#Fan
Sunday. Minutes to midnight. A packed Eden Gardens had just seen Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) kick off their IPL 2018 campaign on a four-wicket winning note against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore. Eden hung around though. They always do because they know picture abhi baki hai mere dost! The hum became a buzz and then burst into loud cheers. Shah Rukh Khan, the KKR boss, had taken the field for his trademark victory lap, with daughter Suhana in tow. Hands folded. Head bowed. Blowing kisses. Walking slowly. Soaking in the romance called Eden, like a fanboy. The smile never leaving that jubilant face. A very happy Shah Rukh Khan paying tribute to Calcutta. Like only he can.
#FamilyMan
Eden Gardens was delighted to welcome back Gauri Khan, the moment a throwback to the early days of IPL. A glowing Gauri, a loving SRK, a smiling Suhana, a hug to seal the winning moment... the Khan-daan rocked!
#Father
From holding daughter Suhana’s hands at the crucial moments to celebrating with her when the Knights sailed, Sunday’s Eden Gardens remained witness to some golden father-daughter bonding frames. (Above) Little Knight AbRam looked cuter in daddy dearest’s lap, playing games!
#TwelfthKnight
Is that really Shah Rukh Khan? How come he has arrived so early?! Cries of “Shah Rukhhhh, Shah Rukhhhh” started reverberating in the Eden air a little after 7pm, with plenty of time to go for the game, a clear departure from the Boss’s late entry in the previous IPL editions. Shah Rukh kept a watch on the action from the first ball, rarely disappearing into his B1 glass box. Loud cheers. Incessant clapping. That smile. Those dimples. The white tee. His purple scarf... and the shades dangling from his tee. Always a winning combo!
#CircleOfFriends
#TheRoyalChallenger
Piyush Chawla had Quinton de Kock at the outset. Eden Gardens cheered, the young and the young-at-heart flipped out their phones and got their cameras ready. They were happy that KKR was making early inroads, but happier still that a certain Virat Kohli was sprinting out to bat. He might have got only 31, but all the while Eden seemed to hum Boss kaun hai malum hai kya?! Virat’s first four came in the last ball of the 11th over and the six a while later, but every time he took guard, Eden let out a roar.
Text: Saionee Chakraborty
Pictures: Pabitra Das
t2 watched the match at the Club House Lower Tier with...
Text and pictures: Sulogna Ghosh
It was at this point I started to get bombarded with selfies and locals wanting to know if I was Chris Lynn’s brother — the IPL debut diary of an Englishman
KKR hai taiyaar... KKR hai taiyaar. I can’t get this resounding anthem out of my head. What a night at Eden! My first IPL experience was everything I’d hoped for and more. A KKR win, a rousing crowd, a seat close to the action, being surrounded by ridiculous dancing…. I’m sure this was just a normal night at an IPL carnival game.
Dinesh Karthik and his Knights put in a focused and professional performance in their first game of the season, and it seemed won midway through the second innings.
After sampling Calcutta’s bars and clubs until the early hours of Sunday, I was feeling slightly worse-for-wear on game day. This did not hinder my excitement though, particularly when my ticket was given to me. In the car on the way to Eden, the traffic, honking and parades of people set the mood for what was to come. Getting out of the car, a thunderous crowd and hysteria hit me. After buying a KKR jersey, I walked around my block to see the food and merchandise stalls. Had I taken a wrong turn and stumbled into a classic Indian market? It was at this point that I started to get bombarded with selfies and locals wanting to know if I was Chris Lynn’s brother. I’ll say yes next time!
After taking my seat, I spoke to a few RCB fans around me about why I was in India and my thoughts on KKR. One person turned out to be the unofficial entertainer of the E Block as his dancing on the seats had heads turning and myself in a fit of laughter. I was later told he was perfecting the ‘snake dance’. Note to self: learn the snake dance!
The match itself was a great spectacle, although I would have liked to see Virat Kohli or AB de Villiers hit a big score, but this could have swayed the game differently. That said, de Villiers played an entertaining cameo and reminded the crowd why he’s such an explosive talent. I particularly enjoyed seeing Sunil Narine’s big hitting and equally effective bowling, Andre Russell’s last-ball catch, and Kohli’s unsuccessful dive at the boundary, much to the pleasure of the home fans. Which brings me to the atmosphere — it was nothing short of mayhem. Flags were waved hysterically, the tannoys around the ground were on overdrive, music was blaring regularly, and Mexican waves were aplenty.
Although I had not heard of King Khan much before the game, it was easy to see how adored he is in Calcutta, or India for that matter. The crowd would rise and clap when his image came on screen and he would return the affection. His pitch walk at the end of the game was a nice touch too; fans of both teams hurried to the fences for a glimpse of Shah Rukh Khan.
Joe Raggett (A University of Southampton graduate currently interning with t2)
