Pune’s very much Geoff’s cup of coffee

Is old always gold?
It was quite a surprise to find the staircase between the broadcasting box on the second floor and the ESPN-TWI room on the first floor, absolutely deserted. For there sat some of the most powerful names in world cricketing history — Sunil Gavaskar, Rameez Raja, Ravi Shastri, Geoff Boycott and how-can-cricket-fans-do-without-him Harsha Bhogle — with television cameras that beamed the ODI to millions. The celebrities went in and out at will, blending into the crowd, with less than a meagre handful of autograph hunters around. What then explains the mobbing when the very same team was making its way onto the field for the presentation ceremony?

High octave for city
Incidentally, Pune has now played host to a total of eight international cricket matches, including today’s, till now. England, Pakistan and Kenya have been the most successful with a hundred per cent success rate. Hosts India have won four and lost two of their encounters, while New Zealand, Zimbabwe, West Indies and Sri Lanka have yet to find a single success. Mohammed Azharuddin and Manoj Prabhakar tie for top place for the most matches played four each — while Dilip Vengsarkar’s 105 is the highest score by an Indian here.

Background sport
Coming to the current crop of players, Amay Khurasia with a half century and a century partnership with his captain, was definitely the flavour of the day. However, ask the light eyed Madhya Pradesh batsman as to which is his greatest knock and he will tell you about the 83 against Canada at Kuala Lumpur and the century against Kapilpaaji’s North Zone. Today’s knock he enjoyed because, “It contributed to the winning total and helped build up the momentum and excitement among the players and the spectators.”

But then, Amay is not your usual cricketer in any other way either. We mean, how many cricketers have you heard of whose favourite past time is reading Norman Peale to the strains of Jagjit Singh’s ghazals in the background?

Bhatia brigade
There is good news for the supporters of Arun Bhatia. His fame seems to have spread all the way to England, Scotland and Norway. This is what seemed to come through in the way of four representatives of these countries sporting “Bring back Bhatia” badges (in Marathi, no less). Asked what they knew about him, the answers ranged between, “He is gong around demolishing buildings” and “He is an honest dude who is being prosecuted for his brave actions.”

Oh brother!
“I say chaps, have you heard this one?” Seems familiar? Remember the television serial Fauji? Shahrukh Khan’s friend — Vikram Chopra — who had made the phrase the catchword of an entire nation? Well! Delhi all-rounder and recent sensation Nikhil Chopra is his younger brother. Not that this was the inspiration behind all the girls who were standing outside the dressing room chanting “We want Nikhil! We want Nikhil!” The Capricorn who shifted from Allahabad to Delhi, studied at St.Stephen and Hindu — two elite institutions — loves to play squash, listen to slow rock music and watch thriller action movies, especially if they star Brad Pitt and Demi Moore. The happiest moment of the newest-kid-on-the-block? “When I was selected as part of the Indian team!”

In a cheerful mood
There was another set of people, and another activity, making an international debut on the ground today. Noticed the girls in pink and white, dancing in perfect synchronisation with each other at the sidelines every time someone hit a boundary or bagged a wicket? They were Pune’s first international cheerleaders Manasi Salvi, Ruchi Sanghvi, Sonali Mendke, Gayatri Jadhav and Aishwarya Bagwe.

Spotted by Pepsi for the ODI, the team of five are Fergusson junior college students who love Rahul Dravid and were bowled over by Chaminda Vaas, because, “He has been giving us the cutest smiles whenever he comes near the boundary.” They have devised and learnt all the moves on their own, but say that they would not continue with cheerleading as a career, since “Next year we have to concentrate on our boards, and in India this is going to take ages to evolve into something that can support you.” Were they also, perhaps, daunted by another professional hazard they had to bear the maximum brunt of all the stones that the spectators were throwing onto the field.