Saif Hassan should have bought the Dubai Duty Free raffle on Wednesday

By K.R. Nayar
From Dubai International Stadium

After escaping being caught and bowled on 40 by Axar Patel, Saif Hassan was dropped three more times on 60, 65 and 69, making him the most eligible person to have immediately purchased the $1 million Dubai Duty Free raffle. Also, maybe before going out to bat, he seemed to have purchased a drop protection insurance!

 

Saif Hassan  goes for one of his mighty hits while riding his luck. Photo: ACC

When this reporter asked Varun Chakravarthy during the post-match press conference on their fielding coach’s reaction after having  dropped so many catches, and whether the team felt that even if catches were dropped, their bowling was strong enough to win matches, Chakravarthy said: “It is a compliment that we can take (on being strong in bowling), but this team has been picked till the next World Cup, so we have to pick up our fielding. Surely the fielding coach will have a lot to say now because in the last match he did not say much, but now he soon will.” As of now, however, India seems to have attempted to alter the famous saying that “catches win matches” into “dropped catches can also win matches.”

 

Varun Chakravarthy celebrates on taking a wicket. Photo: ACC

Six-hungry Abhishek

Abhishek Sharma may soon be known as a six-hungry batter. Maybe one can call him a six-collector like a stamp collector. He is way ahead of all those who have hit sixes in this tournament. Before starting his knock against Bangladesh, he already had a tally of 12 sixes, and has now ended up with 17. The second best is Bangladesh’s Saif Hassan with 10 sixes. Bangladesh’s Mohammad Saifuddin did not find it safe at all to bowl to Sharma, as he hit him for four boundaries and took 17 runs off the sixth over. One of Sharma’s sixes off Rishad Hossain tested the catching skills of Bangladesh fans in the stands, as he hit it high towards them. Was he also testing the Bangladesh fans after being dropped by wicketkeeper and captain Jaker Ali on 7 off Tanzim Hasan Sakib?

 

Hero of the day - six hungry Abhishek Sharma. Photo: ACC 

Ali, during the post-match press conference, candidly admitted that his drop was the turning point of the match.  If Sharma keeps going like this,  companies selling fireworks may soon want him as their Diwali brand ambassador.

India and Bangladesh’s anthem

What is common between India’s and Bangladesh’s national anthems? Poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote both — Bangladesh’s anthem Amar Shonar Bangla and India’s Jana Gana Mana. Bangladesh’s anthem is three minutes long, while India’s anthem ends in one minute. All spectators stood in attention when the anthems were played, except those on whom the television cameras panned. They immediately abandoned their attention to celebrate their one-second fame on the giant screen.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Bangladesh post-match press conference by skipper Jaker Ali was mostly in Bengali, with very few questions in English, as some of the Indian journalists preferred to ask questions in Bengali. In fact, the few questions in English looked like thet were from a tourist in the press conference.

 Mumbai Indians and Bangladesh’s fielding

 

Bangladesh’s ground fielding was outstanding, which would have made their fielding coach James Pamment proud. The 56-year-old, England-born and New Zealand-settled Pamment has been appointed as fielding coach till 2027. Pamment caught attention during the Indian Premier League when he was assistant coach of the Mumbai Indians in 2018. As coach, he did a lot of work on fielding and running between the wickets, which transformed Mumbai into a strong team.

 

Run out of Abhishek Sharma through a brilliant fielding by Rishad Hossain, Photo: ACC

Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav is a key player for Mumbai Indians, and after the match, after shaking hands with the Bangladesh players, when Yadav reached Pamment, he gave him a big hug.

Tattoos and Indian cricketers

 

Almost every batter in the Indian playing eleven has a tattoo. Is it a trend that was started by Virat Kohli, who has four tattoos? Hardik Pandya has a tiger tattoo, though Bangladesh cricketers call themselves the Tigers. Pandya’s tiger tattoo is said to symbolise strength, determination and fierce aggression.

 

Varun Chakravarthy has a tattoo of Tamil film actor Thalapathy Vijay on his left shoulder. Tilak Varma, who seems like a religious person, has many tattoos — one on his bicep showing his devotion to Lord Shiva, a Ganesha tattoo on his forearm, and Om Namah Shivay etched on his chest. A poster that an Indian fan brought was so true. It said: “India’s batting buffet dishes today – spicy sixes, burning fours, and double and single burgers.” Another said: “Men in Blue are too cool.”