Fans rock Wankhede stands

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, December 8

Finally, India skipper Virat Kohli got the fan support he desired — around 16,000 people turned up today to enjoy the action on Day 1. The turnout for the Tests at Rajkot, Visakhapatnam and Mohali had been poor, but it was a festive atmosphere today at the Wankhede Stadium.

Kohli likes to involve the fans in the action, rouse them into a passion. Today morning, on the team bus to the stadium, he must have been cheered by the long queues outside the gates. For the Sachin Tendulkar Pavilion stand, there was a kilometre-long queue. The supporters of the two teams had queued up since 7.30 am, a good two hours before the start of play.  There were long queues at the other gates as well.

During the final session today, Kohli egged on the crowd to back Ravichandran Ashwin. The fans responded and Ashwin struck, picking up Moeen Ali and Keaton Jennings in one over.

Very English

Before those two wickets, the atmosphere was very English. England’s supporters have landed in Mumbai in big numbers, and they cheered every run by their batsmen, drinking a lot of colas and water to keep energised on a very warm day. As the temperature rose to 33°C in the afternoon, many male fans even took their shirts off, enjoying the sun.

One man, though, remained heavily dressed. Colin Bloomfield, 66 years old, had dressed up Charlie Chaplin. Bloomfield, from the Isle of Wight, is on his first visit to India. “Am I looking funny?!” he asked. “I always dress up like this whenever I travel abroad to watch England play. I enjoy the attention. I have a sponsorship deal with a local (Isle of Wight) newspaper and a radio channel to dress up like Chaplin. The proceeds go to St Mary’s Hospital in England.”

Janet Evans, with boyfriend Craig Norwood, had her hair coloured blue, which attracted a lot of attention. “I keep changing the colour of my hair, so blue this time and maybe red for England’s next tour,” she chuckled.

Then there was Coeda Rej, a wheelchair-bound England supporter, from Middlesbrough. “My passion for cricket would only die with me. It’s been a nice experience here, people have been really accommodating. I would like to come back,” Rej said.