$2 a day, but no lack of smiles

April 25 It is a rare day off and some of the guys are heading out to play golf this afternoon. It's the second time I am missing out on swinging the clubs and more importantly on ending the debate over the longest drive challenge that I have with Binga [Brett Lee].

Instead I'm shooting an ad with Manoj [Tiwary], Sunil [Narine] and Shakib [Al Hasan]. These shoots are always funny, today even more so as Sunil and I are expected to recite a long script in one take. Thankfully the director is displaying Dravidian patience today. It's starting to feel like my job is a concoction of air travel, acting (commercials) and a bit of cricket on the side, not that I'm complaining.

April 26 This is the earliest I've been up in ages. Morgs [Eoin Morgan] is involved with an Irish charity (GOAL) that does some amazing work in Kolkata and he's invited me along to get an idea of the support that is being provided.

We've visited the brick kilns, a few schools and a dump where a slum of about 1500 people have settled. GOAL provides assistance for improving sanitation, education and health conditions. We get treated to singing and dancing in some of the facilities that have been provided. It's eye opening to see some of the challenges that these communities face and while there is a serious lack of facilities there is definitely no shortage of smiles.

The day turns out to be nothing like I expected. It's brutally shocking and while I'm humbled by the work being done, I'm left feeling helpless and I'm shattered by the time we get back, just in time for training.

I've mentioned before that I enjoy history and I'm currently reading Bill Bryson’s Shakespeare. It always strikes me how strange some of the customs and practices of a certain time period appear to us now. It's made me wonder how future generations will look upon a sporting event like the IPL that thrives on glitz and glamour while people make bricks down the road for less than $2 a day.

April 27 It is around two of skin-fold testing this morning. Most of the guys have bettered their results but I'm saving my best score for the last batch of testing. The restaurant at the hotel is amazing and on reflection it's no wonder I'm not down on the scores. I'll just have one more pizza for lunch and then will look at changing my diet a bit.

I've managed to book a slot with our analyst Shrikki today. He is a tech genius and is always helping guys with downloading videos, series and music. We have similar taste in music, so he's compiled a great playlist for listening to in the gym.

On route to training, Trevor Bayliss announces that Shami Ahmed has been selected for the India A team to tour the West Indies. The elation in the group is evident; it is always a good measure of the team spirit when guys are genuinely happy at others’ achievements. Shami is very quiet and speaks very little English, but his smile speaks a thousand words and it really is fantastic to see. He's not played any IPL matches for us, but is always a handful in the nets. His selection highlights our depth in strength in our contingent of local players.

April 28 The team has a lunch appearance at one of our sponsors’ function. These appearances generally follow the same order. The guys get introduced on stage, we answer a few questions about the campaign, we get presented with a little gift (today was a digital photo frame) and our CEO or the coach expresses our thanks for the sponsors support. The employees and their families then come on stage for some photos with the team. Today, Shah Rukh [Khan] has made a late entry and the function hits a new level, perfect timing for the players to sneak off and get ready for tonight's match.

Tonight was a near perfect performance. It's probably the best wicket we've had in Kolkata but that takes nothing away from how skillful Gauti [Gautam Gambhir] was tonight. Jacques [Kallis] and Brendon [McCullum] also produce their best knocks so far and we post 192. We're very much alert to the fact that a big score is needed as RCB have a frighteningly dangerous line-up.

The bowling unit also fires (again) and it feels like our best overall performance of this campaign. Hopefully a sign that we are hitting our straps as the business part of the competition approaches.

The hotel bar is extraordinarily packed tonight but it's just a quick drink as the next match is on Monday and tomorrow is another travel day.

April 29
The guys have gone off to Chennai this morning. I'm not in the squad for this game so I'm staying behind in Kolkata. It feels like I've woken up in another world, the hotel is like a ghost town. The IPL hype obviously checks out of the hotel when the team does. I've decided to do a tough cardio session in the gym this afternoon.

April 30 This is the first time that I've not travelled with the squad. It's impressive to see that training preparations are in place for the guys who stay behind. I had a long net in some incredible heat this afternoon. The queues for tickets at Eden for Saturday’s game were unbelievable. I heard that 16000 people were waiting to buy tickets today.

Marchant de Lange and myself have ordered two huge steaks and are watching our match together. Again it's Gauti who puts his hand up and DD [Debabrata Das] was fantastic at getting us home at the end. It was a treat to spend some time with South Africa's newest fast bowler, who's actually a gentle and thoughtful young man. I won't mention how many Cokes and chocolates he has consumed in the last four hours though.

I'm watching the Manchester derby (Manchester United against Manchester City in the Premiership football) but my eyes are letting me down. Hopefully I awake to hear that City have snuck in, even if it means that the players who left Arsenal last year win some silverware. I definitely won't be losing sleep over it either way.