Sharmistha Gooptu in London
It’s not only the Lord’s Test, starting tomorrow, that’s heated up the scene here. It’s also the sun that’s been blazing down in London since yesterday. The Test match days are set to be record highs, with the mercury crossing 30 Celsius on some days.
The Indian team came in after 12.30, and walking from the Grace Gate side to the North Gate, I spotted Indian superfan Sudhir waiting outside the Grace Gate with a couple of supporters. ‘When is the team coming in, ma’am?’ he asked. ‘Should be anytime,’ I replied. ‘Captain’s PC at 12.30.’
Sudhir is something of an institution now at all India’s overseas cricket matches. He was there outside the MCC in his trademark body paint. At Edgbaston, it was his conch that bellowed from the stands into the Press Box through the open roof windows. Further on, an elderly lady with a walking aid enquired about the Indian team, and at the turnstile of the North Gate, I encountered another Indian – a man – trying to gain access and being redirected to the Grace Gate. Indians have started to do their rounds of the stadium in the hope of catching a glimpse of their team, and tomorrow, the place will be a sea of Indian faces when we get here.
Security is starting to tighten inside the stadium – we were not allowed entry on to the ground – where yesterday, we had seen the Indian team do their laps and warm-ups. The Indian practice is now on at the nursery ground. Some of the net bowlers bowling to the Indian batters were lounging on the benches where we waited for the practice to start, and one of them was heard saying to his mate, ‘Bumrah’s not bowling today, so they called me in.’
What we missed in Bumrah at the nets, we made up with chicken biryani sold from a stall inside Lord’s – a generous serving at a meagre seven pounds. In stadiums of the world that I have visited, the food is frequently overpriced, so a cheap biryani had all Indian journalists here drop their equipment for a bit and rush to the stall. Even the cricket was left to wait!
