The Indian cricket team may not have expected it. But crazy fans, who whipped a frenzy just a fortnight back, once again made an appearance, this time to herald the return of Saurav Ganguly and his men from South Africa early Tuesday morning. It was a pleasing sight as the tri-colours were waved, trumpets and drums played at the airport as if it was The Wanderers — venue of the Cup final in Johannesburg. While captain Ganguly, dashing batsman Virender Sehwag and bowlers Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan were hailed and chased by autograph hunters, the biggest cheer was reserved for man of the tournament Sachin Tendulkar. Wearing sunglasses and carrying a hand bag over his shoulder, the batting maestro was surrounded by policemen, custom officials and close friends. Tendulkar took the bus ride along with the others to team hotel where he moved into a waiting car before being zoomed away. As promised the team sponsors swarmed the Chhattrapati Shivaji International Airport’s arrival terminal with its 100-member strong black and white army joined by BCCI officials, media and the fans alike who waited for well over three hours. As the news of the their chartered plane having made the landing filtered in, policemen swung into action, photographers and cameramen jostled for space while others grabbed vantage positions. The patience of the eight pretty-looking, saree-draped girls, who had the honour of welcoming the players in traditional manner with garland, tikka and aarti, was tested to the hilt as the team took some time before making its appearance in the longue. Priviledged and placed near the passenger exit, they also served as indicator of the players’ arrival to others. Every time these girls would pick up garlands and light a ‘diya’ the crowd would go up in unision ‘‘East or West, India is the best.’’ Serving as a prelude to the appearance of the Men in Blue were a few famous people who shared the flight back home. NCP leader and Mumbai Cricket Association president Sharad Pawar was the first to move out. He was followed by Sahib Singh Verma, Sports Minister Viram Verma and Minister of State Anil Deshmukh. Singer Abhijeet and Ritesh Deshmukh — film debutant and son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh — were missed out by some in the rush. Eyebrows were raised as cricket luminaries Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath moved out. Former BCCI chief Raj Singh Dungarpur made an appearance — a la Dev Anand style — wearing coat and hat and carrying stump-like souvenirs in his hand. BCCI president Jagmohun Dalmiya raced past quickly leaving the field open for members of the cricket team. While Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble were said to have taken a connecting flight to Bangalore, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif had stayed back and would return by another flight on Wednesday.
