It's Not Business as Usual for the Indian Cricket Team

"Hope to get decent business class seats so that we are properly rested before our next game." This was MS Dhoni's tounge-in-cheek reply when asked whether India was ready for the quarter-finals. The Indian skipper clearly not amused with his team's travel schedule this World Cup.(Dhoni Not Happy With New Zealand Schedule)

In cricketing parlance, MS Dhoni is often referred to as superman: A man capable of moving mountains on the cricket field. Off it though, it is a different story.

On Monday, MS Dhoni's wish notwithstanding, the 30-member strong Indian contingent traveled from Auckland to Melbourne in economy class, with the exception of coach Duncan Fletcher and Manager Arshad Ayub, who traveled business class.

The other recognisable face in the business class section was Sourav Ganguly, here in Australia as part of the broadcast commentary team. When asked about the current team's travel woes he said, "It was the same during our times too. How do you accommodate 30-35 people from a team in the business class, there aren't that many business class seats in a flight." But maybe the skipper can be given a business class seat at least? "As skipper I always chose to sit with my teammates."

It wasn't surprising then to see MS Dhoni too, sitting with his team mates in economy class. The Indian skipper though did manage to get a seat near the emergency-exit that allowed him some extra leg room. The other fortunate ones to get emergency exit seats where Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Md Shami and R Ashwin, whilst the rest of the team was holed up at the back of the aircraft.

A four-hour long flight meant that the in-flight entertainment came in handy, with Interstellar - by Chistopher Nolan - being the most popular among the Indian players.

The English dictionary describes Interstellar as: 'Existing among or between stars'. I didn't watch the film myself, but experienced it, sitting in the economy class.