00:00 Cricket World Cup kicked off in India today, with England taking on New Zealand in the
00:04 opening match.
00:05 The event, of course, kicking off as cricketing bodies grapple over the format of the game
00:10 in the future, with some arguing that one-day internationals are the way to go, while others
00:14 simply say it's too long.
00:17 For more, we can go across to Sarah Jacobs, standing by in New Delhi.
00:20 Sarah, great to see you.
00:21 All eyes of the cricketing world will be on India, just a month after the country hosted
00:26 G20 leaders.
00:27 That's right, Jano.
00:30 India has barely recovered from hosting the G20, and we're in the limelight again as the
00:34 Cricket World Cup kicks off as we speak, with England going up against New Zealand in the
00:40 opening match at the newly built 130,000-seat auditorium, named after the sitting Prime
00:47 Minister Narendra Modi.
00:48 Of course, hosting a World Cup means millions of dollars in domestic and global sponsorship
00:53 flowing into India, and it is quite the coup.
00:56 It is a feather in the cap for the government, given that India is in an election year, and
01:02 India is hosting this World Cup event, World Cup, World Championships for the first time
01:09 in 12 years.
01:10 That's a decade in which the BCCI, that is the body that governs the game of cricket
01:15 in India, has become one of the richest sporting bodies in the world.
01:20 But India hosting the World Cup is not without its controversies.
01:23 This is an election year, so nothing can avoid being seen through a political lens.
01:29 The Modi Stadium in the Prime Minister's home state of Gujarat, which is also the state
01:33 where he stands for election, it's hosting the cream of the match is scheduled for the
01:37 World Cup.
01:38 The opening, the closing games, the marquee match, that's the India versus Pakistan match,
01:43 will also be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
01:46 And there are leaders from the opposition parties of two states, at least Kerala and
01:50 Punjab, for example, have asked why their states, those are states governed by opposition
01:55 parties, have been left out.
01:58 And cricket, as you know, is like a religion in India.
02:01 And so, and it's the most popular sport, the sport followed most by Indians.
02:08 And so there's a lot of political capital to be gained here, especially in an election
02:13 year.
02:15 Pakistan is participating.
02:17 And of course, the India Pakistan match will be one of the main matches to watch if you're
02:23 in India.
02:24 But that, Pakistan's participation didn't come without its controversy, given that the
02:29 players were issued visas to India at the very last minute.
02:33 Well, this is going to be the first time in seven years that India and Pakistan traditionally
02:39 seen as conventionally seen as arch enemies, political foes.
02:43 This will be the first time that they're playing each other on Indian soil.
02:46 This is, of course, following that attack, the Mumbai attacks, the Pakistani terror attack
02:50 in Mumbai in 2008.
02:53 Pakistan has not played in any bilateral series on Indian soil since 2013.
02:58 There's no Pakistani player in the very popular IPL franchise.
03:03 Nobody has fielded or bought a Pakistani player.
03:06 So really, this game in Ahmedabad on the 14th, that's going to be this enclosure of all eyes.
03:11 And you're right.
03:12 That said, the Pakistani team almost didn't make it.
03:14 They were inexplicably not issued a visa just until two days before the games.
03:21 And there's been no explanation for this, either by the BCCI or the ICC.
03:26 And of course, remember, this is a critical match, a crucial match.
03:31 India's had troubles in the past when it comes to India-Pak games.
03:35 The previous match when Pakistan defeated India in a game in 2021, there were Kashmiri
03:40 students who were horrifically attacked by right-wing extremist Hindu groups.
03:45 You had an Indian cricketer who was mercilessly trolled on social media by these right-wing
03:51 Hindu groups and its members.
03:54 And the government really was criticized for not being seen as doing anything to prevent
04:00 all of this.
04:01 And given that this is an election year, there's really no incentive to extend an olive branch
04:05 because the core voter, the core BJP voter tends to get excited to vote because of anti-Pakistani
04:15 rhetoric.
04:16 That said, I must say that the Pakistani team was given a very warm welcome when they arrived
04:21 in India because perhaps the true cricket lover in India understands that politics must
04:27 be kept away from the game.
04:29 Cricket, as you said, is a religion in India.
04:32 Remember, you don't even need to watch the match in your apartment in Bombay to know
04:36 what's going on because everyone around you is literally watching it and you can hear
04:39 it.
04:40 Thank you very much for that, Sarah.
04:41 Sarah Jacob reporting there from New Delhi.
04:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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