Cricket fever has gripped Ahmedabad ahead of Saturday’s World Cup group stage clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan and a visit to the hospitals near the venue of the match in the western Indian city clearly shows the degree of excitement.
Quite a few of the hospitals have seen a sudden influx of patients booked in for check-ups involving a night’s stay to coincide with the most anticipated match of the World Cup.
The Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association has discouraged its members from accommodating such fans.
“We have asked our members not to entertain such requests. Hospitals are not meant for non-patients,” its president Bharat Gadhavi said.
Cricket fans in Ahmedabad have started booking hospital beds to watch Pakistan vs India World Cup clashThe fans are asking for a full body check-up to make sure to give a valid reason for their stay at the hospital. They are booking rooms which provide meals too ♂️♂️ #CWC23…— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) October 12, 2023
India and Pakistan head into the showdown having both won their opening two matches at the tournament.
The first batch of tickets for Saturday’s game were sold out within an hour of going on sale in August, prompting the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to release another 14,000 earlier this month.
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Ahmedabad resident Hemish Patel and his friends, after several days of failed attempts, grabbed four tickets, each costing 6,000 Indian rupees ($72.15).
“We logged into the site with multiple devices,” he said.
“We constantly kept on refreshing the site and were able to book within 10 minutes after the sale of tickets began.”
Tickets are fetching up to 25 times face value on resale and city police arrested four youths on Tuesday for selling fakes. On top of it all, airfare has surged up to four times and Indian railways will run a pair of super fast trains linking Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
India have a perfect 7-0 record against Pakistan at ODI World Cups and while the rivalry assumes the Orwellian concept of serious sport — “war minus the shooting” — players from both sides share good relations.
During the Sri Lanka leg of the Asia Cup last month, Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi gave Jasprit Bumrah a gift for the Indian’s newborn baby and the video went viral.
It will be a special occasion for Indian Liyakat Khan, whose daughter Samiya is married to Pakistan fast bowler Hasan Ali.
“My wife went to Pakistan in 2021 when my daughter was expecting her first child. We will meet again … I can’t wait to hold my grandchild,” Khan was quoted as saying to media.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Reuters)