A field day for the celebs

Cricket and cinema make for a heady brew. The two sets of Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) matches played at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday had fans going crazy over their favourite stars wielding the willow or rolling their arms over.

 In the first match between Kerala Strikers and Telugu Warriors, there was a sparse crowd. But almost miraculously, the crowd swelled for the match between the home team Karnataka Bulldozers and Bengal Tigers.

It was a star-spangled affair off the field too. It was time for old friends to get together. They quickly exchanged a few pleasantries before they headed out to their respective dugouts.

The Kerala Strikers got off to a good start. Despite an injury, Kerala Strikers’ Rajesh Pillai led the team to victory. Telugu Warriors too did exceptionally well, with Venkatesh going all out to get his team to the top. He hooted, screamed and cheered for the boys who in turn gave it their best. However, Kerala Strikers thrashed Telugu Warriors in a nail-biting finish. Kerala Strikers’ owner Lissy Priyadarshan said, “The boys have been practising very hard but I am not pushing them too much because last year, we had a couple of them sit down with injuries. But in terms of performance, they are better this year.”

   Venkatesh, captain of the Telugu Warriors said, “I’ve asked them to take the sport in its spirit and not too seriously. But they are a committed lot and have been giving every match their best shot. Winning and losing is a part of the game.”   

And if all this glamour was not enough, actress Sunny Leone was brought in for a few hours, to promote a drink called XXX. She and her husband Daniel were seen posing for the shutterbugs, who didn’t seem to get enough of them. The Sandalwood stars did not fail the sea of crowd that had turned up to watch them. It seemed like the entire Kannada film fraternity had landed to cheer the team. Rishika Singh, Aindrita Ray, Roopashree, Sanjjanaa and her sister Nikki and Priyamani were there. Actress Priyanka Upendra’s brother Vivek was playing for the Bengal Tigers and Priyanka was seen cheering for both the teams.

‘Challenging Star’ Darshan opened the match between Karnataka Bulldozers and Bengal Tigers. He gave the team a good start, which later put them on the threshold of victory and they finished at 243/3. The Bengal Tigers lagged behind at 121/9. The
atmosphere at the dugout of Karnataka Bulldozers was charged up with veteran actor and current minister for housing, Ambareesh hooting and screaming and being quite himself, for a change. “Although, I know the boys will win, I never miss a chance to come  here to watch them. I also sing, dance and hoot with all my strength. It’s one of those rare moments,” said Ambareesh. The dugout of the Bengal Tigers seemed comparatively quieter with the owners Boney Kapoor and Sridevi seen sitting in a far corner. They were trying their best to fight all the attention they seemed to be attracting. Boney Kapoor launched a new bicycle and rode a distance, which pepped up the crowd. It was not only the stars even the cheerleaders who were barely dressed, grabbed a lot of eyeballs.