Battle of Bollywood:
The phrase 'when the going gets tough he gets going' perhaps fits more appropriately for Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. A cricketer with both his knees operated on and has been fighting against freakish injury ever since his Bangladesh debut in 2001 added another daring chapter in his never-say-die career on Friday. He entered the auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a minimum floor price of 50,000 dollars and made a triumphant return with a mind-boggling cheque of 600,000 dollars.
Not only that it was perhaps for the first time a Bangladeshi player hogged the spotlight in the Indian media that have been unwittingly indifferent and to some extent bitter regarding cricket across the border.
The Telegraph certainly provided the biggest coverage of Mashrafe with a banner headline: 'Ladies fight for Bangla boy', referring to the tug-of-war between Bollywood superstars Juhi Chawla and Preity Zinta.
Its reporter Samyabrata Ray Goswami wrote:
"Two Bollywood beauties fought over a baby-faced boy next door at the Indian Premier League auction today [Friday], with Juhi Chawla finally bagging Bangladesh pacer Mashrafe Mortaza for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
"Juhi and Kings XI Punjab franchisee Preity Zinta -- leading ladies in many a film opposite the Knights' co-owner Shah Rukh Khan -- went for the unassuming Mortaza as if Kal Ho Naa Ho, with 83 bids needed to settle the issue."
Telegraph also gave a vivid description of the bid for the 'Narail Express'.
"An electric half-hour had passed by then and the 25-year-old's price had shot to $600,000 from the listed base of $50,000. It was the longest bidding in IPL history, and the 12-fold improvement on the base price the steepest ever.
"The beginning, however, had as much action as a dot ball.
Knight Riders sources had hinted that Mortaza was on their wish list apart from South African batsman JP Duminy and Australian quick Shaun Tait. Yet when auctioneer Richard Medley announced the Bangladeshi's name, the ladies, in true Bollywood heroine fashion, feigned initial indifference."
The newspaper also quoted a source regarding how the event transpired.
"There was utter silence; no one raised (the electric sabre used for bidding). Then, just before the hammer went down, KKR made a bid. Till then, it had seemed like Mortaza might go unsold.
"Preity's Kings XI immediately joined the fray. The bids went up by $5,000. When KKR touched $400,000 (on the 71st bid), Medley asked Preity if she was game for $410,000. She was quiet for a while and then nodded.
"The bids rose by $10,000 till the Knights touched $500,000 on the 81st. The next bid, from Kings XI, was for $550,000.
"(Then) KKR hit the match-winning sixer: a $50,000 jump over Punjab's last offer.
“The whole thing was very dramatic -- there was pin-drop silence in the room and Medley made it even more frenzied by quickening the pace of bidding. It was like speed chess."
The Navhind times in Goa termed bidding for Mortaza like a 'war' between Knight Riders and the Punjab Kings.
"The bidding for Mortaza intensified and literally it seemed as if Ness Wadia's Kings XI Punjab and Juhi Chawla's Kolkata Knight Riders, were at wars when they raised the mark to astronomical sums."
The Herald in Goa went a step further managing a quote form Kings XI stakeholder Preity Zinta.
"Mortaza is a great player, an all-rounder and we wanted him. But you win some, you lose some," the Bollywood star was quoted by the newspaper.
The Indian Express explained how important Mashrafe was for Knight Riders with a quote from its coach Australian John Buchanan.
"Shah Rukh was on the phone from Mumbai and his words were clear, 'Don't let Preity buy him',” the paper said quoting Buchanan. Ananda Vasu of Hindustan Times credited the auction for Mashrafe's fortune.
"For Mashrafe Mortaza, with all due respect to him, would never command a $ 600,000-price tag if it wasn't for these "auction forces."
He also wrote in his article: "If last year's auction was like prima donnas buying anything and everything they fancied at a designer store in a mega mall, this year's affair was more like prudent housewives looking for a bargain at the local market."
Ayaz Memon, India's leading columnist, in an interview with CNBC-TV18 explained why Mashrafe was so important for Knight Riders.
"If you ask me, Mashrafe Mortaza is a better player than Ashraful. Ashraful promised a lot, he is a youngster still, he is a fine strokemaker so he might make his mark in the IPL but Mashrafe Mortaza is a big hitter of the ball, a big-hearted fast bowler and look he is replacing Shoaib Akhtar who did really virtually nothing in the previous season.
"So I think Shah Rukh Khan has decided to trade one fast bowler for somebody who can at least bat a bit and will play all the matches."
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