Flew in from Nasik on the 5th evening after the shoot, to Goa – landed and got directed (by mistake) to Preity’s room! Reached there and I met her after the Unforgettable Tour. So we caught up – she welcomed Raj and me onboard and told me about some do’s and don’ts. Considering she’s a seasoned player now (it’s her second season), I took it seriously. Did some homework for the next day. The 6th was an important day, I was clueless as what to expect and how to go about it, but at dinner my partners, Manoj Badale and Suresh Chelaramani (co-owners of Rajasthan Royals) put me at ease saying – just sit back and enjoy it.

Come 6th, I was all ready looking forward to this whole new experience and there is so much I learnt. The behind-the-scenes was amazing to watch, the strategies of different teams, poker faced owners while bidding and people bidding even if they didn’t want to buy a player just to raise the stakes. Everyone had their eyes on Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen , and having one of them on our side would’ve been great because of my England connection! The funniest sight was to see my dear friend, Vijay Mallya when Kevin Pietersen’s name was up for auction. His bidding torch was on permanently and hell hath no fury if anyone got in his way. But, we had only 2 slots and we were happy we got what we really wanted, Shaun Tait (one of the fastest bowlers of the world) and Henderson (an all rounder).  All went well and I spoke to Shane Warne, our captain. He was happy with the choice of players, said he was looking forward to playing this season – was so excited with the going-ons. What was also great to see was the camaraderie between all the Team Owners. All of us had one thing in common, all wanted to have fun and ALL WANTED TO WIN!!

There hasn’t been a better amalgam of glamour and sports before this, which is why it worked the first time around. This time IPL will be bigger and better, going to make sporting history in India. Can’t wait till it kicks off! Halla Bol!

Popularity: 28%