Talat, Ehsan lend a helping hand

As the Pakistan team cut a sorry figure at the Eden Gardens —half of them struggling to go through the paces at the nets session.

As the Pakistan team cut a sorry figure at the Eden Gardens —half of them struggling to go through the paces at the nets session — two men came to the rescue of Shoaib Malik & Co: team manager Talat Ali and media coordinator Ehsan Malik! The Pakistan players struggling did make for a sad sight. But the youthful exuberance with which the two oldies of the team went about knocking at the nets and having a bowl certainly must have rubbed off on the players.

ICC rules

The capacity of VIP gallery at the Club House end will be reduced by almost 300 seats this time round, thanks to a new ICC rule! According to the rule, all sightscreens for international matches should be at least 18 feet high, and Eden Gardens was clearly falling short of the new norm. Well, the sightscreen there is high now, but will the spectators, who will have to forgo the first few rows at premium positions, put up with it?

CAB solution

For a month, the CAB has been boasting of a spree of heavyweight guests for the match, largely comprising a handful of former India captains. The CAB also had grand plans of taking the ex-players around on a golf-cart ride at the Eden to entertain the spectators. The big plan seems to have fallen flat on its face. Only Asif Iqbal of Pakistan and Mohammad Azharuddin are so far the only top names who have cornfirmed their presence. “So what, we will ask commentators Rameez Raja and Aamir Sohail to join us, if there is a crisis,” is CAB joint-secretary Amitava Banerjee’s solution!