New Delhi: Despite scorching heat and in the middle of the week, Delhiites turned up in good numbers to support hosts India against Afghanistan in their second match of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, here on Wednesday.
A DDCA official told IANS that they are expecting a packed house by evening as people are “winding up their work in offices and reaching the stadium”.
Meanwhile, a young cricket fan said, “It doesn’t matter whether it is heat or rain or anything. When it comes to Team India, we will be there to support them.”
Another fan said, “Who cares about heat? Let’s cheer for India.”
Earlier, there were memes doing the rounds when the marquee tournament started after fewer people came to Narendra Modi Stadium to watch the opener between defending champion England and New Zealand.
However, as the tournament progressed, it seemed to catch speed and attract more people to the stadium.
Earlier, Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat first against India.
While Afghanistan remained unchanged, India made one change in their line-up with Shardul Thakur coming in place of Ravichandran Ashwin.
Playing XI:
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
(IANS)
