TODAY
India vs Pakistan is always a much hyped game of any tournament. Indo-Pak match seperates out of the tournament and is itself one of the biggest match.
India will be almost closed to watch this exciting tie and all Indians will watch this match with more enzity.Most of them will not work on this day to watch this exciting match of the world cup. It will not get bigger than this. Everyone will watch every single ball of the match. The clash between players is very exciting to watch.
India vs Pakistan is always a much hyped game of any tournament. Indo-Pak match seperates out of the tournament and is itself one of the biggest match.
Teams
India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 6 Virat Kohli/Dinesh Karthik, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9, 10 and 11 three out of Ishant Sharma, RP Singh, Ashish Nehra and Amit Mishra.
Pakistan (probable) 1 Imran Nazir, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Younis Khan (capt.), 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Mohammad Yousuf, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 9 Mohammad Aamer, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Saeed Ajmal
Match Timings: 1430 Local, 1230 GMT, 1800 IST
Catch the action of ICC World Cup 2011 LIVE @ www.TheCricket-TV.com
Read more: India vs Pakistan: The day 1 billion people call in sick | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/mumbai/life/india-vs-pakistan-cricket-world-cup-416115#ixzz1I1l57Kgx
It seems that the semi final between arch rivals India and Pakistan is even bigger than the final of ICC World Cup 2011. After it was scheduled, the whole nation couldn’t find anything else to talk about, some companies have declared holidays to give a treat to their employees and big names including politicians & tycoons are seeking permissions for their jets to land in Mohali to witness the mother of all clashes in this Maha Kumb of cricket.
With the scale of the match has gone so big, there is no wonder that the amount of money being bet is also huge. While bookies are refusing to hazard a guess as to the amount being wagered, sources said that the money bet on Wednesday’s match is easily more than all the money bet on India’s matches in the World Cup so far.
“This is big, India and Pakistan have not played for a long while, and so everyone is betting on it. Even those who don’t usually bet are calling the punters and putting in Rs.50,000 to Rs.5 lakh,” said a bookie on condition of anonymity.
The punters said that India was the overwhelming favourite to win the match and the rates reflect that. Bookies have slotted India at 58 paise while Pak is at Rs1.60. So if one bets Rs.100 on India and they win, one would get 58 paise on every rupee.
Similarly, if one puts Rs.100 on Pak and they win, one would get Rs.2.60 for every rupee. “These are home conditions, our batting is strong, we have been favourites from the beginning and the team has not disappointed.
“India has played well. Against England, they managed to tie a match that could have been lost. We played well against South Africa but lost the match in the last over.
“Pakistan, on the other hand, have not been challenged as strongly. They did win against Australia but it is not given much importance. Similarly, the win against Sri Lanka does not matter as they did not have Lasith Malinga in their team,” said a bookie.
Interestingly, he added that there are many ‘patriotic’ punters who would bet on India even if the team was not in a good position.
“There are many deshbhakt (patriotic) Indian punters who always bet on a match involving India and Pakistan. “It wouldn’t matter if India was playing on a docile wicket in Sharjah on a Friday or in a fast-bowler friendly wicket in Rawalpindi, they would still bet all their money on India if they were playing against Pakistan. That’s how it goes and that’s how it has always been,”said the bookie.
Dhoni in the match presentation ceremony against Australia mentioned that people would now be of the view that Team India shall win semi final and it wouldn’t matter if they do not bring the cup home, but the skipper clarified that every game is equally important and there is no better thing than lifting the prestigious trophy of cricket.
- Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
- When India takes on Pakistan on Wednesday, little work is likely to get done.
The Indian Premier League has been airing ads that riff off the frequent countrywide strikes in its “Bharat Bandh” campaign, proclaiming that India will shut down when the IPL’s fourth season kicks off on April 8. But judging by the preparations across India for Wednesday, when India battles Pakistan at the cricket World Cup for a spot in the finals, the shutters look more likely to be coming down midweek.
Come Wednesday and it’s very likely that there’ll be lots of sick calls coming in to managers—that is if he or she is in to take those calls.
On Facebook, users have already created event pages calling for a “national holiday” on the day of the semi-final match, and invited other members of the social networking site to attend. One such page already has over 7,000 people “attending.”
From asthma attacks to vertigo to sudden “field” visits, the excuses are likely to be legion.
“I have applied for emergency leave, claiming that I have suddenly realized that I’m scared of heights and have to see a therapist,” a report in The Times of India Monday quoted a pilot, who has tickets for the match, as saying.
Some companies have thrown in the towel and announced they’ll give all employees a half-day off so they can rush home and watch the match, which starts at 2:30 p.m. IST at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. Other are trying to lure employees into office by promising to install big screens in offices and offer refreshments in the second half of the day.
It’s not the greatest timing for firms since it’s March 30, the second to last day of India’s financial year, which is why Dabur India, which gave employees a holiday for the T20 final between the archrivals in 2007, isn’t sure yet whether it can do that this time, The Economic Times reported.
Still, some businesses are doing well. Shops that sell Team India and World Cup merchandise are experiencing an uptick in demand for stuffed toys of mascot Stumpy, an elephant, as the Indian team gets closer to the finals.
The scene across the border is pretty much the same. Pakistan daily The News reported that cricket fans in Pakistan are pestering professors to cancel university classes on the day of the match.
Mohali, Mar 27 (PTI) Cricket fever was at its peak today as scores of fans lined up outside the PCA stadium hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars while some searched desperately for non-existent tickets for the high-voltage semi-final between India and Pakistan here today.
Thousands of fans lined up outside the stadium, where battery of electronic mediapersons were stationed with their OB vans giving live feeds and news updates ahead of the match.
Fans were desperately searching for tickets of the 28,000 capacity stadium, not realizing that 16,000 of those earmarked for the general public had been sold as early as Tuesday.
Chandigarh police, meanwhile, arrested three youngsters from near Chandigarh”s IT Park for allegedly trying to sell some tickets at astronomical prices in black market.
Chandigarh Police sources said the accused were in the age group of 18-20 years.
Police said that the accused had two tickets of Rs 250 each and one ticket of Rs 500, which they were trying to sell for Rs 56,000.
A trap was laid and a decoy customer was sent after which the arrests were made, the sources said.
Police are also keeping a strict watch on those trying to cash-in on the high craze among the fans to watch the semis after news of black marketing of tickets emerged.
Allegations are ripe that tickets priced at Rs 250 have rised to Rs 3,000 while Rs 1,000 priced tickets have been selling for Rs 10,000 in the black market.
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