Imagine getting dressed for over an hour to go see your city’s cricket team play at your city’s “prestigious” stadium. Imagine applying that extra oil in your hair and taking out your favorite dhoti for the cricket match. And then imagine your team losing to Hyderabadi’s. What do you do then? Simple!! You switch off the stadium lights and allow your players to catch some much needed breath.
This is what happened on April 20 at the “prestigious” Eden Gardens. The Kolkata Knight Riders were on the verge of losing the match to the Deccan Chargers. Run rate was way down and the required run rate was increasing like anything. Just when there are 24 runs to be made from 20 balls and you feel that their team may most certainly lose, the Bengalis freak out big time and go sabotage the stadium lights. The batsmen who were under high pressure, get a much needed rest, have some energy drink, stretch their muscles, crack a few jokes and come back to the feel well rested, knock up a couple of sixers and win the match. The official explanation was “Short Circuit”. When have the stadium lights ever been off for a full half an hour in a match of this level? Certainly a little more than co-incidence. Or maybe Shahrukh Khan dropping a few lakh bucks towards the stadium guys..