BIRMINGHAM: There were usual scenes at Edgbaston on Sunday. Scores of India fans had gathered outside the stadium an hour before the gates opened. Many in fancy dress attires and headgears, other than the customary blue, they converted the place into a cauldron of colours.
Somewhat quiet and cutting forlorn figures were the England fans. They seemed to be enjoying the sight without being part of the festivities. At home and outnumbered by fans of the travelling team in a game featuring England is not what they experience every day.
“I was here for an England-India T20 game in 2014 and it was the same,” said Richard Haddon, who came from Shrewsbury. “If you compare the noise when Jonny Bairstow got to hundred with the noise when he got out, it’s easy to figure out who are greater in number. It adds to the atmosphere because you don’t see this in any other England game.”
In the queues for food and drinks, at the open spaces inside the stadium premises with TV screens, Indians were in the majority. Screaming slogans and calling out the names of their favourite stars, they reduced the English fans to silent spectators.
“This is the first time I am attending an England-India game at a venue,” said David Griffith, from Coventry. “I was at the England-Sri Lanka match and the two can’t be compared if you are talking about the atmosphere. I got to say I would have felt better had a few more England fans turned up. But I won’t mind having a beer with them if they buy it!”
As India tried hard when the England openers were going strong, the diehards in blue were winning the battle in the stands. Out-screaming the supporters of the other team in blue, they were reaffirming the notion that without them, the World Cup would seize to be the spectacle it is.