IND W v AUS W: When Satinder Pal Sandhu of Haryana reached Brisbane’s Allan Border Field with his 70-year-old father and 6-month-old daughter, Sukhjit Singh Sarjan took leave from work to show his 6-year-old daughter the batting of her favorite Smriti Mandhana.
These two families were not alone, but were present here along with a large number of Indian-origin relatives settled in Australia, wearing India’s blue jersey and holding the tricolor in their hands, to watch the first ODI between the Indian and Australian women’s cricket teams.
Didn’t get Gaba ticket so reached Brisbane
These included those who could not get tickets for the third Test to be held between India and Australia men’s team at Gabba from 14th December. Apart from the seats in the stadium with a capacity of about 5 thousand, the spectators had arrived on the grass with their own chairs, tables and prams. Despite it not being a weekend, a good number of Indians had gathered and the DJ on the ground had given the atmosphere a more Indian color by playing Lungi Dance, Chammak Challo, Kesariya Tera Ishq and Punjabi songs.
Crowd seen for autograph
After the match, a crowd of children gathered near the boundary line to get autographs from captain Harmanpreet and Mandhana. Satinder Pal Singh Sandhu, resident of Sirsa, Haryana, has been settled here for 16 years and arrived with his father, wife, 4-year-old son and 6-month-old girl. Everyone had made a special jersey of the Indian team with their name on it and were enjoying the match by taking the small child around in the field.
Satinder Pal said-
We always come to watch the matches of the Indian team. He has taken leave from work and father rarely goes out, but never leaves cricket. My son is a fan of Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Despite India’s defeat he said-
Our team is good and winning and losing is part of the game. We are missing Shefali Verma. She was not able to perform consistently, but when she is in form, she wins matches.
What did Dr. Ashutosh, working in Queensland Cricket, say?
Dr Ashutosh Mishra is the multicultural project manager of Queensland Cricket and settled here from Allahabad 16 years ago. He said-
There is a lot of enthusiasm about the India-Australia series not only in Indians, but also in the Australian community, Cricket Australia and state associations. In this series, competitive cricket is seen, a lot of spectators come and revenue is also generated. There is no dearth of fans of the Indian team here. They come from far and wide. People from Gold Coast and Melbourne have also come here to watch the match.
He told that many times Indians come to watch the matches with Dhol cards and enjoy to the fullest. Sukhjit Singh Sarjan has come to watch the match with his children, whose 6-year-old daughter Japjit Kaur plays cricket and is a fan of Virat Kohli and Smriti Mandhana. He said-
When girls play, it inspires me and my daughter also wants to become a cricketer. The Indian men’s team will play the Border Gavaskar Trophy match at Gabba from 14th December and we are going to watch that match also.
Anila, a cricket enthusiast who is from Kerala and has been in Australia for 17 years, skipped her birthday party for the match. He said-
On my birthday, I have come with friends to watch the Indian women’s team match. I wanted a gift of victory from the team, which I did not get, but I will come again in the next match.
Miranda is the merchandise manager of Women’s Cricket ODI at the stadium and she is sad that the Indian team’s jersey could not be arranged. He said, “A large number of people have come to watch the match between India and Australia and we have also been asked for Indian jerseys but we did not have them.” A large number of Indians are wearing blue jerseys which they might have imported from India. Will try in the next match because it is Sunday and there will be a lot of crowd.
