The scene was set at the media room of the Dubai International Stadium yesterday for the pre-tournament press briefing. There were six chairs on the dais waiting for the six captains to lead their countries in the Asia Cup.
A casual fan would probably be able to name five participants in a heartbeat but the sixth is harder as some may find it surprising that Hong Kong even play cricket.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Five of the captains were seated but the press conference could not start because Hong Kong skipper Anshuman Rath did not show up. Three minutes passed before he arrived with a sheepish grin.
In 2001, India captain Sourav Ganguly famously made Australian counterpart Steve Waugh wait at the toss of the first Test, firing a counter missile to Waugh's 'mental disintegration'. What followed was one of the best recent series that India won 2-1.
If anything even remotely similar happens with Hong Kong, 2001 will be chump change in comparison.
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