Ramachandra Guha: What the name games at the Narendra Modi Stadium tell us about India today

In cricket, the two ends from which bowlers bowl usually carry names. These, in the case of Lord’s Cricket Ground, are the Pavilion and Nursery Ends. One end in the other great ground in London, The Oval, is also named after the members’ Pavilion, while the other carries the name of the underground station, Vauxhall, closest to it. At the Melbourne Cricket Ground, we have the Members End and the Great Southern Stand end, recently renamed after Shane Warne, respectively. At Calcutta’s Eden Gardens, one finds the Pavilion End and the High Court End.

The nicest such names may be in Old Trafford, whose ends honour two great fast bowlers whose home ground this was: namely, Brian Statham and Jimmy Anderson. Less appealing, but nonetheless comprehensible and perhaps acceptable in view of the fact that the game needs sponsors, are the names of the two ends at the Wankhede Stadium, which are Garware and Tata, respectively.

Having the two ends from which bowlers bowl assigned particular names serves at least three purposes. First, it aids spectators in getting to the ground and finding their seats in the particular stand in which they have got their tickets. Second, it lends more colour to the commentary...

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