“The Englishmen are actually quite used to being beaten by the Aussies. But here after the Twenty20 win, there are huge expectations. So at times I have been caught in a situation when I am the only one smiling and waving the flag in the middle of a crowd of disappointed faces,” says the man whose first brush with defeat, since being on this reality-television kind of show with constant camera focus, was in Chandigarh.

But there are times in India when mere courage has been found inadequate. The weak-in-the-knees feeling during the first encounter with a squatting toilet at the Bangalore Youth Hostel and the knock-out punch courtesy Delhi belly might provide the documentary’s lighter moments, but when Worland narrates they don’t seem funny.

With the production unit keeping the lodging and boarding details away from Worland, the surprise element to the show gives it an extempore and informal look. “I was received in a stretch limo in Bangalore but I landed in a room that I had to share with eight others at the youth hostel,” says the Aussie fan. He mockingly puts a hand across to his producer and adds, “since we are friends, I know he wouldn’t put me in a place where I would die.”

Weiss gets a naughty grin on his face and winks when he says: “Actually, at times we are not sure.”

Though Worland, who is a father of three kids and an Aussie cricket addict for over three decades, says there have been several happy memories on this Indian journey. Riding a camel to reach the stadium in Vadodara, driving an auto-rickshaw in Hyderabad and going with a broom in hand in Bangalore happen to be just a few of them.

... contd.