ICC World Cup 2023, Eng vs NZ: 'This is embarrassing,' say cricket fans amid visuals of near-empty Ahmedabad stadium

Lack of enthusiasm was seen at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi stadium in the ICC World Cup 2023 opener between New Zealand and England on Thursday.

The stadium, which can accommodate up to 1.3 lakh spectators, was seen to have empty stadiums when the match began. 

Many cricket fans blamed the scheduling, the searing heat in the Gujarat city for the lack of spectators. Some said on X platform (formerly Twitter) that the World Cup opener should have been at a bigger city like Bengaluru or Mumbai or Kolkata.

"There were 3 ways an opening game would have seen a full house or a better outcome of spectators in a 1.3L capacity stadium:

1. The tickets and scheduled should have been released way mode advance in time.
2. Should've started the WC with ENG v NZ on a weekend.
3. Should've started the WC with India match on weekday.

No way you release the tickets so late, start the WC with two away teams on a week day, in the biggest stadium of the World...and then you expect a good outcome," said an X user. 

Some said the match should have been held at a smaller stadium because even with a larger turnout, the Ahmedabad stadium looks scarcely filled. 

"If it was Bangalore or Mumbai, it would be sold out," said another X user.

"Tickets for today's World Cup opener in Ahmedabad are still available online. But more than 80% seats (in grey) seem to be unavailable or sold out. Did everyone decide not to show up?  What's happening?" claimed an X user. 

Some said office goers will trickle into the stadium in the evening. Social media posts suggested the stadium had 40,000-45,000 spectators during the second innings of the match. At 22-over mark, New Zealand was cruising to a thumping victory at 175 for the loss of one wicket as against a target of 282, which has to be achieved in 50 overs. Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway were well on their way to scoring hundred each.