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The world’s fastest man does not come to town every day. Whatever the nature of Usain Bolt’s visit to Bangalore — it is a promotional tour for Puma — there is no denying that it is still a bit special.
For an hour at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, the planet’s most iconic, recognizable track athlete will be available for his Indian fans to watch in the flesh, if only engaged in a game of cricket.
A team led by Bolt will meet one led by Yuvraj Singh, in a four-over contest. The seven-a-side encounter will also feature Harbhajan Singh, on Bolt’s side, and will be ‘anchored’ by Ajay Jadeja.
“You’re coming all the way to India to challenge me. Should I be excited or should I be worried?” Yuvraj asked Bolt on Twitter.
“Speed coming your way,” was the Olympic 100 and 200m champion’s only response.
Bolt was not wholly inaccurate in his reply, though. In a charity cricket match in his native Jamaica in 2009, he welcomed his friend and compatriot Chris Gayle with a bouncer before bowling him neck and crop. A little earlier, he’d clubbed Gayle’s off-spin for six on his way to 13.
“I was pretty good as a kid and my cricket coach said I should concentrate on bowling because I was pretty quick running in,” he was quoted as saying. It is a sport, it appears, he follows and enjoys.
“A decent cricketer,” Curtly Ambrose called him (and it would be unwise to disagree with him).
Anticipation is high in the city and there has been great clamour for passes to the event.
One senior track and field coach, though, wished Bolt would make a trip to the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. “It will inspire our athletes no end,” he said.