Cricket met Bollywood to throw up a truly entertaining spectacle on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

For weeks leading up to the IPL final, there were reports of dipping viewership and spectator fatigue, but it was full house at the world's largest cricket arena with 110,000 people in attendance as AR Rahman belted out Maa Tujhe Salaam and Muqabla, with crowds and the cricketers singing along.

Crowd-puller

Amdavadis woke up to a euphoric Sunday. With home team Gujarat Titans in the finals and an emotional edge to the match given by Rajasthan Royals talking about the game being a tribute to Shane Warne, viewer interest was very high in the city.

While many from Rajkot, Vadodara, Surat and different parts of the State poured in, a big number of people flew in from all over the country. Several corporate houses had done bulk bookings for employees. “Our company had bought 100 tickets for some of our top and mid-level executives. After two stressful years of Covid-19, this is a good event to get refreshed,” said a senior official at one of the leading pharma companies in Ahmedabad.

Jainen Mehta, a resident of Vadodara, who drove to Ahmedabad for the match, said who won the match did not matter. “It will be a sight to remember with the concert by AR Rahman and Ranveer Singh’s performance making it an enthralling spectacle,” he said.

Out of tickets

IPL fever was in evidence all over social media with frantic posts by those left out without a ticket to the finals. “Need 10 IPL tickets for the final match.. South Premium West,” posted user Pragya Singh on a Facebook community. She was offered tickets by several users in different price categories. The official ticket rates ranged from ₹800 to ₹14,000 per ticket for pavilion club categories.

Manisha Panchal, a mother of a 12-year-old boy, was disappointed at not being able to secure tickets. She said, “We were ready to spend upto ₹10,000 to take our kid for the match. But couldn’t get any, as all platforms showed full bookings.”

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