It was a humongous build-up to the highly-anticipated India vs Pakistan clash in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 as it should as the two teams are playing an ODI in India after more than a decade. It was probably the biggest match of the tournament given that the Pakistan cricket team has come to India after seven years keeping in mind the diplomatic situation between the two countries. Hence, a grand ceremony was put in place for pre-match and mid-innings performances but to the fans’ surprise, they weren’t televised by the host broadcaster Star Sports.
Since the timing of the ceremony to start was 12:30 PM IST, everyone had tuned in to watch the likes of Arijit Singh, Shankar Mahadevan, Sukhwinder Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan in action. However, after 5-7 minutes an upodated from Star Sports came that the ceremony was meant to be just for the ones attending the match live from the stadium. “The ceremony at the Narendra Modi Stadium before match 12 of ICC Men’s CWC 2023 (INDIA V PAKISTAN) has been planned for In-Stadia fans. The ceremony is not for broadcast,” Star Sports said in a statement.
It came as a shock to the fans as many wondered if it was an impulsive decision due to some issue or was always planned like this. Some even wondered what purpose was the ceremony serving when it wasn’t televised. Here are some of the reactions:
After the ceremony and the performances, cricket took the centre stage as India opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Since it was a flat wicket and the way it played in the tournament opener — getting better under lights — it was a good decision to bowl first but Pakistan batters made full use of good batting conditions scoring 156 runs in 30 overs.