Now and then, some fun!

Grandpa Aarya are you looking forward to waking up tomorrow for the second and final Test of the 207475 BorderGavaskar TrophyGrandson Yes I saw the footage of the Indian team training in Coffs Harbour The place looks beautifulGrandpa Oh I didnrsquot realise they are ending the series at Coffs Harbour You know 50 years ago when the 17th BGT was held the series started in Perth and ended in SydneyGrandson Did India lose in PerthGrandpa No in fact India won it very handsomelymdashby 295 runsmdashdespite being bowled out for 150 on Day OneGrandson Wow how did that happenGrandpa It was because of a fast bowler called Jasprit Bumrah who showed the Aussies the first signs of himgoing on to be even greater than their very own Dennis Lillee He even had to take over the role of captain as the regular skipper Rohit Sharma joined the team later after his wife delivered a childGrandson So this Bumrah chap must have left Indian shores motivated and burdened too with the extra responsibilityGrandpa Irsquom not sure because Bumrah was not announced as captain when the Rohitless team left for AustraliaGrandson You are trying to say Rohit or Bumrah did not address the media before the team leftGrandpa Indeed Only head coach Gautam Gambhir spoke to the media at a breakfast press conference in Mumbai He stirred the potGrandson He cooked for the mediaGrandpa No no I meant he controversially said that Australia experts like their former captain Ricky Ponting had no business to comment on Indiarsquos form going into the seriesGrandson So did India win the series just like what is being predicted for them nowGrandpa Oh you have opened up old wounds No we went on to lose 13 despite clinching the opening Test which only a handful of Indian teams managed to do to themselves before 202425 But Bumrah claimed 32 wickets in a little over 150 oversGrandson Ah now I see why they were saying Bumrah v AustraliahellipGrandpa It was The batting was terrible at timesmdashalthough Yashasvi Jaiswal Nitish Reddy and Virat Kohli scored a century eachGrandson Virat Kohlihellip now thatrsquos a name I have heard beforehellipGrandpa Great player but he just couldnrsquot resist playing shots outside the off stump He was probably the biggest disappointment of the series Even Rishabh Pant underperformed and didnrsquot do ample justice to his matchturning skillsGrandson Pant What an odd namehellipGrandpa Yes and our batting legend Sunil Gavaskar took his pants off when Pant played a stupid shot in the Melbourne Test Gavaskar exclaimed on air ldquoStupid stupid stupidrdquoGrandson Did India lose the series at the Melbourne Cricket GroundGrandpa No the scoreline got to 21 in favour of Australia That meant India could win the final Test at Sydney and still keep the BorderGavaskar Trophy But there was drama before the first ball was bowled at SydneyGrandson Drama Was it held at the Sydney Opera HouseGrandpa Donrsquot be silly I meant confusion and chaos Rohit did not appear for serious training the day before the Test and didnrsquot even front up to the press Coach Gambhir refused to confirm if Rohit would be part of the TestGrandson So Rohit was injuredGrandpa No Gambhir said there was nothing wrong with Rohit Gambhir appeared unsurprisingly grumpy and found nothing wrong in Rohit not being around for the traditional preTest media briefing In fact he said it was not a tradition for a captain to address the media before a Test But it was I was hoping some journalist would have told him thatGrandson Give me more of the drama GrandpahellipGrandpa As expected Rohit didnrsquot play and Bumrah walked out to toss with Pat Cummins yet again Rohit had apparently opted out of the Test and the following day he gave an interview to the Indian broadcaster to say why he did so His lack of runs didnrsquot allow him to block another playerrsquos placeGrandson But did the fans and journalists believe him He could well have been dropped by the travelling selector and coach GambhirhellipGrandpa I think most of us believed him but what I found most strange was that an actor tweeted about how great of him to drop himself I was surprised that she was so interested in cricketGrandson So Bumrah couldnrsquot stop the Aussies from running away with a series winGrandpa Poor chap he suffered back spasms and midway through the Test he was rushed to hospital for scansGrandson So what was the extent of injuryGrandpa We are still waiting to hear from the BCCI In any case they are not answerable to anyone now that ICC no longer exists and cricket is run by the BCCI and played amongst India Aus and England And now IPL has become an international tournament played four times a year I must go to bed nowGrandson Goodnight grandpa Enjoy the cricket And donrsquot disturb me for updates on why X is not playing or Y is not playing The BCCI do not update the media The missing players in the XI are either injured dumped or on paternity leavemiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper