With just a few hours to go before the big fight between arch rivals India and Pakistan in the battlefield of Mohali, cricket fans in both the nations have gone hysteric.
Mohali mania sweeps India and Pakistan as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh threw in cricket diplomacy for good measure to pump up the hysteria.
While the mood in India and Pakistan borders on jingoism, it is an absolute mood of festivity that has gripped the state of Punjab with people and celebrities from both the countries gathering for the clash of the titans.
The rich and the famous are air dashing to Mohali in their private jets. Many of their planes were parked in Amritsar since the airport in Chandigarh cannot accommodate the aircraft.
From celebrities to common man on the street, the entire nation was seen praying for their side?s victory on Wednesday at the cricketing field.
A number of Pakistani students prayed for the victory of Afridi and his men over Team India on Tuesday.
Thousands of Pakistani will participate in a mass prayer on Wednesday for their team?s victory, Pakistan’s leading newspaper Dawn reported.
Moreover, the Chief Minister of Punjab Province of Pakistan has announced to give 25 acres of fertile land to each of the Pakistani players if they can defeat arch rivals India in the highly charged semi-final match, it said.
In India too the fans of Men in Blue have conducted special prayers for the team’s victory all day long in different corners of the country.
There were prayers in the temples, mosques, gurdwaras and yagnas (fire rituals) on streets and localities across the nation on Tuesday right from the morning and following the traditions the fans will continue doing it till Wednesday.
The priests chanted hymns and performed ?pujas? (rituals) for the Indian team on the banks of the holy river Ganges as the country resonated with the cry of victory for India.
Meanwhile, celebrities and common men have also used the media and different social networking sites for all these days to wish their favourite players and comment on the entire mood of the nation.
Shashi Tharoor, diplomat and writer turned politician who co-authored Shadows Across the Playing Field: Sixty Years of India-Pakistan Cricket with Shaharyar Khan, said the match should just be taken as a match and it is wrong to make cricket shoulder the burden of carrying something more that just the game.
According to Sharmila Tagore, married to cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the excitement is now palpable as people are crossing over the border, shopping and watching Bollywood movies on the occasion of the match.
“I have got so many calls myself,” she told a TV channel.
Actor Rahul Bose said the moment the first ball is bowled people will forget the rest- diplomacy and everything- and they will be focused only on the game.
“I know what is happening in Pakistan. They do not know the final, they know this is the World Cup,” said cricketer Imran Khan summing up the excitement in Pakistan.
“I can foresee two of my most favorite cricketing teams meeting in the finals!Considering Srilanka is in, no prizes for guessing the other,” actor Neha Dhupia tweeted.
However, it is not just celebrities who are excited about the game, the common man is equally excited about the encounter.
?I am busy preparing for tomorrow, I completed all my works today so that I can enjoy with friends,? said Garima Singh of Kolkata.
?What a match it is going to be. I am surely going to shout for India, But it is also exciting to see that how the two nations are patching up once again over this game, thanks to both Dhoni and Afridi,? says Tania Roy, a college goer.
?I prayed for the whole day and just hope that India win tomorrow?s encounter against Pakistan,? one Arjun Sen commented.
Fans from Pakistan are equally vocal on the Indian soil.
“We think it is a game and both teams are equally competent. But at the end I want Pakistan to win,” said a woman cricket fan from Pakistan who has just made it to Mohali.
The craze for a ticket to the sporting arena has triggered black marketing with reports that even some of the tickets are sold for Rs 1 lakh.
Meanwhile there is some bad news for all cricket lovers as the Meterological office announced that Mohali is all set to receive rainfall on Tuesday night and hopefully the situation will get better on Wednesday.
The fans will surely pray to the rain god at present so that there is no rain interruptions on Wednesday and everyone enjoy the match at full length.