Hyderabad. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has offered Indian players to the visiting Australian team that is suffering from grave injury problems causing many of their players to go back home. Keeping with the homegrown rules of Indian cricket, Indian captain has offered his Australian counterpart a chance to play Indian players in their side for the remaining matches of the series. As a result, Munaf Patel and Dinesh Karthik could be playing for Australia tomorrow.

“What we want here is a good contest. Offering our bench strength to the visiting team will not only ensure that we have a good match but also help our boys, who have been warming benches, to have some match practice. This will also help revive the traditional Indian gully cricket culture, where in two captains flipped a coin to decide who picks which player”, Dhoni said.

Ponting: Thanks mate, we have already given you a lot of IPL players.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting seemed pleased with the decision and has gracefully accepted the offer. Ponting was quite worried after his ace bowler Peter Siddle had to pull out of last match and was sent back home. Siddle was the fourth player after Brett Lee, Tim Paine and James Hopes who returned home. Australia were already without Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Callum Ferguson and Nathan Bracken, and people wondered if a playing eleven for Australia was possible in such a situation.

“At the end what matters is a good game of cricket. Munaf would be spearheading our bowling attack and Karthik will be keeping wickets. We thank Dhoni for setting up foundation for an exciting contest. Not only will this give a good game, it will also be for the world to see how well the Aussies gel with the Indians (referring to recent attacks on Indian Students in Australia).” Ponting hoped.

But the player, who is being much talked about here, didn’t seem quite happy with the decision. “I have played with Shane Warne, and they (Aussies) make you exercise a lot and run till the last breath. Right now, I am happy just sitting and relaxing at the boundary. I’m not complaining and I’m getting my fee due. They should have asked me before deciding.” Munaf expressed his unhappiness.

A few other senior players too have expressed unhappiness, including Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan. They wonder why they were not asked to play for Australia. “They are more than willing to play and sweat out in the field”, says Abhishek Desh, Manager, Café Coffee Day outlet in Andheri (West), Mumbai where these players keep on relaxing all day.

Though, it will be quite a contest to see now with these new developments, rumors are steaming in from the other side of the world about the sequel to movie Blue. It seems that after trying out Australian singer-actress Kylie Minogue in Blue, now the producers want to try Australian cricketers for the sequel, hoping to be lucky second time. Suspicions are being raised that Australian cricketers are shying away from international duties to conserve energy for the auditions.

(submitted through email by TechPek)

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