On show again: No entry
MS Dhoni may have said some great words about the support he is getting from the fans but when it comes to allowing them anywhere near the team, he has his reservation – as he does with the media. Wednesday pre-match training at the SCG was no different with the team conveying to the venue manager that it would not like any fan entry into the stadium and definitely not around the nets when it practised for the upcoming big semi-final. Though ICC has some mandatory fan engagements with the players but Dhoni has a lot of stinginess in this area in the name of focusing on the game. So the few Indian fans who had gathered at the SCG to boost the confidence of their team had to make do with seeing a back glimpse of the team at nets from outside one of the nearby gates. Even Tendulkar fan Sudhir and Dhoni fan Basheer were seen standing at the gate hoping to get in but to no avail.
Kohli comes with marker
Was it pity or just plain good manners, but Virat Kohli was at his obliging best after the chants from these fans reached his ears. After finishing his training, he came to the gate with his giant sized backpack much to the surprise and glee of the fans. Interestingly, the star batsmen was even carrying a marker pen which he fished out of his bag and started signing autographs. He even obliged some teenaged girls who asked him to click a selfie for them as they could not do so themselves due to the gate in between them and their icons. One man pleaded with him to look at him too saying, “paaji please mera autograph sign kar do main naukri chhod ke aya hoon”. He obliged. And just then another one caught his attention with his advice. “Kohli bhai please kal outside off-stump deliveries ko mat touch karna.” The star smiled, spent some more time from the other side of the cordon and walked off. Chants of “Dhoni-Dhoni”, however, did not bring the skipper to the fence.
India fan stumps Clarke
Dhoni’s fan Basheer Mohammad so foxed Michael Clarke with his comment that the Australian skipper who was walking away from the nets after his encounter with Shane Warne, stopped in his tracks, smiled and said to Basheer: “That’s a good one mate”. That, however, did not mean that he would oblige him with a picture he was asking for. It all started when Basheer asked for a selfie with Clarke and he said he would come back for it. “My wife says the same everytime and she never comes back,” Basheer said as Clarke walked away. The skipper stopped, smiled and said that was a good one amid laughter all around.
lehmann-Warne saga
Darren lehmann and Shane Warne in the same spaceIJ Yes, it happened at the SCG nets when the Australian team was practising and Warne dropped in for some friendly lessons on facing spin bowling. lehmann watched from behind as Warne bowled to four batsmen and stayed through the training. Of course, not too many words of any kind were exchanged between the two and lehmann left before Warne. Indeed, cricket can be a great leveller. Warne has had his candid outpourings against what he felt was the Aussie coach’s intrusive measures and hands on approach, something which has been discussed in the media for long, especially in the context of skipper Clarke having his own ideas about how to go about the team proceedings. And while talking of lehmann, his cool temperament is quite in contrast to the virago he used to be in his playing days. When a fan told him, “I love Australia, but is winning tomorrow,” he merely smiled and replied: “Mate, you may be right tomorrow.” And then, he sauntered away into the dressing room.