A couple of days later, a photographer from Mumbai who was covering the tournament, took badly ill, suffering from high temperatures and a severe throat infection. It was the Gujarati new year, and getting hold of a doctor would be difficult. One phone call to the GCA, and they sent their medical man – the one in charge of looking after the players if an eventuality arose – to the club where we were staying. He swiftly diagnosed the problem, prescribed medication and rushed back, for house calls on New Year’s day was hardly a thing to do. The good doctor - Pratap Desai - wonder of wonders, had played first-class cricket for Gujarat.

But the strangest sight of all was on the day of the India match. With literally thousands choking the gates trying to enter on a day so hot it you were bathed in sweat if you spent a minute outside an airconditioned room, was a man in a safari suit, standing near the gate, welcoming people as they entered. The first thought was to feel bad for him as he’d obviously been given a bum job by the GCA. A closer look, and it was Narhari Amin, the president of the GCA himself, who was doing the job!

Amin, a former deputy chief minister of the state of Gujarat, and a man known for his love of shreekand and massages, could have been sitting in the president’s box, the best seat in the house, and watching the cricket. But the former student leader and politician obviously knew a thing or two about the importance of being among the masses. Believe me, it was not a gesture that went unnoticed. At the GCA, some extremely hard working and sincere people – like Hitesh Patel, the joint secretary, have a genuine interest in people, and that makes all the difference