The crowd was rewarded for waiting in a sunny afternoon with the arrival of the Indian team. However, Irfan Pathan was conspicuous by his absence, no sooner had the team settled down that the crowd began shouting ‘Irfan kahaan hai’?

Amidst banners announcing Delhi Daredevils of IPL, the Delhi players were given a special felicitation too but not before every member of the Indian team was awarded a cheque of Rs 58 lakh each. The support staff were also felicitated.

The DDCA perhaps learned from the T20 reception and this time at least, the cricketers along with a few top officials were made to sit in the front row. As each player came in to receive their cheque the camaraderie and youthful zest that is catching eyes these days was again at display.

The first cheque was of course received by captain MS Dhoni, he was joined by Tendulkar, when Yuvraj’s turn came, he forgot to shake hands with Board President Sharad Pawar and had to promptly run back amidst laughter from the team and officials. Sreesanth, after getting the cheque waved it to the crowds.

As each player returned after being felicitated, Dhoni welcomed them with either a playful poke, or a leg trip. It was heartening to see even the support staff were given similar treatment by the players and the skipper. Sreesanth probably couldn’t resist the blaring Bollywood music and did a mini-jig of sorts to amuse the fellow players.