Australian captain Ricky Ponting [Images] was in for a rude shock on Thursday when a male bidder tried to kiss him at a charity event organised in Bangalore to auction his bats and photographs.

Bangalore's Jayram Reddy, who bid for Ponting's autographed bat and photographs, went up on stage and was very keen to kiss the Aussie captain.

The event started with host Mandira Bedi [Images] asking bidders to bid for Ponting's autographed picture. However, what transpired after that shocked everyone in the room.

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"I will pay 10,000 to click a picture with Ponting," yelled Reddy from the crowd and came up to the stage. He insisted on kissing the Aussie captain, who sensing that Reddy was drunk tried to get away. After a lot of insistence, Reddy walked off with just a handshake.

Ponting initially thought it was a joke and took it sportingly, but then realised that the fan was actually serious and he seemed shocked and taken aback.

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The Aussie captain, however, looked red in anger when Reddy came up to the stage once again after a successful bid of Rs 90,000 for Ponting's bat. He once again wished to kiss the Aussie captain, and was yet again kept away.

Later on, it was learned that Reddy is actually a 54-year-old farmer, who hails from a village, which is 60 kms away from Bangalore.

He left everyone in no doubt that he is a crazy fan of Ponting, but no one ever imagined that he would be so crazy!

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Seniors feeling the heat?

Coincidence it may seem, but the practice session of five members of the Indian team at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore had a tale to tell.

Sourav Ganguly [Images], Rahul Dravid [Images], Sachin Tendulkar [Images], Zaheer Khan [Images] and Ramesh Powar - all of whom were not part of India's Twenty20 World Cup winning squad were seen practicing at the stadium.

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While the entire Twenty20 squad basked in the celebration and the aftermath of the World Cup victory, these senior guys were seen sweating it out and determined to make a point.

And as if the organisers wanted to prove them a point - in the background on the giant screen was being shown the Twenty20 World Cup final between India and Pakistan.

Was it just a test run of the giant screen or an attempt to put their point across?

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Matt's heavy bat!

Australian Matthew Hayden [Images] is easily one of the best-built personalities in world cricket. And on Thursday, he gave an exhibition of his power hitting, when he used the long handle to good effect at the practice session.

Batting from one end of the ground he launched huge shots into the stands at the other end.

His 30-minute big-hitting stint started off with a few lofted shots, but once he gained confidence he put everyone's life at risk with his huge lofted shots. And even if he manages to clear half that distance in the match on Saturday, he will easily clear the boundary for sixes.

It was no surprise that even the policemen with helmets on their heads were seen ducking for cover.