In Sleepy Ahmedabad, The Buzz Is Missing On The Eve Of The World Cup

Remember 'It's coming home'- that catchy song which became a running theme all over England when their football team had a dream run at home during Euro 2020!? As the ODI World Cup action returns here after 12 years, shouldn't India, cricket's real home, have a song that's on everyone's lips?

- Rasesh Mandani

Well, the Cup has a theme song, but ask any fan if 'Dil jashn bole' rings a bell and they may have to Google it. It hasn't caught on.

It's similar to the hype quotient, or lack of it in Ahmedabad, on eve of the tournament opener between defending champions England and New Zealand. That epic final at Lord's feels like distant history.

As you land in Gujarat's administrative headquarters, 'Amdavaad' as the locals call it, you find one ICC sponsor to have booked a slot on the electronic advertising billboard that keeps switching commercials. There also a large sized World Cup trophy cut-out at one corner of the airport. But as one moves out and towards the Narendra Modi stadium, there's nothing in the city to draw fans' attention to the big event in town.

Much before the cricket stadium in Motera got a new name, it's been accustomed to record breaking cricket scripts unfolding. Sunil Gavaskar scaled Mt 10,000 in Test cricket here. It was here that Kapil Dev broke Richard Hadlee's world record. In the fitness of things, the stadium is set to add another feather to its cap with the highest spectator turnout for a World Cup cricket match 1,30,000 of them. Some accounts say 1,10,000. But that's about October 14 when India clashes with Pakistan.