Jagger was a topic of discussion at Sunny, Shastri's lunch table
Jagger was a topic of discussion at Sunny, Shastri's lunch table
Sunilu00a0Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, who are being criticised back home for being paidby the Board of Control for Cricket in India for doing commentary in series involving India, didn't sulk at the lunch table here yesterday.
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Both of them chatted to us casually about their interview with Mick Jagger and AR Rehman. And when someone mentioned how very little Jagger speaks, Shastri quipped: "But on stage, he is a different animal." Shastri appeared to be a Rolling Stones' fan and Gavaskar gave enough indication that he had done his homework.
With so much talk of rioting around, those who arrived early at the Edgbaston
cricket ground in Birmingham yesterday to witness Day One of the third
Test between India and England, were alarmed to see smoke emanating
from the City End of the ground. Most people presumed that it was a result
of another burst of rioting, but it was revealed later that there was a fire
in a nearby rubber factory. PICs/CLAYTON MURZELLO
When someone suggested Brown Girl in the Ring was a Jagger hit, he corrected him by mentioning Boney M.
On a different topicu00a0-- umpiresu00a0-- Gavaskar remembered how cross umpire Bill Alley was when the opening batsman walked once he was caught by Alan Knott off Geoff Arnold for a duck in the Edgbaston Test of 1974. The genial Alley wanted the pleasure of raising his finger for the first time on his debut Test, but Gavaskar walked.
Australian-born Alley umpired in 10 Tests and nine one-day internationals. He died at the age of 85 in 2004. "Good umpire," emphasised Shastri before heading off for another commentary stint.
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MIKE Selvey, the former England fast bowler-turned journalist got talking about his trip to India with the London Schoolboys team in 1965-66. "Best time of my life," remarked Selvey, who remembered players like Ajit Naik, Milind Rege and Ramesh Nagdev. "Nagdev could bat and I remember him migrating to the United States. That was a very talented team and it was wonderful to meet Rege on the 2005-06 tour to India," said Selvey.
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MEDIA persons have someone to turn to if their aches and pains get in the way of their work ufffd Jas Rai, a Punjabi young lady is available ufffd like she was in the second Test at Nottingham ufffd to massage those tired necks and backs. Sincerity should be Jas' middle name as she not only offers her services free of charge but won't even drink her coffee if she is needed for a massage session. Jas' firm Hands On looks for corporate exposure and considering how popular she is among the journalists, good business is guaranteed. By the way, she likes to be called a therapist instead of masseur.
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MIKE Atherton, the former England captain, who is now a popular commentator and writer for The Times, was seen ribbed a little by his former England teammate Derek Pringle. Atherton wrote a piece on Virender Sehwag and the opening batsman ended up getting a golden duck.
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TRY complaining about the cold weather to a taxi driver here and you will get an earful. This diarist moaned about Birmingham's weather and he got just that. "You guys don't seem to understand," said the man behind the wheel. "We would welcome such a day anytime. You should be here in winter to discover how cold it gets. Today is not a cold day at all. It is not even raining. You must thank your stars that it is a dry day." Ok Sir, is all one could say as you get ready to deal with the wind and ufffd cold.
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INDIA'S poor show in the series has made life miserable for a few Indians working here. The Englishmen are delighted with their team's 2-0 performance and some of them even agree with a few pundits that this is the best ever England side in recent years. One Indian working for an engineering firm here was told by his boss the other day: "Hey, don't look so sad. I know how it feels when your country's cricketers let you down. Cheer up." During the opening Test at Lord's, he found the letter 12 written besides his name on the muster. He wondered what the figure indicated before he was told that someone had mischievously inscribed Sachin Tendulkar's score in the second innings of the Lord's Test.
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