Thousands of Indian cricket fans are traveling to Colombo to watch India face Pakistan in the T20 World Cup on Sunday. Fans are battling high airfares, expensive hotels, and tough ticketing. The match is held at the R Premadasa Stadium. Due to political tensions, the fixture was uncertain until Pakistan reversed its boycott order just six days before the game. This late confirmation made airfares from India surge sharply. Mumbai flights, normally $275 round-trip, shot up to over $1,000. Flights from Bengaluru and Chennai also saw huge price hikes. Chennai to Colombo fares rose from $165 to at least $550 just days before the match. Hotels in Colombo are also costly, with five-star rooms priced between $400 and $1,000 per night during the match weekend. Many fans booked early to avoid the worst prices. Parth Chauhan from Bengaluru secured good deals but friends who booked late paid triple the usual fares. He waited four hours online to get match tickets but says it was worth it. Surprisingly, some fans like Piyush Nathani paid only $5 for tickets, considered very cheap for such a big game. Nathani says, “This is the cheapest ticket I’ve ever purchased. Just $5 to watch a World Cup match, that too of the magnitude of India vs Pakistan, is a steal.” Both Nathani and Chheda, another fan from Mumbai, say the India-Pakistan cricket match is about more than just the game. Chheda said, “When there’s a World Cup, the first thing Indian fans hope for is to beat Pakistan. Winning the World Cup is the biggest target, but beating Pakistan feels like a moral victory – it’s more than a cricket match.”