More than 120,000 spectators packed into the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India on Saturday to watch the men’s Cricket World Cup box-office clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.
However, almost all of them were Indian fans and were cheering for their team with the highest levels of energy they could muster.
India beat Pakistan by seven wickets in a lopsided match to maintain their unblemished 50-run World Cup record against their neighbours.
Pakistan were bowled out for 191 in the 43rd over after their batting line-up collapsed in characteristic fashion in the face of disciplined Indian bowlers.
To make it even more terrifying for the Pakistani players, the chants of the stadium announcer and spectators were clearly just to irritate the hosts.
This was also the case with music played in a cauldron-like setting.
Pakistan manager Mickey Arthur felt it all and couldn’t help but be “very honest” about what he felt was a partisan climate.
“It doesn’t feel like an ICC event to be quite honest,” Arthur said in the post-match press conference when asked how influential the partisan buildup was against the “shy” Pakistan team.
It seemed like a two-part series; “It looked like a BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) event.”
Arthur accused the organizers of the public address system of favoring India by refusing to play a popular patriotic song: “I did not hear Dil Dil Pakistan Come across the microphones often tonight.
But Arthur did not see that as an excuse for Pakistan’s indirect seven-wicket loss to India.
“So yes, that plays a role, but I won’t use that as an excuse because for us it was about living in the moment. It was about the next ball and it was about how we face the Indian players tonight.”
Pakistani fans were effectively banned from taking to the ground after failing to obtain visas to cross the border, leaving the arena filled with blue shirts of India fans as the home team cruised to a seven-wicket win.
Team Arthur was only supported by a small number of overseas Pakistani fans who made the trip from the US and UK.
Since the 2008 attacks on Mumbai, India and Pakistan have not played a full bilateral series, with New Delhi and Islamabad still at loggerheads diplomatically.
India failed to issue visas to Pakistani fans despite them already getting tickets for World Cup matches.
Arthur admitted that his side let themselves down with only skipper Babar Azam (50) and Mohammad Rizwan (49) contributing big runs.
“I thought we were a little shy,” Arthur said of the batting. “I thought maybe we could have beaten the Indian spinners a little more.”
Five Indian bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja – each grabbed two wickets as Pakistan slumped by 42.5 overs after being 155-2 at one stage.
“I think we have to realize there are always two ways to skin a cat,” Arthur said.
“We had success by digging deep and then capitalizing on the back end but we just weren’t able to do that.”
With the win, India extended their unbeaten record against Pakistan in World Cup finals to 8-0, with Arthur also taking part as head coach at the 2019 event in the UK.
“I can only explain 2019 and this year,” Arthur said. “I think we lost well in both games.”
Pakistan coach Grant Bradburn had similar feelings about the environment at one of the world’s biggest cricket stadiums.
The New Zealander believes it would have been better if Pakistani fans were in the stadium.
“We are really sad that our fans are not here and they would have loved to be here,” Bradburn said during a media interview after the match.
“Even the Indian fans loved having Pakistani fans in the stadium. So, it was really unusual in that way. There is no familiar music for us! Honestly, it didn’t feel like a World Cup match.”
Bradburn added: “We love this occasion and are disappointed that we did not do justice to this occasion or to our many fans at home and around the world.”
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