This time, it’s the cricket

Therefore, in Hyderabad, when crowds thronged the Rajiv Gandhi cricket stadium in Uppal on the eve of the match between Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils to see if tickets are available, it was only logical to expect that either ‘megastar’ Chiranjeevi or ‘superstar’ Nagarjuna might grace the venue on Tuesday evening.

That is as far as the entertainment quotient is likely to go ahead of Deccan Chargers’ first home match. As the third costliest team in the IPL, after Mumbai Indians and Bangalore Royal Challengers, it is surprising to find that the focus here is absolutely cricket, at least for now.

Even as far as the team officials go, leave alone the players, coach and support staff, the expectations of having Shahid Afridi fly down to Hyderabad for the all-important match is a lot more than any filmstar making it to the venue.

The news of Afridi’s arrival, in fact, has spruced up the preparations of the Deccan Chargers team, who lost their first match against Kolkata Knight Riders. “He should be joining us for this game,” Deccan captain VVS Laxman announced enthusiastically. If Afridi does, then the team will rest New Zealander Scott Styris to play the belligerent Pakistani all-rounder, who has already announced that he’d like to go after Brendon McCullum’s recent record of 158 not out.

As far as Delhi Daredevils go, they only have to repeat the performance they put up in the last match at home or get better, for which there seems to be ample scope. “We have the psychological edge,” says Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag.

He’s right, Delhi do have the edge and their frontline bowler Glenn McGrath needs to get a lot of credit for it. In the match against Rajasthan Royals, McGrath’s four-over spell may not have been the most economical but the way he left the Royals top order confused with his genuinely tight spell is an indication of what he’s kept in store for himself as part of his post-retirement benefit plan.

... contd.