In between watching India dominate Sri Lanka in a World Cup fixture, spectators made a beeline for free refreshments offered by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).
Ahead of the tournament, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that it would provide free drinking water to spectators at all 10 World Cup venues.
Last week, the MCA president Amol Kale decided that, in the non-hospitality area, every ticket holder will be provided with popcorn and a beverage, starting with the India versus Sri Lanka game.
Fans stand in a queue for free refreshments during the India vs Sri Lanka ICC World Cup match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini / The Hindu
The venue will host two more games of the tournament, including the first semifinal on November 15.
During the innings break, the queue only got longer.
“It is a good gesture by the MCA to provide the fans with refreshments in this sultry weather,” said Rohan, a college student, who was watching the game from the Sunil Gavaskar pavilion.
For a cause
Much before Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill mesmerised the crowd, chants of ‘Sachin, Sachin’ returned to Wankhede Stadium on Thursday afternoon as Sachin Tendulkar brought the coveted World Cup trophy to the field.
Sachin Tendulkar and Muttiah Muralitharan alongside Jay Shah, BCCI Honorary Secretary, Roger Binny, BCCI President, and Cynthia McCaffrey, representative of UNICEF India, before the match at Wankhede Stadium. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Being a UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) Regional Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia, Tendulkar and Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan joined the ‘One Day 4 Children’ - an initiative by the ICC and United Nations organisation.
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“As Regional Ambassador for Unicef South Asia, it’s been my privilege to bat for children and their rights. Every international cricketer, including myself, started as a child with a dream,” Tendulkar said.
Masking it up
As one walked towards the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday morning, a bunch of boys were spotted outside the Churchgate station, donning Virat Kohli’s masks.
They chanted Kohli’s name as they gathered outside the iconic venue, hoping to see their favourite batter score a century.
Fans of Virat Kohli pose wearing his masks before the India vs Sri Lanka game in Mumbai. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Though Kohli scored his 70th ODI fifty and amassed 1000 runs in 2023, becoming the third India batter in the calendar year to reach the milestone after Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma, it was heartbreak for his fans as the star batter fell short of his 49th century by just 12 runs!
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