Honestly no one would have missed the Men In Blue. They too had a well-deserved break after winning the second ODI on Saturday. However most of their diaries looked full up with sporting engagements. The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag were glued to the TV screens to see Roger Federer being vanquished in 4 hours and 23 minutes. MSD had his eye on the Australia - New Zealand match. Secretly every team member is happy that Australia's pride has taken a blow again.

Sunday also saw some off the field action in Taj Samudra with the match referee Chris Broad calling Yuvraj Singh for a hearing. Apparently the Lankan umpire had complained about him breaching the ICC 1.3 code as Yuvi showed dissent and stood his ground after being given out. Indians have never been happy campers with Chris Broad around.

Strangely though the stone throwing incident at the Premadasa on night of the match went unnoticed. Ishant Sharma was hit by an object while fielding, a story almost unheard of before in the Lankan grounds. But neither the Lankans nor the Indians raised an alarm bout the unruly crowd behaviour.

For the 55,000 odd spectators who turned up, it must have been a relief to watch some cricket in the times of war. When tourism is at its all time low, companies hit by recession, the balm of cricket is helping people deal the rough with the smooth. Ofcourse, a win would have done better for them.

For better or for worse, this series still has not generated as much enthusiasm. Much of the talks at the breakfast and dinner tables centre around IPL and the upcoming auction. But the Indian team has one challenging series in New Zealand ahead of that. And so while their heads will be spinning out strategies to take the Kiwis on, their heart will be in India.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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