Video: Fans gear up for high-voltage India-Pakistan clash

India and Pakistan will be meeting for the seventh time in a World Cup today.

The eyes of more than a billion television viewers around the globe will turn to Manchester when  India and Pakistan meet on Sunday in the most highly-anticipated group match of the World Cup.
After all, fans not just in England, but from across the world have arrived in Manchester for the Battle Royale.

The players are here, the fans are here - the toss is less than 10 minutes away!#CWC19 | #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/aWJZxH0EOn
- Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 16, 2019

???? fans had a special visitor in Manchester, as former captain @captainmisbahpk met with them ahead of the team's #CWC19 clash against India. pic.twitter.com/prch2NziX6
- Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 16, 2019

This is officially the BEST way to arrive at a cricket match ?? #CWC19 | #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/cuzg1jVSWU
- Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 16, 2019

ADVISORY: Don't go into bat wearing one of these ?? #CWC19 | #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/ggY5I8qK6D
- Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 16, 2019

According to the International Cricket Council's own figures, there were some 800,000 applications for tickets to watch the match at an Old Trafford ground where the capacity is 26,000.

Mood!#WeHaveWeWill #TeamIndia #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/lrG9dvgbZ7
- Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 16, 2019

It was overcast and cool on Sunday morning, an hour before the scheduled toss at Old Trafford. The stadium was expected to be at a capacity of 23,500 people - tickets which could have been sold 20-times over.
India and Pakistan will be meeting for the seventh time in a World Cup. On all the six previous occasions, the Men in Blue have turned victorious.
The ICC has said in a statement that it will be a logistical mayhem to keep reserve days for games in the group stage.

"Factoring in a reserve day for every match at the World Cup would significantly increase the length of the tournament and practically would be extremely complex to deliver," ICC Chief Executive David Richardson had said in a statement a few days back.

"It would impact pitch preparation, team recovery and travel days, accommodation and venue availability, tournament staffing, volunteer and match officials' availability, broadcast logistics and very importantly, the spectators who in some instances travel hours to be at the game. There is also no guarantee that the reserve day would be free from rain either.

"Up to 1,200 people are on site to deliver a match and everything associated with it, including getting it broadcast, and a proportion of them are moving around the country. So reserve days in the group stages would require a significant uplift in the number of staff," he added.

But if the much-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan is affected by rain, the international body will have a tough task at hand answering critics.

• ICC World Cup 2020