Desi Beats

Dressed casually in a t-shirt and denim shorts at the Pune Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre,Umpire Simon Taufel is far detached from his regular on-field persona. Taufel,who was in the city to officiate the IPL match between Pune Warriors India and Kings XI Punjab on Sunday,is the only cricket umpire in the world to have won the ICC Umpire of the Year for the first five years of its existence (2004–2008). He pleasantly surprises you as he answers questions in fluent,albeit accented,Hindi — “Aap kaise hai? Main bahut theek hoon. Sab theek hain.” He was in the city for too short a time to have done any sightseeing,but he praised the climate. “Bahut accha hai sab yaha,” he said. When asked about the stadium and the first match,he was quick to respond,“Stadium bahut bada hain.” On his Hindi speaking skills,he remarked,“I have been to India quite a few times; it is not that hard a language to pick up. Thora thora karke improve karoonga.”