Present exciting, future uncertain

HYDERABAD, August 22: The lines seemed well rehearsed and the seven Hyderabad 'rebels' put on a unified front as they addressed the media here on Wednesday. Anirudh Singh is in England.
The seven who have joined the ICL - Kaushik Reddy, Ambati Rayudu, Vinay Kumar, Ibrahim Khaleel, Shashank Nag, Alfred Absolom and P Inder Sekhar Reddy - sounded clearly in the present and not very concerned about their future, even though they did well to make polite noises to the effect.Like when Rayudu said, "It's a reality check."
So where do they see themselves one year on? The mumbo jumbo of "I'm still optimistic about playing for India" cut little ice even if Rayudu supported it saying that he had spoken to his employers and was assured of help.
The can't-be-bothered attitude continued. "I'm a professional cricketer and it doesn't really matter where I play, but with ICL now my standard will only improve," said Absolom. Play? "There are many private grounds and we need not depend on HCA facilities to train and practise. We have not lost hope but we had no choice," said Kaushik, who spoke on behalf of the rebels with a cause.
"There have been quite a few instances which forced us to take this step but nothing more than the feeling that we were being forced to bat, bowl and field for one man: Arjun Yadav (former Indian spinner Shivlal Yadav's son). Someone like Vinay (Kumar), who had the highest aggregate didn't get to play Duleep Trophy. He was also the highest scorer in India in Ranji ODI tournament but he never got anywhere, while a player with the highest score of 35 made it to the Deodhar side," Kaushik said.
Also in the line of fire was former Hyderabad coach Rajesh Yadav for his uncouth behaviour ahead of the Ranji semi-final in Delhi.