April 23: Virat Kohli helped a conflicted Eden Gardens show tonight where its loyalties lie, no-holds-barred.
The world of cricket knows that the Eden crowd is an extra player for the home team. Until Kohli got out for a golden duck, he had put this long-standing reputation to the test.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore captain was by far the biggest attraction for the Eden crowd on a night of stars. Till he was there at the crease, you could barely point out which was the home side - the Kolkata Knight Riders or the Royal Challengers.
Even those in KKR colours were willing to suspend their allegiance as long as Kohli was in the equation. "I hope Kohli scores a 50 and KKR wins the match. That will be total paisa wasool," said Anil Khemka, a businessman who was on a night out at Eden with his friends.
That was not to be. After restricting KKR to what looked like a modest 131, Kohli was caught at second slip off the first ball he faced. The main batsman of a visiting team out for a duck would have invited a roar of approval from the Eden crowd any other day, but this dismissal stunned the crowd into silence.
The crowd rediscovered its voice soon enough and, for the rest of the night, it was the good ol' Eden chant - and loud and intimidating. With Kohli gone, the rest of RCB surrendered and wickets fell like ninepins. And with each dismissal, the by now familiar Aami KKR slogans became shriller.
It had been a different story in the first half of the match.
Thanks to Kohli's presence, the RCB jersey made its presence felt even in a sea of purple. Fans waving red-and-gold flags chanted Kohli's name, matching the KKR supporters roar for roar. On several occasions, they even outdid the fiercely loyal KKR brigade.
Ashok Chakraborty, 24, came to watch the match all the way from Nabadwip. He was shirtless and had Kohli's face painted on his chest. "I eat, drink and live Virat," said Ashok, who owns a stationery shop.
Saif Islam was at Eden with his sister Najmun Parveen. The siblings from Cooch Behar in north Bengal are visiting relatives in Calcutta and tonight was their first time at Eden.
Parveen had forced her brother to take her to the match because she wanted to catch a glimpse of Virat "beyond TV".
Just before the rain started, the RCB players were stretching and limbering up near the square boundary and that part of the ground was the most animated. The moment a lithe frame reached that corner, the crowd went berserk.
Karuna Sharma, 21, ran almost 50 steps down towards the fence to see Kohli up close. "I hoped we would exchange at least a glance! I really did!" the MBA student said.
For the 10 minutes that Kohli did his stretching routine, the cops had a tough time keeping the crowd away from the fence.
Such a craze for one player is not unprecedented at Eden. Earlier, it used to be the monopoly of a certain Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli seems to have taken the baton.
If anybody doubted who the real "universe boss" was in the Eden fan ratings, it was settled when the players' names appeared on the giant screen. The decibel level shot up 10 notches when Kohli's name was announced. The roar took some time to settle.
As Sunil Narine took West Indies teammate Samuel Badree apart in the very first over, the DJ blared " Aami...". Cue for the crowd to go "KKR...". The slogan had not fully subsided when the "RCB...RCB" chant started. There was no DJ to give a cue this time. It was spontaneous.
Tanmay Chakraborty and friend Doyel Dutta represented the two sides of Eden. Tanmay came in an RCB jersey, Doyel in KKR colours.
"What's not to love about RCB? It is full of stars. Kohli is the superstar among them," said Tanmay.
Friend Doyel was quick to counter him. "Even I like Kohli, but I will always support KKR. It is my city and it is my team," she said.
