Bangalore: It was a high-octane excitement packed session at the M. Chinnaswamy here today as two legends of sport battled it out in an special encounter. The world’s fastest runner Usain Bolt had landed down to India for the very first time and that too in Bangalore to challenge the King of Sixes, Yuvraj Singh to a cricket match.
This event was held as a part of Puma’s promotional activity, with both the sporting stars being its ambassadors. The stands were packed with over 6,000 fans who had come to catch a glimpse of the legends. All the fans were given free entry by means of passes which had to be collected two days prior to the event from the Puma Brand stores at Orion Mall, Brigade Road and 100 Feet Road. However, a few touts were seen selling the tickets outside the stadium in black for as much as 200 rupees a ticket.
Though the event was scheduled for 4pm, the rain played spoilsport and caused the match to be delayed by over an hour. The event then started at around 5.15pm when the groundsmen finally removed the covers and the floodlights were turned on, much to the cheering of the crowd.
The event was divided into several challenges. The first challenge was the ‘Bowl Out’ challenge where the two teams had to bowl an over each and had to aim and hit the stumps in the absence of a batsman. This challenge ended up as a tie, with both teams at 3-3. The second challenge was the ‘Super Six’ challenge where each team had an over each to hit the farthest six. Team Bolt again won this challenge by hitting a six of 70 metres while Team Yuvi could manage only 65 metres. Both these challenges were played using a tennis (covering) ball.
The audience were overjoyed when Ajay Jadeja, who was the guide and on-field commentator for the match informed them that they need not return the balls, which could be kept as a souvenir. After these challenges were done, he himself took the remaining balls and threw it into the spectators stands.
The next challenge was the main match in itself. The match was played with a few twists in the rules. The match was of four overs each, with seven players in each side. Another rule was that the captains (i.e: Bolt and Yuvi) will continue playing even if they become out, but at the loss of 4 runs every time they get out. While Team Bolt consisted of Usain Bolt, his childhood friend Nugent Walker Jr., Harbhajan Singh among others, Team Yuvi consisted of Yuvraj Singh, Aditya Tare, Pawan Suyal and a few winners of a online contest that Puma had conducted on its Twitter handle. Team Bolt was dressed in Black and Orange, even as Bolt’s jersey showed 9.58 – His fastest timing at 100mtrs. Team Yuvi was dressed in Blue and Orange, quite similar to the Team India jersey colour scheme.
Batting first, Team Yuvi put up a score of 58 runs in four overs for the loss of One wicket. Usain Bolt showed great skills and bowled a good line and length, with the exception of a few initial wide balls. He even managed to get Yuvraj Singh clean bowled.
On the batting front, Team Bolt looked aggresive right from the start, with Bolt chanting ‘Go Big’ and ‘This is just the warm up’ every time he hit a shot. (Bolt and Yuvi were provided with collar microphones for fans to hear their conversations). The Jamaican, the first man to win six Olympic gold medals, blasted his way to a 19-ball 45, complete with five sixes including three off Yuvraj, as his team chased down the 59-run target in a thrilling finish.
Needing four off the last delivery being bowled by Aditya Tare, Bolt had a swing and a miss, however the umpire was quick to declare a no-ball and free hit, much to the dissent of Yuvi who shouted out on the mic “The umpire is Jamaican!” all in good spirit. Bolt finally dispatched the free hit ball over the fence, as he celebrated his team’s victory with the trademark bow-and-arrow pose.
This was quickly followed up with the last challenge for the day – The 100 metre race, which Yuvi ‘won’ by a considerable margin, with Bolt quickly claiming for a rematch, to which Yuvi declined, again all for fun and entertainment. The audience continued to pulsate between cheering for Team Bolt and Team Yuvi throughout the event.
As the players were being escorted off the grounds, Bolt did a U-turn and ran towards the boundaries waving out to his fans, and even shaking hands with them. This brought in another bout of cheer among the fans.
While some of the fans expressed disappointment that the events appeared fixed and that both Yuvi and Bolt weren’t at their optimal best in their respective skills, it was nonetheless an exciting session for everyone, with some great skills on display all around, considering the fact that it was just a friendly exhibition match and not a professional contest. Several school students too were a part of the audience, escorted by their teachers.
Bolt was quick to post on his social media handles. He posted thus: “Cricket lovely Cricket..Was great fun in India.. 6’s and 4’s rained from the sky..NJ and I successfully chased 61 runs from 4 overs to win the match.. #BoltinIndia #TeamBolt #Cricket #India #Sixes #Fours #Puma”.
