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Cocktails for tea

It was evening, and we were at the Indian High Commissioner's residence.

Mrs Shashi U Tripathi, the first Indian in this country, is a gracious lady. She not only extended an invitation to the Indian team through her assistants in Bulawayo itself, before the side had even got to Harare, but when the third one-dayer was staged in the latter city on Wednesday, she came to the venue in person and had a word Indian coach Anshuman Gaekwad.

Among other things, it must be assumed, she had used the meeting to reiterate her invitation to the Indian team for a cocktail party on Thursday evening.

The side reached the venue bang on time, the younger ones especially looking crisp and presentable, while almost all the players were clad in designer labels.

The Zimbabwean side -- also neatly attired and good looking, en masse, were also present. You wonder if maybe sports gives its practitioners this ability to hold themselves well, to carry themselves as the phrase goes.

Interestingly, while the Indians -- with the exception of their manager Anshuman Gaekwad -- were in casual dress, the Zimbabwe team apparently felt that the function was important enough to turn out in their team colours.

That gave pause for thought. I remembered how, on this site, Gaekwad had mentioned his penchant for discipline, about how he liked the boys to turn up in India colours in official functions, arguing that they were not only the ambassadors of their country abroad, but also that it built feelings of one-ness among the team, fostered team spirit, and so on. The statement, when I read it, made enormous sense to me -- so I couldn't quite understand what I was seeing here.

It is difficult to presume an answer and, worse, improper to ask the team managment for an explanation. In any case, is this such a serious matter, this business of turning up casually clad? Yes it is -- for two good reasons. One, it does no good to your host's sensibilities, given that the invitation was officially tendered -- your attire shows that you consider the event of little importance (a bit like wearing jeans and a T to a board meeting). And two, it shows a want of occasion -- it is pretty much a tradition on tours for ambassadors and high commissioners to throw a party in honour of visiting cricket teams. It is a honour which, again by tradition, has been accepted and attended by teams in official colours. These are among the few graces left in this rapidly changing game of manners and conventions, which is why one hopes that Thursday was an aberration.

To be fair, there was one oddity about this particular function. The timings of the party were between 5.30 and 7.30 p.m, which was too early by at least two hours. One does not know if the boys resented it -- and if `casual clothes' was a retribution, but surely, the small band of Indian mediamen at the venue didn't like it.

Most thought that the hour was right for a tea party, not a cocktail party. Be that as it may, the cricketers, as always, made for interesting conversations. Robin Singh, who is extremely likeable in any situation -- though the Delhi Ranji side might disagree with that assessment -- knew that for all practical purposes, the competitive part of his tour was over. "It was good, still, for the one-dayers were held before the Test," said Robin. "When it is Tests first and one-dayers later, you wait and wait and by the time your examination begins, you are a bit rusty.

"That way, at least here in Zimbabwe, it was good for me," said Robin, looking particularly good in a round-necked shirt. He also reminds you that it was only in the third match that he got a chance to put bat to ball. "I did not get any batting in the first two games. This was my first innings," says the indefatigable allrounder. It was a pretty good one at that, and it was he alone who kept India in the match till late in the afternoon. "Come to think of it, it was my first innings since the last one played in the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka in July," adds Robin for good measure.

And you thought cricketers are playing endlessly these days! Robin felt since his partner Nayan Mongia had hit a six and the required nine runs for the over were already up, he wanted to push it to the onside for a single. "I had only looked for a push, " said Robin with a reflective shrug as he recalled his dismissal at a crucial point in the game. "But the way the ball had pitched, perhaps I should have given it a full swing. You never know, it might have cleared the fence."

Nayan Mongia too rued the missed opportunity. He had a word of praise for Adam Huckle. "He is a good leg spinner. Some of his deliveries do gain pace and bounce on hitting the turf," said Mongia. "However, the wicket too had its defects. On one side in particular, it was stopping and coming on," commented Mongia.

Elsewhere, Sachin Tendulkar was mobbed by the gentry, women and girls were making a beeline for Ajay Jadeja and the Karnataka lads, together, were busy trying to make sense of the information which had filtered through about their state side being 240 for four in the Irani Trophy back home.

Like they say in the press releases, a good time was had by all.