Fans bemused as England begin Cricket World Cup in almost-empty stadium despite world-beating capacity
England and New Zealand kicked off the 2023 Cricket World Cup in a nearly-empty stadium on Thursday.
The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is hosting the opening match of the tournament in India as England defend the trophy.
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With a 132,000 capacity, it is the largest cricket stadium in the world, the second-biggest in all of sport, and welcomes the 2019 finalists to begin the famous ODI competition.
However, despite cricket's huge popularity in India, there appeared to be more than 100,000 empty seats for the opening match.
Fans were left bemused as England's Jonny Bairstow faced the opening ball of the World Cup against New Zealand's Trent Boult in front of a glaringly-small crowd.
One wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Look at all those empty seats. It looks awful on TV. Host should always open the WC. Finalists can play the following day."
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Another said: "Genuinely a farce all those empty seats. Shambles from ICC and BCCI. Just give the tickets away."
A third posted: "It's a real shame the opening match for the Cricket World Cup has so many empty seats. Should be packed to the rafters."
Hosts India begin their World Cup campaign in a mouth-watering match against Australia on Sunday - and the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai will no doubt be full.
However, the ICC and BCCI have struggled to shift tickets for any match that does not feature India.
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Questions have been asked of both organisations over their marketing and promotion of the event, particularly in Ahmedabad, as well as their methods for selling tickets.
talkSPORT understands tickets for the tournament only went on sale a month ago and were not made available electronically.
The length of the competition has proved off-putting for long-distance fans, while India has not issued visas to residents of neighbouring countries, meaning Pakistan cannot send any supporters or journalists.
Reports claim a lavish opening ceremony, scheduled to be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium, was cancelled at the eleventh hour.
Instead, India legend Sachin Tendulkar walked out with the trophy and one of the biggest tournaments in sport began without a whimper.
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