Braving the heat before High Noon

Thirty degrees Celsius, announces the captain as the flight from Bangalore lands at Kolkata airport. It's 8:30am. Half an hour into the taxi ride to the hotel, the sign at a flyover reads 35.5 degrees. The conditioning camp for the Bangladesh tour has been criticised for lacking the intensity of those held in Greg Chappell's time but it certainly is an honest attempt at replicating Bangladesh conditions, climate wise.

It could be the heat or the famous Bengali laid-back attitude but nobody walks here. "In Bengal, to move at all is seldom, if ever, done", said Noel Coward more than half a century ago and little seems to have changed. The few people out on the roads in the afternoon are either hapless traffic policemen, rickshaw-pullers or the odd vendor of sattu, the cooling drink made of gramflour sold by the roadside.

The team management's tactic to beat the heat is by scheduling training in two sessions either side of midday. By afternoon there is some respite, thanks to a cloud cover yet even that doesn't prepare you for the giant concrete bowl that is Eden Gardens. It is a surreal sight; there's an Indian team here but only 50-odd spectators to watch them and they are easily outnumbered by the media and the police.

The stadium bears no resemblance to the place where a hundred thousand assemble for every India match, where even more, perhaps, stood as one when Harbhajan Singh got Glenn McGrath to seal one of the most incredible Test finishes ever. There are no roars every time one of Anil Kumble's deliveries explodes off the pitch. One can visualise the Ranji Trophy semi-final two years ago, when Bengal's SS Paul threw up on the hallowed turf yet took a five-for on the first morning to set up a Bengal win against Baroda. Not too many were watching either feat.

There are no nets, only a fielding workout. The 25 have been divided into groups for the pick-up-and-throw routine. Sachin Tendulkar, reported to have switched to a heavier bat, walks in about 20 minutes after his teammates and has a lengthy hit, mostly square-cutting short ones. Ravi Shastri has a long chat with Tendulkar; there are many gestures involved, some mimicking the backlift.

There are two things that stand out during the two-hour training session. One, a gentleman dressed in red and not the regulation Team India shirt who takes a yoga class at the end of the session, as he has been doing for the two last days. The BCCI's gag orders help conceal his identity - he is believed to be Sukhdev Kumar, a yoga expert from Singapore - and Surendra Bhave, the team's administrative manager, says he doesn't have the details on hand.

The other point of note is a glaring absence - that of VVS Laxman. Bhave, again the only man accessible, says he has no idea why, nor does he have an update on Laxman.

In the absence of any information, credible or otherwise, the media does what it does best - speculate. And the big story is neither Shastri's body language nor Tendulkar's backlift, but the now-controversial contracts. All sorts of hearsay flies around. The seniors have united and refused to sign the new contracts, says one version. The BCCI is softening its stand, says another. Niranjan Shah, the board secretary is expected to fly in and try and sort out the issue before the team leaves for Bangladesh on Monday.

The mediapersons follow the team to the hotel, not willing to risk missing any action on the contracts. Ten team members appear in the hotel lobby and disappear just as soon - to watch Spiderman III. It's a no-brainer, though, to figure out whom the rest of audience will be watching. In Indian cricket, life imitates art.