Yes, they saw Sushmita Sen. They saw Arjun Rampal. They saw Raveena Tandon. But what about the man they came to watch watching? Where was Shah Rukh Khan when Sourav Ganguly finally hit a purple patch?
Where was the Boss dancing when the captain was dancing down the track?
Right from the first strategic time-out in the Kolkata Knight Riders' innings against Deccan Chargers Hyderabad on Tuesday, SRK was cheering his boys from the team dugout. Perhaps, the much-fancied super-hospitality IPL lounge had got a little too unsporting for Shah Rukh the sportsman, with soft toys and balloons popping around the place.
That made Sourav's celebratory statement simpler. He didn't have to look up towards the makeshift gallery while clenching his fist and thumping — a mild tap, really — his chest after bringing up his 50 with a six over mid-wicket.
Dada was looking straight at the dugout where Shah Rukh in a black full-sleeve tee and jeans was standing and applauding his skipper.
Sourav's 54-ball 88, punctuated with nine fours and five sixes, helped the Knights notch their fourth win in eight matches, beating the defending IPL champions by 24 runs.
The almost-packed Eden Gardens — albeit with a reduced capacity of around 45,000 — cheered its man who went on to win the Man of the Match award. The win was crucial for SRK's Knights as it lifted them from seventh in the points table to fifth, behind the Rajasthan Royals by a net run rate of 0.45.
"It was a big game… it's still a long way to go but it was good to have a win," Sourav said at the prize distribution, moments before getting a warm hug from Shah Rukh.
With six more matches left, a semi-final berth suddenly is not looking as impossible for the KKR as it was after the defeat to the Delhi Daredevils on Monday.
Plus, with Sourav leading from the front, talk of the captain failing the team has gone for a toss.
If there were murmurs that his "excuses-are-over" tweet was directed at Sourav, Shah Rukh cleared the air. "It was for the team… professionals don't give excuses."
The words King Khan carefully chose to describe his captain? "Dada is looking good… I am very, very fond of him."
Not just Dada, the 32K star-gazer gallery also had a different look about it. Two white staircases have been added on the two sides for emergency use, in line with directives from the fire services department. The flight of stairs beside the Club House was put to good use when Shah Rukh and his two children, Aryan and Suhana, went up and down in the second innings.
"The kids will be thrilled" if the KKR won, SRK had told his Twitter followers, and so they were, accompanying their father to the team dugout sporting wide smiles.
Shah Rukh had flown to Calcutta today from Goa on a private jet with his posse that also included wife Gauri, Hrithik Roshan's wife Sussanne and Arjun Rampal and wife Mehr.
A party to celebrate the wrap-up of the first schedule of his new home production Ra.1 had kept SRK busy till the early hours of Thursday.
And a party to celebrate the Eden win was to keep him busy till well into Friday.
Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100402/jsp/frontpage/story_12294979.jsp
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