locked Padlocks and Silk Underwear

The Top Six scored 50...

    There was a lot of huffing and puffing about the woeful bowling from Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi following the Indian walloping, and understandably so, but of equal concern was dismembering of the much-vaunted top six in a run-chase which stalled on the starting line.

    The profligate bowling came first and, sure, India scored about 70 above par, but did that explain why South Africa’s top six batsmen scored 50 runs between them? If they had come out ‘swinging’ and perished to attacking shots, a mitigating argument could be made. But they didn’t, and it can’t. And that is a worry.

    Anyway, bowling coach Eric Simons was today’s delegated interviewee so naturally he spoke about the bowlers, particularly Jansen: “He went away from concentrating on himself to concentrating on the opposition, which can happen in those pressure moments, especially with the quality of the batsmen we were up against,” Simons said.

    It must be hard to think of them as ‘just another batter’ with 65,000 people chanting ‘Rohit! Rohit!’ or ‘Kohli! Kohli!’ at 160 decibels.

    “It was a great learning experience for him as an individual but also the whole bowling group. It’s not as if he isn’t capable of bowling well in those situations, everyone has seen what he is capable of during this tournament,” Simons said.

    “If things don’t go well I ask ‘what is the noise between potential and performance?’ There was nothing technically wrong, it was other things.  Clarity of tactics is very important, it doesn’t guarantee execution, but clear thinking goes a long way towards getting it right,” Simons said.

    “It was always going to be a huge occasion whether we had qualified (for the semi-finals) or not, so we were able to get a lot out of it. The fact that the result went the way it did was unfortunate, but we were also fortunate that we learned a lot about conditions.

    “We played that game at what is likely to be the semi-final venue and we play Afghanistan in our final game at the venue where the final will be played, so we’ll gather as much information as possible which, from a planning perspective, is certainly a positive,” Simons said.

    A large of the rest of my day was spent at Teen Darwaja market replenishing my wardrobe. I now have three t-shirts, three pairs of socks, some gym shorts and a fancy pair of running shoes. And my first ever piece of designer label underwear. No cheap crap for me just because of the situation My nether regions deserve the best in these sweaty conditions.

    Fortunately, the top-up insurance policy I was careful to buy should cover the costs. They always ask for receipts, unaware that India’s best boutiques, like these, are far too busy to bother with such fripperies, so photographic proof will have to suffice.

    I’m a little concerned about the running shoes. The inner soles appear to be made of cardboard. I was expecting better for 400 Rupees (R35) but I’m confident in my new, genuine silk undies. They cost almost as much as the shoes.

    Meanwhile, the latest news from SpiceJet’s office in Kolkata is that my luggage is still with them. Having signed a letter two days ago authorising them to remove the lock from my bag to hunt for the mysterious, ‘prohibited item,’ they informed me today that the padlock cannot be removed because “…it is locked, sir.”

    At least my new clothing will allow me to make the journey to the Narendra Modi Stadium tomorrow, on Narendra Modi’s Metro train, so I can finally see the giant statue of Narendra Modi which decorates the world’s greatest cricket venue. Can’t wait.