If you?re Indian, you?re fair game for taunts

Go back to India. That?s what people here are telling the Indian cricketers. Two young ladies who wanted a Tendulkar autograph, were ticked off by bystanders when they approached the player.

Go back to India. That’s what people here are telling the Indian cricketers. Two young ladies who wanted a Tendulkar autograph, were ticked off by bystanders when they approached the player.

One person loudly asked, "You still want autographs from these cricketers?" The embarrassed ladies, suitably admonished, put their autograph books back into their bags.

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At the moment, that's what's happening here.

The Kotnis brothers have lived in London for the last 35 years. They came to spend their holiday here, hoping to see India do well. They are now going back, frustrated. Some of their cousins were there in 1971 when India won their first series in England.

These brothers had planned on following the team everywhere after watching the NatWest final at Lord's last year. But six continuous defeats here have been enough to sour the mood.

In New Zealand, any Indians are fair game for taunts. "You might have borrowed our coach but that alone can't ensure a win against us here," said a man at the e-mail centre. And then again, we have entertainment value. On Saturday, the grinning man in charge of the fax machine wanted to know the match result.