The students from an agriculture university were detained in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) after one student filed a complaint accusing them of using anti-India slogans and cheering for Pakistan along with Australia after the match.

Claimed in full but ruled in part by India and Pakistan, Muslim-majority Kashmir has seen a bloody insurrection against New Delhi for decades. Muslims in the region have in the past cheered for the competing side in India cricket matches as a way of protesting Indian rule.

Local political leaders opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s rule over J&K had said the arrests were a way to intimidate locals using the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The act deals with inciting any unlawful activity and is punishable with seven years’ imprisonment.

Police dropped the UAPA charges and an Indian court granted bail to the students on Saturday, according to the lawyer of students, Shafiq Bhat, and a court order seen by Reuters.

In granting bail, the local court imposed a condition that the students should be available when needed for the investigation and “shall not indulge in any anti national activity,” the order stated.

The students still face allegations under other Indian laws that related to making statements inducing public mischief.

Australia had entered the World Cup match as clear underdogs against an all-conquering India side, who had won 10 matches in a row to storm into the final. But India was defeated in the final match on Nov. 19.

India blames Pakistan for supporting the Muslim insurgents. Pakistan denies this and accuses India of violating the rights of Kashmir’s Muslim people, a charge India rejects.

Put into bat, India rode battling half-centuries by KL Rahul and Virat Kohli to post a below-par 240 all out in exactly 50 overs at a packed Narendra Modi Stadium.

Australia suffered a top order wobble of their own but Head’s 137 off 120 balls saw them romp home with seven overs to spare in match that never reached great heights.

The majority of those present in the 132,000 capacity ground sat in deathly silence as the home team, who had won 10 matches in a row to make the final, succumbed to their first loss of the tournament in the all-important summit clash.

“What we’ve achieved today is unbelievable,” a teary-eyed Marnus Labuschagne, who combined with Head in a match-winning partnership of 192, said.

“It’s the best achievement I’ve ever been part of.

“India have been the team of the tournament, but you knew if you play your best cricket, you have a chance.”

Earlier, Pat Cummins’s decision to field, primarily to avoid operating with a dewy ball in the night, bemused many but Australian bowlers, aided by some superb fielding, stifled their opposition.

India captain Rohit Sharma had been playing tone-setting knocks in their batting template in the tournament and it was no different in the final despite the early loss of Shubman Gill.

Rohit smashed three sixes in his entertaining 47 but fell just before the end of powerplay.

The opener stepped out against Glenn Maxwell but miscued his shot on the offside. Head ran backwards from cover to take a tumbling catch to get rid of the India captain.

Kohli (54) hit Mitchell Starc (3-55) for three boundaries in a row but India slumped to 81-3 in the 11th over when Cummins dismissed Shreyas Iyer caught behind.

Kohli and Rahul (66) then combined in a dour rebuilding job even if it meant going 16.1 overs without a boundary.

Difficult Pitch

Kohli brought up his ninth 50-plus knock in 11 innings but soon departed after chopping a Cummins delivery on to his stumps.

Rahul hit just one four in his half-century illustrating how difficult the pitch was for shot-makers like him.

Australia wicketkeeper Josh Inglis took five catches, which is a record in a World Cup final.

Australia, when they came out to bat, slumped to 47-3 seven overs into what had looked like a straight-forward chase for them.

Mohammed Shami dismissed David Warner in his first over and Jasprit Bumrah removed Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith in his successive overs to inject some excitement into the match.

Player-of-the-match Head then combined with Labuschagne, who made 58 not out, to kill off the contest.

“What an amazing day! Just thrilled to be a part of it,” said the opener who missed first half of the tournament with a broken hand.

“It was a great decision to bowl first and the wicket got better as the game went on.”

After a stellar knock that included 15 fours and four sixes, Head missed out on hitting the winning runs when he holed out to Gill with just two runs required for victory.

That honour went to Glenn Maxwell, who ran two to seal their victory in front of a crestfallen Indian crowd, which had already seen the writing on the wall and started thinning out.

The Australian cricketers stormed the field, rushing past their disconsolate Indian opponents.

Rahul sank to his knees, while Mohammed Siraj was in tears after the sad end to their remarkable run in the tournament.

Kohli, who was adjudged player-of-the-tournament for leading the run charts, sported a vacant look like most of his team mates.

“The result hasn’t gone our way and we know that we were not good enough on the day, but I’m proud of the team,” Rohit said.

“I thought when KL and Virat were batting, we were looking at 270-280 at that point but we kept losing wickets.”

“With 240 on the board, we wanted early wickets but credit to Travis Head and Marnus.

“They put us completely out of the game and I thought the wicket got better to bat under lights.”

Kohli’s 117 and a blistering 105 from Shreyas Iyer helped India post 397 for four wickets after they won the toss at the Wankhede Stadium, where the hosts had lifted their second and last 50-over World Cup trophy in 2011.

In reply, New Zealand, who beat India at the same stage in the 2019 tournament, were bundled out for 327 in the 49th over with Daryl Mitchell’s excellent innings of 134 proving to be in vain.

