The Prince of Calcutta has soft hands

The Prince of Calcutta as he is commonly known is a true prince. He has all the attributes typical of an Indian `yuvraj'. Kings have always been known to be blue blooded and commanding; it's the princes who have known to be timid and soft in their persona.

The Indian skipper has shades of a King and a Prince both at the same time. He is a king when he strolls majestically on the field in his batting armour, driving like a maestro at work. A class above the rest of the southpaws in the league, a cut above the best.

The skipper has the panache and style of a classic batsman whose drives are a masterpiece created on the field. He is undoubtedly the emperor of the offside. Innings of class are synonymous with his name.

He is a prince when it comes to fielding in the crucial slips. He has many times displayed the princely attributes, letting off the bowlers hard work from his soft hands. The startling fact that he was a much better fielder in the outfield when he was not the skipper.

The Prince has let off batsmen when it mattered the most. He bestowed this grace on the touring Zimbabwe batsmen on no less than three occasions on the last day of the Test match at the Kotla.

It has always been the tradition of Indian rulers to show hospitality to their guests and the prince happily obliged. He bestowed this generosity on his rival skipper dropping him when he was batting on four and allowed him to add another 27 runs before departing.

The ICC knock out tournament witnessed similar grace bestowed on the batsmen - in fact the same batsman, Nicky Boje, in the same over to the same bowler at the same position in similar fashion and quick succession. Such is the grace of the Prince of Calcutta.

The Prince continues his, so to speak, fairy tale run in the slip cordon, and keeps the tradition of Indian hospitality alive.