(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The stadium authorities opened the gates at 11am to enable supporters to enter well ahead of the start of the programme scheduled at 1pm which was delayed.
chaos reigned supreme as more than two hundred thousand fans turned up at the eden gardens to celebrate kolkata knight riders’ title triumph in ipl 7 even as bollywood actor and franchise owner shah rukh khan failed to reach the venue on time because of a technical snag in flight.
while about 60000 people managed to enter the stadium thousands jostled in the surrounding maidan area to gain entry which was ‘free’ but only with ‘complimentary passes’ from police stations in the metropolis and through cab affiliated clubs in the state.
the stadium authorities opened the gates at 11am to enable supporters to enter well ahead of the start of the programme scheduled at 1pm which was delayed.
people started queueing up at eden gardens from as early as 9 am as all roads led there. at times police had to wield batons to disperse the crowd. the delirious scenes with people including women and children jostling resembled kkr’s victory celebration on may 29 two years ago.
indipop singer usha uthup belted out popular bollywood chartbusters to keep the spectators engaged till the arrival of kkr.
taking a cue from pm narendra modi’s hugely successful ‘ab ki baar…’ campaign she sang a new theme song — ‘ab ki baar kkr baar baar kkr baar baar chhukka maar’ — to the delight of spectators. needless to say there were traffic gridlocks and people commuting by public or private transport faced a harrowing time.
nevertheless shah rukh lauded the tremendous love and support of the city’s fans for the knight riders as he partied and threw kisses during the grand felicitation ceremony. the home team flanked by team owners shah rukh and juhi chawla paraded the golden indian premier league trophy for the over 60000 sports buffs in the historic arena while around 150000 people stood outside.
the crowd went wild as king khan donning a hat blew kisses waved and did a few steps of his popular song “lungi dance” atop an elevated podium.
an exuberant juhi walked with the players as kkr’s anthem “korbo lorbo jeetbo” was sung in the background by usha uthup. “i don’t think any other state or any other country in the world has this kind of support or love for sporting heroes. so thank you kolkata for supporting us through thick and thin.
“i thank you on behalf of the team. we will keep up the hard work. we enjoy your claps as well as your admonitions” said the bollywood baadshah. west bengal chief minister mamata banerjee who virtually conducted the show hugged and congratulated srk for the win.
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