There is little to separate the Hindi film industry from its counterparts down South, be it on the silver screen or on the cricket pitch. The Celebrity Cricket League, touted to be the biggest sporting event ever to feature these superstars, pitted top Bollywood stars — the Mumbai Heroes led by Salman Khan — taking on the Telugu Warriors, led by Venkatesh. There were the who’s who of the Malayalam, Telugu, Bengali and Hindi film industries; so much firepower, in fact, that a result was nigh impossible. The match ended in a tie, with both sides sharing the man-of-the-match award.
The Mumbai Heroes suffered a major blow before even the match could get underway, after two of their players backed out. While Bobby Deol dropped out due to an injury, Riteish Deshmukh skipped the event altogether, citing prior personal commitments. Interestingly enough, Riteish’s lady love Genelia D’Souza was present, and she even paraded around the stadium with the Heroes’ flag.