The outdoor press conference at the team hotel took place by the sea with a luxury yacht anchored by the side and power boats with foreign tourists whizzing past in the background. The post-training traditional media briefing at the stadium couldn’t take place as overnight rains had seen the outfield go from soggy to soggier on the eve of the second India-Australia ODI. Aussie skipper Adam Gilchrist, speaking about an ‘iffy’ cricket game at a ‘water sport’ hot spot of this tourist heaven the setting couldn’t have been a more apt. As Kochi toggled between light showers and heavy sunlight, the players faced a difficult dilemma. With the slim prospect of being on the field tomorrow at the back of their minds, they couldn’t get into the holiday mood despite the temptations of the blissfully serene coastline. Gilchrist wasn’t exactly in a mood to shift from his hotel room to a luxury houseboat yet, and he had a word of advice for others. “You got to be careful not to totally switch off and almost get into a holiday mode and all of a sudden be out there play a one-day international. We will keep preparing with team meetings, team planning meetings, physically keep ourselves right and fully expect to play. That’s all we can do. If it doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen,” he said. There was a similar feeling in the Indian camp as the manager of the Indian team Lalchand Rajput was candid enough to confess that the team was desperate for a break. “They have been travelling for some time. This series follows the Twenty20 World Cup where most of the guys were. Actually, they are looking forward to this break,” he said. But pointing to the skies he says “nothing is in our hands”. Rajput, along with the coaching staff members Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad had done the ground inspection earlier in the morning after Gilchrist and Aussie coach Tim Nielsen checked the match-fitness of the venue. But like everyone else Rajput said that there was a lot of water in the outfield and only bright sunshine could see the game taking place. “We are keeping our fingers crossed,” he said. The fingers might be crossed, but the Indians weren’t quite twiddling their thumbs all day. They had a gym session in the morning, and with the hotel facility not quite spacious the Indian team worked out in batches. Batsmen followed the bowlers. In the evening the players had a meeting and this followed by honouring the dinner invitation of local boy S Sreesanth at his place. As for the fitness reports, Sourav Ganguly’s MRI scan showed no tear and that means he is expected to be fit for the Hyderabad game, while Harbhajan Singh, who had a stiff neck in Bangalore, was declared match fit. With no such encouraging news about the ground fitness on cards, all eyes in Kochi are aimed sky wards. Will it be a total washout or will be Bangalored? The players would prefer the first option but the crowd would like at least some action as was the case in the first game.
