Bindi for good luck

Good fortune plays a part in every cricketers' career. However, I will be relieved once this County Championship season finishes on Sunday.

In March I was out covering England's tour to India while Middlesex were in Mumbai for their pre-season tour. Skipper Ben Hutton and I took some time out to sample the hectic delights of the capital and ended up at Colaba market.

I decided to get on tape Ben haggling for DVDs and as this was happening a bloke came up and started putting a bindi on him for good luck. I asked him how many runs Ben would get this season and he replied 150, which we quickly made him turn into 1,500.

He was subsequently out with shingles for the majority of the season and only thanks to a recent ton against Yorkshire on my wedding day (you know it!) has his season tally progressed past the 400-run mark.

Trouble looms for Punter

No, it's not Ricky Ponting accepting bribes to throw the Greatest ODI ever.

An update reaches Diary of the British National who gained media accreditation to place bets from the comfort of the Press Box (13 March).

Having been ejected from the PCA Stadium over the weekend, the Oxford graduate-turned professional gambler Rajeev Mulchandani has been taken into Punjab police custody.

He returned to his city hotel in Chandigarh after being escorted from the ground, but obviously didn't use the 24 hours or so any other sensible person would have done to get on the first flight out of the state.

On Monday, Mulchandani got into an argument when he questioned his room bill at the government-run Shivalik View. However, Police were already on the scene, after questions were raised as to why local cricket officials didn't hand him over to the law in the first place. So he's in for a few more rough nights. He's already had his fair share; the beds are like concrete at the Shivalik View.

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Holi, the Hindu festival of colour, has been celebrated across India, bringing to a grinding halt the buzzing chaos of Mumbai.

It marks the arrival of spring - although you wouldn't have believed it if the high temperatures here are anything to go by.

Indians celebrate Holi with real vigour and passion by throwing coloured powders and water balloons at each other in each city's streets before exchanging greetings.

Rod Gilmour in Mumbai