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Mumbai, november 7: Their media man Andrew Walpole and captain Kevin Pietersen sat scrutinising a bottle of mineral-water — both smiling broadly — even as coach Peter Moores took the first set of posers during England’s inaugural press briefing at the Cricket Club of India on Friday, kickstarting their winter-tour to India. Then without further fuss Pietersen took a quick sip, and got down to the job of saying the nice things visitors say after being welcomed. Waters will be tested in a different fashion over the next six weeks.
Now, this is a side which touched down in Mumbai after just a 12-hour stop-over in London, and some hectic travelling from Antigua where a spectacular bruising of Stanfordesque proportions was inflicted on them. Plus, the phantom-feeling of having lost a million in a winner-takes-all roulette which panned out in the Caribbean. But Pieterson didn’t look terribly jaded.
Their impending seven-match criss-crossing of India can be easily shrugged off this time, for this tour provides this bunch of Englishmen the perfect opportunity to strut their stuff and get noticed in the land of another Twenty20 spectacle — come as it does ahead of the IPL auctions, exactly three months from now. Hence, a routine one-day series will take off, preceded by England’s lessons from Stanford which Pieterson admits the team has learnt, but with bright prospects of catching the eye of Indian franchises and becoming IPL signings at the February 6 auctions. The eagerness to play in India just got a shade keener.
Off to the right start
“We are always looking forward to India,” insisted coach Peter Moores of his squad, adding, “We didn’t play as well as we should’ve in the big game (in Antigua) but we know that we’ve a very tough one-day series against India and then a Test series and everyone is looking forward. You arrive in India and there’s so much passion for cricket. There are 10 stations showing it on TV, and it’s a different experience.”
Enthusiastic opening-odes then followed from coach and captain — to the revered status the game enjoys here, to the great wickets on which runs can be plundered, to Dhoni — India’s superstar captain on the steady rise, and effusive congratulations to VVS Laxman on his century of Tests and to Sourav Ganguly on the completion of his fantastic career. The itinerary — with Rajkot, Indore, Kanpur and Cuttack — rest assured...
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