Delhi Dossier (World cup Diary)

Heritage seats for policemen
The Heritage Stand for guests and special invitees at the Dhyan Chand Stadium remains disappointingly empty as most former players continue to stay away after they were not invited for the World Cup.

Either the sponsor's associates or FIH officials use the few seats occupied when India is not playing.

The cops though, and there are quite a few of them, given the recent terror threat to games in the country, are not complaining. They don't hesitate to occupy the empty seats when they want and even the organisers seem to have no problem with it.

"We work long shifts so what's the harm in sitting for a while? The seats are empty anyway," replied one of the men in uniform when asked about taking up a seat that costs Rs 1,000.

Anything for an Indian win
A section of the Indian media was at its superstitious best yesterday before the India-Australia match. There is no fixed seating arrangement in the press box, but some journos ensured they sat in the same place they had occupied during the India-Pakistan match on Sunday in anticipation of a favourable result in the hosts' favour.

One female journo even went to the extent of wearing the same clothes she had worn during the Indo-Pak encounter. "I've worn the same shoes too," she announced.

But it didn't quite work as India succumbed 5-2.

Commentator speechless
Police have banned food and even water in the media box. One radio commentator was heard reasoning with a policeman: "We have to speak continuously and our throat gets dry after some time. So, we need to have water at hand for a sip or two."

The cop was unfazed. "We can't do anything about this and are simply following orders," he said, before offering a suggestion. "Why don't you let your fellow commentator take over and you can go outside and drink water?"

The commentator was speechless!