Fans willing to spend night in hospital to catch rivals’ epic clash
Cricket fever has gripped the city which will host tomorrow’s World Cup group stage clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, and interestingly, a visit to hospitals near the venue clearly shows the degree of excitement.
Quite a few of them have seen a sudden influx of patients booked in for check-ups, involving a night’s stay, to coincide with the most-anticipated match of the World Cup.
Several doctors told local media the rush for check-up ‘packages’ was an ingenious way to find affordable accommodation as hotel costs have soared twentyfold ahead of the match.
“We have come across some cases of people coming to watch the India-Pakistan match also taking an appointment for health check-ups and staying in hospitals,” Tushar Patel, president of the Ahmedabad Medical Association, told Reuters.
The Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association has discouraged its members from accommodating such fans.
“We have asked our members not to entertain such requests. Hospitals are not meant for non-patients,” its president Bharat Gadhavi told Reuters.
Thousands of fans have descended on the western Indian city from across the country and overseas to witness a rare meeting of the bitter cricket rivals at the 132,000-seater stadium named after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A prominent hotel in the city usually charges 6,000 rupees ($72) for a deluxe room but on Friday, Saturday and Sunday the price for a day has been hiked to 70,000 rupees ($841).
However, by checking into a city hospital for a health check, the cost is 7,000 rupees ($84) a day “It’s a double act, I believe.
They want a full-body check up and an overnight stay, probably to watch the match,” a city doctor told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“These are mostly non-resident Indians from the United States and the UK who have booked deluxe one-bed rooms and have opted for a full health package.”
The doctor added: “We have to be cautious with these bookings, because our primary aim is patient care. We can’t just hand out a bed to watch the match. But we can’t deny check-ups for patients with medical history.”
Prices of flights have also gone up during the weekend while Indian railways has added two special trains for fans travelling between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
The two neighbours only play cricket with each other in international tournaments and their last bi-lateral meeting was when Pakistan toured India in 2012.
Tickets sold out
The first batch of tickets for Saturday’s game were sold out within an hour of going on sale in August, prompting the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to release another 14,000 earlier this month.
Ahmedabad resident Hemish Patel and his friends, after several days of failed attempts, grabbed four tickets, each costing 6,000 Indian rupees ($72.15).
“We logged into the site with multiple devices,” he said. “We constantly kept on refreshing the site and were able to book within 10 minutes after the sale of tickets began.”
Patel was one of the lucky few. Tickets are fetching up to 25 times face value on resale and city police arrested four youths on Tuesday for selling fakes.
“We had booked a hotel in June soon after the schedule was announced, but had to re-adjust the dates when the match was brought forward by a day,” Henish Patel, who has flown in from Birmingham to meet his family and watch the match, told AFP.
“We usually come to India during Diwali [one of the biggest festivals of the Hindu calender] but this time it’s the India-Pakistan festival and here we are.”
Pakistan journalists only this week received visas to travel for the World Cup ahead of the big match. Fans, however, from across the border are still awaiting visa for travel to India.
Babar Azam’s Pakistan trained at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday evening while India reached the city a day after they hammered Afghanistan in New Delhi.
Security has been on high alert for the contest with 11,000 police personnel deployed outside the stadium, which resembles a fortress even two days ahead of the match.
The city has been declared a ‘no-drone zone’ on Saturday, and 11,000 security personnel will be deployed for the high-profile match, Ahmedabad police commissioner GS Malik said.
