Going for WC finals? You’ve bought backache and discomfort for Rs 12,500

Spectators who rested their derriere on Wankhede Stadium's brand new blue and green bucket seats for the Sri Lanka-New Zealand tie, say they are narrow and uncomfortable for a seven-hour match. The struggle for those who managed to bag a WC final ticket through online lottery might be far from over, say Sowmya Rajaram and Rinkita Gurav

Going for WC finals? You've bought backache and discomfort for Rs 12,500

Pic/Atul Kamble

A 49 year-old cricket fan who watched the March 19 tie between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, the second match to be held at the revamped stadium, was wriggling the whole time in one of the brand new bucket seats that have replaced the old benches at Mumbai's cricket landmark. "The bucket seats are small. They are uncomfortable, and would probably be more so for someone with a big behind," said the Marine Drive resident requesting anonymity.

Ironically, the bucket seats were installed as part of a Rs 275 crore revamp that the stadium kicked off in 2008, a massive overhaul that involved breaking down the benches and cement blocks that had functioned as seats for spectators since 1974. In fact, authorities have claimed how they sacrificed seating capacity for comfort, replacing benches with bucket seats, bringing down seating capacity from 38,000 to 33,317.

"As I sat there watching the match, I wondered how a generously proportioned person would sit through seven hours!" she said. It's not hard to see what she means. Well-placed MCA sources confirm that the bucket seats are a mere 18 inches in depth (from back to front) and 16 inches in width (from side to side).

While that's slightly more restricting than a regular office chairu00a0-- a spot measurement at out own office revealed that our chairs measured 18 inches in depth and widthu00a0-- Wankhede's bucket chairs don't have the comfort that arm rests, cushioning, and free space between the back and base, all features of regular office chairs, provide. It's definitely not the most ergonomic situation for your spine to be in for the seven-hour duration of a cricket match.

The city's orthopaedic surgeons agree. "The bucket seats you are mentioning are not optimal. The back is not contoured, and so you are forced to hunch forward in your seat, while the seat, which should be inclined a bit backwards like a car seat, is actually inclined forward and downward. Lastly, having a hinge that connects the two portions, like a seat in a movie theatre or even most stadia abroad, gives you a little more leeway to be able to accommodate and position yourself comfortably. But the seats at Wankhede don't seem to offer that," says Dr Arun Mullaji, leading orthopaedic surgeon and consultant with Breach Candy Hospital and Cumballa Hill Hospital.

For instance, The Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park, where The Australian Open is held every January, has bucket seats that fold up when not in use. They can be pulled down and make it easier to accommodate yourself.

While some may argue that the seats will pose greater discomfort only for the oversized, the fact that the distance between two bucket seats is just three inches means you are likely to smack your neighbour each time you flay your arms about in excitement at a sixer.

An MCA source agreed, on condition of anonymity: "Yes, the seats are quite snug, and the distance between individual seats is not much." Khar resident Milind Mestry who was also at the March 19 match, says, "The idea of individual bucket seats is great, but I agree that they are a bit cramped for larger people."

The architect firm behind the Wankhede revamp, Shashi Prabhu & Associates, is the same company that designed the original stadium in 1974, following it up with some of the most prominent stadia in the country including the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, the Assam Cricket Association stadium in Guwahati and the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Nagpur with a seating capacity of 40,000.

Reacting to spectators' complaints of discomfort, Shashi Prabhu says, "These are standard sized seats used across the world. Yes, we could have gone for larger ones but that would have meant reducing the number of seats further. It's a personal thing, really. Big people need bigger seats. It's a huge improvement from the benches. Some people will always have issues."

PK Das, head of Mumbai architect firm PK Das Associates that worked on the revamp of the 40 year-old venue with Shashi Prabhu, dismisses the concerns, saying, "These seats are made for an average-sized person."

What perhaps falls in the architects' favour is the fact that spectators who have braved Wankhede's benches agree that the new seats may not be the best but they are better off than the benches. Dr Mullaji, who himself has watched matches sitting on the old wooden benches at Wankhede, says, "Benches are terrible for the back. At least bucket seats offer some back support."

Vile Parle resident Ashish Gandhi who was at the stadium for the New Zealand-Sri Lanka encounter says it's "just a question of a day. It's the experience of watching a match in the stadium that counts."

But the mad scramble for the mere 4,000 tickets that were available to the general public through an online lottery after the ICC decided against over the counter sales after police had trouble controlling crowds during group games in Bengaluru and Nagpur, and the fat ticket rateu00a0-- Rs 12,500 for the finalsu00a0-- has left spectators wondering whether it'll be worth it.

Ratnakar Shetty, Tournament Director, World Cup 2011, says the administration and architects have done the best they could for cricket lovers. "The issue is subjective, and personal. Everyone's needs differ. The architects have considered all aspects and made general style seating for the average spectator. We cannot fulfill everyone's needs. The quality is far better than seating on benches."

And the quality only gets better if you have money to splurge. A recent media report claimed Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani had shelled out a cool Rs 5 crore on three corporate boxes in the MCA Pavilion at the southern end of the renovated stadium.

There are 57 such corporate boxes at the revamped Wankhede, each with a capacity to seat 16 people. These come with every comfort money can buy. Bucket seats make way for plush couches that have a princely depth of 24 inches and a width of 20 inchesu00a0-- enough to seat the 'biggest' of cricket aficionados. That's not all. The three air-conditioned corporate boxes house LCD TVs, video-matrix score cards, personal attendants, food and drinks and offer you the best view of the game.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels