Glam teams blighted by KKR curse
In a competition where cinema and cricket are interwoven, the Kolkata Knight Riders gave their ending a film-like twist, notching up consolation wins and taking with them two of the teams which played the knockout stage last year, reports Atreyo Mukhopadhyay.
A lot of IPL is about the glam factor. Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta… Shilpa Shetty.
At times, it’s more about these people than cricket, which even if by default, is an essential component of the concept. With the business end approaching, the tinsel town has fallen and how!
There is a queer link between the teams Shah Rukh’s team beat and their eventual position in Indian Premier League-II.
The Kolkata Knight Riders won just three matches but look at two of those teams they beat, their fate and it’s hard to miss the link.
Early in the tournament, they beat Kings XI Punjab on the Duckworth/Lewis method and, nearing the end of a disastrous competition, they put it across Rajasthan Royals. Call it coincidence or what you will, these two teams went out of the reckoning for a semifinal berth because they lost that one match too many.
Credit or discredit whichever way you look at it, the Knight Riders generated a fair amount of IPL talk. How they kept missing the plot, losing matches from unbelievably good positions and, generally messing up in every possible way. In a competition where cinema and cricket are interwoven, the Kolkata Knight Riders gave their ending a film-like twist, notching up consolation wins and taking with them two of the teams which played the knockout stage last year.
The Royals and the Kings XI Punjab could have been excused for having a quiet laugh at the misfortune of the Kolkata Knight Riders for a major part of the tournament. Just to add to the element of drama, the Kolkata Knight Riders curse hit them. While packing their bags before going home, they might recall how costly losing to losers could be. Goodbye screen stars, happy journey.