India hockey players are shy guys!

Pakistan players in their new yellow-green training jerseys yesterday. Pic/Ashwin Ferro

It is learnt that some of the Indian players (names withheld for obvious reasons) were keen that their girlfriends attend yesterday's glittering World Cup opening ceremony at the Kalinga Stadium here. Hockey India agreed and asked for a list of the players' names so that the passes can be issued accordingly.

However, on learning that they would have to divulge their names which could probably lead to everyone knowing that they have girlfriends, many of India's shy players backed out.

Aussies play cricket
The Australians sure love their cricket. On Monday, the reigning hockey world champions arrived at the Kalinga Stadium's Pitch 2 here for their training session a bit early and Pakistan, who were training before them, were still on the pitch.

So, what do the Aussies do? They indulged in some cricket. Two of the Aussie support staff members were seen bowling off-spin with the hockey ball, while an Indian scribe did the batting, albeit with a hockey stick. It must be noted that the ball beat the stick more often than the stick beating the ball.

Pakistan pick yellow
With their new sponsors, Haier, the Pakistan hockey team obviously have a new jersey too. Interestingly, though they have maintained their all-green match jerseys, their training jerseys have prominent yellow stripes alternating with green ones.

The Pakistan team is ranked a lowly 13, and except for their Asian Champions Trophy title-sharing win with India recently, they have little to show for on the international stage.

So, seeing their yellow jerseys while training on Pitch 2 here yesterday, one scribe remarked: "Since they are not a great team, they must've picked yellow to resemble World No. 1 Australia [who always wear yellow] and probably scare their World Cup opponents."

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