Naman Suri in Mumbai
Ecstatic! Electrifying! Energetic! How else can you describe the mood in Wankhede when India’s T20I opener blazes away to a 37-ball century? It was a dead-rubber match; India had already sealed the series after their win in the 4th T20I in Pune. Yet, cricket supporters came in full numbers. The stadium was jam-packed, and the fans were ready to make the opposition know that this is Wankhede, this is Mumbai, this is the Mecca of Indian cricket. You come here, you are in for a ride.
Everyone was buzzing—from an old man wearing an Indian jersey with T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav’’s name on it, to a 7-year-old kid wearing a jersey with former T20I captain Rohit Sharma’s name on it. Even the English fans, wearing Nottingham Forest jerseys, were looking to get last-minute tickets for this game. Such is the craze for the gentleman’s game in “The City of Dreams” that you would want to be part of the fervor.
With India set to bat first, the crowd started their deeds from ball one itself—chanting and shouting the Indian opener’s names. With each chant, they were rewarded in kind. Sanju Samson, with two sixes and one four in the very first over, only fanned the flames, egging the crowd to cheer every misfield by the Englishmen and boo every DRS call. However, the crowd never overstepped into disrespecting the opponents—everything was done in the spirit of the game.
This all peaked when the crowd, and even the opponents, congratulated Abhishek Sharma for his fantastic and entertaining century. Everyone rose as he holed out trying to hit another boundary, and for his entire walk to the pavilion, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. The boy from Punjab had just written his name in the hearts of these fans forever. He didn’t let a dead-rubber game on a Sunday evening go to waste for them.
“Indian fans were unreal. It was one of the best sporting experiences we’ve had. Everyone was so welcoming; they were brilliant. Very, very nice!” said two English fans before breaking into chants of India! India! “That young lad who plays like Yuvraj, was fantastic,” they added.