Calcutta: Friday has long passed and the elation surrounding Brendon McCullum’s innings and Kolkata Knight Riders’ victory has abated. Yet there is excitement over the city’s first rendezvous with Twenty20 cricket with an international flavour.

No doubt Eden Gardens would be packed to capacity to welcome their new adopted Black Cap hero who set the crowd roaring with his pyrotechnics in Bangalore. No harakiri, all proper strokes from the books that saw McCullum blaze away.

By early evening on Saturday, the music was blaring at the amphitheatre and everything looked in place for the party to begin. “It looks more like a rock concert… I’ve played quite a few times here but this experience is totally different. Eden is looking colourful,” Adam Gilchrist summed it up well after practice on Saturday.

Owner Shah Rukh Khan had spelt out his principle in sport during the Kolkata Knight Riders’ launch a month back — “You don’t win silver, you lose gold,” he said.

Sourav Ganguly’s men lived up to the hype and expectations in the opener but in Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad) on Sunday they face a sterner test. It’s not the mere presence of the explosive Adam Gilchrist or the second-most expensive player Andrew Symonds that makes them formidable.

The availability of Scott Styris, Rohit Sharma and Chamara Silva along with Rudra Pratap Singh, Nuwan Zoysa and Chaminda Vaas give them a competitive edge. Don’t forget RP was the joint second-highest wickettaker in ICC World Twenty20 last year.

This would be Symonds’s maiden appearance on Indian soil since the acrimonious tour Down Under. He was at ease during practice on match-eve and would only be too eager to prove himself in front of a sporting crowd. “Symonds is a known matchwinner. I’m sure the crowd will love him. Hope he has no problems,” captain Laxman sounded cautious at the news conference.

The environment is sure to enthuse the players. Don’t be surprised if a Gilchrist or a Symonds gets going early on. We’ve already witnessed a McCullum blitz that sent shock waves through the ranks of Bangalore Royal Challengers. Ricky Ponting, too, cannot be underestimated.

And don’t rule out Sourav Ganguly! The occasion always brings the best out of him and leading in his home turf could send his adrenaline rushing. As Laxman said, plans often go awry in a Twenty20 encounter.

The Knight Riders are likely to retain the same XI that took the field in Bangalore.

The stars may hog the limelight but the locals will surely play their part. Ashok Dinda has proved that he is not there to fill the numbers . Who knows, it could be a Laxmi Ratan Shukla or a Y. Venugopal Rao’s turn to show their prowess here.

So if your planning an evening out on Sunday be there at the Eden for a three-hour entertainment. Fasten your seat belts and get ready for the action. Nothing can match this!

TEAMS

Kolkata Knight Riders (likely): Sourav Ganguly, Brendon McCullum, Ricky Ponting, David Hussey, Mohammed Hafeez, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Wriddhiman Saha, Ajit Agarkar, Ashok Dinda, Murali Kartik, Ishant Sharma.

Deccan Chargers (from): Adam Gilchrist, V.V.S. Laxman, Andrew Symonds, Scott Styris, Rohit Sharma, Venugopal Rao, Nuwan Zoysa, Chamara Silva, Sanjay Bangar, D. Kalyankrishna, R.P. Singh, Chaminda Vaas, Pragyan Ojha, Haladhar Das, P. Vijay Kumar, Sarvesh Kumar.

Umpires: Asad Rauf and Billy Bowden.

Match Referee: Farokh Engineer.

Match starts: 4pm