As the city woke up to a heavy cloud cover, intermittent drizzle and a misty morning, the lack of suspense about the result of the series wasn’t the only reason the players didn’t quite sweat buckets on the eve of the seventh and final ODI. The Aussies went through the ritual of warming up, padding up and marking their run-ups, but the weather would have tempted them to put their feet up after the six high-voltage games so far.

Later in the afternoon, the Indians had a similar approach, with the drizzle having intensified. With more rain forecast for Wednesday, there’s a chance that the inconsequential match may just be washed out.

In the series so far, Australia captain Ricky Ponting has been a picture of concentration when it comes to preparing for a game. There have been days when his bat hasn’t got any rest all through the session. A spate of injuries and an inexperienced squad made Ponting realise he couldn’t afford to take chances. Such has been his impact on the series that it is tough to decide if it was Ponting the batsman or Ponting the captain who had a bigger role to play in Australia winning with a game to spare and sitting atop the world ODI rankings.

Finally, for the first time in the series Ponting looked relaxed. He jovially interacted with the net bowlers and joked with a top Australian rules football player who had dropped by. He even saw the lighter side of another mobile phone ringing at the media interaction, a common feature in the series that has annoyed the visitors with irritating regularity. As a cameraperson didn’t heed the Aussie media manager’s threat of a walkout and continued to speak on the phone, Ponting was still smiling. “I think it’s his wife on the line,” he said.

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