Rank outsiders India ready for their date with the best

October 11,2010 will perhaps be the biggest date of their lives so far,and for some time to come,as India rub shoulders with some superlative opponents they wouldnt otherwise encounter.

October 11,2010 will perhaps be the biggest date of their lives so far,and for some time to come,as India rub shoulders with some superlative opponents they wouldnt otherwise encounter. How often will we get to play against World Cup winners Wales and top-3 South Africa and renowned sevens exponents Tonga? asks Indian captain Nasser Hussain on the eve of the two-day competition.

The lowest-ranked team in the competition at 73,Indias campaign might end in less than a day they play Wales at 9.20am,South Africa at noon and Tonga in the evening,but two-years of prioritisation,many flying hours criss-crossing South Africa,New Zealand,Barbados and Hong Kong,much sweat,some broken bones and some serious blood have gone into preparing the national sevens for this one day of reckoning.

We know were the smallest teams here but its a fantastic opportunity to rub shoulders with the big guns and since we have nothing to lose well enjoy the occasion. We dont know when well ever get to play them again. Its sevens,so a couple of good tries and an upset cant be counted out. But we know where we stand,and well make the most of this, says the 30-year-old captain.

In their lead-up,the Indians have spent time in New Zealand,among other things learning to not be star-struck,and put in the hard yards in South Africa,which considerably improved their forward-play and helped putting in place a semblance of a rugby-diet. While for Delhi boys Amit Lochab and Deepak Dagar it will be a chance to shine at their home pitch,for those like Mumbai boys Kayrus Unwala and Hrishi Pendse it will be making the most of the one day for which theyve put entire academic terms in universities abroad,on hold.

Bikash Jena will be watched by enthusiastic Orissa for whom he is the flagbearer in rugby,while Sujai Lama will have his young child and wife whom hes seen little in these last two years in the audience.

The Welsh have brought in a few 18-19 year-olds and South Africans are carrying some injuries,but in the rugby-radius,they still count as bonafide Goliaths. The Tongans too are fast and big, Hussain says,though in the run-up to the rugby,the Tongan coach was desperately grappling with problems of his players going sluggish,after relishing Indias famed rich food at the Games Village.

The competition in itself is true blue-riband for rugby and second only to the Sevens World Cup and it shows in plain stats: 5 of the 6 top sevens nations are in Delhi,with only Fiji kept out. Its as big as the World Cup,though Olympics will take centre-stage from 2016, Hussain says.