By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, IANS
New Delhi : Barely hours after the Pakistan cricket team reached their hotel here, each of the 15 players was given a SIM card.
And they were seen using their mobiles Thursday evening, informing their family and friends of their safe arrival in India for five one-day internationals (ODIs) and three Tests.
They looked relaxed at the hotel and some of them even ventured out at night to sample local food.
Indian players have been doing the same when travelling abroad, getting themselves local mobile connections besides carrying phones with their original numbers.
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Large support staff for Pakistani team
The 15-member Pakistan cricket team has arrived here with an eight-member support staff.
With the international cricket calendar getting more and more cramped each year, teams are realising the need for more and more specialists accompanying the players.
Besides coach Geoff Lawson, a former Australian fast bowler, the Pakistan side has a fielding coach, a trainer, a physiotherapist, a masseur and a computer analyst among the support staff that will try to lessen the pressures on the team on and off the field during the 42-day tour.
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Manjrekar, Roberts remembered at Kotla
While watching the Delhi-Pakistan match at Ferozeshah Kotla here Friday, former India Test opener Parthasarthi Sharma recalled facing former West Indies fast bowler Andy Roberts on debut. He also remembered Vijay Manjrekar, the ex-India batsman on whom he modelled his batting.
Sharma, who made his Test debut against the West Indies at Kotla in 1974, said he learnt a lot by watching Manjrekar bat.
“He was a big influence on me. I modelled my entire batting on him,” Sharma, who played five Tests between 1974 and 1977, told IANS.
Sharma holds Roberts, whom he faced while scoring 54 and 49 on debut here in December 1974, in high esteem, especially his deceptive bouncers.
“Roberts had two bouncers – one that went straight past your face, without deviating, and another one that followed you as you tried to leave the bouncer,” he said, demonstrating with his head.