New physio gets his verbals right

When his five-year stint as Team India physiotherapist ended recently, Andrew Leipus had one regret he made public: his inability to learn a...

When his five-year stint as Team India physiotherapist ended recently, Andrew Leipus had one regret he made public: his inability to learn an Indian language and so communicate better with the cricket stars.

When Leipus’s successor, fellow Aussie and good friend John Gloster, takes charge on Monday, he will start with runs on the board, as it were. Gloster, who spent more than two years with the Bangladesh team, speaks good Bengali—and, thanks to a Mumbaikar bhabhi, a smattering of Hindi.

His elder brother James is married to Sunita, a Mumbai girl whose family migrated to Australia when she was three and whose grandparents still live here. She has, says Gloster, ‘‘filled me in on the details’’ of life in India.

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‘‘She keeps talking about Mumbai and speaks very highly of the vibrant place that it is. Andrew too has lot to say about India and the places I can visit,’’ Gloster told The Sunday Express.

Indeed, his conversations with her may prove as instructive as his briefing session with Leipus on Thursday who gave him a lowdown on all the players and the country itself. ‘‘I am very excited about the strong position Indian cricket is in right now. My being involved with one of the top three teams is a great honour,’’ says Gloster.

His familiarity with Bengali will certainly stand him in good stead given that two of Indian cricket’s most important people speak the language: captain Sourav Ganguly and Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI’s non-playing captain.

The Bangladesh experience will also help him in general dealing with life in India. ‘‘India may be a new place but as I enjoyed Bangladesh and its culture, I am sure I would really enjoy India as well.’’

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Asked to prove his language skills, he begins with doston. Then corrects himself. ‘‘Oops, that’s Hindi isn’t it. It should be bondhu,’’ he adds with a laugh. Anything more? ‘‘I can count the numbers. Ek, dui, teen, char…’’ He goes on till ponero before cracking up but the point is made: He will not be at sixes and sevens in his new job.

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