“The wicket was very good, lots of runs were scored in the afternoon,” said man-of-the-match Shami. “It feels amazing.

“Last two World Cups, we lost in the semis. We wanted to do everything for this, (it was) one chance we didn’t want to let go.”

Australia and South Africa meet in the second semi-final at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on Thursday, with the final on Sunday in Ahmedabad.

Mitchell added 181 for the third wicket with Kane Williamson to keep the Black Caps firmly in the chase but Shami, who sent back both openers, returned to dismiss the New Zealand captain and Tom Latham in one over to put India on top.

The right-handed Mitchell suffered cramps after getting past his hundred but continued to plunder runs with Glenn Phillips during a 75-run stand before the latter fell for a 33-ball 41.

The target ultimately proved too steep, however, as the Indian juggernaut rolled on for their 10th win in as many matches in the 50-over showpiece.

Shami finished with figures of seven for 57, his third five-wicket haul in the tournament.

Batting Great

Kohli’s knock, which came off 113 balls, gave him the record for the highest number of centuries in the 50-overs format of the game, taking him past Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian batting great who was in the stands to applaud the feat.

After scampering two runs off fast bowler Lockie Ferguson to get to his mark, Kohli took off his helmet and bowed to the stands where television cameras showed Tendulkar and former England soccer captain David Beckham standing and clapping in appreciation.

The 35-year-old hit nine fours and two sixes before holing out in the deep off fast bowler Tim Southee, who took three wickets for 100.

Iyer’s blistering 105, which came off 70 balls and was studded with four fours and eight sixes, provided the late fireworks for India.

India captain Rohit Sharma, who made 47, gave the hosts a rollicking start in a 71-run opening stand with Shubman Gill.

Gill retired hurt due to leg cramps but returned to resume his innings and finished unbeaten on 80.

“Firstly, congratulations to India. They’ve played outstandingly well throughout this competition and perhaps played their best game of the competition today,” Williamson said.

“They’re a top side at the top of their game. But credit to the guys. Proud effort to stay in the fight and, at the halfway stage of the innings, give ourselves a bit of a chance.”

New Zealand endured another painful near-miss after losing the 2019 final to England by the narrowest of margins.

“A tough game, disappointing to go out in the knockout stages but super proud of the effort that has gone into these seven weeks as a side,” Williamson said.

India are currently the top-ranked ODI team and they beat Australia 2-1 last month in a series before heading into the World Cup determined to repeat their 2011 feat when they won the trophy on home soil.

“Australia being Australia, we know how they play in ICC tournaments,” Rohit told reporters on the eve of their clash against the five-time champions.

“There is a reason they have so many championships.

“So for us it will be very important that we stick to what we want to do as a team, focus on our strengths and assess the conditions here.”

The conditions will feel almost equally familiar to Australia, pointed out Rohit, thanks to their participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

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“It’s absolutely true that they play a lot of cricket here,” Rohit said.

“In terms of how they plan their schedule, it’s pretty good.

“They know what is at stake, World Cup in India, so they make sure they play as much ODIs as possible in India.”

India will take a late call on the participation of opener Shubman Gill, who is recovering from dengue fever.

Should he miss out, left-handed Ishan Kishan is likely to be Rohit’s opening partner though KL Rahul is also an option.

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Rohit said India had the variety in their batting lineup to succeed in all conditions.

“The seven-eight batters that we have in the squad, they bring a different dimension to our team,” said Rohit.

“They bring a different sort of style to our team and that is why they have been picked to play the tournament for us.

“I always spoke about being flexible, being a bit versatile in how you want to play. So all of these guys bring that kind of quality with them.”

The cricket frenzy set to hit India as the International Cricket Council’s World Cup begins in a nation of cricket-crazy fans is expected to give a short boost to the country’s economy as consumers splurge to enjoy their favorite sport.

World Cup related spending could add an estimated additional output of 180-200 billion Indian rupees in the October-December quarter with matches spread out over this month and the next, estimated Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.

“The World Cup has the potential to boost India’s GDP, more so because it coincides with the festive season,” Sabnavis said. “Consumption, particularly services consumption, is likely to receive the maximum boost. Hospitality and tourism sector are likely to benefit the most.”

The 13th edition of tournament began in India on Thursday with 48 one-day international matches scheduled across a two month period. India last hosted the world cup in 2011, when 1.2 million people attended matches, according to data from brokerage house Jefferies.Reuters Graphics

Online travel and hotel booking platform MakeMyTrip said it is seeing increased travel bookings to cities including Ahmedabad in Western India and Dharamshala in the north of the country where key matches will be played.

Ahmedabad, which will host a game between rivals India and Pakistan on Oct. 14, has seen a 200% increase in room reservations compared to August, said Rajesh Magow, group chief executive at the portal.

Demand for homestays has also risen as cricket fans are travelling in larger groups to watch matches, he said.

“On India match days, fares have shot up on average by

150% for select hotels and 80% for select flights compared with the prior week,” said Jefferies in a note this week.

Hotels in smaller venues are fully sold out for multiple days.

