(Top) Indian skipper Virender Sehwag and his West Indian counterpart Darren Sammy unveil the trophy for the India-West Indies ODI series in Bhubaneswar. (below) Indian players practise at Barbati Stadium on Monday. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee and Badrika Nath Das

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 28: It was a cake too many for Suresh Raina, who turned 26 yesterday. The stylish southpaw, who arrived at the team hotel in Bhubaneswar last evening, slightly late than other Indian players, was in for a surprise.

His teammates were waiting for him with a chocolate cake in the hotel lobby. “He just couldn’t stop smiling as he cut the cake while others smeared the icing on his face,” said a hotel staff.

Later, Raina, along with Ravichandran Ashwin, visited former Team India manager Ranjib Biswal’s house in the Kharavela Nagar area and cut another cake. That was not the end. There was another four-pound vanilla cake waiting for him at the Barabati Stadium, where the India and West Indies teams went for net practice today.

“But he politely refused to cut the cake, postponing the rituals till the end of the match tomorrow,” said Dilip Kumar Sahoo of M.S. Caterers, which has been serving visiting teams at Barabati since the first international match was played in Cuttack in 1982.

The teams, which reached Barabati around 11am today, first headed towards their respective dressing rooms for a quick breakfast. “They had vegetable, chicken and tuna fish sandwiches, muffins, biscuits, fresh fruits such as pears, green apples and strawberries. They practiced for two hours and returned for lunch,” said Sahoo.

The menu for lunch comprised steamed rice, brown rice, dal fry, boiled vegetables, chicken tangdi kebab and baked fish. “They always prefer low oil, low fat food. The birthday boy is probably vegetarian. I did not see him having the chicken dishes. Had Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan come, we would have also served chicken biryani. They love the typical Cuttacki biryani,” he said, adding the Indian team had specially ordered for palak paneer and jeera aloo while the Windies had asked for jacket (baked) potato and pasta dishes.

“Old Hindi songs were playing in the dressing room while the players had lunch,” he said. Asked if any of them were fond of Odia cuisine, Sahoo said: “Most of them are new faces, so I am really not sure. But when Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble or Sunil Gavaskar used to come here, they always asked for Odia food, especially dalma, santula and jeera-aloo curry.”

For tomorrow’s lunch, Indian players have asked for chicken korma and tandoori chicken while the Carribean players have ordered roasted lamb and garlic chicken. “Unlike the foreign players, the Indians generally do not like red meat,” Sahoo said.

The hotel staff refused to disclose if any of the players went out for sightseeing or shopping today. The inspector-in-charge of Nayapalli police station, Anup Kanungo, who is looking after the security details, said: “We took the Indian and West Indies players to Cuttack for the nets this afternoon and brought them back to the hotel in the evening. They did not stop anywhere for any shopping.”

The trophy for the India-West Indies ODI series was also unveiled at the Mayfair Hotel this evening. Indian skipper Virender Sehwag and his West Indies counterpart Darren Sammy, sporting their team jerseys, posed with the trophy of the five-match series at the unveiling ceremony along with P.D. Sarma, chief executive officer of Odisha and Bengal for Bharti Airtel, the sponsors for the series.

“We are ready for the one-day battle and will give our best on the field,” said Sehwag. His counterpart Sammy said his team would try to perform better after the 2-0 loss in the Test series.