It has been a wonderful sojourn in Durban so far and our win against the Nashua Dolphins in a warm-up game at the magnificent Kingsmead Stadium on Monday has obviously put us all in good heart.
The players who were not part of the warm-up game had a long net session while the team also had a small get-together on Saturday in the restaurant at the team hotel.
Needless to say, the dinner went a long way in breaking the ice and provide for homogeneity in the team considering the mix of players.
The recovery sessions at the beach also provided for such opportunities to share and understand the backgrounds players come from.
The dinner was a noisy affair with music in English, Hindi and of course Tamil blaring as the players caught up with each other.
Ani (Anirudha Srikkanth) was ribbing Flemo (coach Stephen Fleming) about his loss to him at golf while Haydos (Matthew Hayden) with his little ones Gracie and Joshua, was pinned to a corner seat making him vulnerable to polite conversation.
Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) was busy conversing in Tamil as the Tamil Nadu boys bombarded him with questions on the Sri Lankan team’s Lahore escape.
Meanwhile, our team masseur Parry was teased for his poor catching skills, but he explained why he was not proficient with this particular cricketing skill. He simply said he was a musician and I was astonished to hear his passion for music.
Parry trained in Kolkata to learn the Sarod and visits India at least twice a year. He also composes music which is more tuned to therapeutic moods helping his patients as he works on their muscles. Truly, it was an eye opener.
The team has been gradually increasing the intensity at training and despite the numbers, Flemo and the support group have managed to keep it interesting, keeping in mind the fatigue factor.
There is also a sense of purpose in our fielding drills and they infused these sessions with a competitive flavor to liven up the proceedings.
As for me, I had the chance to see my cousin and his family on Sunday besides soaking in the beauty of Pietermaritzburg.
The pine trees adorning the lovely hills along the highway and the infrastructure by way of the roads itself left me in awe.
I spent the night with them and realised that for the first time a pin dropped next door could be heard for miles!
The birds woke me up early and I thoroughly enjoyed the stay with them. Of course Indian food over the weekend will keep me in good cheer for a few more days!
