Electric, fervent, amazing: David Beckham’s experience at Wankhede

He arrived, observed, and departed, enthralled with the electrifying ambiance at Wankhede Stadium, where Rohit Sharma and his team decisively defeated New Zealand to go to the World Cup finale.

The legendary football player David Beckham saw Mohammed Shami capture seven wickets to end the Blackcaps’ fight and the legendary Virat Kohli smash a record-breaking 50th ODI century.

When he walked onto the sacred field with Sachin Tendulkar on his side, surrounded by thousands of fans in the grandstand, he was the talk of the town.

Beckham characterized the atmosphere at the Wankhede as “electric, passionate, incredible,” and he couldn’t determine whether the cricket or football supporters were louder.

“What do you know? “Football fans,” I would say without fail. But now that I’m here, I’m not so sure. The ambiance is amazing. In a video that BCCI released on Thursday, Beckham said, “I’m not so sure, because the fans are creating an electric atmosphere and they’re very loud.”

The legendary free-kick maker for Real Madrid and Manchester United, Beckham, claimed to have goosebumps after his Wankhede encounter.

It’s good, in my opinion, to enter a stadium and instantly feel goosebumps, and that’s what I experienced as I stepped in. Something about it seemed more wonderful, maybe because Sachin and I were strolling together.

“But even though there weren’t many people there at first, you could still feel the energy in the stadium,” he said.

As a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, Beckham is in India; he assumed this position in 2005.

Beckham described the experience of meeting Tendulkar and being presented to Team India as “extremely special.”

“It was a memorable experience to meet Sachin for the first time at Wimbledon.” But to start, he’s the greatest. He is the greatest, but he’s much better as a person.

Therefore, it was very wonderful for me to spend time with him at his home and to get to know all of the players.

“They had a crucial game coming up, so it was good that they could come over and greet us. It was a pleasure to meet them all,” Beckham said. Beckham was also seen conversing with Kohli at the stadium on Wednesday.

When asked which he would have picked in a cricket match—bat or ball—the co-owner of Major League Soccer (MLS) team Inter Miami said, “I used to play cricket when I was a young kid at school and I always liked being the batter, but I also like to bowl and I also like to field.”

“I think of myself more as a batter, but I guess I’m also an all-rounder.”

He described his first trip to India as “amazing” and expressed regret that he hadn’t gone sooner.

It’s my first time visiting India, and I must say that I’ve had an amazing experience. It’s unbelievable that it’s taken me this long to visit India. Now that I’m here at last, however, I can’t wait to return. I guess everything I’ve been doing with UNICEF, meeting amazing young people, and inspiring young people—especially some young girls—have all contributed to this.

“I think the whole experience from the people, the children, the food, the energy here in the stadium and being here for Diwali and the New Year and the cricket World Cup, it couldn’t have been any more perfect,” he said. “Everything that they were saying and they want to believe in and change.”