Cricket: A party breaks out as great rivals face off in Adelaide

Thousands of Indians took devotion to their team to new heights in Adelaide, taking their exuberance outside the team's hotel into the Oval, cheering every ball. Photo / Getty Images

There might have been 30,000 more people at the MCG, but that was a church fete compared to the Mardi Gras that broke out at the Adelaide Oval for the Pakistan-India clash.

It was projected to be the most watched cricket match in television history, but no matter how comfortable your couch or how cold your beer, the 50,000-plus who packed the stands wouldn't have swapped places with you.

The World Cup exploded into colour yesterday. Central Adelaide was awash with blue (with a smattering of green), as expectant Indians descended upon South Australia in their thousands - to the obvious amusement of the locals.

They like their cricket here, but it's unlikely they've ever gathered outside the Australian team hotel to cheer the team bus off on its short journey down the hill to the Oval.

A pleasant walk through the parklands to the ground normally takes about 15 minutes - yesterday it was double that as you picked your way through the party.

Replica Tendulkar No 10 shirts still outnumbered Kohli and No 18, but old obsessions die hard.

With another gold-standard knock yesterday, Virat Kohli will edge ever closer to his recently retired hero in the public affection stakes.

This was about more than one player, though - it was about one country's obsession with a sport.

You know you're really among cricket fanatics when the result of the toss - won by MS Dhoni, bat first thank you - is cheered like a last-minute, match-winning goal.

A great eruption of noise greets every single, even a wide, and it doesn't abate. You're waiting for the energy to be sucked out of the arena, but a few dot balls just allows the crowd time to recharge.

It's cricket, but it's a million miles from Lord's.

To understand the depth of the rivalry, you need to know a little of the Indo-Pak history.

When the British Raj was dissolved in 1947, two sovereign nations were formed: the Union of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.

Close to 14 million people were displaced - the largest mass migration in human history - and several hundred thousand killed in the violence.

India emerged as a secular country with a largely Hindu population, while Pakistan - which translates as land of the pure - was formed as an Islamic state.

They still argue about stuff, mainly Kashmir ... and cricket.

That must have been the reason why, even with the crowd being so good natured and favouring India by a ratio of about 10:1, the Pakistan fans were herded pretty much into two banks of seats, an almost incongruous Kermit-green corner of the ground.

It hurts Pakistan that, coming into last night's match, they had never managed to beat India at a WorldCup.

As Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar put it, India spends all its time trying to impress the West, Pakistan spends its time trying to impress India.

It's fair to say that Indian fans have a lock on really bad homemade signs, but this one might just about have got it right: "Don't keep calm, it's India v Pakistan".

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