The owners of the Deccan Chargers in Hyderabad seem to have missed a trick or two in their attempt to market and publicise the team they bought for a whopping $107 million. Not until you enter the heart of the city, where crammed billboards fight for space, is it possible to find those typical gigantic hoardings displaying the Deccan firepower.It is Shah Rukh Khan instead, not the actor but the marketing genius, who seems to have taken advantage of this. The road that leads from the Shamshadabad international airport into the city — nearly a 30-kilometre drive — has, in measured distances, massive signposts of his team, the Kolkata Knight Riders. “Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo,” they scream, and despite the words being as good as Greek for locals, the presence cannot be ignored. Until now, the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here has been witness to the lowest turnouts among the eight franchise centres of the IPL. Deccan’s first game at home against the Delhi Daredevils saw a poor turnout, and the next with Rajasthan Royals featured even lesser. Nevertheless, SRK may change that all. On the eve of the match, when the Deccan Chargers team had not even returned to the city, the young and the old thronged to the venue, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever may have arrived from Kolkata. It seems as of now, that regardless of whether SRK arrives in Hyderabad or not, the hope that he might will ensure a packed stadium on Sunday.Hyderabad have lost a match again, and their sixth in all, whereas Kolkata, in contrast, won on Thursday, after losing four matches in a row. The IPL points table clearly indicates that the visitors here have a better chance of finding their way to the semi-finals than the hosts, at least as of now. Therefore, this match between Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers will be crucial. SRK may not arrive after all, and VVS Laxman, the icon here, may rest himself yet again. But with Kolkata having just six points in their kitty and Hyderabad a mere four, surely a contest remains on the cards.“One can’t take the Chargers lightly. They have Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi, and any one of them can turn the game around,” says Kolkata’s most consistent player until now, David Hussey. At best, that is what Hyderabad should hope for. The Sunday match will have precisely what Indian cricket so popularly sells — big names and glamour. Batting doesn’t get any better than watching Gilchrist in full flow. Cricket or otherwise, it is the presence of stars and their effort that will matter.
