The familiar Eden Gardens hubbub was back on Sunday.

In the five previous games the Eden had hosted in this T20 World Cup, the turnout was quite impressive, even in the contest between Associate team Scotland and debutants Italy, which had an 11am start on a Monday.

But for Sunday’s Super Eight game featuring India and the West Indies, what made the difference was the hustle and bustle not just at the Eden, but at the Maidan as a whole. The all-too-familiar activity when the Eden hosts Team India and an IPL game.

In fact, the attendance was already close to 50,000 even when a quarter of an hour remained for the toss. And when India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss, the roar only got louder.

Apart from the importance of Sunday’s clash, which was a virtual quarter-final, this was also the only opportunity for the Eden crowd to witness their favourite team and household names in action in a tournament of such magnitude. A little after an hour into the game, the turnout increased to 57,675.

“This is the only India game here (of this World Cup). And this is a format where India do well. So, we’re really fortunate that we could get the tickets to watch the Indian team players from the stadium in an electric atmosphere,” a college student, who was at the Club House upper tier with a few of his friends, said.

Alongside ICC chair Jay Shah, who was seated in the BCCI corporate box beside Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI brass had also turned up.

The occasion was ideal for black marketeers as well. Even on Sunday, around four hours before the game began, tickets worth ₹900 were being sold at almost thrice its rate at ₹2,500.

The Eden will host South Africa and New Zealand for the first semi-final on Wednesday. But will the atmosphere be similar to that of Sunday?

“There will obviously be some excitement as it’s a World Cup semi-final, after all. But yes, the craze for tickets will dip a little bit,” a senior CAB official said.