Anushka Sharma, Bollywood star, flew into Ahmedabad on Saturday morning to watch husband Virat Kohli play.

Sharma is often seen in the stands cheering for Kohli and the Indian team at key matches.

Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar will be among the celebrities watching the match.

"I am here to support the Indian team. Hopefully we will get the result that we want," he told reporters after reaching Ahmedabad in the morning.

Image source, ANI

Can too many Indian fans watching you actually be a disadvantage?

Here's what Rohit Sharma had to say in response to a question from the BBC's Samira Hussain:

Zoya Mateen
Reporting from Delhi

Image source, Getty Images

Pakistani players last came to India in 2016 for the T20 Cricket World Cup and Indian players haven’t been across the border since 2008.

The two sides have not played a bilateral series since 2012.

There were long periods in the past too when they didn't play each other: for example, cricketing ties between the two resumed in 1978 after a 18-year-long hiatus due to political rivalries.

Pakistani players are also not part of the Indian Premier League, the world's most lucrative cricket tournament. So cricket fans hope that the Pakistan team’s visit to India will be an opportunity to rejuvenate sporting ties between the countries.

The big question on everyone's mind is whether star Indian opener Shubman Gill will play today after a bout of illness. Here's what captain Rohit Sharma had to say about that - it will cheer Indians up!.

Vikas Pandey
Reporting from Ahmedabad

The India-Pakistan clash will be special for many reasons. Both sides have made a confident start, winning their first two matches at the tournament. Yet, their skills would be put to test like never before when they play each other today.

An India vs Pakistan game is one of those rare matches where past performances don’t guarantee a win. It’s the ultimate test, of not just the players’ strategy and preparedness, but also their nerves.

Can the players remain calm and focus on the job ahead?

Read more about the teams' chances here

Soutik Biswas
Reporting from Ahmedabad

While Ahmedabad may not be regarded as a traditional cricketing hub, it does have a few notable milestones to its name.

The first-ever ODI in India was played here against England in November 1981 in an old stadium in the heart of the city. England won the game by five wickets.

Indian fans will also remember that the city has usually brought good luck to India. It’s a place where several records have been made.

Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar got his 10,000th Test run here and became the highest scorer in Test cricket in 1987. Seven years later, all-rounder Kapil Dev, picked up his 432nd victim to romp past Richard Hadlee, then Test cricket's leading wicket taker.

In 2013, Sachin Tendulkar became the first batter to cross 30,000 runs in international cricket here.

Vikas Pandey
Reporting from Ahmedabad

Image source, Getty Images

Both teams have players who have the potential to win the match single-handedly for their side. Pakistan captain Babar Azam and pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi are crucial to their team’s chances. Babar can play aggressively but he can also drop the anchor to steady the ship whenever his team needs him to do that.

Afridi is the newest addition to the long list of Pakistani pace stars and if it’s his day, India will find it hard to get past his swinging deliveries.

India’s strength is its star-studded batting line-up that includes captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. But India’s fortunes rely heavily on how Kohli performs.

In the bowling department, spinners Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja could also hold the key to India’s success. But from past experiences, an India v Pakistan clash could also mean that a new star may be born.

The crowd in the Ahmedabad stadium today is likely to be made up mostly of Indians, as many Pakistani fans did not get their visas in time to travel to India. But Pakistan's captain Babar Azam tells the BBC's Samira Hussain that his team is not especially worried about the prospect of playing in front of a massive crowd of Indians.

Syed Kazmi
Reporting from Lahore

There’s palpable excitement here for the eighth World Cup match between India and Pakistan. Pakistanis are setting up big screens and planning to watch the match with their families and friends.

While India has been unbeaten in its previous outings against Pakistan, fans here think that beating their arch-rivals at home is not an impossible task.

However, there is a worry that a houseful Indian crowd in Ahmedabad would be the toughest hurdle to cross for the Pakistani team.

But the fans are counting on their batting line-up to withstand the formidable Indian bowling attack. The mood has also lifted after a record-setting run chase by Pakistan against Sri Lanka earlier this week.

Virat Kohli enjoys a big following in Pakistan and Pakistanis are looking forward to both Virat and Babar Azam scoring centuries for their teams in arguably the biggest cricket match of the year.

Named after India's prime minister, the sprawling stadium can accommodate more than 130,000 spectators, making it the largest in the world.

It has multiple dressing rooms, indoor practice pitches, outdoor pitches - and even a dormitory that can house 40 athletes.

Video by Anshul Verma

Image source, Getty Images

Saturday’s match is being played at the world’s largest cricket stadium named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Built in 1982, the stadium in the western state of Gujarat could previously accommodate 49,000 fans. It now has a seating capacity of more than 130,000 - that’s way more than the 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground, the largest in the world until the Gujarat Cricket Association expanded and rebuilt their stadium.

It’s here that Sachin Tendulkar became the first batter to score 30,000 runs in international cricket. Cricket greats like Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar played here. The stadium also contributed to the careers of young stars such as Jasprit Bumrah, Parthiv Patel and Axar Patel.

It also hosted former US President Donald Trump on his first official visit to India in February 2020 when he addressed more than 100,000 people who had gathered there.

Vikas Pandey
Reporting from Ahmedabad

Image source, Getty Images

Cricket matches between India and Pakistan often end up topping viewership charts.

Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours aren’t good and, at times, fans from both countries seem to consider cricket matches between them nothing less than a war. And if it’s a World Cup match, the stakes are even higher.

Players from both countries often say that they don’t want to take on extra pressure because of this. But neither side wants to lose against the other.

In the past, players’ homes have been attacked after their team lost. Some have even had to go into hiding to escape fan fury. Now, incidents like these don’t happen as much, but Pakistan v India continues to be a sporting spectacle.

Geeta Pandey
Live page editor

South Asian neighbours and long-term rivals India and Pakistan are all set to meet for their World Cup clash in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. The match will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Along with Sharanya Hrishikesh, Meryl Sebastian and Antariksh Jain in Delhi and Vikas Pandey, Soutik Biswas and Anshul Verma in Ahmedabad, I’ll be bringing you all the excitement from the stadium - and outside it. Stay with us!