It was however not surprising for the local media men as they knew that cricket lovers in the country only came in numbers to the ground when the team is India or Pakistan.

"Yes, its look little bit depressing that a mega event started with almost empty stands and there was no excitement among the local people about the match. But it is a reality here that people are only mad for India and Pakistan players," said a veteran journalist of an international news agency.

Another journalist however quipped that the ICC and Punjab Cricket Association can rest their tug of war over the seat money for at least one match. There will be however be four more matches here in the tournament proper.

For last few days in Chandigarh there was hardly any evidence that the city was going to stage the first match of the second biggest tournament after the World Cup as none ever showed their interest to talk about the preliminary round matches.

It might have justified that people are less bothered with the Bangladeshi players when they were in outings but interestingly they even paid no attention to players like Sanath Jayasuriya and Muthiah Muralidaran.

Bangladeshi players however have been enjoying the situation as they could make their shopping uninterrupted and visit anywhere without any hesitation.

"This is fine that we can go all the places without any hesitation which is not possible in our country. So it is fantastic for us," said wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud.