The song which was offi cially released on 16th Nov and became a viral  hit on the social networking sites was reverberating the great arena thanks to the passionate Indian supporters group “Swamy Army” but unfortunately the “Killer Instinct” (the meaning of Kolaveri) was missing from the Indian batsmen who surrendered meekly in the second innings.

When Sachin Tendulkar walked into bat, the standing ovation by all at the MCG was assisted by the great Australian bush song Waltzing Matilda sung by the Swamy Army in an Indian context which puzzled and even angered some Aussies supporters. The substantial increase in the numbers of the Army this tour followed by a coordinated approach to the songs and return back Aussie slogans. What made this group popular was most of the songs and slogans had an Aussie flavour which infuriated some of the Aussie supporters. It was very clear that the Aussie cricketers did not enjoy the vocal army and one Aussie media commented that he is not sure whether CA should allow Australian cricket stadiums to resemble the Indian grounds with the vociferous Indian supporters in majority. The Swami Army had their own victory of sort, when they got under the skin of some of the Australian Cricketers, particularly Haddin and Siddle, who after taking a wicket celebrated pointing at their direction. When Haddin missed a catch the roar “Bring Back Gilly” and “Matty Wade” song infuriated him so much so that if he loses his place, Victorian Matthew Wade can thank Swami Army.

The significance of this Melbourne army is that it has more second generation Indo-Australians than the traditional Indian supporters – One of them was a 13 year old Aussie born Indian who came with his Aussie friend and sat among the army and cheered the Indians. At the end of the day the Aussie boy was totally floored by the experience that he decided to come the next day to sit with the Swami Army. The father of the boy indicated that the “clean fun” without being abusive was one of the best moments of his umpteen MCG visits. However the Police was not as kind to the Army as to the Australian supporters – when a group of Aussie supporters intentionally moved near the Swami Army the Police seemed to take no notice of their abuse and swearing, particularly with the family based Indian support group.

Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland who earlier spoke to Indian Voice, indicated that he is expecting the Indian supporters, particularly the Swami Army, to bring charm and colour to the occasion and he must be a very pleased person with MCG turning out a record attendance for an India-Australia series, thanks to atleast sixty percent of the crowd of Indian background. The irony is Cricket Australia has given recognition to this group while their Indian counterpart, BCCI, refuses to provide recognition.

CA went a step further and not only allowed the supporters to pre-book entire section of the stadium but also allowed the traditional Indian drum “Dhol” to be taken into the ground to create an Indian atmosphere.

The Swami Army remain a not-for-profit and supports the LBW Trust (an organisation founded by Peter Roebuck, who died recently) that provides tertiary education to underprivileged students in several  countries including India and Nepal.