Before battle, Mallya takes on SRK

April 18: It is not just a war on the cricket field. Even before the game begins Royal Challengers boss Vijay Mallya has taken on his opponent for Friday's (April 18) match, the King of Bollywood Shahrukh Khan.

Its a battle between two legends in their own right. One is a celebrated liquor baron and the other the King of Bollywood. Vijay Mallya and Shahrukh Khan will be pitted against each other when their teams clash in the inaugural match of cricket's summer slam. The man at the helm of the Royal Challengers has set the war of words alight by taking a jibe at Shahrukh's Kolkata Knight Riders.

Watch: Vijay Mallya takes on SRK

Vijay Mallya said, "Shahrukh Khan is a superstar and I am not. But, his stardom will not count on the cricket field. It will all depend on which team plays a better game and I stand by the fact that we are a good team."

Shahrukh may have not responded to his rival's war cry, however, the commander of his force Sourav Ganguly declared that he is ready for any challenge thrown at him by Dr Vijay Mallya's team. Sourav said, "I have given Rahul a pair of boxing gloves. I don't know about Shahrukh and Vijay."

On a day that holds up most importance to the owners as much as it does to the men who will sweat out at Bangalore's Chinnaswamy stadium. The Indian Premier League will witness a war between figures who will try their level best to cut into each other's popularity. The latest jibe of Dr Mallya may just set the proceedings on a roll for a war between team owners, something that has never been witnessed before in the history of the game.

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SRK's Motto : B+ Always...

The countdown will be over soon and the entire city of Kolkata is decked up for the first match of superstar Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here Sunday. “Being an actor, I have always thought every thing in larger-than-life perspective. Knight Rider’s matches will also be no exception,” Shah Rukh told IANS.

“At the Eden Gardens, where the matches will be played, we will exhibit two helmets, an 18-carat gold-plated and a diamond studded one, to show the other teams that we are the declared winners. The matches are just child’s play for us,” Shah Rukh said.

“I believe it’s my duty to entertain people whether it’s in films or in the IPL matches. Though I am not going to dance at the gallery, I will be present at the Eden (Garden). Rani (Mukherjee), Bipasha (Basu) and Kareena (Kapoor) have verbally confirmed their presence. With Kareena, now-a-days, we get a Saif Ali Khan free. So Saif can also be expected. I will personally try to convince John (Abraham) and Karan (Johar) to fly down as well.”

Let the King Khan do his bit but Kolkata has already made its plans for the matches.

“We have arranged for a procession from Hatibagan in central Kolkata to the Eden Gardens. Twenty belly dancers will dance their way to the ground on a 16-wheeled container trailer,” said Arnab Roy, joint secretary of Shah Rukh Khan Fans Club.

Roy said this is the first time in the history of the Eden Gardens that the supporters will enter the grounds with drums and play them at the gallery.

“We will also decorate the gallery with Knight Riders flags, banners and festoons. Shah Rukh has promised to help us deck up the gallery,” he added.

Fans of Sourav Ganguly, captain of the Knight Riders, and Shah Rukh will arrange mass screening of all matches at selected places across the city.

Already golden-black hoardings and posters of the ‘Knights’, with their faces painted in gold and with determined looks, are evoking an air of excitement in all Kolkatans.

Ticket sales for the IPL matches began here Monday. Since then, there has been a beeline outside the Cricket Association Of Bengal (CAB) ticket counters.

“All the tickets for the first two Knight Riders matches, on April 20 against Deccan Chargers and April 29 against the Mumbai Indians, are sold out. I am sure tickets for the other five matches will also turn hot cake once Kolkatans get the taste of the first match at Eden (Gardens),” CAB joint secretary Amitabha Bandopadhyay said.

Of the 14 matches of the Kolkata Knight Riders, seven will be played at the Eden Gardens ground in Kolkata.

The first match of the IPL, will kick start Friday, with Knight Riders battling it out with Bangalore Royal Challengers in Bangalore with the war cry “Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo” (Do, Fight, Win).