AHMEDABAD: When one lands at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport in Ahmedabad, a digital display that reads ‘Welcome to the home of Gujarat Titans.. Best wishes for #CWC23.. Aava De’ welcomes you. Outside, one can feel the dry heat that is imbibed in the nature of the city. If you take a ride through the city, it is hard to predict that Ahmedabad is getting ready to host one of the most anticipated matches of the ongoing World Cup — India vs Pakistan — on Saturday.
Things are going as usual. There is not much buzz with respect to hoardings or banners for the tournament or the clash. The people, however, are excited. They are confident that the Narendra Modi Stadium, the biggest cricket venue in the world, would be packed in blue with India defeating Pakistan. This excitement is largely internal until one reaches the Motera Road. Once you are in front of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave — the home of the Modi Stadium — one look around and you would feel like you have stepped into a different city.
The crowd is buzzing around, in desperate pursuit of tickets, the local vendors and shops are thriving, but there is something else that strikes you the most. The number of police on the Motera road and inside the stadium. Outside, in black, blue and green polo T-shirts officials from all departments — Cyber Crime, Crime Branch, Special Operations Group, Economic Offences Wing — are hanging in groups in different stalls and gates surveying the place while an eye on security. Just inside, there are hundreds of policemen and women standing in position, listening to the instructions that was being given by the higher officials.
Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Jay Shah visited the venue in the evening while Zaka Ashraf, Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB's) chairman of the cricket management committee, is expected to arrive in Ahmedabad on Thursday night. Around 25 Pakistan journalists, who had finally got the visas, are expected to attend the game on Saturday. As the evening passed by, Pakistan are doing their fielding drills on the field while Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan hit the nets — which is fully covered that the media had to get a bird’s eye view from the top in one of the stands — with bowling coach Morne Morkel bowling to them.
Just outside the venue, Dipak Solanki, someone who works in finance, talks about how much things have changed on the Motera road since the 2011 World Cup. He says that fans keep coming and asking if tickets are available every day to him and his friends who hang around the tea shop opposite the ground. “Look at all the security here. It is not always like this. Fans who didn’t get the tickets are trying to get hold of them in the black market. Online ticketing, I also tried with three to four devices but didn’t get it initially. Had to wait for a long time to get it. Some of them are selling it as high as Rs 15-20 thousand,” says Solanki. The conversation drifts toward the ceremony planned where actor Amitabh Bachchan and singer Arjit Singh are set to perform. Solanki is excited, and so are his friends. One could feel that the India-Pakistan game is well and truly here.
Meanwhile, in about nine kilometers Southwest of the colosseum that is Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave resides another stadium in the name of independent India's first Home Minister, at Navrangpura. The Sardar Patel Stadium, owned by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, is one of the oldest in the city. In fact, this ground hosted the first-ever ODI that Indian men played in the country in 1981. It also hosted two women’s Tests before losing its place as an international venue to the then Motera Stadium. Since then, it has remained home to several local school tournaments where the local lad Jasprit Bumrah and several Indian cricketers have played. The last it hosted a domestic game was in January 2021 when Tamil Nadu beat Baroda to win the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy.
Once a historic venue, the ground is undergoing a complete overhaul with the entire outfield being relaid by the city corporation. It hasn’t hosted any game in months. The concrete stands are being swept and cleaned as several school kids walk-in with their kit bags on a hot afternoon.
One among them is Gupta Radhe who is there for his U-14 training with The Central Board of Cricket Ahmedabad. Before getting into the ground to start the warm-ups and laps, he shares his excitement about the India-Pakistan game. Along with 31 other kids who train there, Radhe will be there on Saturday cheering for the Indian team. For at the moment, it is the journey to this Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave and the Narendra Modi Stadium is the one that matters.