India Pakistan Match - Countries come to a standstill

India's billion-strong population will be calling in sick to work, shutting shops early and even cancelling doctor's appointments to make sure they watch Wednesday's much-hyped World Cup semi-final match against arch rivals Pakistan.

Daily life will grind to a halt in cricket's spiritual home as fans from all walks of life settle down to watch one of the sport's most intense rivalries.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani are among those scheduled to watch the encounter, along with Bollywood celebrities and corporate czars.

"I might work till around 12 pm. After that my cab is probably going to break down," Sham Kesh, a cab driver in Mumbai, told Reuters with a twinkle in his eye.

The rest of the country is following suit.

On social networking site Facebook, more than 100,000 people voted a resounding "yes" to a poll on whether March 30th should be declared a national holiday in India, while another 40,000 said they were just going to "bunk" work.

With productivity threatening to dip considerably, even the bosses have given in. Several firms are planning to declare a half-day holiday, while others have set up giant screens in their offices to allow employees to watch the match in the office.

There is no escaping the hype surrounding the showdown, with channels running a constant stream of analysis and news, scrutinising every move and analysing every decision taken by the two teams.