In India, you would often spot a space dedicated to a temple or a place of worship at public venues like stadiums, malls and even office spaces. It holds immense cultural significance in this part of the world, and it is customary to seek divine blessings. As you step into the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad your attention is drawn to the small temple situated in the middle of the main entrance overlooking the Dr MV Shridhar Entrance.
The deity here is Lord Ganesha, remover of obstacles and the God of success, which rather curiously was built roughly six years after the stadium came up. And why after such a long time after the construction of the stadium, you ask? Well, to change the fortunes of the home team and end a string of losses. And believe me, it did the trick!
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Sample this: before the temple was constructed, the Indian national team did not win a single game at this venue. Three losses in ODIs and a drawn Test. And after the temple came up? – 10 wins in 10 completed matches!!!
And the curse of home teams losing, or rather, the home teams struggling at this venue till 2011 extended to the domestic games as well as the IPL. Be it the Hyderabad team or South Zone teams that played here as their home venue, a win was a distant proposition.
“The home teams were struggling here and that’s when someone suggested to us that as per Vaastu certain things are not right with the stadium,” remembers S Venkateshwaran, joint secretary of Hyderabad Cricket Association in 2011. “They told us to conduct a puja and it was more aimed towards bringing some positive energy, good omen so to speak in the stadium. Our team (Hyderabad) was not doing well and there were a lot of issues we were facing from an administration point of view as well”.
“So I went and asked permission from our President at that time, Arshad Ayub, and he agreed. We then installed the Ganesh Chaturthi idol. It started in a very small way, just an idol, and then a pakka temple was constructed. As I said, the idea was to overcome hurdles. We called it Vijay Ganapathi (Victory Ganapthi),” adds Venkateshwaran, who would go on to become the HCA secretary the following year.
The construction began in 2011 and was completed before the India vs England ODI fixture later in October and India tasted their first win at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium with MS Dhoni hitting a 70 ball 87* in the 126-run Indian win.
In fact, Dhoni, as per Venkateshwaran, whenever he came to the stadium here thereafter, he made it a point to offer his prayers at the temple before entering the dressing room.
As for the Chargers, they claimed their maiden home win that very season but did go on to lose six of the seven matches. Hyderabad team went on to qualify from Plate group to Elite group in the 2011-12 season but are yet to go beyond the quarter-final stages of the Ranji Trophy till date. The white-ball teams also have not had any noteworthy performances in the last decade, their best result so far remains finishing runners-up to Maharashtra in the 2009-10 Syed Muhstaq Ali Trophy.
However, that leap of faith in 2011 seems to have done the trick for the Indian cricket team at least.
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