This twenty20 is a test

At Kotla stadium, the match experience goes for a six.

"Don't go, it's madness," one friend warned me. "Best of luck," sniggered another, when I told them that I was about to visit the Ferozeshah Kotla ground to watch an Indian Premier League match. With these remarks floating in my head, I grudgingly made my way towards the venue "" after parking my car a good 1.5 km away.

Asking the hordes of security personnel where the entry gate was, I found to my utter dismay that it was at the furthest point of the stadium. This was just an appetiser of the things to come. My ticket said "first floor", which logically meant going to the first floor, which I did. But the first floor at Kotla is apparently the ground floor!

Getting tickets for the match was not that difficult, but we suggest buying online, which is the most convenient way. Don't try it through the call centre number advertised, as it's constantly busy "" and, trust me, we tried at least 100 times over two days.

At the stadium, the entry was quite easy. There weren't any serpentine queues and the security too appeared to be surprisingly lax, despite the 6,000-plus security personnel. In fact, at times it was too lax. I saw people smoking cigarettes inside the venue, where it is banned. A few security personnel were smoking themselves. So you can't blame spectators then, can you?

The over-enthusiastic crowd which refused to sit down and watch the match meant I had to stand for over three hours to catch the action. I hoped there would be some respite between overs, but that's when the damn cheerleaders came out to dance, which meant that people stood on chairs to catch a glimpse. Ban them, I say. Not for skimpy clothes, but for adding to the inconvenience!

The food at the venue? A glass of water was for 10 bucks. There were burgers which looked inedible, patties which looked unhygienic, and of course the usual assortment of lemonade, wafers and a packed meal which I was not keen to try (I overheard someone calling it "avoidable").

So, after three hours my ordeal was almost over. The exit was extremely chaotic, and this was despite the fact that I got up a good 15 minutes before the game ended.

In short, avoid a trip to Kotla. It's absolutely not worth it. Please, Lalit Modi, if you actually want people to replace a family's evening out at a mall or multiplex with a day out at the IPL, you have your work cut out for you.

Score: 3/10. Parking hassles ensure that you will come back complaining. Not even quality cricket can cover up for that!

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