RAJA SEN AT THE WANKHEDE
At the Wankhede Stadium, meanwhile, hordes of fans have been queuing up since early morning, attempting to get into the stadium that has thrown its doors open to the public for free.
The stands are filling up rapidly -- and over the public address system, Mere Desh Ki Dharti blares out at a volume only exceeded by the defeaning cheers of fans dancing on the seats, and in the aisles.
Three of the stands have filled up, and despite the steady rain, few fans seem in a mood to burden themselves with umbrellas -- hands, they feel, are for waving.
A troupe of Maharashtrian folk singers has taken up strategic position in one of the stands, and around them an impromptu dance party is on.
Every once in a while, a huge roar goes around the stadium, and no one seems to know exactly why.
"Shah Rukh has come," a fan interrupts his own cheering to explain. "Nonsense, it is Sachin who just got here and has moved into the VIP enclosure," another fan corrects the first.
Doesn't matter -- right here, right now, the fans are in the mood to cheer everything. And nothing.
Elsewhere, fans are busy practising their Mexican waves -- to the observer, it is amusing to see the seriousness with which the practice is being conducted.
Arrangements are being made for the felicitations. Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Deputy Chief Minister RR Patil, the top brass of the cricket board, including president Sharad Pawar, vice-presidents Lalit Modi and Rajeev Shukla, secretary Niranjan Shah and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar, who received the players at the airport, have gone ahead of the cavalcade to the Wankhede, where they will once again formally receive the players and felicitate them. Security had been beefed up at the airport, but still the players, surrounded by policemen and fans, had a tough time getting out and finally board the open bus.
Meanwhile, the Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander theme has taken over the PA address system; an official announced that the team will be here any moment.
There is a crackling, sizzling sense of electricity all around; the crowd, energy barely contained, looks set to explode in mass delirium -- and while they wait for the fans, the music is doing a good job of keeping the fervor at fever pitch.
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