Here is an account of the conversations and incidents that happened just after the Indian cricket players supposedly started recuperating from the defeat they suffered at the hands of England.
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Keep in mind that they are highly talented and gifted blokes and some of them gritty and brave as well, but are very shy on-field. Though, the cold got better of some as they put their hands in pockets evidently to prevent from the biting cold winds but in reality it was to hide their delicate palms and manicured finger nails.
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Anyway, even in England Anna Hazare was a big hit. Take a look at this candid conversation and you would know why…
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<b>Yuvraj and Sehwag</b>
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Yuvraj (on phone to Sehwag): Viru, I read in papers that the series defeat won't affect our brand value...
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Sehwag: (interrupting) Arrey, I know. After all this was our first defeat in years...How can they dump us so early? I pity those who could even think of such a scenario where advertisers would shun the only people they hire for promoting their babies.
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Yuvraj (confused): Babies?
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Sehwag: You know, how they say their products are like their babies and other things...Love, passion, care and stuff like that.
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Yuvraj: Oh! right. I thought... Never mind, what is that squeaky sound? And who is shouting Anna Rocks?
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Sehwag: Yeah, that would be Mahi...He has been restless since the night we lost our crown, but as soon as he switched on the TV, his mood changed and since then he has gone into frenzy and keeps on expressing his love for Anna.
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Yuvraj: So he likes Anna too. I knew him. Good choice. You know why I started watching tennis... because of Anna Kournikova... She is so...
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Sehwag: Dude hold on...not that Anna, He is happy that all the attention has been focused on Anna Hazare's fast and the Indian media is yammering only about how this is India's Arab spring/Autumn/Winter... and no one is interested in our big, humiliating defeat.
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Yuvraj: Good, The media was right.. He is the man with the Midas touch. Even in defeat nobody is questioning him except for the usual experts. Lucky fella!
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<b>Oh no! How could this happen to me?</b>
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Somewhere in the hotel balcony, a certain very very special guy, was sitting alone with a weird perplexed, wide eyed look on his face staring at the sunset. On being enquired by a loyal Indian fan who was on the road to see the team depart before their practice session, it was known that the guy with the constant perplexed look was VVS Laxman who had developed or rather cultivated the habit of staring for long hours in disbelief whenever he gets out in the simplest of manners. Now the word is that he is amazed how it is possible that the sun is rising and setting every morning and evening.
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There was also a lot of noise coming out of RP Singh's room. The Miami returned fella was regaling his teammates about his recent trip to the cruise capital of the world and the beaches but his holiday was cut short by a rude call to the Indian squad that was struggling against crouching English batsmen and bowlers alike.
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His exploits in Miami were evident with the paunch he brought with him and the first ball he bowled which took ages to reach the gloves of Dhoni.
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<b>At the Nets</b>
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Among the bustling of the newly crowned world no. 1 English squad at the grounds, only one Indian batsman was visibly sweating it out on the nets.
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If there is a workhorse in the Indian team, it has to be Rahul Dravid. After his lone battle against the ruthless England attack, the batsman was busy, slogging at the nets and is preparing for a long forgotten assignment that he was deemed not fit enough to carry on a few years back. One after the other, he launched himself out of the batting crease trying to hit the balls out of the ground, a rare sight when he bats. But with Sehwag out of the equation maybe he would be summoned to open the battings in the ODIs as well.
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After a good batting session, it was time for Dravid to take a rest but what happened next was rather curious.. He had the ball in his hand and was marking his bowling run up. Hmm...with Ishant out of the squad, ‘The Wall’ maybe mentally preparing himself for another odd job.
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<b> PS </b>: At the Yoga centre- Sachin Tendulkar was meditating with the instructor constantly murmuring “I am not thinking about the hundred. I just have to score runs and more runs…100 is just a number and so are the nineties.”