CLT20 teams make most of break

Breaks are rare in an international tournament, but when the teams in the CLT20 qualifiers got one, after back-to-back days of cricket, they decided to explore the city. Ashutosh Sharma reports.

Breaks are rare in an international tournament, but when the teams in the CLT20 qualifiers got one, after back-to-back days of cricket, they decided to explore the city.

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While the Sunrisers Hyderabad decided to stay in the cool confines of the team hotel, the other three teams — Otago Volts, Kandurata Maroons and Faisalabad Wolves checked out a local mall.

For the Volts, perhaps buoyed by their qualification, a shopping spree was understandable, while the Maroons might have stepped out to get over the two defeats.

For the Wolves, the little outing achieved two ends.

Having struggled in the two matches, they understandably needed distraction, but the hidden agenda was to fulfill the list of demands sent in by the wives and loved ones back home.

Their arrival was marred by the visa controversy but on that very day many of the squad members had enquired about the possibility of going out shopping.

“All I can safely say is there are a dozen things that she (wife) wants from here and sure the break from cricket will be a nice time to go looking for those items,” a member of the team management had said.

Coach Naveed Anjum joked that he too had the ‘farman (dictates)’ from home.

“Many of the players are travelling to India for the first time and are excited to see the city. They were mostly interested in buying clothes,” said an official in-charge of the team security.