The entire nation was in a mood to celebrate India's brilliant victory against Pakistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup opener in Adelaide but for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his boys, the ‘Mission Defence’ has just begun and there is no time to celebrate just yet.
Although the Indian fans who had descended in Adelaide celebrated late into the night at the heart of city centre, the cricketers wanted to get away from all the frenzy and hoopla.
“It's only the first match against Pakistan. Everyone is happy that we have won the match but why do we need to celebrate one victoryIJ Have we won the World CupIJ There were absolutely no celebrations. The cricketers were tired after a gruelling match and they needed a lot of rest. Everyone just retired to their rooms,” a key member of the Indian support staff said after reaching Melbourne on Monday.
“The Indian team had a morning flight from Adelaide to Melbourne. We were here for the last fortnight and everyone had to do their packing and all after the match and also needed a good night's sleep. We came by a Qantas flight and the players will get a couple of days rest before they again hit the straps,” said the source.
It has been learnt that Dhoni and Team Director Ravi Shastri want a relaxed environment but at the same time do not want the concentration level of a young team to waiver.
The general notion in the team is that we can take some time off from the game but there is no reason to rejoice as the next opponents are South Africa led by the talismanic AB de Villiers and a bowling attack led by world's best fast bowler Dale Steyn.
However there was no such compulsions for the Indian fans as there was a sea of humanity at Adelaide's famous Hindley Street where they all sang and danced till the wee hours.
There were some hundred Indian fans with ‘dholaks’ at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Adelaide where the team are staying but the players were too tired to celebrate as they quickly left the lobby and disappeared into the elevators.
MSD fails to collect bail
Everyone is aware of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's penchant for collecting stumps as souvenirs after every India win but just like last year's World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, he won't be able to collect any during the ongoing ODI World Cup irrespective of his team's victories.
The World Cup in Australia and New Zealand again has the lED stumps, which are touch-sensitive and blink whenever the bails get whipped off. Just after India completed their win against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday at the Adelaide Oval, Dhoni took one of the bails but then Ian Gould, who was the square leg umpire, had a friendly chat with him after which one saw the bail remaining where it is.
The specific reason being that these set of ‘lED stumps’ cost $40,000 (Rs24 lakh) and the pair of bails costs as much as an iPhone 5 (Rs50,000 approx).
So Dhoni won't be able to keep any of these bails or stumps unless there is an official permission from the ICC in this regard.
The ‘lED stumps’ were first used during the 2013 edition of ‘Big Bash’ after which they were used on an experimental basis at the World T20 in Bangladesh, where the response was pretty positive to continue using them.
Four hurt in brawl between India, Pak fans
Four persons have been injured when a brawl broke out between cricket fans watching the tense India-Pakistan World Cup match on television at a Sydney club.
Police said the fight at the Merrylands RSl club on Sunday night involved up to 40 people. Three people were taken to Westmead hospital and another was taken to Auburn hospital for treatment for non-life threatening injuries, Australian news channel ABC News said on Monday.
Police are now reviewing security camera footage of the fight but no arrests have been made so far. The game between the fierce rivals was one of the most highly anticipated of the tournament, drawing an estimated global viewing audience of one billion, the report said. Merrylands RSl club CEO Bryn Miller said nearly 180 people gathered to watch the live televised match in one of the club's rooms last night.
India won the match by 76 runs amid a frenzied atmosphere at the Adelaide Oval, extending its World Cup record over Pakistan to six wins from as many matches. He said the CCTV footage shows two people started the brawl by throwing a stool before running out of the club.