewhere, but not near gate 5. To access the stadium, one could squeeze between a wire fence and a vibracrete wall — paying 10 rupees (R2) for that option.

Or, as this correspondent did, cross a smallholding, hand over 20 rupees, dodge an old lady who was the gatekeeper — the gate in this case being a small wooden board — before making my way across another smallholding and accessing a gravel road  that led to the correct gate. Oh Pune…

De Cock

Besides creating their own entry points, the other big unofficial World Cup business involves replica shirts. So far, “Markram”, “Miller”, “Klaasen” and “Bavuma” have been spotted, but perhaps most curious of all are the “De Cocks”. What started at one De Cock, became several De Cocks in Chennai, all gathered in what wasn’t the Members End, for last week’s thriller against Pakistan. Sadly, this time Quinton de Kock didn’t rise to the occasion.