Bocelli on the bus & Balotelli at the airport – Italy’s World Cup

Life has taken a remarkable turn for the Mosca brothers in the past few weeks.

After messages of good luck from football legends Andrea Pirlo and Christian Vieri beforehand, Anthony and Justin are representing Italy at their first T20 World Cup.

“In our prep before coming here we were in Dubai and actually bumped into Mario Balotelli and Paolo Maldini at the airport,” Justin, the younger of the brothers at 31, told BBC Sport.

“I know Christian Vieri is aware of cricket, and just to even be in any of their company has been amazing.”

While not all of the Azzurri’s footballing greats have cricket on their radar, Italy’s thumping 10-wicket victory over Nepal on Thursday propelled the sport into the consciousness of a sport-loving nation, even with the ongoing Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

The iconic Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport described it as “a result that enters the anthology of our sport”.

In Mumbai, the team, who play England in Kolkata on Monday, celebrated by singing Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli – and his collaboration with Ed Sheeran for Perfect Symphony – on the team bus.

“Obviously, Ed Sheeran’s a legend and then when the Italian version came on, into that second verse, it was like ‘wow, this is amazing’,” Anthony, 34, says.

“I’m pretty sure Andrea Bocelli follows cricket so if he does I might have to send him a message just asking for a couple of tickets!”

It is not lost on either brother how significant victories at this tournament might be for growing the profile of the sport in Italy, where there is still no grass cricket pitch.

“[The win is] obviously something small that can increase Italy’s cricket community and getting onto a bigger stage,” Anthony, who works as a carpenter, says.

There has been occasional criticism directed towards the Italian side, with accusations of a link to Italy itself lacking in the side.

But five of the 15-man squad live and have grown up in Italy, and the remainder qualify by virtue of Italian family, such as the Moscas who were born in Sydney.

It is worth remembering that England have fielded three players raised in Barbados in this World Cup in batters Phil Salt and Jacob Bethell and fast bowler Jofra Archer.

“On our street there was a lot of Italians there and we always had a lot of functions,” Anthony says.

“Our cousins would come over and we’d be watching the football. We’d walk around with Italian jerseys and we’d go to Italian restaurants and have coffees.

“On the other end we would be having a VB [Victoria Bitter beer] or we’d be watching cricket and the Boxing Day Test.

“I reckon 99% of us use our hands a lot when we talk. If we’re having a disagreement with each other or something, then there are hands waving everywhere.”

Justin, himself a teacher, acknowledges the flak, but says it won’t affect the side.

“A lot of the boys that live there have sacrificed so much for a better life and they’ve grown there – they’ve learnt their trade through Italy,” he says.

A victory against England may seem far-fetched, but given the confidence from the win against Nepal anything is possible.

England need to win to guarantee progression to the Super 8s. A win for Italy would keep their unlikely hopes of doing so alive.

“We’ve got to back our skill sets and if we do that then we’ll go close,” Anthony says.

“It would mean a lot, and I reckon it’d definitely put us up there on the world stage in cricket if that happened.”

If they could do the unthinkable at Eden Gardens it would surely be one of Italy’s greatest sporting shocks and the springboard to a bright future.