SOUTHAMPTON: It was the break between innings. In the stands at Ageas Bowl, drums and dholaks were beaten aloud, with a group of about 50 shaking a leg or two. The match was only halfway through, but the fans were celebrating already. None gave the South Africans a chance after they made 227/9.
That’s how it was for most of the day. They ate, drank and made merry in the terraces as India began their World Cup campaign with a comfortable win.
There may have been nervy moments after the dismissal of Virat Kohli, but Rohit Sharma’s assured presence calmed those nerves. For most of the day, the stadium with a capacity of around 16,500 remained in a celebratory mood. South Africa’s green was hardly visible in the sea of India’s blue.
“I was expecting them to get around 280 to be honest. Didn’t think they would settle for something so far behind that. A bit of an anticlimax perhaps, but we don’t mind that since we got to see what we had come for. Hope our boys carry on like this. There is a long way to go,” said Jai, an India fan travelling from Harrow, near London.
There were many like him, who had come from different parts of England and also a sizable number of diehards in blue who came all the way from India, the US and the UAE.
These fans have been the heart and soul of the cricket World Cup for the last few editions. Be it the West Indies, Australia or New Zealand, it’s the India fans who make this competition a festival of colours and sound.
A quaint town otherwise which seems to enjoy its serenity, Southampton has been abuzz for the last few days due to the presence of this travelling fan army.
Seen around the happening City Centre area before Wednesday, they came to the stadium in full steam, in glittering attires and sporting fancy headgears. Trust them to keep the show alive over the next few weeks.