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We all have our favourite teams in the Premiere League right? Well I had been rooting for Kol Knight Riders since day 1. Reason 1- Dada, Reason 2- SRK, Reason 3- my fave city.
So here we are - the setting- Kolkatta. A match between the Kol Knight Riders (KKL) and Kings XI Punjab. The result has to be a no brainer right? It has to be advantage most definitely, for Dada and his men...
Well, if you were sitting amongst the mammoth crowd there, you wouldn’t be so sure till the last ball was bowled! Tension in the pit of stomach, the match result right up chasing the wire, the game swinging sometimes the Knight Riders way and more often than not Kings XI way!
Glorious Eden Garden packed to capacity, with over a lakh plus people, all rooting for Dada and his team of valiant Knights. What an evening it was. Large screens covering the ground, the hoi polloi and the masses of Kolkatta rubbed shoulders with each other, all reveling in this mammoth party zone, the night sky was beautiful and clear, the air was expectant with tension and drama.
A day & night game, the public willing the Knight Riders to go for it,
Eden Garden, with its floodlit huge night lamps was picture perfect, the deafening roar of humans mixed with drumbeats and stereo sound; made for a mind-blowing wonderful atmosphere. Am a total convert to this T20 format - what an absolute experience watching this game LIVE
Dada had a competitive total to chase, and a wicket that he and his men were familiar with. But the second innings didn’t go the scripted way!
Wickets toppled, runs were not scrambling on the score-board, the strangled muffled sounds of a 1 lakh plus crowd in the stadium was close to suffocated silence, shuffling restless feet, willing the Knight Riders to ride the storm.
And Umar Gul takes strike, and whoosh! Did he make the crowds start to breathe again? His first six off the first ball he faced, had the crowds on their feet with elation as if they had won:-), the next six off the second ball had the voice box of this 1 lakh crowd, restored:-) There was palpable tension now. Then came Dada with his fabulous six as if to say "nothing comes in my way to victory, I swear!":-)
This saw the Knight Riders turn the heat on, and get a fabulous, inspirational win, that helped restore battered pride. I promise you, nothing compares! The Premiere League is here to stay:-)
And of course having accidentally eavesdropped into a high octane debate happening around where we were seated- so vehemently some agreed and disagreed to " IPL wants to mix sex with cricket", another said "so what’s wrong with it", another said " they will make cricket more juicier than Bollywood if they do that" speaking of the cheerleaders. Infact one individual also remarked that " native Indian men are sex starved. When they come to US for a short visit, first thing they do is go for ‘escorts’ and call girls. It gave IPL a clear idea how to sell these western cheerleaders and make some more money”. And soon the game had started and all eyes were trained on the pitch:-)
Well, not withstanding this sex and cricket debate, what a sensational victory that was in the Garden of Eden:-) Folklore will be made of this Sunday game and the creators were none other than Dada and his golden men!