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Television viewership records set to tumble as regional rivals set to clash for title in Champions trophy
By K.R. Nayar, Chief Cricket Writer
London: All roads lead to The Oval ground today as India and Pakistan clash for the ICC Champions Trophy here. The buzz around this historic and somewhat quaint venue is unbelievable. Many fans, unable to wait till the match starts, were already outside the venue wanting to catch a glimpse of players from both teams who came to practice here.
The final is expected to be most watched cricket match, with it likely to break all records for maximum viewership.
An estimated 988 million viewers had watched them clash in the 2011 World Cup semi-final, and this time it is expected to cross the one billion mark. Betting is legal in this country and many are busy putting money on their favourite team. It could also be a bookies’ ‘dream match’ and the International Cricket Council (ICC) is making sure that there is no foul play involved.
Social media, which plays a very big role these days, has whipped up such a frenzy that Indian skipper Virat Kohli was forced to remark: “The biggest thing is to stay off social media. Honestly, it sounds funny, but it’s so important to stay away from those things, and connect only to things that matter, the things that a sportsman needs to take care of. Things like connecting with yourself, taking a bit more time to do stuff that you don’t normally get to do, and stay away from everything else. It’s tough, but you have to make that sort of effort to stay in a good zone and a good mindset.”
Evenly balanced
Statisticians have been burning the midnight oil to capture the landmarks that could be achieved by players and the records that the teams can break. Questions are being asked whether Pakistan can stop India who have won their last five ODI matches against Pakistan, and which includes the emphatic 124-run win in Edgbaston in the group stage of this tournament. Though India has dominated Pakistan in ICC tournaments, in this tournament the record is evenly balanced with two victories apiece.
Pakistan have reached the final of this tournament for the first time and are hoping to make it memorable by winning it. Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur said: “Our first mantra was to get to London. Well, we got to London and now we want to go one step further. It’s been great to get to a final after where we were at, and all credit goes to the players. They’ve been outstanding, the way they’ve prepared; the way they dragged themselves off the canvas after the beating at Edgbaston has been amazing.
“They’ve been really special in the way that they’ve bought into the concept that we wanted them to buy into and the brand of cricket, and they’ve done exceptionally well at that.”
© Gulf News 2017
