Across the skies and into Australia!

Cricket conversations at immigration counters are the norm while you tail the Indian team overseas. “What do you think? Will we win the Test series in Australia?” asks the official at Chennai airport. The formal tone is shed and it is more akin to a quick chat with an old college buddy. December 3 is largely spent inside two successive Malaysian Airlines aircraft. It isn’t exactly about being on a wing and a prayer, but the awkward memory of the missing MH370 inexplicably churns up and it doesn’t help that during the first leg, the seat is right next to the emergency exit. The nerves settle and Bill Bryson’s lovely book on Australia, Down Under, proves to be a terrific companion. The pages fly, the lines linger, the laughs are suppressed. Hey, there is something called plane etiquette.

Kuala Lumpur emerges from under fluffy clouds while the sinking golden orb paints the skies in a palette of varying red and orange shades. It is silhouette hour, and touchdown is smooth. A friend and fellow cricketwriter from Bangalore arrives. Hugs are swapped, some Kannada banter ensues and then with time to kill, it is time to sit on bar stools and nurse the frothy sunshine liquid in a tall glass. There is consensus over Australia having an excellent pace attack in Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. Once the yakadayaka is done, it is time to head to Adelaide. A night ebbs away, and as bleary eyes peer outside, South Australia’s capital is sighted on a summer day. At the customs counter, tax has to be