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Boys' night out!

It was the last night of 1996. Dawn was barely a couple of hours away when we were returning from a party, hosted by South African cricketwriters. The stars were still glowing in the warmth of the full moon, and Cape Town had not yet gone to bed.

Couples, in different stages of intimacy, hadn't yet had their fill of the clear, beautiful evening; and zooming cars, with music blaring out of their open windows, were enjoying themselves, disturbing the stillness of the night.

Suddenly, among the hundreds of couples, my eyes picked up a familiar figure, a walk I knew I had seen earlier. Javagal Srinath! Before I could look the other way to save the Indian fast bowler from embarrassment, his eyes locked with mine. He broke into a shy grin, disengaged his arm from that of the pretty girl at his side, and looked around sheepishly.

Srinath must have struggled to sleep, that night. After all, it is not a cheerful feeling to be caught by 10 journalists, cavorting into the morning. Especially when he ought to have been taking rest and preparing for the next day, and the next Test -- so what if it was New Year's eve?

India had already lost -- and lost badly at that, being bundled out for 100 and 66 in the first Test at Durban, and he was carrying the aspirations and hopes of millions of Indian fans.

Next day, after what must have been a sleepless night wondering if his peccadilloes would make the sports pages of newspapers back home, he was back there at the nets with the rest of the Indian team. On time. India went on to lose the Cape Town Test too; by the end of the tour, Srinath's bowling shoulder had rebelled. He eventually pulled out of the subsequent West Indies tour without bowling a single delivery.

After a year's exile, Srinath regained peak fitness and optimum speed. He is back at work now. Of course, one is not claiming that Srinath's career-book will have two blank pages at a crucial time only because of one night's indiscretion. Or that India's defeats are a direct consequence of too much activity after the cricket.

There are other reasons too. But now I know for sure why every cricketer covets a place in the Indian squad; especially, when the team is being picked for an overseas tour. Every decent cricketer likes to test his skills in different conditions, no doubt about that. But then, there are so many other nice things to look forward to: visiting new cities, sampling different cuisines, understanding different cultures and, of course, making brief (no pun intended) encounters with pretty women from different parts of the world.

The hot spots are Australia and South Africa. Batsmen who normally run a few miles in the other direction at the sight of a fast bowler, willingly tour these countries for one very practical reason:the days -- the days are short, and the nights are nice and long.

Some cricketers might crib that the nights are too short, but then, that's a different story.

Talk to the cricketers and the consensus is that women in Australia and South Africa aren't just pretty and white -- they are, the guys go, more fun loving, willing (for what, is not specified) and and eager to be seen with the men in white flannels.

Legend goes that if L. Sivaramakrishnan or Sadanand Vishwanathan were to be leftalone in any crowded city, in Australia, within 15 minutes they would be mobbed by 13-year-olds, all screaming "Daddy,daddy!"

I, for one, do not believe these stories. Simply because India had done pretty well on that tour in 1985, even winning the World Series Championships. And a fabulous Audi car was not the only thing Ravi Shastri had won for his scintillating performances -- on the cricket field, I mean.

And come to think of it, New Zealand is not a bad place to be in either. So how do the Indian cricket players spend their time on tours? The excitement usually begins after the drudgery of warm-ups, match practise, nets and cooling off. On special occasions -- like official functions, free invites and colleagues' birthdays -- they have fun together, among themselves.

Otherwise, it is each one for himself.

The married ones -- when the wives are around, that is -- have to, and therefore tend to, stick together. Their daily routine reads something like this: A little bit of shopping, a little bit of sight-seeing, a nice quiet dinner and an early return to the pavilion. All very innocent and businesslike.

Very business-like. The bachelor boys, of course, have the world at their feet. In a place like South Africa, you can go to discos, pubs, casinos,strip-tease joints or just to the hotel stewardess' home, if you are so inclined. But then, you've got to be careful -- Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq, with a young colleague, made the mistake of returning from a dinner rather late at night. They were mugged, beaten and relieved of their valuables.

