“They keep tweeting nonsense” - Irfan Pathan defends empty stands in 2023 World Cup opener

Former Indian bowling all-rounder Irfan Pathan took a dig at the social media critics who tried to sensationalize the empty stands during the initial stages of the 2023 World Cup opening match on Thursday (October 5).

The finalists of the 2019 World Cup, New Zealand, and England locked horns in the first match of the latest edition of the tournament at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It is the biggest stadium in the world, with a capacity of over 1 lakh. The stadium wore a deserted look when the match began on Thursday afternoon.

Many viewers from across the world took note of it and took the chance to degrade Indian cricket. Irfan Pathan defended the home crowd through his post on X, which read:

"They feel left out that’s why they keep tweeting nonsense. Don’t react guys. Reach ke chakkar mein Ye apne tweet ko retweet karne wali janta hai. World Cup is in India. In one of the best stadium in the world. Enjoy the moment. Let them cry."

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New Zealand register a thumping win over England in the opening match of the 2023 ODI World Cup

Reigning champions England suffered a disappointing loss against New Zealand in the curtain raiser of the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup on Thursday (October 5) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Joe Root anchored the England innings with a 77-run knock and helped them to 282/9. For the first time in history, all the 11 England batters scored in two digits, but none of them could go on and convert them into big knocks.

Matt Henry (3/48), Mitchell Santner (2/37), and Glenn Phillips (2/17) were the picks of the New Zealand bowlers.

Then, Devon Conway (152*) and Rachin Ravindra (123*) played astonishing knocks as New Zealand galloped towards target in just 36.2 overs. Their stunning assault left the English bowlers and their captain clueless.

The duo put on 273 runs for the second wicket, which is the fourth-highest partnership for any wicket in the ODI World Cup history. The 23-year-old Rachin Ravindra deservingly won the Player of the Match award for setting up the chase with a match-winning century. Reflecting on his performance after the match, Rachin said:

"Unbelievable at times, it was just good to have a great day and it was a great bowling performance to restrict them to under 300, lucky enough to have Dave out there and showing how it's done.

"Spent a lot of time with Dave, very close mate and spent a lot of time with him back home has helped, has a lot of chat with him and that was pretty cool. If you ask anyone, four or five years go, we all knew Dave is what the player who he was, that's the beauty of it."