Hi there! Welcome to Episode 178 of Never on the Backfoot Podcast. “It is often said that Test Cricket is the closest thing to life. Life is generally good when you have a lot of people around you. Similarly, a Test match looks good when the stadiums are close to capacity. Of the big 3 in Cricket, England and Australia have a healthy Test cricket-watching culture but the biggest of them all, India struggles to fill stadiums for test matches. Is it because people do not enjoy it here? Nah…in a country of billion people, there will always be 50,000 people in any city willing to watch the game from the stands. Is it because our facilities struggle to attract the fan for a whole day? Absolutely yes.” This is an excerpt from our guest’s riveting yet impactful article as he chronicles his journeys through the different stadiums he’s been to and the experiences he has had. In the wake of Dharamshala being dismissed as a test venue in the ongoing test series against Australia and the last-minute shift to Indore, we see the uproar and discontent among fans and other stakeholders. This episode will help put everything in perspective!

On the podcast today, we have Dhruv Bhatia. Dhruv is an entrepreneur who runs his own tissue paper business from Delhi. He is a passionate student of the game and truly believes that test cricket is the closest thing to life. He's been following the game avidly and closely for about 25 years now. As a hobby, he started making short analysis videos on Instagram on the game of cricket. And now he has written an article about a subject very close to his heart. Which is fan experience in stadiums across India. Let’s talk more about it and understand where is he coming from! The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor and a lot of other platforms and spread the word. Do check out @neveronthebackfoot on Instagram and @neverontheback1 for the latest facts, trivia, quizzes, and terminology for more. ?