Almost anything to just be at an Indo-Pak World Cup game

A record crowd from different financial and social backgrounds, even the differently abled, made it to Ahmedabad on Saturday

Ayush, 19, is wheelchair-bound. He struggles as he names his favourite cricketer – Virat Kohli. It is in cricket that he finds solace. His father, a gynecologist in Ahmedabad, has escorted his son to keep their date with the most anticipated match of this ODI World Cup.

A huge crowd of cricket fans watch the match between India and Pakistan in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, at Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad. (BCCI Twitter)

Tickets? “God is kind. I know a few people who helped,” says Dr. Rajan. As he traverses through a sea of supporters in Indian blue, the security guards help to clear their passage inside the stadium.

Then there are those like Ritesh, several hundreds of them who don’t have a ticket to get into the stadium. Before the first ball is bowled, as Shankar Mahadevan sings ‘Suno gaur se duniyawalon’ inside, they have crowded the entry gates in the hope that someone with a valid ticket may be there to make a quick buck and they would get a ticket on a bargain price. Many don’t even know that they don’t sell tickets over the counter anymore. A few locals get lucky while most others turn away empty-handed.

So, who constituted the estimated 100,000-plus fans who witnessed India boost their impregnable record against Pakistan to 8-0 at ODI World Cups? What really represents cricket-crazy India that sponsors want to woo by splashing big dollars for brand recall?

Take Vivek, senior executive at a multinational in Hyderabad. His office has taken the opportunity to use the India-Pakistan match as an office off-site trip. A number of them are occasional cricket watchers. But being here in person is a status symbol. Vivek and his colleagues add to the multitude of selfie posts that make #INDvPAK trend on social media.

There are others like 35-year-old Milan, who works for a leading logistics firm. “The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat train was full of cricket enthusiasts,” he says. Milan’s train trip cost him Rs.1,425. But for a match ticket priced at Rs. 3,500, he paid Rs. 35,000 on the black market. “I know someone who purchased a ticket for Rs. 60,000,” he says. It took some time for Milan to climb the corporate ladder, but an India-Pakistan ticket is no longer out of bounds.

Sugumar from Bengaluru, a regular at Royal Challengers Bangalore’s IPL matches, also travelled to Ahmedabad for the big game. His day job is with Kerry Indev Logistics. “My boss is a cricket enthusiast and allows me to travel for sport all around the world,” says Sugumar, face painted in the Indian tricolour and sweat pouring down his face with the pullover he wears adding to the heat.

After a lacklustre crowd response in the tournament opener in Ahmedabad between the 2019 finalists England and New Zealand, a match with so many desperately wanting to just be here, was always going to fill the stadium. It didn’t matter it is the world’s largest cricket venue. There was one Pakistani fan who had come from Chicago, and a lakh-plus Indians wearing all shades of blue. India coach Rahul Dravid would probably not know, but the reality firm he has endorsed was selling flats in Mumbai with the promise of an India-Pakistan match ticket.

A travel agency ferried people to Ahmedabad on Saturday morning, provided them a luxury match ticket and flew them back to Mumbai for a cool Rs. 1.10 lakh. That was because the rates for hotel rooms in Ahmedabad had gone through the roof. There was also a group of cricket regulars from the UAE and UK who flew for the match.

Then you meet Bhushan. A modest cricket coach in Mumbai, he didn’t have deep pockets but had great patience with the online ticket booking process. In the third round of ticket sales on BookMyShow, he got tickets for the match worth Rs. 2,000, for him and three friends. Sitting on the lower level of Block D at the Narendra Modi Stadium, they made as much noise as those who shelled out ten times more for the same ticket.

Not all cricketers believe in luck, but cricket lovers in India know they need deep pockets or oodles of luck. On Saturday, they had the bonus of a thumping India win.