Knights under home-turf pressure now

Americanised cricket, which passes for the Indian Premier League, is back in the city after a long pandemic break, and ahead of tomorrow's Kolkata Knight Riders - versus - Royal Challengers Bangalore match, Eden Gardens' frontal view presented a mix of leap-out-at-the eye colours beneath the historic venue's dignity. For now, it happens to be KKR's home, bearing a heavy chromatic mark of their presence.

- PULAKESH MUKHOPADHYAY

When the boys in the RCB colours come on, the tapestry will be even less easy on the eye but these are trifles when one IPL game is a matter of more than a million dollars. Or, so they say. The tournament is believed to be growing exponentially, eclipsing all comparable experiments much in the same way as sport franchises in North America dwarf European football behemoths in terms of takings. Part of the miracles of the marketplace. Yankee Doodle was, after all, a simpleton. Bangalore have never won the trophy but Virat Kohli played such a stroke-studded knock when they licked Mumbai to a splinter they were the ones even KKR fans had their eyes on today. Faf du Plessis is there too.