Ranvir in his elements
The only thing more brown than the pitch at Old Trafford was the attire of the as usual on-fire Bollywood star Ranveer Singh who is here to shoot for his upcoming film on the 1983 World Cup win and is playing the central character of then captain Kapil Dev. Though he was all about 1983, his clothing was outlandish by all standards and very 70s. A brown overcoat, over a very brown muffler, bigger than life brown goggles almost covering his face and Burberry check parallels to cover his legs, also brown.
A sartorial disaster if the fashion paparazzi were to be consulted but symbolic of something which could not be fathomed. His role for today was to play a sports presenter which he did with elan, interviewing great like Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar, Virendra Sehwag and Ramiz Raja, and having fun doing that mid field.
Besides carrying his notes for what he had to say to the camera, Ranveer as usual was a cauldron of adrenaline and energy, standing under the players' pavilion and egging on the Indian players to give it their all as Shikhar, Hardik, Karthik and others responded. Dhawan came down from the players' box to give him a hug after which he and Bhajji managed the cameras for some time. Deepika, he said, is not here "but nothing like an India-Pakistan match isn't it," he asked with a wink before hopping away to the inaccessible area of the stadium for some work, a whole lot of fan moments and some good engaging play.
media snub
The ICC is likely to impose sanction on Sri Lanka for not fulfilling their media duties after suffering a humiliating 87-run defeat to Australia. Disheartened by their loss to the defending champions here on Saturday, skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and other Sri Lankan players decided to skip the mandatory media conference and the 'mixed zone'. As a result, Sri Lanka, in all probability would face action from the International Cricket Council. "Yes. Sri Lanka have told us they don't want to do it. The ICC will be speaking to them," an ICC spokesman told reporters when asked if Sri Lanka would face any sanction for skipping the press briefing.
sanga blasts
Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara is disappointed with the variations in wickets at different venues in England, where the 2019 edition of the ICC World Cup is underway and matches are also being affected due to rain. A number of games have been hit by rains so far in the showpiece event, which might also be a factor behind the different wickets across venues. Expressing his disappointment, Sangakara worte in his coloumn for Times of India: "Uniform neutral pitches are a key requirement for a global tournament like this and that has unfortunately not always been the case. Sides have to adjust, but the disgruntled murmurs emanating from some team camps can be understood." "It's a shame that its not practical to cover the entire playing area like is the norm in Sri Lanka. That effort requires huge manpower but it has become something of an artform for us and helps protect cricket from some of the monsoonal downpours we have to contend with," he added.
