World Cup Tour Diary
Southee, Boult & Co light up Sunday afternoon for schoolkids in Chennai
Mitchell, Ravindra and Chapman join in as youngsters get to train and interact with the superstars
Deivarayan Muthu
15-Oct-2023
New Zealand's stars put smiles on the faces of about 50 school kids from UNICEF programmes by playing with them on a muggy Sunday afternoon at Chepauk. Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra were among those who trained the kids and interacted with them. PC Prakash, the former Tamil Nadu batter who is currently in charge of the TNCA academy, kept a close watch on the proceedings.
It was a special day for S Mridula, though her No. 1 sport is football rather than cricket. "It was a great experience to share the field with international players during a World Cup at Chepauk," she said. "I've been going for football coaching for five months. My favourite football players are [Lionel] Messi and Neymar, and I don't watch much cricket, but it's nice to be here. In cricket my favourite is [MS] Dhoni, who plays here in Chennai."
For Chapman, the day brought back fond memories of how he fell in love with cricket as a kid.
Full postSearching for green in a universe of blue
There were extremely few Pakistan fans in Ahmedabad. This is the story of how two of them got there
Yash Jha
14-Oct-2023
It's noon in Ahmedabad. I'm standing at the concourse that brings fans up from Gate No. 1 to enter the vast expanse that is the world's biggest cricket stadium, for India versus Pakistan.
Calling what I'm seeing a 'sea' of blue feels like an understatement. This is an ocean of blue jerseys flowing into the stands to witness chapter eight of the most big-ticket (and most lopsided) rivalry there is.
An hour later, I finally spot something not-blue: the now-familiar sight of Bashir Chacha - possibly the only Pakistani fan in Ahmedabad? - draped in his combined Pakistan and India colours. He greets me warmly before being engulfed by Indian fans who want a picture of him.
Full postRiding the Delhi Metro to England's practice session
Our England correspondent recalls chaos on the London Underground, and wonders how the experience is so different in Delhi
Matt Roller
14-Oct-2023
Overcrowding like you've never seen, with hundreds of sweaty, stressed travellers jammed into a single carriage. Noise so loud that you can hardly hear yourself think, let alone listen to music or a podcast through your headphones. Sweltering heat, with temperatures higher than those the European Union stipulates as the maximum for transporting cattle.
Those are among the abiding memories of my year using the hellish Central Line on London's Underground. So why, people of Delhi, does nobody seem to bother using your quick, quiet, clean, air-conditioned and cheap metro system?
This is my first time in the city, and I can see Moolchand station out of the window of my hotel room. After defaulting to an Uber on my first visit to the Arun Jaitley Stadium for India vs Afghanistan, I caught the Purple Line to Delhi Gate last night, en route to England's training session, and wished I had used it on every journey I had taken this week.
Full postBumping into India's Asian Games champions
The lack of buzz surrounding two champion Indian athletes was in stark contrast to the overwhelming attention the cricketers face
Mohammad Isam
12-Oct-2023
A tall man walked down the carpeted walkway at Delhi airport, towards the Chennai-bound aircraft. When he looked up from his phone, the trophy in his hand, the colour of his t-shirt and his physique revealed that he must be someone special. Inside the aircraft there was another person with a similar trophy in her hand, and a t-shirt that suggested that she represents India too.
Someone commented when they walked past some of the seats that they might be athletes. "Look at the trophy in their hands. They must have won something," the onlooker said.
Still, nobody could recognise the pair. They took their economy-class seats like the other passengers. Shortly after takeoff though, the pilot announced that they were Asian Games medal-winners Praveen Chitravel and Subha Venkatesan. There was mild applause from the other passengers as the two winners stood up from their seats. There was no massive rush towards them, this being an aircraft, but a couple of people walked up to greet them.
Full postIn kebab country
When in Lucknow, one must hit the best spots for kebabs
Firdose Moonda
11-Oct-2023
"Eat the kebabs," was the instruction I received from my Mumbai colleagues when they heard that my next destination was Lucknow. And it would be rude not to.
It was not any old kebab I was going to go in search of, but the best kebab: the Tunday ke Kebab. Literally it means "one-armed man's kebab" because the inventor, legend has it, had one-arm and created the dish in a 17th century version of Masterchef. The Nawab of the state wanted the softest kebabs in town - he had no teeth - and held a competition won by Haji Murad Ali. His descendants opened a restaurant in the early 1900s and 120 years later, it's still there in the Aminabad bazaar.
I decided this was the place to get the South Africans on tour together for our first night out on the town. As you may know, our country is reputed for its love of meat and despite six trips to India, I still giggle (respectfully) that here, it's classified as "non-veg," and I knew I would find kindred spirits in my countrymen. True to form, we ordered all the kebabs on offer: chicken, mutton and buffalo and found them distinctly different and dare I say, more delicious, than the meat we get at a braai.
Full postFive days in dreamy Dharamsala
A trek up to Triund, heart-stopping taxi rides, and some cricket too
Matt Roller
11-Oct-2023
Dharamsala is an extraordinary place. I've just arrived in Delhi after spending five nights there, which feels a little like returning to an office after a week's holiday. An escape into the mountains feels like a fever dream when you are back in the real world.
I covered two games at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, and spent far more time than I had envisaged writing about the outfield. I walked across it a couple of times and, in my view, there is no way it was fit to stage a World Cup match - but you are probably not here to read any more about that.
