And for a Friday after Men’s Cricket World Cup matches commence, some thoughts….. some musings…..
Cricket in India, as in the South Asian Subcontinent – Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan – is not just a sport. It’s a religion. Passion personified and the ultimate game involvement, more than 75% TV spectators consider themselves as experts with most never having played at all. Excitement and enjoyment in any Sport for Indians and Pakistanis world over is a live Cricket Final between India and Pakistan. There are ten countries who have qualified for this World Cup and will play against each other. The top four will go for the knockout semifinals at Mumbai and Kolkata and the finals will be at Ahmedabad on Sunday the 19th December. The International cricket council will earn more than 150 mn $s just from the sponsorship from Global and other partners including MRF Tyres, IndusInd Bank, MasterCard, Aramco, booking.com and Emirates. The Indian team as favourites will take home 30+ crores if they win the Cup.
The matches are being played in all major Metros. But the biggest attraction right now is the Saturday 14th October Match in Ahmedabad between India and Pakistan. The stadium has a capacity of well over one lakh seats. Every seat is sold out. Air tickets to Ahmedabad and even hotel accommodation from 12 to 15 October are not available. Such is the frenzy as these two teams are meeting in a cricket match in India after a very long time. I hope and pray our friends and well wishers from Pakistan who want to attend in person, all get their Visas in time and are able to enjoy their Indian visit. Babar Azam, the Pakistan Captain was all praise for the warm hospitality and welcome the Team received when they arrived in Hyderabad for their warm up matches. I fondly remember the love and affection me and my wife received whenever we visited Pakistan during my working days as Head of a German MNC in charge of South Asia. I pray for an enjoyable match and may the better team on the day, win.
Let’s all cherish the excitement and entertainment of the cricket extravaganza for the next six weeks, the sporting way, the enjoyable way, the SEEGOS way.