The downside could be that more Indian consumers will stay in and watch matches rather than go out and spend on movies, theme parks and malls, said Jefferies.

“On the other hand, the event should provide boost to food delivery, quick commerce, alcobev, soft drinks, media, online gaming etc,” the report said. “We expect companies to run world-cup specific promotions on match days to tap this consumption boost.”

The increased demand may also mean higher inflation.

“The upward bias in inflation on this score could be between 0.15-0.25% for these two months,” said Bank of Baroda’s Sabnavis, while adding that unpacking the impact of festivals from the impact of the cricket spectacle is difficult.

World ranking: 1

Captain: Rohit Sharma

Coach: Rahul Dravid

Top-ranked batsman: Shubman Gill (2)

Top-ranked bowler: Mohammed Siraj (1)

Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Surya Kumar Yadav

Best result: Winners (1983, 2011)

2019 result: Lost to New Zealand in the semi-finals

GROUP FIXTURES

Oct. 8: v Australia, Chennai

Oct. 11: v Afghanistan, Delhi

Oct. 14: v Pakistan, Ahmedabad

Oct. 19: v Bangladesh, Pune

Oct. 22: v New Zealand, Dharamsala

Oct. 29: v England, Lucknow

Nov. 2: v Sri Lanka, Mumbai

Nov. 5: v South Africa, Kolkata

Nov. 12: v Netherlands, Bengaluru

World ranking: 5

Captain: Jos Buttler

Coach: Matthew Mott

Top-ranked batsman: Dawid Malan (14)

Top-ranked bowler: Chris Woakes (12)

Squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Best result: Winners (2019)

2019 result: Beat New Zealand in the final

GROUP FIXTURES

Oct. 5: v New Zealand, Ahmedabad

Oct. 10: v Bangladesh, Dharamsala

Oct. 15: v Afghanistan, Delhi

Oct. 21: v South Africa, Mumbai

Oct. 26: v Sri Lanka, Bengaluru

Oct. 29: v India, Lucknow

Nov. 4: v Australia, Ahmedabad

Nov. 8: v Netherlands, Pune

Nov. 11: v Pakistan, Kolkata

The rain began shortly after India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat, and it continued to prevent play at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in northeastern India.

With the cutoff time for play set at 7.30 p.m. (1400 GMT) local time, match officials waited until shortly before 6 p.m before pulling the plug on the contest.

England may well not mind, however, after spending nearly 38 hours travelling from London to Guwahati with lengthy layovers in between.

They will get a chance to fine-tune their skills with a game against Bangladesh on Monday ahead of their tournament opener on Thursday, where Jos Buttler’s side will meet 2019 runners-up New Zealand in Ahmedabad.

India play the Netherlands on Tuesday before heading into the showpiece event, where they are targeting their third title.

Meanwhile, five-times champions Australia were also left frustrated as rain delayed the start of their contest with the Netherlands.

It was the second warm-up encounter in the south Indian city to be affected, after South Africa’s match against Afghanistan was abandoned a day earlier. 

Bilateral cricket remains suspended between the neighbours, thanks to their soured political relations, and the last time Pakistan toured India was for the T20 World Cup in 2016.

Pakistan players do not feature in the Indian Premier League either, which means most of them would have little knowledge of the conditions they are going to face during the showpiece event beginning on Oct. 5.

In his pre-departure press conference, Babar dismissed suggestions it increased the pressure on his team to do well across the border.

“There’s no such pressure,” the 28-year-old told reporters as his team prepared to leave for India via Dubai.

“Every player keeps himself ready to perform in every condition, in every country.

“Most of us have not played in India but the information we have gathered suggest conditions are going to be similar, except in Chennai maybe where spinners get more help.

“Rest of the venues will have good, sporting tracks.

“I played the 2019 World Cup as a player but this time I’m leading the side. It’s a big honour for me and our effort would be to perform well and bring home the World Cup.”

The difficulty in securing visa for India tour means Pakistan would not get much support from the stands either but Babar was not perturbed.

“Unfortunately, we will be missing the fans,” Pakistan’s batting mainstay said.

“However, our games are all soldout, so we will be playing in jam-packed stadiums.

“Although our fans will not be there, I know they will make sure their love is heard on social media.”

Pakistan will play two warmup matches in Hyderabad before beginning their World Cup campaign with an Oct. 6 match against the Netherlands.

Babar Azam and his men will meet 2019 runners-up New Zealand on Friday but fans will not be allowed inside the stadium in Hyderabad “… as per the advice of the local security agencies”, the BCCI said in a statement on Monday.

“The match in Hyderabad coincides with festivals on the day and large gatherings are expected around the city.

“The spectators who bought tickets for the game will receive a full refund.”

India and Pakistan have suspended bilateral cricket, thanks to soured political relations between the neighbours, and play each other only in multi-team events.

Pakistan will play another warm-up match against Australia on Oct. 3 and launch their bid for a second 50-overs World Cup title against the Netherlands three days later.

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The 1992 champions, who received their visas on Monday after some delay, will leave for India via Dubai on Wednesday.