Feroz Shah Kotla

South Africa and West Indies would have expected to have had a good lunch before going in for their match, on the 24^th of February. The quality of the food becomes a meager issue when there comes a situation when the players might not get any food before going into the match. Such a situation would have occurred before the faceoff between the two nations had it not been for the grace of god that food just arrived in time for the teams.

The root cause of this problem lay in the mis-organization and mis-coordination between the ICC officials and the Delhi police. The ICC had not communicated to the Delhi police clear instructions regarding the arrival of food packets for not only the teams but for all the officials and fans in the stadium. Thus when three trucks carrying the food packets , accredited to the catering managers arrived at the stadium gates only two of the trucks were allowed in while the third was turned back. The food packets in the third truck were all spoilt and eventually of no use.

This confusion and the lack of co-ordination left the South African team, which had arrived at 12:30, waiting for their lunch till 13:10. The West Indies team which arrived late by 13:00 did not have to wait much and got their lunch in time.

The South African team might have had to wait for about forty minutes but not as much as the officials, ball boys, usherers and the fans. Food for the officials was distributed only in the late stages of the match. The fans on the other hand had no access to snacks like samosa, patties etc. which are usually sold in large numbers in stadiums. Thus they had to make do with chips and soft-drinks which were of the brands of sponsors.

Even commentator Geoff Boycott, who suffers from throat cancer and has to carry his own lunch in the form of sandwiches, was stopped at the main gate by the police. He says “I don’t eat curries, which is what they normally give you. So I bring sandwiches. Anything which is spicy just burns.” “I said, ‘I want to speak to the general or the brigadier, whoever’s in charge, ’cause I’m taking my bloody sandwiches in’.”   The commentator was finally allowed to take in the sandwiches with the interference of some official.

There were other hitch ups as well in the stadium like temporarily defunct wi-fi system, coffee machines and non-acceptance of accredited tickets issued to the media.

Thus the organizers of the tournament from all ends and parts will have to re-look into ways of mending these problems before the second match is held in the Feroz Shah Kotla  on the 28^th of February between West indies and Nederland.