Cricket at every nook and corner

In Parel's hallowed ground, Lalbaug's Raja for the evening was not one god, but eleven demigods in light blue as hordes of residents turned up to catch the big game on a big screen specially set up.

In Parel's hallowed ground, Lalbaug's Raja for the evening was not one god, but eleven demigods in light blue as hordes of residents turned up to catch the big game on a big screen specially set up.

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When the first two Indian wickets fell quickly a dazed silence followed, then the energy rose when the run rate did.

"So what if we lose, we will still try and have a good time watching the game," said Vinod Kade, a local.

Outside television showrooms across the city spectators pressed their faces against glass windows and watched their hopes reflected on television screens.

“Isn’t it the greatest feeling in the world to watch your country play?” said Vijay Pradhan, 37, a construction worker on a break who was watching outside a showroom near Opera House.

At Shivaji Park, the city’s cricket cradle and Tendulkar’s old hunting ground, blasts of vuvuzelas, drums and cymbals erupted every time a Sri Lankan wicket fell on the big screen.