Who can book Sourav Ganguly for 90 minutes of Sunday prime time?

Vaishali Dalmiya

Who can make a former India cricket captain play a 5-overs-a-side tennis ball match on a dusty ground in Liluah?

Vaishali Dalmiya

Who can get the Prince of Calcutta to make an unspoken political pitch for a Trinamul candidate in Poll 2016?

Vaishali Dalmiya

 

Sourav Ganguly did not campaign for Trinamul Congress candidate Vaishali but played a cricket match for her, described her as "a person very close to us" and wished her luck on the last Sunday of campaigning before Howrah goes to the polls on April 25.

The former Team India skipper - now CAB president, popular commentator and celebrity TV host - batted, bowled, fielded and even umpired in front of 2,000-odd spectators at the Liluah Railway Colony Ground.

"It's a long time since I have played a game like this.... Vaishali is a person very close to us. My best wishes are there for her," Sourav said from the podium after a short prize distribution ceremony, reinforcing the strong bond the Behala boy has shared with the Dalmiyas of Alipore over the years.

Vaishali, the daughter of late Jagmohan Dalmiya and now Trinamul candidate from Bally, was joined by several other Trinamul leaders from the district on the stage as Sourav skippered a Players' XI to victory against an Artists' XI led by Tolly star Jisshu Sengupta.

Is this an election campaign? Metro asked. "Does it look like one?" Dada played it straight.

In the stands, Chirantan Chatterjee, 23, was not so sure. " O bolchhe na... kintu bojhai toh jachchhe keno esechhe (He isn't saying. But it is clear why he is here)," said Chatterjee, who travelled 4km from Bally to watch Sourav in action.

Howrah goes to the polls on April 25 and the campaigning closes at 5pm on Saturday.

Before and after the match at Liluah, Sourav and Vaishali were seen smiling and speaking to each other on the dais.

Sourav was once known to be close to the CPM, especially then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya, but has always steered clear of directly campaigning for any party.

Last year, there was speculation about him joining the BJP following reports that he had met Varun Gandhi. But Sourav had clarified that while he had "utmost respect" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he would not like to comment about joining the BJP.

Much water has flown down the Hooghly since, with talk swirling that Dada had built a bridge to Didi. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee's direct intervention to get Sourav the CAB top job only strengthened the impression.

On the Liluah ground, however, there was no Trinamul branding anywhere. The field was done up with seven floodlight towers, giant speakers blaring the IPL theme music and makeshift galleries and stands for little cheergirls - Trinamul flags or posters were conspicuous by their absence.

A giant gate erected at the main entrance to the ground welcomed "Maharaj" and announced that the match was being organised by the United Cricket Academy, Liluah, and Bally Cricket Coaching Centre.

But that's about where the Trinamul's efforts to distance itself from the event ended.

The coaches of the Liluah and Bally clubs - Tarun Kumar Ram and Kalyan Ghoshal - told this newspaper that the Trinamul councillor of ward 62 of the Howrah Municipal Corporation, Kailash Mishra, had a week ago invited them to field their Under-16 teams for an exhibition match on Sunday.

That match followed the Sourav Ganguly show.

On the ground, councillor Mishra played the emcee, right from barking out orders on where to park motorbikes to reminding everyone that they would "soon get to see your dear Dada because of Vaishali Dalmiya".

Vaishali did not deny that the match had been organised keeping the elections in mind.

She smiled when told that that the idea of holding the match was a "masterstroke" in view of Sourav's tendency to stay away from political rallies. "Look, people of this area had long been waiting to see Mr Sourav Ganguly and some Tollywood stars. I just facilitated that," she added.

Not that every Trinamul leader was convinced that the cricket match was a good way to spend the last Sunday before the elections.

Balaram Bhattacharya, general secretary of the Trinamul Congress District Committee, was one of them. "We have spent half the day here. Maybe it would have been better had we campaigned in the traditional way. But now that we are here, hope this match finally pays off," he said.

The match did seem to have struck a chord with the viewers, going by the rapturous applause every move of Sourav on the stage and on the field drew. For the record, Dada took three wickets and a running high catch before playing a rather sedate knock turning the strike over to opening partner Manoj Tiwari most of the time.

Railway employee Bijendra Sharma, 28, a resident of the area, said he had never seen Sourav from so close and was grateful to Vaishali for providing him the opportunity.

"I could have touched Sourav when he was fielding at long leg. I admit this evening could decide who I vote for," said Bijendra.

Just cricket, said Sourav.