Navjot Singh Sidhu, flanked by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and outgoing state president Sunil Jakhar, is eager to get to the podium. As his name is called out, the former swashbuckling India batsman rubs his hands in anticipation, gets up, acknowledges the crowd, and then in one swift move with phone in hand (mimicking a bat) swats away like a batsman serving a winning shot to signal his arrival as the new boss of the Congress branch in Punjab.