Fans deride empty stadium at Cricket World Cup opener. Heralded as the most eagerly awaited cricket spectacle of the year, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 commenced in India with much fanfare. The stage was set in the world’s largest cricket stadium, a nation that reveres the sport like no other. However, as the tournament finally kicked off in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, which was renamed in honor of the Indian Prime Minister in 2021, the sight that greeted spectators was far from expected.
Fans deride empty stadium at Cricket World Cup opener
In stark contrast to its mammoth seating capacity of 120,000, only a sparse few thousand seats were filled, painting a surreal image of empty saffron-colored stands. This unexpected turnout prompted a wave of astonishment among cricket enthusiasts, with England women’s cricketer Danni Wyatt taking to X (formerly Twitter) to pose the perplexing question, “Where’s the crowd?” Her Indian counterpart, Jemimah Rodrigues, responded optimistically, suggesting that the emotional cricket audience was reserving their presence for the much-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan scheduled for Saturday, October 14.
