The Surfer

Even if Mills is fit, it might be that Bennett's good form gives the selectors an opportunity to give him more time to recover. But when this tournament gets to the pointy end, they're going to have a tough decision to make.

As bad as England was, and Strauss admitted to a "shocker", these games can be difficult to play in, the few thousand spectators dwarfed by the vast Vidarbha Stadium failing to provide much in the way of inspiration. Things will undoubtedly be different on Sunday against India in Bangalore and England know that it must be different, too: sharper in body and mind.

To cover all options England would be better off with another specialist spinner, who turns the ball away from the right-hander, in their squad. Sadly Samit Patel and Ian Blackwell are deemed to be too fat. There would be a better case for Monty Panesar or Adil Rashid, who has obviously failed to convince the powers that be that he is reliable enough on or off the field. These two are not makeshifts but attacking bowlers for turning tracks.

The team’s can-do spirit underlines a defining moment in the political evolution of our [India] very special eastern neighbour.

His [Munaf Patel] achievements have triggered a trickle-down effect with hundreds of children taking to cricket seriously in southern Gujarat. Children travel several kilometres and sometimes hitch-hike rides to pick up the basics of the game at the academies that have mushroomed in the wake of Munaf becoming a star.

Australia won the ODI series 6-1 against England but it was against a team struggling to focus after the Ashes triumph. They are struggling for pinch-hitters and slow bowling options. Their best effort was in the sixth match, chasing down a target of 334 to beat England in Sydney but they were also walloped by India in a warm-up that showed they may struggle against spin on the subcontinent.

The gym’s performance stakes were raised by Khan, they couldn’t just benignly displace a weight or two while he grunted and growled and worked 130 pounds on the lateral pull-down machine.

Supporters here are bemused by condemnation of the tournament's schedule. Having not been given a chance to share the booty from the two previous sub-continental World Cups in 1987 and 1996, they see eight games, shared between Dhaka and Chittagong, as too few, not too many.

Given the cloud over Aashish Nehra's fitness, India does not have too many options for the third paceman's slot. The side should, instead, play to its strengths and field a second specialist spinner against England in what could be a pitch assisting spin.

Businesses realized the potential of having an audience of millions captive across a whole day, and industries, led by their sniffer-dogs of advertising, expanded exponentially on the back of this discovery. Shortly after that World Cup, in 1985, a new colour was added to the tri-colour — the light blue allotted to the Indian ODI team

By the time the next World Cup arrives, Sahoo would have retired. No wonder, he is sorely disappointed at the India-England match being shifted to Bangalore. “It’s not easy to get over this place. I remember, as we sat inside our quarters under the galleries, how people had started pelting stones, bottles etc during the 1996 World Cup semi final with Sri Lanka. After the police threw the crowd out, we were asked to clean the ground very fast. As we started picking up things, I remember a couple of Indian cricketers picking up stuff and handing them over to us. How sad they were,” says Sahoo

He is the talisman who has survived the ages, from the baby-faced 21-year-old who marked his turf at the 1996 World Cup, to the ruthless No. 3 who bludgeoned India in the 2003 final, to the battle-hardened 36-year-old eyeing his crowning glory in what is almost certainly his Cup swansong on the subcontinent.