SRK's stunts not enough for Riders

AHEAD OF their must-win game against the Rajasthan Royals, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on May 20, Shahrukh Khan owned Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had been trying to persuade the New Zealand cricket board to make Brendan McCullum available for the semi-finals. They were willing to pay them USD one million for this special arrangement.

I don’t know how it fits in the cap structure but this was surely a way of showing to the world that they were quite confident of making it to the semis. A very typical SRK stunt. It should have been quite a boost for the side ahead of the game.

King Khan’s absence from such a big game, however, showed that this show of confidence was merely a filmy stunt. He had either already written off his team’s chances or had more pressing matters to attend (like blogging against Aamir Khan).

Wonder why all the fuss about getting an all access pass when he wasn’t going to use it? He has to have it just because Preity Zinta and Vijay Mallya have it. I would love to hear from SRK, once KKR is finally knocked out of the tournament. Arun ‘Aryabhatta’ Lal thinks that the Riders still have a mathematical chance of making it to the semis.

"King Khan’s absence from such a big game
against RR showed that this show
of confidence was merely a filmy stunt "

The Bengalis had been highly aggrieved at the booing Sourav Ganguly received in Jaipur. It was a good chance to give chief culprit - Shane Warne - some real stick. I was expecting a jam-packed Eden Gardens. Instead, I saw a stadium, which had enough empty spaces to seat the entire film community of Mumbai and not just the ones who turned up to support SRK in Mumbai.

The Knight Riders still have a long way to go before they can garner the kind of support the likes of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal enjoy.

"The Knight Riders still have a long way to go before
they can garner the kind of support the likes of
Mohun Bagan and East Bengal enjoy"

Now here’s a new theory, which I have.

The Royals come from Rajasthan, home of the Marwari community. This business community has a fair presence in all the major cities of the country. Wouldn’t this ensure that the Rajasthan side will always have a decent number of supporters wherever they play? It’s similar to Indians being found all over the world, thereby ensuring that the Indian cricket team is never short of support at any venue in the world.