Squad assembles in Kolkata

It was hard to believe that the Indian cricket team had no takers when they arrived at a city hotel on Tuesday night, before flying out to Dhaka early on Wednesday morning.

It was hard to believe that the Indian cricket team, the same ones who ignited such fanaticism during the recently concluded World Cup, had no takers when they arrived at a city hotel on Tuesday night, before flying out to Dhaka early on Wednesday morning.

HT Image

Admittedly, the demi-gods - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, or even Sourav Ganguly, who would be going to the airport straight from home - were not there, but it was rather uncanny to see the pin-up stars of Indian cricket, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif and Harbhajan Singh eliciting only a passing glance.

Ganguly was with his father, who is admitted in a city hospital with a dental problem, the whole day. The skipper will visit his father again on Wednesday, before boarding the flight to Dhaka.

The players came in groups, barring Virender Sehwag, who was the first to arrive from Chennai. Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Kaif, Sarandeep Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Gautam Gambhir and Amit Mishra were next. Not long after, Sanjay Bangar, Avishkar Salvi and Abhijit Kale walked in off the Mumbai flight. Baby-faced Parthiv Patel arrived followed by Ajit Agarkar.

It was a great moment for Gambhir, Salvi and Kale, the new faces in the squad, who have been given the chance to rub shoulders with the 'seniors'.

They looked eager and excited. Gambhir said: "Following the trip of the West Indies, I had a talk with the seniors and they expressed their support. I am really optimistic about continuing with my good form in Dhaka.

"I came to know that the coach has said some nice things about me and I am grateful to him."

Salvi, whose 29 wickets in the West Indies set everybody talking, said that given that he had to bowl on batsman-friendly wickets in the West Indies, he would not have much problems on similar pitches in Dhaka.

"It is great to be a part of the Indian team. West Indies was a great experience, given the fact that I bowled to some of the best batsmen in the West Indies. I was determined to do well there and I am very positive about the Dhaka meet," he said.