A sea of blue and green flooded to MCG on Sunday to create one of the most exhilarating and powerful sporting spectacles ever seen in Australia.
And that was before a single ball was bowled.
The storied India-Pakistan rivalry took centre stage at the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia's biggest stadium, watched by a crowd of 90,293, a figure that may well even top the figure for next month's final.
The rain gods had threatened to ruin a historic night, and the plans of hundreds of millions watching on TV, but Melbourne's unpredictable weather held out.
Clashes between India and Pakistan are always highly anticipated, ever since the first Test series between the cricket-mad nations in 1952.
India had dominated their famous rivals in big tournaments, winning 12-straight games in World Cups, until Pakistan struck back in extraordinary fashion last year to secure a 10-wicket T20 thumping in the UAE.
In modern times, the rivalry has been restricted to major tournaments, with India and Pakistan not playing each other in a bilateral series since 2012 due to ongoing tensions between the countries.
Even in the lead-up to the tournament, the opposing boards were arguing about next year's Asia Cup in Pakistan and the ODI World Cup in India.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who is also the Asian Cricket Council president, suggested that next year's Asia Cup should not go ahead in Pakistan because India "can't go there".
The Pakistan Cricket Board hit back, labelling Shah's comments as a "surprise and disappointment" and saying it could impact their men's team touring India.
But there was no such division in Melbourne, with fans in the blue of India and the green of Pakistan showing mutual respect in and outside the MCG.
India's army of supporters was clearly bigger in numbers, but the Pakistani fans matched them for enthusiasm as they hailed the decision of Babar Azam's team to warm up on the MCG surrounded by three national flags.
More than two hours before the game, India and Pakistan fans were both singing, chanting and making noise to rival any sports fans in the world.
The match more than lived up the hype, with superstar Virat Kohli, a god to Indian people, playing one of the best innings of his storied career to lift his country to a famous win.
The chaotic scenes as Ravi Ashwin hit the winning run off the final ball of the match will go down in MCG folklore.
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