Cricket frenzy grips Ahmedabad: Hotel prices soar to Rs 1 lakh for India-Pakistan match
India-Pakistan match: After the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday released the schedule for the ODI World Cup and revealed that India and Pakistan would play on October 15 in Ahmedabad, hotel prices in the city have increased dramatically—nearly tenfold in some cases.
According to prices on several hotel booking websites, there may have been an unprecedented high demand for rooms on October 15, when the arch-rivals would be playing at the Narendra Modi stadium in this city.
The prices of renting a room has increased by almost ten times, with some hotels charging close to one lakh rupees while most are already booked for that day.
Luxury hotel room rates in the city normally range from 5,000 to 8,000 rupees per night. For October 15, it has increased to 40,000 and, in certain places, 1 lakh.
According to "booking.com," a deluxe room at the city's Welcome Hotel by ITC Hotels will cost you Rs 5,699 on July 2. However, the same hotel will charge 71,999 for a single day of accommodations on October 15.
The per-day room rent at the Renaissance Ahmedabad Hotel on the SG Highway, which presently prices close to 8,000 for a day, is displayed as 90,679 on the day of the match in October.
Similar to this, the Pride Plaza Hotel on SG Highway has increased its daily rental to 36,180. The Cama Hotel on the Sabarmati Riverfront, which would usually charge less than 3,000 for the following Sunday, has increased its rental to 27,233.
Rooms at the city's five-star hotels ITC Narmada, Courtyard by Marriott, Hyatt, and Taj Skyline Ahmedabad are all sold out for October 15 due to the exceptional demand.
Hotels raised their prices in response to demand, which came primarily from upper-middle-class cricket fans living in other states and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), according to office-bearers of the Hotels and Restaurants Association (HRA) - Gujarat.
These cricket enthusiasts will not hesitate to travel great distances to witness such captivating cricket matches and luxury hotels are their first option.
The highly anticipated India-Pakistan match is set for October 15 in Ahmedabad.
India and Pakistan have previously locked horns seven times: in 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2015, and 2019.
The only time the two sides did not have a face-off since that first match in 1992 was in 2007 when both teams crashed out of the tournament in the first round. Since then, India has won all seven previous encounters, a record they extended to the T20 World Cups until recently.
That streak was broken in 2021, only for India to reclaim the win in 2022 with a historic triumph at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on the back of a remarkable innings by former India captain Virat Kohli.
The last time these teams faced in the 50-over World Cup was in 2019 at Old Trafford, with India recording a massive 336/5 thanks to India captain Rohit Sharma's fantastic 113-ball 140.
After that, a strong bowling effort enabled India to limit Pakistan to 212/6 in a rain-shortened match that India won by 89 runs (DLS method).
Perhaps even more memorable is the game in 2011, another India home World Cup that resulted in a dramatic semi-final clash in Mohali. Sachin Tendulkar starred for the hosts with 85, while their bowlers worked together to bowl out Pakistan and win by 29 runs.
IND vs AUS on October 8, Chennai
IND vs AFG on October 11, Delhi
IND vs PAK on October 15, Ahmedabad
IND vs BAN on October 19, Pune
IND vs NZ on October 22, Dharamsala
IND vs ENG on October 29, Lucknow
IND vs Qualifier on November 2, Mumbai
IND vs SA on November 5, Kolkata
IND vs Qualifier on November 11, Bengaluru
Also Read | ICC ODI World Cup 2023: A look at five key matches at ICC
- With inputs from agencies
