Cricket admirers watch final match on mega screen at RK Beach

Visakhapatnam: The status of WhatsApp has been changed. The image on ‘display picture’ updated. Refrigerators at home got well-stocked. Swiggy and Zomato staff registered hectic delivery orders as many preferred ready-to-eat meals.

As Australia won the toss and elected to field first in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 finals, scores of cricket admirers planned their day well in advance to capture every moment of the match hassle-free.

Friends met at a common place to capture the live action, while families came together before television sets, cheering team India.

Those who intended to watch the live cricket action along with a huge crowd headed to RK Beach to settle before a mammoth screen set up by Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) for the purpose.

Waving national flags with a tinge of pride, cricket enthusiasts were seen cheering team India while watching the match on the big screen.

The Beach Road, stretching from Kalimata temple to Park Hotel junction, became a vehicle-free zone as police placed restrictions. Men, women and children arrived at the Beach Road to cheer team India, while some of them donned special costumes for the occasion. Every inch of the footpath and parapet wall at R K Beach were brimming with people as they came in droves to soak in the cricket fervour.

Fortunately, the final match was scheduled on Sunday and it did come as a big relief for the working class and students who looked forward to taking a break from their daily grind. But those who got to work despite the weekend had different plans. “I preponed all the work for the day and to visit assignment so that I don’t get disturbed while I settle to watch the World Cup final. It’s a special moment for India and I certainly don’t want to miss the action at any cost,” shares BS Rao, who operates a hardware shop at Gopalapatnam.

Even as WhatsApp status and profile pics centred on the World Cup themes, a bunch of forwards on social media platforms emphasised how people have been obsessed with cricket, waiting for India to win the World Cup against Australia.

While forwards on social media platforms turned their focus on the finale between two cricket team giants -- India and Australia, a specially-designed Google Doodle added to the excitement quotient as the ICC World Cup 2023 came to a close.

The ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter) was flooded with statistics and patterns such as ‘1983-India lost the toss and won the final; 2011- India lost the toss and wond the final; 2023-India lost the toss and.....’, so on and so forth.