In their heydays, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were arguably the best ever pair of opening batsmen in one-day international cricket. The left-right handed duo batted together 176 times in ODIs, 136 times as opening batsmen, and scored a mindboggling 8,277 runs together, 6,609 as openers.The ‘Master Blaster’ and the ‘Prince of Kolkata’ also enjoyed several fruitful partnerships in Test cricket.Both played under each other’s captaincy and their camaraderie has endured long after they hung up their pads.They have, of course, occasionally played against each other on the domestic cricket circuit and not so long ago in the lucrative franchise-based T20 cricket league. Come December 20, the two legends of Indian cricket will go head to head all over again as the teams that they co-own, Kerala Blasters FC and Atlético de Kolkata respectively, clash in the title round of the inaugural edition of the Hero Indian Super League.For a change, the two stalwarts will have to watch from afar as their teams battle on the pitch. They will not be able to offer much to their teams’ cause in terms of technical inputs as this is a different ball game, except for words of motivation and encouragement. Perhaps, they might come down from their VVIP boxes to give their respective teams a pep talk at half-time.Tendulkar must have gone through the emotional wringer as the Blasters lost their 3-0 lead in the second leg of the semi-final against Chennaiyin FC and only squeaked through thanks to a late strike by Stephen Pearson in extra time to win 4-3 on the aggregate. For Ganguly, it was more straightforward. His team played out two goalless draws against a formidable FC Goa and then knocked out the favourites via a penalty shootout.Incidentally, the losing semi-finalist teams are also co-owned by cricketers, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Chennaiyin FC) and Virat Kohli (FC Goa). All four have come forward to associate themselves with ‘the beautiful game’ and help Indian football march forward.While both Kerala Blasters and Atlético de Kolkata have been able to galvanise their huge armies of supporters by virtue of their stunning exploits on the pitch, they also owe a bit of their popularity by virtue of being owned by the ‘Master Blaster’ and ‘Dada’ respectively.The duo will hope to begin their new innings as football promoters on a winning note by inspiring their respective teams to victory in the ISL. However, only one of them will enjoy the privilege of lifting the trophy come Saturday night. Who will that be?