Yes, anything can happen in South Africa -- muggings especially, if you do not take the right precautions. Remove your gold rings and expensive watches, they told us, before going out. Always move in big groups and try to avoid lonely, dark roads.

Mushtaq and friend insist that they had not strayed too far away from the main road. But then, the police had another theory. They claim that the two Pakistani cricketers had indulged in something more than a quiet dinner; apparently they were visiting friends at some strip-tease joint. Nothing wrong in that of course, except that they got carried away and were literally bounced out, by the restaurant's muscle men.

Once the police came up with that theory, that was the last heard from the Pak camp about muggers and such.

Fortunately -- or, if you are into yellow journalism, unfortunately -- Indian players steer well clear of the hot spots, and the trouble that can come with them. Or, if they must go, then they are very discreet. Manoj Prabhakar, for instance, once made the mistake of talkingabout his 'exploits' to a pretty girl, who looked like an innocent fan of his. That was during the 1992-'93 tour of South Africa. At the time, Prabhakar had just blossomed into India's strike bowler, and his aggressive attitude on the field, coupled with his well-groomed face, had made him a celebrity-in-demand. Especially among female fans.

A couple ofdays later, the stories he told that girl in a bid to impress her were prominently carried in a local newspaper, under a banner headline screaming: Hunter. The wily fast bowler, of course, denied any connection between hison-field antics and off-field actions. But the legend stuck, and Hunter Prabhakar remained a stud-hero for a number of giggly teenagers for the next four years. He was besieged for photographs, autographs and more explicit graphs -- until his macho image was demolished by Sanath Jayasuriya. In fact, many say Prabhakar has bowled more 'maidens' than he has taken wickets.

This may or may not be true, but one fact cannot be denied: Ajit Wadekar's famous code of conduct was introduced only during the tour of South Africa (the first one). And it was because the then cricket manager believed that his players were looking forward to the evenings, rather than the mornings. And it was not merely because India were getting thrashed in every match. Wadekar imposed curfew on the players. They were banned from entertaining guests without his permission, and were not even allowed to go out of their rooms after a particular time.

India'sperformance improved dramatically after that. It is a different matter that the next few series were played at home, against weak teams like England and Zimbabwe.

Ajay Jadeja is another 'high-scoring' batsman. Young, charming and effervescent, India's vice-captain is the current heart-throb. He is constantly mobbed by chirpy, little girls and mature young women too. He is readily linked with one film starlet after another, but he has managed to stay foot-loose. Jadeja is the first person you can expect to see at the best disco in town; and he is invariably the last to leave. Yet, he has managed to stay away from scandal.

Vinod Kambli is one cricketer who cannot make a similar claim. One of the few Indian cricketers who enjoys a glass or four of beer, he was kicked out of the team on disciplinary grounds. Apparently, he tends to get sentimental after a few rounds and makes it a point to leave a lasting impression wherever he goes. He has left broken bottles and hearts in his trail, and inside buzz is that none of the other players, not even childhood chum Sachin Tendulkar, is too keen on being his room-mate.

Pakistani cricketers love visiting India. The likes of Imran Khan, Majid Khan, Wasim Akram and Shahid Afridi have been made to feel so at home here, they hardly miss their friends or families when they come to India. Go to the hotel where they are staying, and you see hordes of teenyboppers hanging around -- in the lawns, in the lobby; outside their rooms and , at times, even inside their rooms.

Mike Gatting was not careful during one of his encounters with a bar-maid. And he had to pay with his captaincy. Ian Botham is believed to have broken more than a few hearts -- and at least one bed -- during his romps in the West Indies and other parts. Javagal Srinath, of course, does not have any such claims tofame. He simply likes his rice and sambar. And although he has graduated to chicken and other meaty stuff, late-night encounters with journalists -- when he has a pretty lass on his arm -- are the aberration, not his norm.