KKR: Power to Purple

Helicopters are like Kajol. They pack a lot of sound in small bodies. Residents of Nerul, Navi Mumbai, would agree.

Nerul is the address of the Dr DY Patil stadium, where the 2010 IPL commenced on Friday evening. The luminaries came by helicopter. The choppers landed and lifted off from a practice field in the huge premises of the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, making a surprisingly loud racket. The lower the helicopters came, the more you felt the impact on the eardrum, the more you felt the wind generated by the rotor blades.

At about 4.30 pm on Friday, a dark blue chopper carried Lalit Modi, the IPL boss, and Niranjan Shah, the former Board secretary, to the ground. They got out (as against continuing to sit), walked to the periphery of the ground and into a black BMW. Guards and assistants followed with bags bearing the insignia of the Four Seasons hotel, where Modi is based these days.

A little later the opening ceremony began. Not to be rude, but we in India cannot get opening ceremonies right. Whether it is a minor track and field event in a small town or a big money extravaganza like the IPL, we always muck it up. The symmetry, geometrical precision or preparedness of international opening ceremonies is rarely seen in India.

Friday’s show was an incoherent medley of dances, laser lights, one star who everyone knew (Deepika Padukone) and another who no one did (Lionel Richie). Richie sang ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’, among others, but the number of people who recognized the song was the same as those who can dance on a ceiling.

Before the celebration began, the gradually filling up stands were treated to the sight of huge, white inflatable cylinders with a white ring on top. Everyone in the stadium had one question on their minds, “Are these giant condoms?” There were nine of them. Eight of these represented each team in the IPL. One hung and floated over the stage.

There were only two memorable things about the opening ceremony. The first was when Sachin Tendulkar came onto the stage. The stadium almost shook with applause. The second was a laser show of cricketing footage beamed on a white screen. It was not regular footage but one that was given the appearance of a film negative.

The fun and games ended and rival skippers Adam Gilchrist, of defending champions Deccan Chargers, and Sourav Ganguly, of the bottom rung Kolkata Knight Riders, walked up on the field for the toss. Gilchrist won and opted to field (you can either field or bat. There is no third option as yet. After winning the toss a team can’t choose to go cycling).

KKR’s South Africa nightmare seemed to continue. Manoj Tiwary was out first ball. Ganguly too went for a duck. A colleague in the press box said, “Shah Rukh Khan will have to learn batting now.”

After two more KKR wickets fell, a senior cricket specialist said, “It’s over for them.”

Angelo Mathew, born almost 23 years ago in Colombo with the talent to bowl and bat, and Owais Shah, born almost 32 years ago in Karachi but now an England player, came together at the crease. Mathew was hefty and smart, stepping inside or outside the line of deliveries and scoring off them. Shah, a bit awkward, with a stance so bent that his buttocks almost reach the square leg umpire, was determined.

Both had done well in India. Mathew made his highest Test score at the Brabourne last year, a heart-breaking 99 in a match famous for Virender Sehwag’s 293. Shah’s Test highest, 88, came just a few yards away from the Brabourne, at the Wankhede Stadium. It was also his debut Test. On Friday, in a format that is a polar opposite of Tests, but on the same Mumbai soil, the two joined forces to put KKR on the road to victory, something they tasted only thrice in 13 completed matches last year.

As well as Mathew and Shah played, Gilchrist and VVS Laxman gave the Chargers a strong start. They lost their first wicket only in the sixth over and at the healthy score of 61. Laxman went for a big one off left-arm spinner Murali Karthik and skied the ball for a caught and bowled dismissal. However, given how high the ball went and how much Kartik had to work for the catch, calling it just a ‘caught and bowled’ is unfair. He should be credited with a ‘judged, kept calm, caught and bowled.’

Tiwary made up for his first ball departure by holding on to a chance offered by the dangerous Gilchrist at the square-leg boundary. Wickets fell at regular junctures then and Kolkata were home. The laughing stock of last year had beaten the champions. The crowd, which was a bit dull during the Chargers domination, came alive. Aside from their home teams, the team fans want to do well is KKR.

KKR changed their jersey colour from black to purple this year. The shift seems to have brought them luck.

