Celebrity Cricket...

Report By Fuad Omar.

Last week film stars and popular cricketers from the Indian cricket team, (as well as international cricketers) played an exhibition match at the Cricket Club of India grounds, to raise funds for Save The Children, India (Earthquake Relief Fund).

The event was compered by VJ, host and singer/actor Jaaved Jaffrey. The event was organised by none other than the gentle giant star Sunil Shetty, who is a man with a heart of gold. He said: "The moment we approached Raymonds (sponsors), without asking us what kind of mileage or benefit they would get from the event, Vijaypat Singhania offered to help us."

The star participants included Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan (with his new mini goatee-very cool Aamir), Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai, Raveena Tandon, Mahima Chaudhary, Urmila Matondkar and Manisha Koirala. Indian cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Srinath, Ajit Agarkar and international players such as Vijay Amritraj, Greg Mathews, Gavin Robertson, Roshan Mahanama, Kim Hughes, Neil Maxwell are supporting the cause. Also, Australian cricketers like Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Glen McGrath, Adam Gilcrhrist and Michael Slater.

The mini tournament had two semi-finals of ten overs each, and then the final. Raveena Tandon bowled acely as Sachin Tendulkar batted away. Sanjay Dutt caused a mini stir as he made his entry as fans all kept their eyes glued to him, but Salman Khan was the one most loved as he did a little dance in the middle of the evening even to the extent of falling at the umpire's feet. Playful as ever Salman was in good spirits cheering everyone on. Jackie Shroff, Sunju Dutt and company cheered for Aamir, Aftab Shivdasani, Arjun Ramphal, Jimmy Shergill, Sanjay Suri, Sharad Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Namrata Shirodkar, Mahima Chaudhary, Preeti Jhangiani, Kim Sharma, Diya Mirza accompanied by Anupam Kher, Shekhar Suman, Aditya Pancholi, and the rest in a match full of stars to everyone's delight.

Amitabh Bachchan and Dilip Kumar evoked hysteria when they gave their respective speeches proving that no matter how much we love our new stars the elder ones are like family elders, commanding respect and always in our hearts. It ended with an auction of an autographed car by the celebrities, which went for a phenomenal amount adding to the 'Save The Children' and 'Earthquake' bag. Raveena Tandon was awarded the 'Man of the match', and it was an event enjoyed by one and all. Sunil Shetty had done a wonderful job in making this happen proving again he is the gentle giant with a heart of gold.