Before their toughest test yet, South Africa find some love in Kolkata

There was a roar outside the stadium gates where thousands had gathered alongside the maidan to form a welcoming committee. From within, it seemed obvious who had arrived: the Indian team. But as those inside rushed to get a view of the fanfare, they discovered it was not an arrival party after all. It was a farewell rallying cry, for the South Africans.

Even though it is entirely plausible that many of the supporters were probably just early for the Indian team, that they gave the departing opposition team bus almost as loud a reception and almost as many cheers was a timely reminder that even at a World Cup that is all about the hosts, there is a bit of other love to go around. There has to be, right? Because tomorrow's game is being billed as the biggest of the group stage, the one that will possibly decide who tops the table heading into the knockouts and answers the question of whether anyone can challenge the home team. But also because there is history between these two sides at this one place and there are people who still remember.

Kolkata is the place South Africa made their international comeback, after 30 years of isolation from the Apartheid regime, and it was the place where they were welcomed with open arms. It is also one of the last places where Indian fans expressed extreme dissatisfaction with administrative decisions when they booed their own team and openly got behind the opposition. That was in 2005, when South Africa beat India by ten wickets to take the lead in a series that was eventually drawn 2-2, and among the South Africa players involved then, one was present today: Shaun Pollock.

The former captain-turned-commentator spent most of South Africa's training session with them, part of it out of duty to record some interviews for the broadcast, and the other part out of loyalty. He had detailed conversations with all the members of the pace pack, especially with Lungi Ngidi, and a sit-down with David Miller. Given that Pollock has played only one ODI at Eden Garden (the one mentioned above, in 2005) and the abiding memory of him at World Cups is of a botched rain-adjusted chase in 2003, what could he have been telling them? "Just catching up," was the official word, though it looked less casual from the outside. It's serious business over the next 24 hours, because even though both teams have qualified for the semi-finals, it is about who lays down a marker. For South Africa, it could now be about arriving at this World Cup.

The same is probably true for every team that has played India in this tournament, because along with the hosts, comes the attention on a scale far, far greater than anything anyone experiences elsewhere. In South Africa's case, there's an even harsher spotlight because they are just tailing India, with six wins from seven games, and, maybe, starting to dream of what may be. This week, they would have seen something similar from home to the craziness that follows the Indian team. As the Springboks have been on their World Cup trophy tour, the streets have been lined with well-wishers and the passion has overflowed. The next target those emotions are aiming at is the Proteas, as early as tomorrow at Eden Gardens and for the next two weeks. They are officially no longer under the radar, and they know it.

"The noise around the team, that's grown," Temba Bavuma said at the pre-match press conference. "It's for us to control our space within the team but also draw energy from the positive sentiment that's floating in and around the team. It's probably hard for us to keep going as the underdogs."

Having broken records for the highest total at a World Cup and the most sixes, South Africa's batting has announced itself and will face its toughest test against India's attack, which has been excellent.

"You don't get a lot of bad balls from them," Bavuma said, but he has also identified areas that can be taken advantage of. "The three up front, [Jasprit] Bumrah, [Mohammed] Siraj, as well as [Mohammed] Shami, are guys who can exploit anything with that new ball. If there's swing, if there's nip, they can exploit that. [They are] quite attacking bowlers as well, so with that, there comes an opportunity to score. They obviously only have five bowlers, so they can be put under pressure if one of their bowlers is not on their day."

That said, Bavuma's first approach is still to "respect their bowling attack a little bit more than the other bowling attacks and understand that you're going to have to play good cricket for longer periods".

There is also the expectation that South Africa's own attack will come under some scrutiny as they take on India's batting line-up, whose marquee batter will also celebrate a marquee day. Virat Kohli turns 35 on Sunday and though plans for 70,000 Kohli masks and a public birthday cake handover have been shelved, there is still a sense some of the day will be about him. On the eve of the match, the few hundred fans, who were inside watching training, reserved their most desperate calls for a wave or a smile for him.

And then there is the small matter that Kohli is also chasing a record-equalling 49th ODI century and the dreamers would like nothing more than this on his birthday, his hundred and an Indian victory to come together. But it's those kinds of distractions that can play unnecessary tricks on a sportsperson's mind and it's something South Africa have managed to avoid at the tournament so far.

There's a sense that will change on Sunday and the challenge for Bavuma and his team will be to stay steady as the emotions start to swell. And they know it. "We've obviously taken note of outside the team, everything that is happening," Bavuma said. "And we still want to stay a lot more drawn to each other as a team, control what we can control within the team, regulate our emotions as much as we can and make sure we're in the best space possible to play our best cricket the way we want to do it."

Let the big game begin.