More runs in store

First for the big revelation a day before cricket’s glitziest show comes to tinsel town...

First for the big revelation a day before cricket’s glitziest show comes to tinsel town: Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor will grace the Mumbai Indians opening IPL game against the Bangalore Royal Challengers. Since there was no disclosure about Sachin Tendulkar’s fitness — it will be decided on the evening of the match — the Saif-Kareena confirmation happens to be the only vital scoop ahead of this game.

In a tournament where unpredictability reaches unprecedented levels and the platform is perfect for unlikely heroes, playing XIs are mostly educated guesses and weighing the strengths and weaknesses of sides, not more than ritualistic ordeal. At the nets session, as has been the case in the early IPL games, the bowlers had a depressing stint. The sweet sound of the ball hitting the bat was followed by a big thud, a knock on the stadium roof. One man who did this frequently was the just-arrived Royal Challenger Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Fresh from his heroics in the West Indies-Sri Lanka series, Chanderpaul made his presence felt even in the nets.

His young team mate and World Cup-winning junior India captain Virat Kohli couldn’t keep his eyes off the West Indian great as he gave throw-downs to Wasim Jaffer in the adjoining nets. “What a player he is, I was worried we’ll run out of balls,” he joked.

Strange homecoming

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But for two men in the Bangalore outfit — Wasim Jaffer and Zaheer Khan — this is a strange homecoming. Mumbai boy Jaffer has never quite played at the nets on the right of the dressing room a day before the game — the space reserved for the visiting team. “Not just that I’m in the visiting team’s dressing room for the first time, I’ve never played against a Mumbai team, that too in Mumbai. It feels really strange,” he said.

There was another scene at the nets session unique to a tournament between teams owned by individuals. As soon as Mumbai Indians’s owner Mukesh Ambani, with family in tow, entered the practice arena, the session came to a temporary halt. It happened to be Ambani’s birthday and a cake-cutting ceremony took place in the locker room.

Nets resumed soon after and it was business as usual. The batsmen were once again hitting the ball out of the stadium. Tomorrow too it will be the same. Between the big shots there will be the Saif-Kareena attraction in the stands. Or, maybe, distraction, depending on which way you look at the glitzy cricket show.

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