The BCCI, after being openly scornful of the Twenty20 format and the tournament -- where they sent a second-string team -- unashamedly clambered onto the Team India bandwagon.
This was a special felicitation, and the media was agog with reports of the Big Three -- Sachin, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly -- coming down to pat the new boys on the back. There were even incredulous rumours of Kapil Dev, captain of the 1983 World Cup winning squad, momentarily burying the hatchet with the BCCI and coming on down to give Dhoni his best.
None of them showed up, and that's just bad form. Tendulkar will come up with an excuse, as might the others, but this was a function they should have been there for. Not that the crowds cared, of course. This was a new look Team India, and the 40 odd thousand yelling their lungs out as the Chak De song played over and over -- the BCCI seems to have adopted the track -- did not miss the old guard. Sit up and take notice, you middle-aged ex-captains.
Also read: Video: Mumbai says Chak De!
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