Ahead of cricket diplomacy and an epic encounter.....

India as a nation runs on three wheels named politics,movies and cricket.

Nothing can get more exciting than the elections or a Rajnikanth movie being released or an India-Pak match at a semi-final stage in the world cup.The stake here is the pride in winning over the arch rival, no matter what.While India is looking forward to continue it's 'a-bit-surprising run' in the world cup and is banking on the world cup sentiment(India off late has never lost to Pakistan in a WC match),Pakistan is looking forward to break the world cup jinx and set up the final clash with Sri Lanka.

The hype doesn't end there.

Prominent leaders(the prime ministers of both the countries as though they have found no other event to catch up),business tycoon,film stars attending the high voltage clash have added to the frenzy.High level security comprising the NSG's, the Z-category force,police force of 3,000 people (to keep the fans at bay) have made 'just-another-world-cup-match' a sophisticated one for the common man.Anti-air craft weapons,counter terrorist force have been set up at strategic points across the venue.Social networking sites,blogs,the newspapers have all been abuzz with the excitement surrounding the clash since the past few days.

On the other hand it's time to make hay for many.Hotels,lodges,PG's have hiked up their prices ten fold to accommodate spectators.While this isn't sufficient,households have been letting out a few rooms for a pricely sum.The spot rates for ads during the match have doubled.People who want to catch some attention have staged dharnas in front of the stadium.'Support India','go India go','bleed blue' are being heard across the length and breath of the country.Movies and multiplexes are screening the match instead of movies.Pubs and bars have setup screens to attract customers.At a few places,even bus stops and railway stations have set up screens to enable people view the match.

There is one more aspect to this match which everyone is looking forward to.People are known to go crazy during a match like this.Uprooting chairs,throwing bottles at playes,burning placards have happened previously.Any untoward incident might even lead to chaos as fans of both the teams will be at the stadium

Every Indi-Pak match is a hype.But this just got bigger.Two highly competent teams are going to wage a war at Mohali today.People have found a reason to be back to their sentiments.

Ahead lies pride, money, diplomacy, excitement, fear, entertainment(even Sachin's century);all bundled in an 8 hour event attended by 40,000 people and watched by a few billions across the world.

I post this as we are a few hours away from the start,the players are practicing at the nets,the security guards are sweating it out in the sun,the common man has been waiting for the past few hours to make his way into the stadium and we people are winding up with our work to catch the match unhindered.It's an unofficial national holiday across the sub-continent.In the end it's either heart warming or a heart breaking experience!

Atithi Devo Bhava and all the best team India!!Bleed Blue!!