At the arrival area of Guwahati airport, flanked by brand endorsement banners of MS Dhoni and Sunil Gavaskar, there is a prominent display for the ICC Women’s World Cup, which kicks off in the city with a clash between India and Sri Lanka. And just as one exits, there is an even more prominent billboard for the tournament, featuring all eight captains, with dates listed out of the matches to take place at the ACA Stadium in Barsapara. But in the midst of these well-placed, welcome promotions for the marquee cricket tournament, one face is unmissable. That of Assam’s most prominent cultural icon, Zubeen Garg. With a city clearly still mourning – one localite says you’d never see Guwahati like this otherwise during Navratri – a cricket festival will begin on Tuesday.
Zubeen da, as everyone who speaks about him in the city, died on September 19, sending the state into collective mourning. Cab driver Md Ruhul Ali is one among them. “Assam ka jaan tha Zubin da, ab woh jaan nikal gaya. The entire city of Guwahati is sad and still in mourning even though it’s a time of festivals,” he says. “Aadmi ka kuch attitude nahi tha, sabse milta tha. He was the voice I listened to right through my school and college.”
Unsurprisingly, the ACA Stadium is draped with massive vertical World Cup banners right next to Garg’s all around its exterior. An ACA official informed that there will be a tribute show starting from 2 pm, extending either side of the toss at 2.30 pm, where various performers will pay tribute to Garg. Between the innings too, Shreya Ghoshal is scheduled to perform to honour Garg.
ACA Stadium is draped with massive vertical World Cup banners right next to Garg’s all around its exterior. (Express photo)
Garg, who died in a drowning incident in Singapore while visiting to perform in the North East India Festival. When his body was brought from Delhi to Guwahati, the 30km journey from the airport to Kahilipara reportedly took almost seven hours as hundreds of thousands gathered to mourn their hero. Some of the banners, in the shape of massive billboards, still adorn the route from the airport to the cricket stadium. One read: A voice that lives on. Zubeen Garg, November 1972 – Forever. Another one: You will live forever through your melodies.”
“You should have seen the turnout when his body was taken from the airport; it was an outpouring of grief like never before. And these types of banners were there right through all the way,” Ali added, before chiming in: “I heard there is a tribute performance for Zubeen da before the World Cup match on Tuesday. So many hundreds will turn up just for that I am sure.” At a hotel close to the stadium, there is a photo of Garg next to the reception, with agarbattis and an oil lamp in front of it. But the man behind the desk adds, “We still don’t feel like putting a maala on the photo. It doesn’t feel right. He is not gone.”
Zubeen da, as everyone who speaks about him in the city, died on September 19, sending the state into collective mourning. (Express photo)
Cricket is still presumably not the most prominent thought in the minds of those in Guwahati, but when Harmanpreet Kaur and Chamari Athapaththu’s sides walk out to the middle, the curtains will go up on potentially the most tightly contested Women’s World Cup. That it has landed in Guwahati is also not part of the original plan. Bengaluru was slated to host the opening match as per the original schedule, but the consequences of the tragedy that ensued after RCB’s title celebrations in the city meant that it wasn’t to be. But Guwahati appears more than ready to put on a show.
Interestingly, both Sri Lanka and India will be playing a women’s ODI for the first time ever at the venue. Athapaththu quipped during the press conference that the only previous memory of this venue for her was that Dasun Shanaka had scored a century in a high-scoring match that Virat Kohli and Co had won. Indeed, a strange quirk of the venues chosen for this tournament means most of this Indian squad don’t have a lot of experience playing in three out of the four cities that have been picked. The only three women’s internationals played at the ACA stadium featured India and England back in March 2019, so the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, and Jemimah Rodrigues have some familiarity. But Harmanpreet missed out on that series due to an injury, meaning her first-ever match as the Indian captain at an ODI World Cup comes at a home venue where she’s never played international cricket.
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But many like Ruhul Ali are curious to see how the tournament goes. He asks on the cab ride to the stadium, “women’s cricket mein sabse accha team kaun hai? India jeet sakta hai kya? (Which is the best team, can India win?”) The answer to those questions will start to unfurl from Tuesday in Guwahati.
The postWomen’s World Cup begins in Guwahati: In a city still mourning icon Zubeen da, a month-long cricket festival gets underway | Cricket News appeared first on Indian Express
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