Prithvi
10 years at Planetcricket
Gaurav: Welcome back ladies and gentlemen. Unfortunately, we've got Inzamam ul Haq going out due to some personal reasons, but for now, lets speak to Sourav Ganguly. Well Sourav, its the first time India and Pakistan are facing off first time at home of someone as everytime they faced against was at Neutral venue. So how do you feel the crowd gonna react?
Ganguly: Well, its T20 game. Any body's game. So home game- away game will not matter. Crowd support will not have much effect in changing the course of the game in my opinion. But at peak situations, crowd may distract the fielding.
Gaurav: You are from Kolkata, and do you miss playing T20 cricket at Eden Gardens?
Ganguly: Well, I've played about 14 T20 games in Eden Gardens for Kolkata Knight Riders. So, I'm happy that I've played few T20s at Kolkata. But, the experience will change when it comes when you represent nation.
Gaurav: Well ladies and gentlemen, now we have Sharukh Khan exploring Kolkata.
Exploring Kolkata, with SRK.
Sharukh Khan: Well good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, here is SRK exploring Kolkata. In this show, I'll be moving to all major side seeing places of Kolkata and show you all those places which I see to all the Neo Cricket viewers.
The first of the places of interest we cover in Asian T20 cup is the holy/ mighty Eden Gardens, where we're gonna witness the full Asian T20 Cup 2010. Well, speaking about it, presently, its one of only two 100,000 seater amphitheatres for the game of cricket (the other being Melbourne Cricket Ground) was initially an extension of the Maidan under the supervision of Governor General Lord Auckland, and looked after by the Eden sisters of the Auckland family. The gardens house a transported Burmese pagoda of exquisite design. The pavilion was built in 1871 and the 1st first class match played in the season of 1911-12. It has since hosted many international Test matches, one day matches and tournaments, including the final of the Cricket World Cup in 1987. Its exalted status in cricketing history comes from the lush outfield, stellar performances (like V.V.S. Laxman's 281), and not least the intense crowd support. The stadium is located in the Dalhousie area of the city, near the State Secretariat and the High Court. The first recorded Test at the venue was held in 1934, and its first ODI in 1987. Sporting floodlights, bowlers deliver from the High Court End or the Pavilion End of a pitch under curator Probir Mukherjee. Eden Gardens is renowned for its large and vociferous crowds. It is said that "a cricketer's cricketing education is not complete till he has played in front of a packed Eden Gardens." The Club House of the stadium has been named as the B.C. Roy Club House, after former Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal Dr. B. C. Roy. The Headquarters of the Cricket Association of Bengal are also there at the Eden Gardens. It hosts the home matches for Kolkata Knight Riders
.Now, heading to our next venue, we are now at Victoria Memorial.
Victoria Memorial.
Now lets move on to the one and only Howrah Bridge.
Howrah Bridge.
The Howrah Bridge is a bridge that spans the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. It was originally named the New Howrah Bridge because it links the city of Howrah to its twin city, Kolkata (Calcutta). On 14 June 1965 it was renamed Rabindra Setu, after Rabindranath Tagore a great poet and the first Indian Nobel laureate. However it is still popularly known as the Howrah Bridge. The bridge is one of the four on the Hooghly River and is a famous symbol of Kolkata and West Bengal. The other bridges are the Vidyasagar Setu (popularly called the Second Hooghly Bridge), the Vivekananda Setu and the newly built engineering marvel Nivedita Setu, on which, we'll cover in the further episodes of Explore Kolkata. Apart from bearing the stormy weather of the Bay of Bengal region, it successfully bears the weight of a daily traffic of approximately 80,000 vehicles and, possibly, more than 1,000,000 pedestrians. It is the sixth longest bridge of its type in the world.
Its goodbye from me SRK for this episode, and I'll get back on your television screens again tomorrow at the same time. Bbye ladies and gentlemen.
Gaurav: Well, that was SRK exploring Kolkata. Now, lets have a look at the statistics. India and Pakistan have faced off each other thrice. The first one was at Durban in 2007. It resulted in a tie and India won the match by winning the the then rule for T20i's to decide winner, the "Ball Out" 3-0. Then, in the same world cup, they both faced off against each other in Final at Johanesburg, where India dramatically won in last over in a cliff hanger. Misbah's scoop became famous in that match. Misbah's scoop failed and the ball went towards the third man. Sreesanth, the thirdman, did finish the rest formalities and India won the inaugural T20 world cup at South Africa. The next time they met was at Lords, of course it was an unofficial practice match, but the feeling which players had was more than official match. India won it. Now, we'll take a short break and coming up is toss. The live scenes there show that the two captains, MS Dhoni And Shahid Afridi, walk towards middle and stand on pitch along with match referee Chris Broad.
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