Festive Eden celebrates legends in style
KOLKATA: Before the current stars took over on Saturday, this theatre of dreams remembered legends of yore and a man who has made his name beyond the boundary but has fan-following spanning generations that are now 70 and seven.
The only way to feel how a packed stadium sang the national anthem with Amitabh Bachchan, despite an early miss-step from the baritone, was to be at Eden.
Nearly two hours before Bachchan spoke in Bengali and reminded Kolkata that he was their son-in-law, he was on the ground with famous Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali and Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly. It was still drizzling and with the covers on, Eden Gardens looked like one giant white sheet shining bright under lights.
Around 7:30pm, the short pro- gramme to felicitate former stars and Bachchan began. Introduced as the ‘Lion of Lahore’ and looking dapper than most 63-year-olds, Imran Khan stepped up first and was followed by a duo that once made the ball swing, sing and talk from both ends for Pakistan. Wasim Akram got the louder cheer because of his Kolkata Knight Riders’ connection but even though he is the coach of the team Eden Gardens would want to lose, Waqar Younis got the reception befitting the ‘sultan of reverse swing’.
Having played good hosts, Eden turned Indian when Sunil Gavaskar’s name was called out. Time was when Eden had booed the Little Master and chanted ‘No Kapil, no Test’ but long before this evening show, all had been forgotten and forgiven. The emcee mentioned that Sachin Tendulkar is due and even as the cheers for Virender Sehwag had died, he appeared and was escorted in by Ganguly. For a while, time stopped as the crowd chanted ‘Sachin, Sachin’ like it always did for two decades. Like Bachchan, Tendulkar started off in Bengali, gave a ‘namaskar’ to ‘Mamta didi’ and said he hoped everyone would enjoy cricket above all.
Speaking on behalf of the Pakistan legends, Khan thanked Kolkata for the warmth but said he hoped the result would be what it was when he last played at Eden in 1989 and even Martin Crowe perhaps hadn’t thought of T20s precursor. Pakistan had then won the Nehru Cup one-day tournament beating India and West Indies within days of each other.