Indian team, fans acclimatise to heat

Journalists from India keen to learn about daytime jobs of the amateur UAE players temperaDaytime tures hover around degrees Centi40 grade and, as soon as you check into hotel, the reany ceptionist tells you to apply sunscreen, wear a hat and carry water

After the cool weather in Melbourne, it was a rather hot Perth that welcomed Team India ahead of their games against the UAE on Saturday and West Indies on March 6.

Daytime temperatures hover around 40 degrees Centigrade and, as soon as you check into any hotel, the receptionist tells you to make sure to apply sunscreen, always wear a hat and always carry a bottle of water before going out.

Hundreds of fans could be seen hovering around Hyatt Regency hotel where I am staying to catch a glimpse of the Indian players and their patience was rewarded when they got to see Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his deputy Virat Kohli.

Sleepy town

After being in a metropolitan city like Melbourne, one gets a feeling that Perth is a sleepy town. In fact, the WACA ground is located in the eastern region of Perth and one has to pass through colonial era cemeteries which make the place seem even quieter.

Since I live and work in the UAE, many Indian journalists came up to me wanting more information on the UAE team players. Most were curious to know their job details since this is the only team in the World Cup that has amateurs who have taken leave from their jobs to play for the World Cup. A scribe remarked: “So the Indian team is waiting to play a team made up of four bankers, one flight purser, a police officer, two marketing executives, a cargo loader and a cargo supervisor.”

Following Chris Gayle’s breezy double century against Zimbabwe on Tuesday, fans here are excited to see him in action again.

Since Sachin Tendulkar also made his One Day International double century on the same day a few years back (February 24, 2010), a journalist came up with the suggestion that February 24 be declared ‘double century day’.