Sports Weds Entertainment

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I have been covering entertainment for the past ten years now, have interviewed the Aamirs, Shah Rukhs and Bachchans of the Bollwyood world! But interviewing the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly was not on my agenda.. ever! I was never interested in following sports as a journalist, now I have learnt that one should never say never!

To be honest, I recognise the prominent players like Sachin, Sourav, Rahul, Harbhajan and Yuvraj. Yuvi because he has been linked with a couple of actresses. Apart from playing cricket Sachin, Rahul and Saurav do enough ads for everyone to recognise them. You open the papers and Sachin is selling you a soft drink, Rahul is asking you to shave and Dada is swinging his shirt on all the news channels. Bhajji tried to let his hair down but that didn't go down well with his fans in Punjab. Guys, I am trying to prove a point here please don't miss it.... I am talking cricket!

We at CNN-IBN started a Sports and Entertainment bulletin which was a mix of sports and entertainment stories, little did we know that sports and entertainment will merge someday anyway. Thanks to Shah Rukh and Preity buying IPL teams, an entertainment reporter like me has to follow cricket because honestly somewhere inside, most of you want to know which actor turned up at the cricket match. When the Kolkata Knight Riders are on the field, many of you are waiting to see the celebrity cheerleaders. I am sure one camera is on SRK throughout the match just in case he decides to do a Sourav by swinging his shirt in the air.

To top it all, I was watching the Kolkata match seated right behind SRK and gang. And sharing the stand and supporting the Knight Riders were Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Arjun Rampal, Karan Johar, Juhi Chawla, Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh, Farhan Akhtar and even Bappi Lahri with his jewellery!

Towards the end of the match, after the walking - talking jewellery shop Bappida stepped out to the use the loo and didn't return for ten minutes most of us thought the flood lights at Eden Gardens had gone off! Come on guys, by now you should know these things! Okay jokes apart, the minute Shah Rukh would realise that his team needs some motivation, he would just stand up on his seat and and lift his hands facing the crowd, believe me the entire stadium would stand up and cheer for the knight riders. I am sure the team facing Knight Riders must be well aware of the fact that they will have no support from the crowd.

Why are King's men (Knight Riders) at their best? Apart from being good players they have all the motivation required. There are top stars cheering for them, they are gifted gold helmets, Tag Heuer watches at the end of the match, after the match they party with film stars. Khan has made sure every single player has an individual blowup on hoardings, Khan himself is taking extra care of their comfort and marketing. What more could they ask for? All they need to do is go on the field and play.

Now when I interview SRK and Preity I have more questions about cricket and less about films. But just like you, I am not complaining, because even I was sick of asking the same old film questions like the famous one, 'What's your role in this film?' Now I have something new to ask and Shah Rukh and Preity have something new to say.

Now I am friends with most sports reporters who I didn't know till some time back. Shah Rukh knows sports reporters as much he knows his entertainment reporters. I am sure it must be fun for them to bump into SRK and throw some question at him.

Don't be surprised if someday you see our sports editor Gaurav Kalra talking films and Rajeev Masand reviewing a cricket match and throwing an egg for every duck!

Times have changed and will keep changing, it's the best thing to change with time.

So take my advice.. get popcorn and hot coffee, cuddle up on the sofa and enjoy the IPL match! As it is there are no good films playing at the cinemas ;)