Students outside an examination centre in Cuttack on Tuesday. Picture by Badrikanath Das

Cuttack, March 29: Youngsters in the Millennium City, particularly girls, are now gearing up for the big World Cup semi-final match between India and Pakistan to be played in Mohali on Wednesday.

After missing the initial rounds of the World Cup series because of their examinations, youngsters and their parents are happy to be able to cheer for India. They are upbeat about the India-Pakistan encounter as the matriculation examinations got over today and they can now enjoy the rest of the World Cup matches without any restrictions.

“The idea that cricket is meant for boys is a thing of the past. We enjoy watching cricket with our family members just as much as anyone else. Because of our examinations, we had to miss the initial matches of the World Cup. But with the exams now out of the way, we plan to enjoy rest of the matches,” said Anunjaya Behera, a student of Bapuji Sikhsya Niketan.

Behera is confident that Dhoni’s men will beat Pakistan and then go on to win the World Cup, which would be the “perfect gift from Team India to Sachin Tendulkar”.

“All our friends have decided to watch the match on projectors along with our family members,” she added.

“I would have loved to watch India meet Pakistan in the finals. Nevertheless, I am sure that the semi-final match would surely go down to the wire as there are a lot of expectations from both the sides,” said Sanjukta Das, another student.

“We have decided to complete all household work in advance so that we can enjoy the match together,” Das added.