On most days, the hotel housing the Indian team resembles a presidential palace. Even as grand chandeliers and smiling doorkeepers greet you at the lobby, burly men brandishing walkie-talkies look at you with suspicion. It's bad enough if you are a selfie-hunting fan. And it's worse if you are a news-hungry journalist. The trick is to keep your accreditation card out of their sight, walk nonchalantly towards the nearest table at the dimly-lit coffee shop, take your seat, ask for a beer and dare those scrupulous men to drive you out. More often than not, the 'plan' works. Sunday was no different.
On most days, the hotel housing the Indian team resembles a presidential palace. Even as grand chandeliers and smiling doorkeepers greet you at the lobby, burly men brandishing walkie-talkies look at you with suspicion. It's bad enough if you are a selfie-hunting fan. And it's worse if you are a news-hungry journalist. The trick is to keep your accreditation card out of their sight, walk nonchalantly towards the nearest table at the dimly-lit coffee shop, take your seat, ask for a beer and dare those scrupulous men to drive you out. More often than not, the 'plan' works. Sunday was no different.
Within minutes, Virat Kohli stepped out of the lift, only to be greeted by some courageous fans who didn't bother to appease anybody by buying beer. They got to the superstar batsman quicker than the security personnel could get to them. Naturally, they 'won'. And the fact that Kohli was happy to oblige them with pictures and a pleasing smile helped. Soon, Kohli stepped out for lunch with a few members of the team's diligent support staff.
It was a lazy Sunday for most Sydneysiders, but Team India had a fruitful time undergoing gym and conditioning sessions. Helped by their strength and conditioning coach, VP Sudarsan, every member of the playing squad sweated it out. Some also exercised the option of taking a dip in the pool. Thereafter, the players went about doing their own thing.
While Rohit Sharma went for a walk with good mate Dhawal Kulkarni, Ajinkya Rahane took his wife, Radhika Dhopavkar, for an outing. Pacers Mohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were inseparable. So were Shikhar Dhawan and his Melbourne-based wife, Ayesha Mukherjee, and infant son Zoravar. Mohammad Shami was seen walking in with tetra packs of juice. Some others went had a nice time admiring the view at the harbour.
With the semifinal just three days away, the players are ensuring that the intensity levels don't drop. But that doesn't mean they eat, breathe and sleep cricket. That's neither feasible nor possible. It's been 120 days since the boys landed in Australia. This is the home stretch. One more productive week and they know they will be feted for life.
The preparations for Thursday's semifinal against Australia will begin with a full training session at the SCG on Monday.
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