By early evening, all roads in the centre of the city were closed. By that time, of course, some had already passed out in the blazing mid-afternoon sun in George Street, only to rise like zombies in time for the midnight fireworks. It was a time to let go.
Team India was no different. They had a new captain and a new direction, yet the old school lingered among them. Aggression and assault are the new motifs in this team. In Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri, the team has an exciting new combo intent on bulldozing opponents and seizing the day.
But this is Sydney, and they would do well to keep the pragmatist at hand. Memories of 'Monkeygate' still linger and this series hasn't been played in the best spirit. If anything, some players, on both sides, are awaiting the tipping point.
MS Dhoni may have been an instinctive captain - if any more proof was needed, it came in the form of his abrupt, silent retirement on the last day of the Melbourne Test - but he was not given to rash expressions of belligerence.
Not for nothing did he earn the sobriquet 'Captain Cool'. But stung by defeat upon defeat away from home as Dhoni's Test captaincy went stale, India are now in danger of overstating the aggression.
There are interesting parallels in the retirements of Dhoni and his predecessor Anil Kumble, who disappeared from view in the middle of a Test, also against Australia. Both were expected to take calm, rational decisions on their exit, not make spur-of-the-moment power statements.
Yet Virat Kohli would do well to revisit Kumble's clever statesman approach when the Harbhajan-Symonds affair struck here in 2008. India's new captain thrives on seeking contests, but he has to pick the right battles to fight. He may not have Kumble, but he has MS Dhoni's prudence at hand.
"Only one team is playing cricket in the right spirit," Kumble had declared in 2008, leaving no doubt which team it was.
"We haven't started yet," said Australia coach Darren Lehmann after the third Test, when asked if riling Kohli up had backfired for Steve Smith's men in the series.
"There are always some who can't keep their cool. I have my targets," Kohli had declared a day earlier.
The portents for Sydney don't look good, specifically because India may have a combative new captain still some years from finding his poise in the heat of battle.
It is here, in the build-up to Sydney, a place emblematic of the hostile cricketing relations between India and Australia that MS Dhoni's biggest contribution as Test captain needs to be remembered.
It was not in providing the hope of excitement with the bat at No. 7, or the deft glovework behind the stumps, or the hit-and-miss field placements. It lay in calming the team down with an iron hand in moments of intensive competitiveness.
On his last day in office, Dhoni accepted he had not been able, this time around, to keep things in check as the Kohlis and Sharmas clashed with rival players and umpires.
"A lot of what is spoken on the ground I don't really know anymore," he said, "I just told my players not to abuse anyone. That is unacceptable. I don't really know what is happening between the runner and the mid-off fielder. That is something I have no control over and it becomes very difficult to handle. It is up to the individuals to handle it."
It was an admission, however veiled, that his authority had eroded.
Dhoni's successor Kohli would do well to remember how important it is not to get carried away in the moment. There was a point in Adelaide when Kohli got into a heated argument with an opposition player, and then suddenly seemed to remember he was captain and needed to behave differently. It was funny to watch, but also an indication that Captain Cool's guiding hand will be missed by this team.
Sydney is gyrating to the New Year, but in six days' time India wouldn't want to run rings around Australia on the subject of sledging.
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