Instead, let me tell you about what Dharamsala was like away from the cricket. On Sunday morning, I hopped in a taxi with Simon Wilde of the Sunday Times and Tim Wigmore of the Telegraph which climbed up some of the most treacherous roads I have seen in my life: barely wide enough for one car, let alone two.
Full postIn the heart of Delhi, Afghan spirits soar in anticipation of World Cup showdown
Daya Sagar finds out the mood in Delhi's 'Mini Afghanistan' ahead of the India-Afghanistan clash
Daya Sagar
11-Oct-2023
In the vibrant enclave of Bhogal, nestled within Delhi's Jangpura, the atmosphere was electrified with anticipation as the World Cup match between India and Afghanistan drew near. Here, amongst Afghan refugee families and students, the spirit of the game ran deep, mirroring the fervour of a rivalry etched in cricketing history.
Amidst this fervent backdrop, the restaurant Mazaar in nearby Lajpat Nagar extended a culinary gesture of goodwill by sending delectable Afghan dishes like Manto, Aushak, and Kabuli Pulao to the hotel where the Afghan cricketers are staying in Delhi. In fact, team captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman graced the restaurant with their presence, savouring the flavours of home away from home.
Jangpura's Bhogal area, fondly referred to as 'Mini Afghanistan', became the epicenter of anticipation, with Afghan youth like Mohammad Usman exemplifying the unique fusion of identity that pervades the community. Having arrived in India from Kandahar in 2015, Usman is now a Political Science undergraduate at Delhi University's Dayal Singh College. His enthusiasm for cricket extends primarily to fixtures involving India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, with a particular fondness for the seasoned Mohammad Nabi.
Full postSampling Virat Kohli's favourite dish of old
In Delhi for the cricket and the food, our reporter tries some of the city's favourite offerings
Yash Jha
10-Oct-2023
The second leg of my travels this World Cup has brought me back "home" - Delhi is where I lived until moving to Mumbai in early 2022. The streets here are colourful, the language more so.
I'd hoped for more of a World Cup buzz in the city, having heard of the solid atmosphere that accompanied Saturday's run-fest between South Africa and Sri Lanka at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, but quite like the matches assigned to the capital, the tournament in these parts feels not-so-high-profile. Chennai had giant World Cup signage right as you exited the airport; Delhi - T2, at least - did nothing to inform you that you're in a World Cup city.
The first stop (geez, how cliched is this going to sound) was for chole bhature. Not just any chole bhature - the chole bhature that was Virat Kohli's favourite meal growing up in West Delhi. The elderly man who heads things here says that while he's told Kohli was once a weekly visitor (every Sunday, after practice, I'm told), the shop owners themselves were only made aware of Kohli's affinity to the place through the much-viral interviews from recent years. And though Kohli himself hasn't returned much since he turned his diet around, the shop's stocks have gone through the roof in recent years. As for the chole bhature itself: it's good, but not the best I've had in Delhi. Sorry, Virat (and fans).
Full postThe lighter side of Pakistan's high-security training session
What happens when Matthew Hayden is forced to wait on the steps for 'his boys'
Shashank Kishore
09-Oct-2023
The armed ranger stationed outside the Pakistan dressing room at the Gymkhana grounds in downtown Hyderabad can't immediately recognise the burly gentleman making his way up to greet the team.
That burly gentleman is Matthew Hayden, no stranger to the Pakistan camp, having been batting consultant with them at two T20 World Cups. For the security personnel on duty, however, he's no VIP. He eventually sits outside the dressing-room steps and waits for "his boys" ahead of their training session.
"Hey, Ferrari, good to see you. All set, eh?" Hayden greets Haris Rauf as he sits down on the steps. "Ferrari, who is Ferrari? I don't have one," Rauf replies with a laugh. "It's a name I coined for you at the T20 World Cup. You're Ferrari, mate," Hayden says.
Full postA love letter to Feroz Shah Kotla
A ground where the past, the present and the future of Delhi come together
Sidharth Monga
09-Oct-2023
"Ask to be dropped at urinals," I always instruct people. Or make a left at the urinals if I am driving when parking is available during domestic matches. I don't think there is a cricket ground in the world other than the Feroz Shah Kotla that is identified by urinals. It has no gates on the main road because it is slightly off the Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. The road is lined with trees so you often miss the floodlights, a usual identifier of cricket grounds, from the ground level, and the narrow left that takes you in.
So you go by the urinals. They are right there. Right in the middle of the pavement you use to enter through gates 1 to 6. Now that I don't live in Delhi, I come out through gate 5 of Delhi Gate metro station, turn left, go past the petrol pump, past the Ambedkar Stadium entry and some of the Kotla entry gates, past the chhole-kulche cart, and they are right there, the urinals to remind me where to take the left. The dusty small field where Delhi police set up its scanning tent is right behind the urinals. The opening to that field is easy to miss but not the stinky urinals.
Except they are not stinking this time. I am here to report that - probably because of this World Cup and the focus on fan-friendliness of Indian stadiums - those urinals have been covered and locked. In fact, the whole stadium is at its best behaviour. The Gautam Gambhir Stand, which looks like a multi-level car park, doesn't quite look as ugly as usual because the cladding doesn't carry chewing tobacco advertising but rather pleasant ICC signage. At least on day one, I am told, the toilets for women were clean and well stocked. Even Delhi police are rather polite.
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