American fans shouting “Pakistan Zindabad”, Pakistani fans leading reverberating chants of “South Africa Zindabad”, Sri Lankans dancing in the aisles despite the fluctuating fortunes of their team during a match, the 2012 World T20 has served up quite a few surprises and a lot of flavour.

Traditionally, the West Indies supporters have been known to bring quite a carnival to cricket matches. But anyone who has experienced the buzz around the sub-continent is well aware that Sri Lankan fans can really go the distance as well. Add to that mix hordes of Pakistani and Indian fans, and some great encounters on the field and you experience an atmosphere described by a traveling ESPN writer as “insanity”.

Shoaib Tariq, a photographer from Karachi attended the matches in Sri Lanka and captured many of the fans and celebrations during the Super Eights to provide a Dawn.com exclusive gallery of the stands.