The Great Indian Party

What followed was a series of ups and downs and smiles and sighs at the 28,000-capacity stadium as both teams battled it out for the World Cup final. But what stayed throughout was the high-decibel backing to the Indian team from the stands.

It was perhaps because of this that Rahul Gandhi,dressed in white kurta-pyjama,chose to spend time in the stands even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani sat in the special enclosure.

The Congress general secretary sat for over an hour with the crowds,cheering India. Later,during the last 10 overs,he and Sonia Gandhi shifted to the terrace stand. When asked midway through the match who he thought would win,Rahul said,I am just enjoying the match.

His brother-in-law Robert Vadra,who was with son Rehaan,told The Indian Express: My son follows cricket and soccer both. Right now its cricket. Disappointed over Yuvraj getting out on the first ball,he said,Our team needs to keep its cool and show consistency.

Vadra too left the PMs box after the first two hours of the match and sat in the stands. I was not able to accommodate all my friends in the boxes so I went to say hello to them in the stands. I ended up shaking hands with almost everyone at the stands, he said,when asked about a bruise on his hand.

The two Prime Ministers,however,stuck to the protocol. After meeting the players,they watched the match for about two hours in the PMs stand after which they took a brief break. They met in the evening for dinner after which they returned for the match.

Also among those in the stands were a long list of celebrities including Aamir Khan with wife Kiran Rao,Priety Zinta and film makers Madhur Bhandarkar and Om Prakash Mehra.

Aamir seemed nervous as everyone else as the fortunes of India looked to slide a bit. They started off really well. After Yuvi,we had almost a hat-trick of outs. But then Sachin did a good job. The first five overs of our bowling are going to be crucial, he said after the Indian innings. All I am saying to myself is all izz well, he added,using his superhit 3 Idiots line.

The last time I saw a live match was in Machester and that too was between India and Pakistan and India won. I have come to see a live match after 10 years, he said. At the end,he was not disappointed.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife Harsimrat were in the stadium with their kids. We were in the PMs box in the morning. Later when the PMs left for rest,everyone came into our box and sat here to see the match, said Harsimrat.