Helicopters are like Kajol. They pack a lot of sound in small bodies. Residents of Nerul, Navi Mumbai, would agree.

Nerul is the address of the Dr DY Patil stadium, where the 2010 IPL commenced on Friday evening. The luminaries came by helicopter. The choppers landed and lifted off from a practice field in the huge premises of the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, making a surprisingly loud racket. The lower the helicopters came, the more you felt the impact on the eardrum, the more you felt the wind generated by the rotor blades.

At about 4.30 pm on Friday, a dark blue chopper carried Lalit Modi, the IPL boss, and Niranjan Shah, the former Board secretary, to the ground. They got out (as against continuing to sit), walked to the periphery of the ground and into a black BMW. Guards and assistants followed with bags bearing the insignia of the Four Seasons hotel, where Modi is based these days.

A little later the opening ceremony began. Not to be rude, but we in India cannot get opening ceremonies right. Whether it is a minor track and field event in a small town or a big money extravaganza like the IPL, we always muck it up. The symmetry, geometrical precision or preparedness of international opening ceremonies is rarely seen in India.

Friday’s show was an incoherent medley of dances, laser lights, one star who everyone knew (Deepika Padukone) and another who no one did (Lionel Richie). Richie sang ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’, among others, but the number of people who recognized the song was the same as those who can dance on a ceiling.

Before the celebration began, the gradually filling up stands were treated to the sight of huge, white inflatable cylinders with a white ring on top. Everyone in the stadium had one question on their minds, “Are these giant condoms?” There were nine of them. Eight of these represented each team in the IPL. One hung and floated over the stage.

There were only two memorable things about the opening ceremony. The first was when Sachin Tendulkar came onto the stage. The stadium almost shook with applause. The second was a laser show of cricketing footage beamed on a white screen. It was not regular footage but one that was given the appearance of a film negative.

The fun and games ended and rival skippers Adam Gilchrist, of defending champions Deccan Chargers, and Sourav Ganguly, of the bottom rung Kolkata Knight Riders, walked up on the field for the toss. Gilchrist won and opted to field (you can either field or bat. There is no third option as yet. After winning the toss a team can’t choose to go cycling).

KKR’s South Africa nightmare seemed to continue. Manoj Tiwary was out first ball. Ganguly too went for a duck. A colleague in the press box said, “Shah Rukh Khan will have to learn batting now.”

After two more KKR wickets fell, a senior cricket specialist said, “It’s over for them.”

Angelo Mathew, born almost 23 years ago in Colombo with the talent to bowl and bat, and Owais Shah, born almost 32 years ago in Karachi but now an England player, came together at the crease. Mathew was hefty and smart, stepping inside or outside the line of deliveries and scoring off them. Shah, a bit awkward, with a stance so bent that his buttocks almost reach the square leg umpire, was determined.

Both had done well in India. Mathew made his highest Test score at the Brabourne last year, a heart-breaking 99 in a match famous for Virender Sehwag’s 293. Shah’s Test highest, 88, came just a few yards away from the Brabourne, at the Wankhede Stadium. It was also his debut Test. On Friday, in a format that is a polar opposite of Tests, but on the same Mumbai soil, the two joined forces to put KKR on the road to victory, something they tasted only thrice in 13 completed matches last year.

As well as Mathew and Shah played, Gilchrist and VVS Laxman gave the Chargers a strong start. They lost their first wicket only in the sixth over and at the healthy score of 61. Laxman went for a big one off left-arm spinner Murali Karthik and skied the ball for a caught and bowled dismissal. However, given how high the ball went and how much Kartik had to work for the catch, calling it just a ‘caught and bowled’ is unfair. He should be credited with a ‘judged, kept calm, caught and bowled.’

Tiwary made up for his first ball departure by holding on to a chance offered by the dangerous Gilchrist at the square-leg boundary. Wickets fell at regular junctures then and Kolkata were home. The laughing stock of last year had beaten the champions. The crowd, which was a bit dull during the Chargers domination, came alive. Aside from their home teams, the team fans want to do well is KKR.

KKR changed their jersey colour from black to purple this year. The shift seems to have brought them luck.

Deccan ChargersIPL 2010Kolkata Knight Riders