As he looks towards the South African boys, who are still pumping their fists and making the occasional cat call, we ask Rana for some good, neighbourly advice for the Indians before tomorrow’s final. “No instructions, India are a good team. But I just want to tell them to please win the World Cup.”

Rana was the Pakistan coach two years back when his highlycharged wards thrashed India in the final, but the 98 runs loss to South Africa today has left him subdued. Pakistan’s exit has meant the hostilities are over and neighbourly concern has taken over. India’s captain Virat Kohli returns Rana’s compliment, saying: “They shouldn’t have lost. We wanted to play Pakistan in the final.”

On eve of the World Cup final, the love-hate relationship between India and Pakistan was there for all to see.

Heavy rains here have seen a sudden drop in temperature.

The mercury has dropped on the cricketing front as well, South Africa’s entry into the final leaving that dream Indo-Pakistan game just that — a dream.

The Asian expats here will not be divided into camps, nor will they get the pleasure of shouting each other down as they miss a rare chance to get a feel of one of the most-celebrated cricketing rivalries.

And to complete the anti-climax of sorts, there aren’t any sparks flying on the Indo-South African front either. The finalists have been getting along famously since they played a full series last month.

India’s middle-order batsman Manish Pandey talks of how the South African captain Wayne Parnell is friendliest cricketer around.

South African all-rounder Jonathan Vandier says that Kohli is a great guy to hang around with. The bonhomie between the two teams increased after South Africa qualified for the quarter-final, courtesy India’s heavy defeat of the West Indies in the group stage.

The Indians do speak about the dream of taking home the silverware and a few talk about their individual aspirations, but South Africa-bashing is conspicuous by its absence.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja says he is excited by the fact that tomorrow, people in India have the option of watching the “junior finals on one channel and the seniors on another.”

Sharing the spotlight with the big stars means a lot for those trying to find a place under the sun.

Just as one gets a feeling that the contest was getting too syrupy-sweet, South African coach Ray Jennings snarls: “India have toured seven countries over the last two years. The expectations are high. We’ve had nothing, we’ve come through the hard road, we haven’t had a four-day break. That excites me.

I’m going to come from the bottom to try scare not only India as a team but as a country!”

Jennings war-cry’s fine, but that’s still nothing compared to the WWF-style pow-wow one expects before a India-Pakistan contest. After all, had Pakistan been in the final, their coach Rana wouldn’t have been popping an olive branch, would he?