Cuttack: With the Indian and Sri Lankan stars descending at the Barabati Stadium, here Tuesday, plenty of action occurred both inside and outside the venue. Orissa Post looks at some of those
Cheers for Dhoni
In spite of other stars like Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah being present, MS Dhoni received the maximum applause as he stepped on to the Barabati Stadium turf Tuesday during India’s training session. Chants of Dhoni, Dhoni… reverberated around the stadium as the former ‘Captain Cool’ came in view of the public. Dhoni, on his part dropped his kitbag and made a beeline for the pitch. He was seen inspecting it and talking to the curator. Why wouldn’t he? After all in January this year, he had scored a masterclass century at the same venue. An encore on the cards, not impossible!
Brisk business
Jersey sellers outside the Barabati Stadium had a profitable day in the market with the fans shelling out money to buy those which had the names of the favourites inscribed on the back. There were approximately 10 vendors catering to the needs of the spectators. “This is a cricket-loving nation. So people love to wear Indian jerseys with their favourite players’ name written on it. So accordingly we fulfil their demands, though at a cost,” said Pintu Barak of Kolkata who has been involved in this business for the past 12 years. Jerseys went for Rs 200 each while caps and hats cost Rs 50 and Rs 100 each respectively. “Income is not guaranteed and it varies from venue to venue,” Barak stated.
Missing Virat
Even though he is not, here he is omnipresent. Fans of Virat Kohli, who is on honeymoon, were constantly talking about how much they were missing Indian cricket’s latest poster boy. “It is sad that Virat is not playing (the game). Not only me, but everyone will miss him. He is the star of this Indian side. It was unfortunate not to watch him play,” said Nikash Kanhar of Kandhamal district, who is a big fan of Virat.
Memento collection
A rare exhibition of autographed jerseys and bats was conducted at the Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) Conference Hall at the Barabati Stadium, Tuesday. Local manager of the Sri Lankan cricket team, Saroj Kar was the man behind the show. Saroj has been collecting mementos from players for a long time now and has built up quite a collection, notable among which is a bat autographed by the legendary Sir Donald Bradman. Other items on display were autographed jerseys of Sachin Tendulkar, Shahid Afridi, Pragyan Ojha and Shiv Sundar Das.
