April 15: A group of Mauritians were at the Eden Gardens today for the "Indian Tourism League", a four-day package tour with three IPL matches in two cities thrown in.

"We have come here to see the IPL craze. For us, it is just airport, hotel and stadium. We haven't done one bit of sightseeing," Colin Ogilvie, a senior executive with Anheuser-Busch InBev, a multinational beverage and brewing company that owns iconic brands like Budweiser and Corona, said.

Metro met the band of boys at the Eden stands as the Knights battled the Sunrisers on the ground.

What they saw overwhelmed them. As Robin Uthappa greeted the Afghan leg spinner, Rashid Khan, with a six over long on, Eden erupted. The trademark Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo track played and the 60,000 plus crowd started swaying as they waved tens of thousands of purple and gold, and yellow flags.

"The IPL craze is amazing. But Eden is just unbelievable," Garry Staunton, who works with a telecom firm, said. A sports buff, Staunton has been to some high-voltage games. "I've seen the Springboks (nickname of South African rugby team) take on the All Blacks (New Zealand). I've seen Premiere League matches in England. But this is special," he said, filming Eden's signature Mexican wave.

The group spent considerable time choosing the venues. The fact that all of them are "blind AB de Villiers fans" - they used to live in South Africa before settling in Mauritius - meant Bangalore would be an automatic choice.

But they wanted to visit another stadium as well. An Indian friend suggested Eden.

The group landed in the city this morning after watching Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Mumbai Indians in Bangalore yesterday.

They are scheduled to return to Bangalore tomorrow morning to watch Virat & Co play Pune Supergiants in the evening. The group will fly out the next morning.

The friends were with their children, only boys. "The ladies are having a blast back home, sipping wine," Ogilvie said.

"The kids were somewhat upset after RCB lost yesterday. But Eden has more than made up for it," Justin Peirson-Taylor, an electrical engineer, said. He was hooked to the peppy songs that were played in between overs. "This is such fun. If only they served beer."

Leslie Dann, an electrical engineer, revealed the reason behind liking KKR. "Our wives love Shah Rukh Khan."