da stake casino： The crowds will be missing from the Brabourne Stadium but the players will have much to play for
da heads bet： Anand Vasu in Mumbai20-Apr-2007
Dinesh Karthik, who has to his name a man-of-the-match award in his only Twenty20 international, will lead Tamil Nadu against Punjab © AFP
It’s a format devised for the viewing public to throng to the ground andhave a blast or, for those who choose not to, to kick back in theirliving rooms, relax and enjoy a couple of hours of cricketing excitementdistilled to its purest. And yet, neither is likely to happen when TamilNadu take on Punjab in the final of India’s inaugural domestic Twenty20championship. The match will not be on television screens, and so far thecrowds have stayed far away from the action. Yet, for the two teamsinvolved, the game promises to be a novel experience.Woorkheri Raman, the former Indian left-hand batsman and currently coachof the Tamil Nadu team, was sure that the format would, in time to come,attract audiences and capture the public’s imagination. “It will be a format that will gain popularity,” he told on the eve of the final. “Twenty20 cricket is like watching a James Bond movie. While you’re watching it it’s full-on excitement. But when youleave, you don’t take anything home with you.”Raman, a stylish left-hander whose penchant for Bond films is well known among his friends,is thought to be a shrewd tactician, although Tamil Nadu did not have thebest time of it this season in Ranji Trophy cricket.Raman believed that a victory in this Twenty20 Championship would do hisyoung team a world of good. While acknowledging it would not erase the memoriesof a disappointing first-class campaign, he said, “A win here will givethe youngsters belief that they can perform in something that is outsideof what is familiar to them. In some ways they probably don’t know yetwhat they are capable of doing.””It could enhance the self-belief of some of the individuals and the young team as a unit. Winning against a strong team, when there is class in the opposition will givethese youngsters the belief that they can do it in other forms of thegame.”Tamil Nadu will be led, in the absence of the indisposed S Badrinath, by Dinesh Karthik, who has to his name a man-of-the-match award in his only Twenty20 international. They have some serious hitters in their ranks, notable AnirudhaSrikkanth, son of former India dasher Krish Srikkanth, S Vidyut, the sonof V Sivaramakrishnan, an attacking and eminently watchable left-handedbat in his time, and D Devendra. But they will be up against a determinedopposition in Punjab.Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Mongia have hit form at just the right time, andboth will want to celebrate selection to the national team with powerfulknocks. Conversely, Harbhajan Singh, who has been left out of the team forthe tour of Bangladesh, would like nothing more than to embarrass theselectors by coming up with a performance of note.”We have been playing good cricket all tournament. Our key batsmen havehit form and this is a big advantage to us. The final is a big game forus, and we hope we can cap a good tournament with a strongperformance,” Pankaj Dharmani, captain of the Punjab team, said. Whilesome cricketers have complained, and justifiably so, in private at least,about the joylessness of playing in front of empty stands, Dharmanirefused to be drawn out. “It is for the organisers to look into the crowdaspect. For us, as players, we’re all geared up and looking forward to thefinal. Crowd or no crowd has made little difference to us.”In all, the match promises to be an important one, even if not a highpoint in the cricket calendar. It’s the first domestic Twenty20 final, andbragging rights are up for grabs. If, by chance, on a Saturday evening,people in South Mumbai take the opportunity to head to the ground – it’sfree entry – the game might just get the atmosphere it deserves, andthis could lift the players into doing something special.
