MCG crowd jeer as soon as Srinivasan’s name is announced; it instantly changes into cheering after cricketing icon Tendulkar is introduced on the dais
India batting legend Sachin Tendulkar yesterday indirectly ended up saving International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman N Srinivasan from an extended session of booing from the MCG crowd here. It so happened that Srinivasan was on the dais for the post-match presentation ceremony along with the tournament’s ambassador Tendulkar.
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Sachin Tendulkar presents man-of-the-series award to Australia pacer Mitchell Starc as ICC chairman N Srinivasan (left) looks on at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday. PIC/Bipin Patel
As soon as British commentator and presenter Mark Nicholas announced Srinivasan’s name, the MCG crowd began booing before Nicholas instantly announced the name of the next guest, Tendulkar. The boos quickly changed to cheers for cricket’s most loved global icon and Srinivasan was spared further embarrassment.
Srinivasan’s googly to journos
ICC chairman N Srinivasan paid a surprise visit to the press box at the MCG during the second innings of yesterday’s World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand. He was almost immediately surrounded by members of the fourth estate who asked him various questions ranging from the success of this World Cup to the logic behind reducing the number of teams to 10 in the next edition in England. Srini was also asked about associate nations missing out on playing against the bigger teams and the logic behind having such a lengthy tournament (44 days). The former BCCI president patiently answered all queries before finally pouring water over the entire exercise by saying: “I just came here to make you people understand certain things. Please don’t quote me on anything.”
'India’s semi-final was alot noisier than final'
Former Mumbai University hockey captain Conrad D’Souza loves to mix business with pleasure. The executive management official of HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation) Ltd, who is in Australia for a series of meetings, has planned his work trip around the World Cup and was at the final in Melbourne yesterday besides having also watched India’s semi-final against Australia in Sydney three days earlier.
Former Mumbai University hockey captain Conrad D’Souza at the MCG yesterday. Pic/Ashwin Ferro
He had an interesting comparison of the atmosphere in the stands for the two matches. “The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a smaller stadium (capacity approximately 45,000) when compared to Melbourne, which is one of Australia’s biggest grounds and has almost double the capacity (around 95,000). But the noise in the SCG stands for India’s semi-final was a lot more than the noise in the MCG stands yesterday. It just goes to show that we Indian fans are so passionate about our cricket that we can actually make twice as much noise against hosts Australia in their own backyard,” said Khar resident Conrad, who’s been in Australia for a week now and heads back home today.
Auto Rickshaw in Melbourne
The Indian palate is widely catered to in Australia and yesterday at the MCG, despite the fact that India were not part of the finale, there were quite a few food stalls serving Indian cuisine.
The Auto Rickshaw outlet selling Indian street food at the MCG yesterday. pic/ashwin ferro
One outlet particularly stood out for the sheer fare on offer. ‘Auto Rickshaw’ was selling Indian street food at the MCG yesterday, with items like pav bhaji, samosa chaat, bhel puri, chana masala on offer for vegetarians and butter chicken and kebabs for meat eaters.
There were quite a few takers too with numerous Indian immigrants turning out to support their adopted country.
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