Fans flock to Wankhede to cheer for India, others stay back for Eden semi

Kolkata: Scores of cricket fans from the city are flying to Mumbai to cheer for the Men in Blue from the stands of Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday as India look forward to break the New Zealand jinx in the first semi-final and continue their unbeaten streak this cricket World Cup.Armed with tickets to the semi-final, cousins Gaurav and Tanmay Dutt, residents of Golf Green, took an evening flight to Mumbai as they vowed to scream their heart out in support of the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team that finished the league stage as table toppers. “New Zealand has been a roadblock in all recent ICC events. But given Indian players’ form now, we hope to beat them. New Zealand need to remember they are not playing only against 11 cricketers but also against 35,000-odd fans cheering from the stand,” said Gaurav, a businessman.Dhakuria resident Sunny Lahiri will also be at Wankhede, somehow managing a ticket for himself from an acquaintance. “The online tickets were extremely difficult to get and those being sold in the black market are too expensive. A ticket, which is worth Rs 2,000, is being sold for Rs 50,000 here. Had it been a little less expensive, a group of friends would have gone,” said Lahiri.Some, like Natasha Bhojwani and her husband Rishabh, had to cancel their plan to travel to Mumbai at the last moment as they could not get tickets. “We had flown out to watch the India-Pakistan match. We had hoped to do the same for the semi-final but couldn’t manage a ticket. But we are trying to get tickets for the final,” said Bhojwani.Scores of others have decided to go for the second semi-final at Eden Gardens to watch the Australia-South Africa match. “I had desperately hoped India would finish at No. 2 or 3 so that they could play the semi-final in Kolkata. But that wasn’t to be. Never mind. I will watch the first semi-final on TV at the local club and will be at the stadium the next morning, hoping for a cracker of a game that will choose India’s opponent in the final,” said Plaban Kanti Das, a resident of Chinsurah, who had even tried to buy tickets for the India-South Africa match in Kolkata last week but had failed.Subhankar Dangor, who has arrived in Kolkata from Bankura for the Eden match, said, “I tried online but did not get a ticket. I managed to get it through my friend from whom I collected it on Tuesday.” —with inputs by Biplab BhattacharyaCheck out the Valentine Day 2025 , along with the Valentine’s Day Wishes and Messages.