Warne lends a helping hand to Australians

Rohit Mahajan

Shane Warne still performs a bit of that good old magic. He ripped one across Aaron Finch, and the batsman was clueless, wondering whether to play it or not. He had Shane Watson playing with all care. Michael Clarke too was all eyes and ears as he buckled down to face his former teammate. He beat and then bowled James Faulkner with a leg-break.

Warne came to the Australian nets this afternoon. The great leg-spinner did not have the Australian team clothing on, unlike Steve Waugh in Adelaide — was it more of a private visit than a visit organised by the Australian team? Whatever the case, Warne, the showman, attracted a big crowd of watchers. He bowled to Clarke, Faulkner, Finch and Watson, who were at the nets when he joined the nets. He is clearly not in top physical shape, he hasn’t been playing, but he still manages to impress. “Why don’t you return, mate!” shouted someone from the crowd.

Night out

A few Indian team players were spotted out at night, close to the team hotel. The evening was beautiful and cool, and the usual throng of tourists was present in the Harbour Bridge, Rocks and Opera House region. The Indians who were out in the cool night included Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mohammed Shami and Suresh Raina. They looked cool and relaxed, and they were not bothered by the mostly Australian/European eaters and tourists eating and drinking at the street-side seating of the restaurants.

Earlier today, Rohit Sharma was confident and bullish when he discussed the semifinal with the media. He said the team had made changes and corrections after the Tri-series, and that they were hopeful of joining New Zealand in the final. The belief instilled in them by the seven wins in a row has made them confident, and they’re able to relax the evening before the big game.

Ticket-seller

There are good Samaritans, and then there is Mohammed Aziz* (not his real name). The United States resident of Pakistani origin is at the ground, and he’s got tickets to spare. The tickets that he’s holding, worth A$195 each, could fetch him A$500 each if he went online and sold them on, say, ebay.com. But he’s not in this for money. Aziz is no scalper. He bought his tickets when he didn’t even know who would reach the semifinals. He bought a few spare tickets in case he met some really desperate fans of cricket at the ground. He does meet one desperado today. This seeker of the ticket, from Chennai, has told us that he’s willing to pay $A400 for one ticket. Aziz then offers tickets at cost price. “I bought them for $195, and you get them for A$195,” says Aziz. The man from Chennai is amazed and overjoyed. That makes for two very happy fans of the game, a seller and a buyer.

Cricketer-masseur

“Will you give a massage to the masseur and support staff after the World Cup?” Rohit Sharma was asked this unusual question by a journalist today. Rohit’s answer was a prompt and emphatic ‘absolutely’. The context was the help given by the support staff of the team to keep it in shape over this four-month long trip. “This has been the most important question,” Rohit said. “People laud players and the coaching staff for good performances but no one knows what goes on behind the scenes. The support staff has performed very important roles. Playing cricket continuously for four months is not easy, especially for fast bowlers. These men have made sure that we could all step on to the field.” Bravo!