England's party atmosphere

By Phil Long With the Barmy Army in India

Freddie and his dreamers left it until the final Test to serve up a performance that ranks alongside any I've seen on my travels.

Wankhede Stadium was packed and hostile for four days

And what made it even more special is that Mumbai is a tough place not only to play Test cricket but also to watch it.

Visiting fans, as well as the players on both sides, weren't spared the ferocious chanting from all around the fast-decaying Wankhede Stadium.

Captain Fantastic Flintoff spent most of the game with loud and abusive refrains ringing in his ears.

Sachin Tendulkar - a local boy and undoubtedly one of the greatest Indian cricketers ever - was roundly booed when he was out for one in the first innings.

And the crowd even stayed on after the Test to drown out the presentation ceremony with cries of "Sourav, Sourav " in support of former captain Ganguly.

Most of the 5,000 or so England fans had shelled out top dollar to secure good seats before leaving home.

But anybody foolish enough to decide to sample Block J of the North Stand stood no chance of enjoying the Test.

Once a pasty-faced England fan was spotted, the block collectively rose to its feet, pointed maybe 3,000 fingers and let the abuse ring out.

Even for the most hardened English supporters, one session was more than enough to see them blagging their way into a quieter part of the ground.

I've not seen Monty's catch on TV since but I reckon it was up in the air for maybe four or five minutes before he finally pouched it!

Of course, the one thing that finally silenced the crowd (which was sold out on four days) was that incredible 45 minutes after lunch on the final day.

Rahul "The Wall" Dravid, then Tendulkar, and then a clearly overweight and under-fit Virender Sehwag all disappeared in the space of just two runs.

Scenes of jubilation from the English contingent were accompanied by near silence from the home supporters.

For me, though, the one moment that will forever be etched in my memory is the line on the scoreboard reading "M Dhoni c Panesar b Udal 5".

Wor turned to joy for Panesar, and his family

A few tall tales and deliberate wrong turns had managed to see a gang of us secure fantastic seats right behind the bowler's arm.

And perched alongside us were the obviously proud father and brother of Monty Panesar.

When Monty made a right Horlicks of catching Dhoni right in front of us, we genuinely did not know where to look.

We shouldn't have feared though, as by now the whole Indian batting order had gone into complete and utter Mumbai meltdown.

And Dhoni launched another ball high into the sky just balls later.

I've not seen Monty's catch on TV since, but I reckon it was up in the air for maybe four or five minutes before he finally pouched it!

If it seemed a long time for us then for the Panesar clan it must have seemed like days!

And so, with our first Test win in India for 21 years in the bag, it was off into the scorching sun to find somewhere to drink a pint for each one of those long years!