It was one of those whims of the touring team. Not the first time from England, Punjab Cricket Association president I S Bindra said.

As per norm, after the team practices, the coach or captain of either team holds a press conference on the ground. But England refused to comply on Wednesday at Mohali, saying Duncan Fletcher had spoken on Monday and Andrew Flintoff on Tuesday.

So they would only make Matthew Hoggard available to the media on the eve of the second Test, and that too in the team hotel, not the venue.

\"They think they are still ruling us,\" fumed Bindra, whose requests to brief the media at the venue itself were turned down.

\"It's always like this. Whenever they come here they expect heaven, but they don't treat us like that when we visit them.

\"All we can do is ask them to come; we can't call the Punjab Police and drag them here,\" he explained to the waiting media persons.

\"We can, maybe, do the same thing when we go there. Give them the reciprocatory treatment when our players go there.\"

England, looking to win their first Test series in India since 1984-85, have surprised everyone with their new-found spirit. But some things, like the cold English approach, just don't change.

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Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"