On March 5 this year, the ACA-VDCA Stadium was set ablaze for a different reason, and by a different tribe. It was not done by the scorching cover drives of the ‘little master' (Sachin Tendulkar) or by the flashy square cuts from the willow of the ‘Prince of Najafgarh' (Virender Sehwag). The jam-packed stadium reverberated with chants such as ‘Sallu' and ‘Venky', as the sliver screen superstars from the south took over the heroes from Mumbai in a cricket match that heralded the beginning of the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL). The match was supposed to be a curtain raiser for the league and both the teams fought hard in the T20 format. It was the South Superstars who eventually won the match. The last leg of the league format of the CCL is being once again played here on Saturday, before the finals, which slated for Sunday and in Hyderabad.
After the curtain raiser in Visakhapatnam, CCL was launched in Bangalore on June 4, and now the league has got four teams: Mumbai Heroes, Telugu Warriors, Chennai Rhinos and Karnataka Bulldozers.
Mumbai Heroes is led by Salman Khan, Telugu Warriors by Venkatesh, Chennai Rhinos by Suriya and Karnataka Bulldozers by Sudeep.
ACA-VDCA
The first of the league matches was played at Bangalore on June 4 between Chennai Rhinos and Telugu Warriors and between Karnataka Bulldozers and Mumbai Heroes. The second leg was played at Chennai on June 5, between Karnataka Bulldozers and Chennai Rhinos and between Telugu Warriors and Mumbai Heroes.
And the third and the final leg is being played here between Karnataka Bulldozers and Chennai Rhinos and between Telugu Warriors and Mumbai Heroes. The first match will begin at 3 p.m. and the second match will start at 7 p.m.
Karnataka is heading the table with two wins, followed by Chennai and Telugu with one win each. Mumbai is at the bottom of the table with two losses. After the last leg at Visakhapatnam, the teams will proceed to Hyderabad for the finals on Sunday.
Revenge match
For Mumbai Heroes, the match with Telugu Warriors is being termed to be a high voltage stuff, as Salman and his team were defeated by the South Superstars in this very ground two months back.
In the match that was played on March 5, South Superstar scored 192 in 20 overs with Aadarsh, of the Iqbal fame, scoring a quick fire 48 and skipper Venkatesh chipping in with a well-made 27. For Mumbai Mahesh Manjrekar took six wickets and Aftab Shivdasani contributed well with the bat.
Star-studded
While Mumbai would be fielding names such as Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, Suniel Shetty and Aftab; Telugu Warriors team is expected to comprise Venkatesh, Tarun, Siddharth, Srikanth, Aadarsh and Vishnu.
Karnataka Bulldozers and Chennai Rhinos are also expected to field a couple of big stars. The glamour quotient is also likely to contain names such as Shriya, Priyamani, Sonakshi Sinha and Tapsee.
It is learnt that the teams from the south are leaving no stone unturned to make the tournament a well-fought one. Carving out time from their hectic schedule, the teams are practising hard to stay in shape. A few like Aadarsh, Sudeep, Srikanth, Tarun, Aftab and Venkatesh are not only passionately in touch with the game, but have played a good level of cricket during their college days.
For Telugu Warriors Aadarsh is one among the key players. It appears that he has played a good level of cricket along with Ambati Rayudu and Tirumalasetti Suman at the state level.
Apart from a little bit of cricket, the DJs promise to belt out a few hot and happening numbers and the brand ambassadors are expected to perform a jig or two to encourage their teams and the spectators. With all these in store, the match promises to be a heady mix of cricket and glamour.
