India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup: When a packed-MCG stayed silent to hear Virat Kohli's victory words

October 23, 2022

Melbourne: It took until the sixth over of the Indian innings for “Dil Dil Pakistan” anthem to be echoed around Melbourne Cricket Ground. The ground announcer only reverted to playing the tunes of the unofficial Pakistan National anthem at the loss of India’s fourth wicket. It was the first time the Pakistan supporters had quietened their counterparts. The Men in Green took the opportunity to ensure the chant of “Pakistan Jeetega” boomed around the MCG.

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The crowd has been split 80:20 in India’s favour. Since the moment the sun broke through the clouds four hours before the match a sea of fans had flocked through the city centre. Many had gathered at Cafes near Flinders Street station for lunch and then walked beside the beautiful Yarra River all the way to the stadium.

Even a few people cruising on the river screamed “Come on, India!” as many fans started to wave the tri-colour flag with pride. There was a tingling of green as hundreds of people made the iconic walk over the William Barrack Bridge. The trams started to fill as the game neared. The fan park zone setup outside Gate 3 became the best place to absorb all the songs and cultures of both nations. People danced to the tunes of the Bhangra, Hindi music and other notorious Bollywood hits. It was selfies galore and face paint was applied to youngsters.

There were shirts with Kohli, Rohit, Babar, Rauf and many other names. The Bharat Army seemed to have a song dedicated to each of the Indian players. Pant and Kohli seemed to be names on most people’s lips. One fan could be heard telling another “Aree bahi abhi Rohit captain he” (Remember Rohit is the captain now not Kohli”)

As it usually the case the Indian fan has travelled from various cities around the globe. A set of people had flown from Los Angeles while a couple had arrived in the morning from Tokyo. Then there were the locals. Some had been living in Melbourne for 40 years and others had migrated into the Victorian city as late as a few hours before the titanic clash.

This was after all the epic of the World Cup clashes. The crowd was in such jovial mood, it took nearly 30mins after the first ball for all the ticket holders to enter the MCG. Once they were all packed inside the MCG was a sea of blue. For the majority of India’s innings it was difficult to hear any support for the Men in Green. But that was all about to change as Naseem Shah made early inroads into the formidable Indian batting.

Midway through the Indian innings, one could hear a pin-drop silence. The supporters with blue shirts had gone quiet. Many shook their heads and went behind the stands to grab some food. A few contemplated on leaving but their hopes started to rise with a couple of lusty blows from Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli. Suddenly the odd “India Jeetega” could be heard again. The flags that had been lowered started to be raised and noise went up a couple of decibels.

With each dot ball, the crowd became restless. With India needing 54 off 24 balls there was still hope, but many felt it would still need a miracle. “Nahi hoga thoda jaada he” was the general consensus. But a couple of towering blows by Pandya and Kohli and more started to believe.

As Kohli whipped Rauf’s final ball of the penultimate over for six – finally the “Kohli Kohli” chant reverberated in each section. Perhaps the silence that spread across the stadium at the last over the match summed up the tension. India needed 16 off the last over. Fans crossed their fingers. Some hugged their loves ones to calm the nerves while others simply couldn’t watch.

Not a single soul had left the arena and listened to each word Virat Kohli had to say at the post-match presentation. Kohli appreciated all the support and deliberated a walk towards different sections of the crowd to thank them. As “Chakde India” was blasted over the sound system there was hugging, kissing, laughter, relief and tears of joy. Each and every single of the 90,293 fans would remember this heroic innings of Kohli forever. This was one game they will cherish forever.

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