Notice the mobile torch flash at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. Photo Courtesy: @patel_abhii on Twitter.
Indian cricket team would have expected strong support from cricket fans in Indore, who were getting an international match in their city after four years. The excitement and enthusiasm was evident days before the match day, as fans lined up and waited outside ticket-selling venues all night to get tickets. Police was forced to lathi-charge as things went out of control, and things turned worse as there was a stampede-like situation. Nevertheless, there was no mishap; the house was full at Holkar Cricket Stadium on Wednesday with the crowd right behind the Indian cricket team in their remarkable win by 22 runs over South Africa. The captain of the touring side, AB de Villiers had a special mention of the crowd, who certainly helped the cricket fraternity to put the behind the Cuttack incident. Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs South Africa 2015, 2nd ODI at Indore
When it became evident that the Indian cricket team was losing the second Twenty20 International (T20I) at Cuttack, the crowd turned violent and water bottles were thrown on the field. This forced the players to stop the game and after a long delay, South Africa managed to seal a series win. ALSO READ: India vs South Africa 2015, 2nd ODI at Indore: Highlights
However, at Indore, the fans were in another mood altogether. As per sports journalist Chetan Narula, a rough estimate of more than 1,500 turned up just for the training session, and they kept cheering for the captains, MS Dhoni and de Villiers. It was expected that the Indore crowd will turn up in complete support of the Indian cricket team, but what they did during South Africa’s second innings was never seen or heard before, at any of the cricket venues in the world. ALSO READ: When Sehwag, humming Kishore Kumar songs, demolished the WI at Indore
As the floodlights turned on, the delirious crowd did something unique. Hundreds of them took out their mobile phones, switching the torch lights on. What can be termed as ‘torch wave’ started in the entire Holkar Cricket Stadium, as the crowd set an example of how to support their team.
Here is a collection of some tweets:
.@ABdeVilliers17 was full of praise for the Indore crowd after the 2nd #IndvSA ODI pic.twitter.com/zXKJhKUCRh
— ICC (@ICC) October 14, 2015
Last but not the least I give a huge applause to the Indore crowd,u people r amazing #IndvsSA pic.twitter.com/UodpLYfrS0
— Raja Rajan (@raja221092) October 14, 2015
Amazin scenes at Indore for #IndvsSa Concert style torch flashing by the crowd was a first for india,Too cool.@BCCI pic.twitter.com/uAbtJ89ziZ
— Sudarshan Chitale (@sudyst) October 14, 2015
Indore crowd lighting up their phone flashlights (am assuming)…. Looks like stands buzzing with countless glow worms. Brilliant! #IndvsSA
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) October 14, 2015
Watch the video of the mobile phones torch wave at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, during India versus South Africa 2nd ODI at Indore:
The behaviour of Indore crowd attracted rich praise from de Villiers, who said, “It was one of the best crowds I have ever played in front of. They helped their team get over the line.” Indeed, Indore earned hearty praise from the South African skipper.
(Devarchit Varma is senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)