BLACK MAGIC

Kings XI Punjab will be hosting the Kolkata Knight Riders this evening at Mohali, in a clash that might see an overdose of Bollywood with Preity Zinta, Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla associated with the two franchisees and many others in the film industry pledging their support for one team or the other.

This is the second consecutive Kings XI Punjab match that can be termed as a-bottom-of-the-table clash. In their last game, KXIP (then 7th) lost to Rajasthan Royals (then 8th) at Ahmedabad. Now, RR has climbed to the 3rd position and the 8th-placed KXIP will be hoping that a similar journey begins for them today against the KKR, who themselves are desperately seeking winning ways.

But this post is about something else. I have just discovered the secret behind the success of Mumbai Indians this season. It's lying in my wardrobe - my Black 'Sachin' t-shirt! That is what has been making MI win all this time!

I have discovered that whenever I wear my Black Sachin t-shirt during MI's match, they go on to win. It's Black Magic at work! If I wear the other White MI jersey, they end up losing, like it happenned on 20th March against the Royal Challengers Bangalore team. But despite MI's loss, that match was a wonderful experience due to two reasons. First, RCB is my second favourite team after MI. Second, it was my first experience of watching a cricket match in a movie theatre.

At about 7.30 that evening, a friend of mine and I decided that we will watch the MI v RCB match at the BIG Cinema multiplex (which is located at the other end of Pune from where I live). So by the time we got hurriedly ready, drove in high traffic to the other end, got our tickets and took our seats, MI had already lost Sanath Jaisuriya.

The best part about watching the match in there was - NO ADVERTISEMENTS! Actually, there were commercials during the strategic time-outs, but the fact that there were no commercials in between overs was refreshing to watch. All the fans in the hall were also distributed with whistles and banners indicating '4' and '6'. So it was fun!

I wouldn't go as far as calling it a 'stadium' experience, but it's the closest I have come to a stadium experience in a long long time. I could shout my support for Sachin at the top of my voice without worrying about the neighbours getting disturbed! By the end of it, my throat was tired and aching! All this when MI lost! I am wondering what would have happenned had MI won...

I wish that BIG Cinema's association with sports continues. I would like to see the upcoming FIFA World Cup in there as well. I know that it is not financially feasible to show each match live, but if it's possible, they could broadcast live the finals atleast. That would be enormous fun!