When Jaffer was Salim...

TRENT BRIDGE, July 29: When Chandu Borde left India as cricket manager he was 73 years young; since then, he has become older by a year, having celebrated another birthday on July 21.
That is, however, not the reason why he has started getting some names wrong: he has always had that weakness. When he was chairman of the selection panel, he famously referred to Sourav Ganguly as Gaurav Ganguly at a press conference.
Before that, when England's fast bowler Frank Tyson came to Pune, he greeted him as Frank Worrell, a West Indian great. Luckily, Tyson, who is known for his fiery temper, didn't take offense and knock him down.
Borde has been at his jumbling best even on this tour. Just before the start of the second Test, during a senior team-management meeting, he suddenly blurted, "That Salim is a good bat, man." The older lot in the group nodded their heads, but wondered why he was suddenly getting nostalgic about Salim Durrani.
"We must boost his confidence," he added sagely. Suddenly noting something amiss, one of them asked, "Salim who, Chandu bhai." He replied, "Arre, woh apna Salim Jaffer. He is very impressive." Well, nobody had the courage to point out that it was actually Wasim Jaffer.
Not one to give up easily, he has been referring to Ranadeb Bose as Danadeb Roy too. When told that it was Bose and not Roy, he responded with another gem, "Haan, haan. It's one and the same thing." Wonder whose name he is going to wonder next.
Karthik's Miss: Dinesh Karthik is winning over fans. Offered the opener's role in South Africa, following Virender Sehwag's repeated failures, he happily grabbed the opportunity with both his hands. "He is such a quick learner," exclaimed Dilip Vengsarkar, as the sprightly youngster added another 50 to his kitty.
"You guys tell me how I am doing in this role," he asked on Saturday evening. "I think I have done a good job till now. I worked on weak areas in domestic cricket. Scoring a couple of 50s here gives me a good feeling," he says unabashedly. He, however, conceded that he missed out on a hundred that was there for the taking.
"I had done all the hard work. It wasn't easy to bat there. It wasn't doing as much as it was doing the previous day but they had two good swing bowlers. Sidebottom even hit me on the box a couple of times," he pointed out. He, however, stuck it out.
Talking about the tiffs with the bowlers, he said, "I don't mind it as long as the chirping stops after I've taken my stance; I was unhappy at Lord's because they were doing it even when I was ready to face the ball," he explained.
Greg Happy: Ian Chappell adores his younger brother, Greg. He beamed when one asked about the former India coach the other day. "Oh, he is doing very well, mate," he said. "In fact, I had lunch with him before I came over for this series.
"We chatted about various things. He is very busy and happy with life. He has just finished a stint at the Centre of Excellence or whatever **** they call it. He is now going to Singapore to do some work with a bank," he explained.