World Cup for the fans: Sridhar

Hyderabad: The sixes are raining, fours flowing and teams dishing out exciting action as the World Cup hits top gear. Off the field, a much larger team has been working overtime to ensure everything falls in place at clockwork precision for the Big Bang. Heading the heady mix is M.V. Sridhar, Tournament Director. Having been a player, captain, official of the Hyderabad Cricket Association, Indian team’s media manager, team manager and the BCCI cricket operations manager, the 49-year-old is a crafty campaigner, an allrounder who knows more than a thing or two about every aspect of the game.

However, the T20 World Cup is a different ball game according to him. “This is the first time that the women’s as well as men’s World Cups are being hosted simultaneously. That makes it more than double the number of matches within the same time frame in terms of number of days, which is logistically a huge task,” he told this newspaper. “Matches are being played in eight cities across India and so the major challenge is to see that the movement of teams is unhindered. Huge emphasis is being laid on that aspect, especially given the distances they have to travel within the short gap between games. Each squad comprises 30-plus personnel and sports teams do travel heavy. We are talking of swift and efficient movement of two to two-and-a-half tonnes of luggage right through the tournament,” he explains.

That sits lightly on Sridhar’s seasoned shoulders though, courtesy having worked on the event management systems during the high-profile Fifa 2010 World Cup as a representative of part sponsors Tech Mahindra, of which he was the Sports Director. However, “there have been matches all around, the warm-ups and the works. I would say handling all this is a massive learning for me,” he says. The tournament’s success, in Sridhar’s book, is measured by fan satisfaction. “We want to project this event as the World Cup of the fans, who are an integral part of the tournament, evident from the various fan activities that have been executed in the run-up to the matches,” the Hyderabadi says.