Anti-India chants before Indo-Pak Clash

A match between India and Pakistan isn’t confined to just a match and is definitely more than that as it involves so much more. The excitement had reached the highest echelon, streets of Birmingham once again blaring its horn, fans were on their feet, coaches delivered their best and even Intelligence agency played their role.

The match between arch rivals happened hours after another wave of terror attacks in London and the atmosphere outside the stadium wasn’t the same. The air near the stadium in Birmingham was filled with emotion, the chants on either side a bit louder, a bit more raucous, just that bit tense. The security barrier, already overwhelmed, simply gave way when the Indian team bus arrived.

Anti-India chants

However, the welcome of the Indian team to the stadium wasn’t the same as there were hundreds of placard-waving, anti-India chanting, “K” word. With thousands of people on the street, the wavers couldn’t have found a better place than the stadium itself to bring the ‘Kashmir Issue’ into the limelight.

As Virat Kohli & Co. stepped out of their bus, they were greeted with raucous anti-India slogans. Even when thousands of Indian supporters were excited to see their stars and chanted “Kohli-Kohli” “Dhoni-Dhoni” , one could surely listen to the anti-Indians, who were chanting “Kashmir azaad hai” and “Go back India”.

The situation created a hustle-bustle and Indian fans were finding it difficult and made a hasty exit. Many have lost the faith in the security after two recent attacks in Manchester and London. Also, a local of Pakistani origin said, “We are sitting ducks here aren’t we”.

Security tightened

After the attack in London, people are just not in the right mindset and are a disturbed. A day before Indo-Pak encounter was the grand finale of 2017 Champions League. At Turin, hundreds of fans got injured after mistaking firecrackers as explosion.

Thankfully though, nothing of this sort happened in Birmingham and the attack in London seems to be enough to keep people on their toes. After all these incidents, the security near the team hotels have been tightened and ICC with UK Parliament are trying their best to keep everything under control and are expecting for a smooth functioning of this 18-day tournament.