By Prasun Sonwalkar
IANS
Leeds : Two of India's greatest passions – cricket and cinema – came together at the historic Headingley stadium Friday and ignited the emotions of thousands of people from the Indian sub-continent who enjoyed every moment of the IIFA Celebrity Cricket Match.
For the record, the IIFA XI led by Saif Ali Khan won the match after former India captain Kapil Dev hit a boundary off the last ball to score the winning runs. Batting first, the Yorkshire XI had scored 142 in 20 overs.
In a festive atmosphere replete with Mexican waves, dancing to popular Indian and British Asian numbers and actress Shilpa Shetty going round the stadium greeting enthusiastic spectators, national boundaries within the Indian sub-continent blurred.
Indian and Pakistani flags jostled with each other as Bollywood and cricket stars such as Arjun Rampal, Ritesh Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja endeared themselves to one and all with their activities on and off the pitch.
It was on this ground that Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar scored his 30th Test hundred to surpass Donald Bradman's record of 29 Test centuries in August 2002. Headingly has played host to Test matches since 1899.
Before the match began, Aftab Shivdasani ran around the stadium draped in the Indian tricolour. A website sponsored for a plane to hover around the stadium with the words 'Happy Birthday Shilpa Shetty', while local Asian dancers cavorted to the popular song, 'Sabse aage honge Hindustani (Indians will lead them all)'.
People with origins in the Indian sub-continent had thronged the stadium from various parts of Britain, including Yorkshire, which has a large settlement of Pakistan origin.
Spectators arrived at the ground equipped with drums, whistles, trumpets, and flags of India and Pakistan – all contributing to the carnival atmosphere.
The loudest cheers were reserved for Saif Ali Khan, and British Asian singer Jay Sean and actor Upen Patel. The match was inaugurated by Shilpa Shetty while Indian acting veteran Amitabh Bachchan made a brief appearance with his son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Bachchan.
Also making an appearance were Govinda, Kabir Bedi, Randhir Kapoor, Rakesh Roshan, and director J.P. Dutta. Apart from the presence of the film stars, it seemed a poignant moment for cricketers Kapil Dev, Azharuddin and Jadeja.
At one point in the match, the fit-as-a-fiddle Azharuddin was joined by Jadeja at the crease. While Azharuddin reminded many of his days of glory with is easy and languid wristy strokes, not a few remarked that both he and Jadeja had fallen from grace in the wake of the match-fixing scandal that gripped Indian cricket some time ago.
Arjun Rampal, Ritesh Deshmukh, Saif Ali Khan and Apirva Lakha surprised one and all with their cricketing skills, while the widely respected Dickie Bird, along with Jack Hampshire, kept a keen umpiring eye on the proceedings.
The Yorkshire XI comprised MPs Ed Balls and Shaid Malik, as well as former cricketers Chris Lewis, Devon Malcolm and Gladstone Small.
Proceeds of the match are to be donated to the IIFA Foundation.