A bus carrying a sports team arrived in the premises of the Old Trafford football ground. The players got down and grouped at the entrance of the stadium and walked in through the tunnel to the sound of Fanfare for Rocky music. It wasn’t the Manchester United football team. It was the Indian cricket team. The Men in Blue decided to spend their day off on Sunday in Manchester learning about one of the greatest sporting legacies, with a tour to the Manchester United club stadium and academy. The team was led by captain MS Dhoni, a football enthusiast and an ardent Man U fan, paid full attention to every word and every piece of information uttered by the tour guide. The tour began from the Man Utd dressing room where the jerseys of the current team members hung to mark their respective spots in the room. Then came the time to enter the arena. The theatre of dreams. The pitch where the Red Devils show their daredevilry amidst over 67,000 adoring fans. The Indian cricketers could relate to it. But here, they were just a bunch of boys learning about the historic football club and appreciating the tradition built over 100 years. They were happy to be away from the intense spotlight and the media. However, couldn’t escape the attention of their fans. They didn’t mind signing a few autographs and posing for a few pictures. They gathered for group photos in the Man Utd dugout and were given a special permission to set foot on the pitch. The skipper took time to get himself clicked near the home team dugout, and the others followed suit. While the rest of the boys soaked in the atmosphere and captured the moments in their camera, Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir had long discussions with the authorities who were showing the team around. The two senior-most members of Team India showed tremendous interest and asked a lot of questions. The next stop was the Man Utd merchandise mega store. India’s national cricketers bought jerseys, caps and jumpers. After shopping, the team was taken to visit the Munich tunnel – a place where the club has immortalized its players who lost their lives in the air tragedy of 1958. As the guide walked them through the commemorative plaques and the eternal flame, while giving out the details of the fatalities and survivors, the playfulness made way for gloom. The cheers were back when they were taken to a football pitch to have a few kicks in the net. Dhoni the wicketkeeper turned into a goalkeeper as his team mates tested his skills with a barrage of straight kicks. From the stadium, the Indian team was taken to the Man Utd academy and training facility, where they were told how kids are groomed into the football superstars they go on to become. Some of the boys became nostalgic as they remembered their own journey to Team India.