"SIMPLY fantastic." That's how Ajit Agarkar felt to be part of the grand parade involving the eight Indian Premier League teams in Cape Town yesterday.
"SIMPLY fantastic." That's how Ajit Agarkar felt to be part of the grand parade involving the eight Indian Premier League teams in Cape Town yesterday.
One couldn't quite gauge the South African response from the television footage, but Agarkar, who represents Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, said it was quite wholesome "more than what I had expected."
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Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Kevin Pietersen... no matter how many cricketing stars were on show, KKR team owner Shah Rukh Khan walked away with the attention honours. Agarkar should know. He watched it all from close quarters. "We all heard about how popular Shah Rukh Khan is outside India.
"People came out on the streets with placards and posters, they opened their windows home and office to get a view of us. It was a nice feeling," the Mumbai man said.
Nostalgic ride
Agarkar was part of India's World Cup 2003 squad that lost the final to Australia in Johannesburg. And just like yesterday, Cape Town played host to a pre-event extravaganza. Did memories of 2003 come flooding through? "Yes, a little bit. Of course, I have been to South Africa after that (in 2006) but those two months in 2003 were special to all of us even though we didn't go all the way (to win the tournament)."
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