There is only one stadium in the world larger than the Narendra Modi Stadium and that, in Pyongyang, is unlikely to host cricket any time soon. Even when empty, a massive ring filled with 132,000 seats in bright orange, yellow and blue, Ahmedabad’s sporting superbowl is a remarkable sight. Before the World Cup, every available surface has been decorated in the tournament’s predominantly pink and purple livery and the result is, in the best possible way, like the aftermath of a riot in a poster-paint factory.
But step outside the ground – literally just outside, to the concrete concourse that encircles it, and anywhere beyond that – and there is little sign that this tournament exists. Only international arrivals to the city’s airport see the small stand there marking it, and there is barely a banner or a signpost to advertise it to the city’s 7.5 million residents. Before arriving at the stadium, the only clear indication this correspondent saw that a major cricket tournament is about to begin in this city came when Kumar Dharmasena and Nitin Menon, who will umpire the opening game, sat down with a group of officials at an adjacent table for dinner.
On Wednesday the captains of all 10 competing nations took part in a presentation in the lavish ballroom of the Gujarat Cricket Association, down the road from the stadium, where India’s Rohit Sharma insisted World Cup fever was, in fact, gripping the nation. “The excitement that people have, it is not just in one or two cities, it’s spread across the entire country,” he said.
“Anywhere you go, the talk is about the World Cup. Even when we got into the warm-up games, like a month back, every time we were travelling in India the talk was all about the World Cup. In India it is quite common that every big event that is supposed to happen in the country, people get quite excited. Cricket being the biggest sport in India, I’m not surprised with the excitement that people have.”
Even so, over the next seven weeks, few captains will face harder challenges than organisers have had in filling those 132,000 seats for a game not featuring the rabidly supported hosts in the few weeks since tickets went on sale. They are still available, while others have been offered to local groups, and the International Cricket Council is referring questions about sales to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which is referring them straight back again. The length of the tournament has proved off-putting to potential long-distance travellers, while India has not issued visas to supporters from nearer nations – as it stands Pakistan will not be able to send any fans or journalists at all.
The last few weeks here have been filled with fevered speculation about the blockbuster opening ceremony that would launch the tournament. There would be fireworks and a laser show. An all-star selection of Bollywood stars and singers would perform, with the list of those named running from Ranveer Singh, the actor and singer who took lead vocals on the official tournament anthem, Dil Jashn Bole, to Asha Bhosle, the 90-year-old Queen of Indipop. It would put the opening ceremony for this year’s Indian Premier League, itself a star-studded extravaganza held in the same stadium, well and truly in the shade.
And then, just hours before the tournament was due to start, the ICC announced its plans: there would be no opening ceremony. There was never going to be one. Instead, shortly before 2pm local time on Thursday afternoon, Sachin Tendulkar – who signed up as the World Cup’s global ambassador on Tuesday while declaring he was “excitedly looking forward to this fantastic tournament” – will walk out with the trophy, and then some blokes will start playing cricket.
At which point the tournament that has been easy to ignore will suddenly be hard to avoid – and hopefully with good reason. This should be the most high-octane World Cup yet: four years is long enough for the game to evolve significantly, and since 2019 one-day internationals have become more high-scoring affairs. The template England set on their way to winning the last tournament has been widely followed and in particular the middle overs, once seen as an opportunity for teams to regroup between the opening powerplay and a late-innings surge, are now relished by batting sides who have wised up to the possibilities offered by fielding restrictions.
In 2019 India had never scored at more than 5.76 an over across a calendar year; they have broken that record in three of the four years since. Eight of the 10 competing nations have set records since 2020, each of them honing their lineups and their approaches with these next few weeks in mind.
“You look at a World Cup and it’s always, you know, it’s always on the horizon. It’s always years away,” said Tom Latham, who will stand in for the injured Kane Williamson as New Zealand captain for the opening game. “And then to finally be here, it’s really exciting.”
