The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Having a whale of a time

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 28, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Having a whale of a time

Karachi: Even though the ongoing Paksitan tour is disappointing for every one from fans to the players, the wives of Indian team members are not complaining.

And why should they? While Team India may not have fulfilled its single-point agenda — that is to win the matches — as yet, the wives are achieving theirs' with a gusto.

According to local media, the wives of some of the senior players — Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Ajit Agarkar — are making most of the series as they travel, shop, eat and preen with all guns blazing.

Tendulkar's and Agarkar's wives reached Karachi on Thursday, while the spouses of Dravid, Sehwag, Ganguly and Laxman had been with their husbands in Lahore and Faisalabad.

Not to be left behind is Indian coach Greg Chappell's wife. She visited most of the historical places in Lahore and Faisalabad and also some of the famous bazaars.

"The wives don't usually come to the ground; they prefer to stay back in the hotel and go out shopping or visit famous eateries or do some sightseeing," an Indian team official was quoted by the local media as saying.

On the contrary, the Indian players decided to stay in the hotel on Thursday taking a well-deserved break after their flight from Faisalabad was delayed by more than three-and-a-half hours.

"The players on reaching Karachi were so tired that they just went to their rooms and rested. They've no plans to practise on Friday also," the official said. — UNI

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