The India-Pakistan World T20 encounter at Eden Gardens is billed as the clash of the tournament and one would have expected the organisers to be better prepared with regards to the mandatory pre-match press conference
Journalists on the floor for the India vs Pakistan pre-match press conference at Eden Gardens yesterday
Kolkata: The India-Pakistan World T20 encounter at Eden Gardens is billed as the clash of the tournament and one would have expected the organisers to be better prepared with regards to the mandatory pre-match press conference.
Journalists on the floor for the India vs Pakistan pre-match press conference at Eden Gardens yesterday. Pic/Ashwin Ferro
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Instead, the press conference room ended up being crammed to such an extent that many journalists had to literally squat on the floor during the interaction with India offie R Ashwin yesterday.
An ICC media official reacted with disappointment at what he saw.
"Never have journalists had to sit on the floor for an International Cricket Council press conference," he said nodding his head in disapproval even as he realised that little could be done to rectify the situation. Ironically, BCCI's Twitter handle posted a picture of the choc-a-bloc press conference room with the message: "It's a full house for the pre-match press conference as #Ind take on #Pak tomorrow." Sadly, it was not merely a full house, it was an overfull house.
Pakistan's Mohammad Amir checks out the bat he received from India's Virat Kohli in Kolkata yesterday. Pic/AFP
Bat for Amir, from Virat
Virat Kohli took hospitality a step further when he went across and gifted a bat to the speedster during a training session at the Eden Gardens on the eve of today's high profile World T20 clash. Moments after Virat moved away, Amir's teammates came around to check out the gift.