Had a good game, boys?” asked a stunning beauty to the Australian players in the foyer of the Taj, Mumbai. Mark Taylor’s team had just overcome a spirited Indian challenge in the 1996 World Cup but the players were in no mood to retire to their rooms just yet.

After all, not everyday does one get congratulated by Hollywood star Demi Moore! The byte-hungry reporters tried to get the lady into chat mode but she would have none of it.

But she did answer one on cricket: “Hell no… I know nothing of the game. But from whatever little I have seen on TV, I like the look of tall guys sprinting in and hurling the ball down at great speed.”

Right from the era of Frederick ‘Demon’ Spofforth, Larwood, Lillee and Thomson or the West Indian giants to the current turks – Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee and Shane Bond – fast bowlers have that aura around them.

Genuine fast bowlers have that X-factor that makes them special, in a league of their own and answerable to no one. They command respect and inspire fear, much like a champion boxer who leaves everyone within his vicinity spell-bound through sheer physical presence.

Very soon, Indian cricket aficionados would be privileged to see – live – the three fastest bowlers on the planet hurl their thunderbolts during the ICC Champions Trophy.