It was not an ideal start to a World Cup in India after all the hype and expectations. 

The absence of an opening ceremony that was supposed to add spice to the global showpiece event and a very thin attendance at the 1,32,000-capacity Ahmedabad Stadium, named after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, made the opening game between holders England and runners-up New Zealand look like yet another one-day fixture at someplace.

There were a few English and Kiwi fans among the few thousand spectators, painting their faces with their national colours and rooting for their teams. But the partisan home supporters were largely missing in action. 

The last time a World Cup took place in the sub-continent in 2011, where India were co-hosts alongside Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, a grand opening ceremony took place in Dhaka. 

This time around, with India hosting the ICC flagship event all alone, the Captains' Day event took place in Ahmedabad on Wednesday instead of an opening ceremony. 

The no-show of spectators, who are considered the soul of the game, was mainly due to the hosts not featuring in the curtain-raiser. 

This is the second time in World Cup history that the home side did not play the opening game since the 1996 edition jointly hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Incidentally, in that World Cup, England and New Zealand featured in the opening game; and that too in Ahmedabad. 

A low attendance in the opening game is disappointing from a perspective that there were not many home fans to cheer a quality cricket game involving two fiercely competitive teams, who were part of the best-ever World Cup final in the tournament's history at Lord's in 2019.  

However, it does not necessarily mean that the Indian fans who are very passionate about the game have suddenly gone on strike. They will turn up in droves when India launch their World Cup campaign against Australia in Chennai on October 8. 

India not playing the opening game as hosts might have something to do with other pressing issues, but it also underlines the fact that the decision deprived the global audience of all the festivity and fanfare normally associated with the opening game of the mega event.

Although there was little fanfare and festivity in the stands, fireworks were in abundance in the middle with New Zealand making a mockery of England's 282 for nine. 

The Blackcaps eased to 283 with nine wickets in hand and 13.4 overs to spare, with opener Devon Conway and one-down Rachin Ravindra hitting unbeaten centuries on their World Cup debut. 

Conway struck an imperious 152 off 121 balls that contained 19 fours and three sixes. Young all-rounder Rachin struck an equally impressive 96-ball 123 laced with 11 fours and five sixes. The pair added 273 runs for the unbroken second wicket after opener Will Young was dismissed for a duck in the second over of the innings. 

The win gave New Zealand a perfect start to their quest for a maiden World Cup glory after two successive final defeats, including a heart-stopping loss against England four years ago when England won on boundary counts after the scores were tied both in 50 overs and in the Super Over. 

Earlier, Joe Root scored the first half-century of the tournament to give England something to defend. But it was never enough considering the high standards they have set over the past four years and the Blackcaps only resorted to the English aggressive batting style to take some sort of revenge for their Lord's defeat.