The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) has welcomed over 350000 fans during the fourth Boxing Day Test match between India and Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, an aggregate number that has closed the long-standing record for most of the fans who have attended a single red-ball clash in the country, as the Cricket Australia (CA) has confirmed on the fifth day of the fixture.
Boxing Day Test matches at the MCG always draw a huge number of fans around the ground in the week following Christmas, the most exciting period for Australian Cricket fans. With the number of total crowds being gone past the 80000 mark in each of the first three Tests at the Optus Stadium in Perth, the Adelaide Oval, and the Gabba in Brisbane, a strong show was expected to be dramatic in the MCG Test.
The MCG has seen 50000+ fans turning up on the fifth day, which has broken its record of 87 years. The previous highest turn-up in the five days of a Test match in Australia or at this ground was 350534 across the six days to watch the Ashes, held in January 1937. The main attention on that contest was around the former captain of the side, Sir Donald Bradman, who had established himself to be the first national celebrity in the sports arena.
MCG joins the record book to be the second-highest attendant Test match in history
The series was nicely poised up with a score line of 1-1 going to the venue after a rainy drawn result at the Gabba. The home side after winning the toss, decided to bat first on a good-looking surface. Sam Konstas, the 19-year-old debutant opening batter, smashed 60 runs in 65 balls as he took on the premier Indian pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, before Steve Smith celebrated another Test century.
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He got full support from the captain, Pat Cummins, as the home side posted a huge score of 474 in the first innings. India was in a struggling position at the MCG with seven wickets down for 221 runs before Nitish Kumar Reddy, who impressed in the debut series, and Washington Sundar put up a record partnership for the eighth wicket. The former celebrated his debut century in the format to guide India to a safe position.
Although the 40000 turned up on the fourth day of the Test match, despite it being Sunday, that didn’t push the CA to expect over 50000 on the fifth day, the game, where Australia was smelling victory to go 2-1 up in the New Year’s Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, attracted the spectators.
The MCG has projected over 70000 people to attend day five throughout the play, which would boost the attendance to over the part of 350000. On the opening day of the Test match, a remarkable number of 87000 fans made their way into the ground to enjoy two incredible teams sharing the field, putting pressure back on each other and not letting anything slip.
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CA announced that the tickets for the fifth day would be sold at AUA 10, roughly INR 530, while the entry for children under the age of 15 would be free of cost for the accessibility of the MCG crowd for the game.
However, it stands as the second-highest watchable Test in the history of the game, with the historic Test between India and Pakistan in 1999 at the Eden Gardens marking an unbelievable number of 465000 across five days.