Cricket-mad Dhaka, even the dancers’ practice is sold out

In the space of a few furious minutes, a few thousand hands work their way through the narrow opening of the booth, bundles of taka notes clutched between fingers. As the hands are pulled out, their owners unclench their fists, broad smiles on their faces. An 8-inch piece of paper emerges, the word ‘Rehearsal’ on it in bold blue letters.

World Cup fever is yet to hit India fully, but here in Bangladesh, a day before the tournament opening ceremony, it’s a raging epidemic. How else do you explain the selling-out of dancers and singers practising?

Those who got into Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Stadium — venue of tomorrow’s opening ceremony — today must think of themselves as the luckiest citizens of this cricket-mad country. The cricket World Cup, they are saying here with absolutely no hint of hyperbole, is the biggest event since the nation was born in 1971.
Source:IndianExpress.com