"if you believe, you can win."
Shahrukh Khan is a very happy man as he witnessed his Koklata Knight Riders team beat the Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in the IPL 2012 final. The match was thrilling and had the recipe of one of the most exciting finals in the IPL to date.
The team have waited five years to reach this glorious moment in the game. The match made players heroes. Manvinder Singh Bisla, the legendary Jacques Kallis, Shakib Al Hasan, and Kolkata’s own Manoj Tiwary, all came into their own on the centre stage with each of them showing they were true to their game.
KKR had to chase the score of 190 made by the Chennai Super Kings. Playing at the Chepauk against CSK, this was seen as not a straightforward job and when KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir was bowled out first over after scoring two runs, it seemed Chennai were well on their way to their third IPL final win.
However, KKR came back thanks to the stunning efforts of Bilsa who replied to every bowler. He was not even selected to play until the Saturday evening before the match. KKR decided to play Bisla rather than Brendon McCullum, and the Haryana batsman did not let them down by playing some amazing cricket. Manvinder Bisla scored 89 runs and was named Man of the Final for his efforts.
Following Bisla, Kallis came into the fold and the South African was rock solid showing real eagerness to win the game by himself, scoring 69 runs. LR Shukla then scored three runs after being bowled by Bravo and caught by Hussey. Pathan was next only scoring a run after being caught by Badrinath. Shakib Al Hasan then stayed in partnership scoring eleven in partnership with Tiwary who scored nine runs, finishing the final; winning for the match for KKR with two balls to spare.
CSK had a very good innings in bat. M Vijay and Mike Hussey gave them the superb start scoring 42 and 54 runs respectively. SK Raina then took centre stage and did he show his vigour by playing his best innings of the IPL scoring 74 runs and took his team to a good strong position. Dhoni captained his team with great calibre but it was not enough to see KKR off at the end.
Manvinder Bilsa said:
“I don’t think I have hit as well, good to play this in the finals to help win it for my team. There was no plan, wanted to go out there to enjoy, after Gambhir got out, I felt a tad tensed but after getting one or two to the fence, I got the confidence.”
He added: “Kallis is a legend, batting along side him was a great opportunity, he asked me to keep it simple and get going. I am happy from inside (when asked to smile by Pommie Mbwanga!)”
KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir was proud of the winning team and said: “After the first six overs in the KKR innings, I thought 191 was gettable. I thought KKR was destined to win. Bisla batted superbly. It was clean hitting. He played out of his skin.”
Kolkata was up in a frenzy after the win. Drums and fire crackers were heard on the streets with people partying and celebrating the win on the streets of the eastern metropolis. Giant screens were erected in various parts of the city and huge roars of happiness and excitement swept across the crowds like a ferocious tidal wave. The noise of honking cars, waving flags, people hugging each other and lit torches spread on the streets.
Another interesting development from KKR winning the final was that of hot Indian model Poonam Pandey, who stuck to her promise of stripping nude for the love of the game if KKR won. Posting her latest pic on Twitter, she tweeted, “here is a Pic as i PROMISED.”
Naturally the Bollywood connection was a live wire for this final with SRK and Juhi Chawla and many other stars present at the stadium in full force for team KKR. Shahrukh Khan was completely over joyed at the win along with wife Gauri. SRK did some cartwheel and introduced Gauri as the “sexiest cheer girl of KKR.”
Twitter was active with tweets from many stars praising KKR and their win with many addressed to SRK. These included:
Bipasha Basu: ‘Congrats @iamsrk! Great win for KKR!’
Riteish Deshmukh: ‘KKR IPL champs – congrats to @iamsrk and Gauri. Had one of the best evenings – rollercoaster emotional ride, ended in a great victory. We celebrated the KKR victory and ‘Rowdy Rathore’ party together -@iamsrk @akshaykumar at Prabhu Deva’s house.’
Karan Johar: ‘Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!! More power to team KKR and@iamsrk!!!!!!!!!! And what a match!!!!!! KKROCKSSSSSSSS Congratulations @iam_juhi!!!!!!!! The new victorious team KKR!!!!!!!! Lots of love!!!!!!!’
Shabana Azmi: ‘I know nothing about cricket but I watched the match and prayed really hard for KKR to win! Congrats to the team, SRK and Juhi. Mazaa aa gaya’
Preity Zinta: ‘Congrats @iamsrk, Gauri and KKR for winning IPL 5!’
Kunal Kohli: ‘The most touching moment of the match was when @iamsrk’s daughter hugged him all tense and he comforted her.What a sweet moment that was.’
Siddharth: ‘Have to say… thoroughly enjoyed Bisla and the greatest all rounder in the modern game,kallis. Party hard Kolkata fans! What an achievement SRK!’
Neha Dhupia: ‘A match so worthy of being the final… Well played #csk and a huge congratulations to #kkr and @iamsrk!’
After the game a sweaty and ecstatic Shahrukh hugged his team and said that he would be humble, “From this day, this team doesn’t belong to any of the promoters, it belongs to Bengal.” He added, “This is something the youngsters should believe in – resilience, patience, perseverance – if you believe, you can win.”
Loading ...