A visit to surrounding hospitals demonstrates the excitement of fans ahead of Saturday’s Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan, who are bitter rivals. Cricket fever has swept over Ahmedabad.
Several hospitals have experienced an unexpected surge in patients scheduled for overnight stays for check-ups in conjunction with the most anticipated World Cup group stage games.
Several medical professionals informed the local press that the craze for check-up “packages” was a clever method to obtain cheap lodging because hotel rates had increased by up to 20 times before Saturday’s game.
Tushar Patel, President of the Ahmedabad Medical Association, said, “We have encountered some cases of people coming to watch the India-Pakistan match also taking an appointment for health check-ups and staying in hospitals.”
Members of the Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association are advised against housing this kind of fan.
“Our members have been asked not to grant such requests. Hospitals are not for those who are not sick, Bharat Gadhavi, the president, said to Reuters.
Both India and Pakistan have won their first two tournament matches going into this matchup.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released an additional 14,000 seats earlier this month after the first batch of tickets for Saturday’s match sold out in less than an hour after going on sale in August.
Ahmedabad resident Hemish Patel and his friends, after several days of failed attempts, grabbed four tickets, each costing 6,000 Indian rupees (£59).
He claimed, “We used several devices to log into the website.” “We were able to make reservations within 10 minutes of the ticket sales starting,” said one user who was constantly browsing the website.
Patel was among the fortunate few. Reselling tickets can fetch up to 25 times their face value, and on Tuesday, municipal police detained four young people for peddling counterfeit tickets.
The cost of flying has increased by up to four times, and Indian Railways will operate two extremely quick trains that connect Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
A venue fit for cricket’s most intense rivalry appears to be the 134,000-seat Narendra Modi Stadium, which has played host to both Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and former US President Donald Trump in 2020.
According to Ahmedabad police commissioner GS Malik, 11,000 security guards will be stationed throughout the high-profile event, and the city has been declared a “no-drone zone” on Saturday.
Pakistan played their first two matches of the tournament in Hyderabad, where they were greeted with great hospitality on their first tour of India since the 2016 T20 World Cup.
While the rivalry takes the Orwellian concept of serious sport – “war minus the shooting” – players from both sides maintain strong relations despite India’s perfect 7-0 record against Pakistan at the ODI World Cup.
The footage of Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi giving Jasprit Bumrah a present for the Indian’s newborn baby during the Asia Cup leg in Sri Lanka last month went viral.
For Indian Liyakat Khan, whose daughter Samiya is married to Pakistani fast bowler Hasan Ali, it will undoubtedly be a momentous occasion.
Khan told the Indian Express newspaper, “My wife went to Pakistan in 2021 when my daughter was expecting her first child.” “We’ll get together again. I’m eager to hold my grandchild.
