New Delhi: "Divided by the Teams and united by the Indian Super League" is the perfect phrase for the cricketing legends Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly to showcase the ISL final.
Incidentally, the 'master blaster' and 'prince of Kolkata' will be facing each not on field but maybe in their respective dug outs when Atlético de Kolkata (ATK) co-owned by Sourav Ganguly and Kerala Blasters FC co-owned by Sachin Tendulkar lock horns to clinch the maiden ISL title on Saturday.
Sachin-Sourav have opened the inning number of time in the past in ODI. They have batted together 176 times in ODIs, opened the inning 136 times and scored 6,609 runs.
Four teams in the first edition of the ISL are co-owned by cricketers Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Chennaiyin FC) and Virat Kohli (FC Goa), Sourav Ganguly (Atlético de Kolkata) and Sachin Tendulkar (Kerala Blasters FC). The teams of MSD and Virat Kohli could not go past the semi-finals.
The journey of the both teams has been quite different. While Sourav's ATK started on a high but as the tournament progressed ATK started to lose their initial flare, Sachin's KB though started poorly loosing their initial matches but peaked when it mattered the most.
The two teams have had their share of luck in the semi final also. While ATK qualified on the basis of Penalty shoot outs, Kerala Blasters confirmed their final birth only during extra time by scoring a solitary goal.
One can only hope that in a cricket crazy nation, the football connoisseurs Sachin and Saurav will once again help set the football sports arena on much needed fire.
