It's now raining stars on field

DOUBLE DHAMAKA

It’s a fact that cricket is the most loved game in our country. It is a game that Indians hold close to their hearts. The sports-lovers here eat, sleep and breath cricket. No other game has been able to garner the kind of popularity that cricket has and cricket players enjoy the support of billions of fans.

With our country being one of the main hosts for the Cricket World Cup 2011, which begins in February, the cricket mania will reach new heights in the days to come. But a few days prior to the World Cup, the nation has another exciting event coming up — Celebrity Cricket League Trophy.

Scheduled in January, the CCL brings together the film stars of five states including the four South Indian film industries and Bollywood. In a country where stars and cricketers are considered as demigods, it is but obvious that when the two are put together, it will be an event of great magnitude.

But are cricket fans really excited about CCL the same way as they are looking forward to the World Cup? Will adding glamour to the ‘gentleman’s game’ fetch the expected results? “As a diehard fan of cricket, I am not that interested in CCL. I love cricket for its ‘on field action’ not glamour. It is more thrilling to catch the game when two great teams face each other. So a match between countries like Canada and Ireland cannot be that interesting. Therefore, I don’t think CCL will be able to entertain cricket fans the way actual cricket does. However, I want to see the prowess of our stars on the field,” says Keerthana, an architect.

Yet many are eagerly waiting to watch their favourite stars battle out on the grounds. Even in the past, the organisers made huge profit whenever film stars played cricket.
“It is true that glamour will outclass the spirit of the game in the celebrity version. Apart from the eleven players, there will be many other stars at the stadium. So fans will surely want to watch their favourite stars. Both television rights and tickets will sell like hot cakes,” says Najam Kapoor, a student of Dayananda Sagar Institutions. “Celebrity cricket brings in a glamour quotient to the field but it cannot be compared to actual cricket that involves lots of action and originality,” he adds.  Karthik Bhat, an engineer, is keenly waiting for CCL and says he will definitely watch it on television.

“Cricket is already an overrated game in India and does not need the support of any cine star. Instead of endorsing cricket, the actors could have promoted other games like hockey. However, it will be fun to watch stars like Upendra, Puneeth, Vikram, Suriya and Salman Khan, who are not so good at cricket, on field,” says Karthik.