The Brabourne Stadium allotted a special stand for the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Mumbai Cricket Association invitees, former Test players and umpires at the pavilion end for all the ICC Champions Trophy matches in Mumbai.

The venue also hosted the final between world champions Australia and defending champions West Indies, but there was hardly any attendance in the elite-stand. Many feel that the invitees stayed away because India failed to make it to the final. But the general consensus is that you wouldn’t want to waste your Sunday, watching a cricket match under the hot sun in such humid weather.

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The CCI made special security arrangements for the all-important Champions Trophy final match. While everybody was thoroughly checked at the entrance, it was nearly impossible to reach your seats without being checked again.

Interestingly, the security was at such levels that even the ball boys inside the stadium were members of the local police force. Most of them are cricketers representing local police teams like Police Gymkhana.

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West Indies opener Chris Gayle is the toast of the town and it was not surprising when people flocked in to see another big knock from the left-hander.

He had thrashed the South African bowlers all over the park in the semi-final at Jaipur and people were expecting a similar show here. Gayle started well but could not continue for long as he was dismissed for 37 from 27 balls, leaving his fans disappointed.

Murtuza Hussain, who paid an eye-popping Rs 3,000 for his ticket, said that he came just to watch Gayle’s explosive batting. "I bought these expensive tickets so that I could see Gayle’s batting. He got a good start but couldn’t convert it into big score."

He is a big West Indies fan and it was natural that he looked disappointed as the Windies squandered a good start and kept losing wickets regularly.