<h2>Game Face: On&nbsp;</h2>
<p>Making sure the glow matches the legacy on April 12, Sunil Gavaskar gets a quick touch-up before Sunday&rsquo;s IPL game. From chasing 400+ in Trinidad in 1976 to calling the shots at the Wankhede in 2026 &mdash; 50 years later, to the day, his footwork (and skin) is still flawless. It&rsquo;s hard to believe it has been half a century since he and brother-in-law Gundappa Vishwanath both notched up centuries to pull off that historic, &lsquo;impossible&rsquo; chase. Some legends just never lose their lustre!</p>
<h2>From India to Indio</h2>
<p><img title="Diljit Dosanjh at Coachella in 2023" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/apr/sonali-fourteen-april-b_e.jpg" alt="Diljit Dosanjh at Coachella in 2023" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>Diljit Dosanjh at Coachella in 2023</em></strong></p>
<p>The dust is settling on Weekend 1 in Indio, and frankly, we&rsquo;re feeling a bit of FOMO &mdash; not for the desert heat, but for the lack of Indian representation on the main stages at Coachella, California. After the electric high of Hanumankind blowing the roof off last year and Diljit Dosanjh&rsquo;s historic debut a few years back, the 2026 lineup feels a little too vanilla for our liking. While we did spot Lara Raj shining with the global girl group Katseye, and our &lsquo;honorary Mumbaikar&rsquo; DJ Snake will keep the energy high this weekend, the lack of a dedicated Indian marquee act is a tough pill to swallow. It&rsquo;s a far cry from previous years when the Empire Polo Club felt like a home away from home for our stars. We&rsquo;ve seen everyone from Jawan star Nayanthara and the dapper Sahil Salathia to influencer Radhika Seth and soulful sisters Prakriti and Sukriti Kakar grace the desert grounds in the past. This year, however, the &lsquo;Gram&rsquo; feels suspiciously quiet on the desi front. With any luck, Weekend 2 will serve up the surprise representation we&rsquo;re holding out for &mdash; if only in the audience. Until then, we&rsquo;ll just have to keep our eyes on the desert horizon.</p>
<h2>PR Pitch</h2>
<p><img title="Varun Dhawan and Pooja Hegde" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/apr/sonali-fourteen-april-c_e.jpg" alt="Varun Dhawan and Pooja Hegde" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>Varun Dhawan and Pooja Hegde</em></strong></p>
<p>Adding to the wattage at Wankhede, Varun Dhawan and Pooja Hegde were seen working the crowd with practiced ease. While they were ostensibly there for the love of the game, the synchronised appearance screamed &lsquo;film PR&rsquo; louder than the North Stand. It&rsquo;s the classic Mumbai playbook: if you have a movie to sell, there&rsquo;s no better billboard than a VIP box at an MI game.</p>
<h2>Jersey diplomacy</h2>
<p><img title="Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan; Hardik Pandya; Mahieka Sharma" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/apr/sonali-fourteen-april-d_e.jpg" alt="Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan; Hardik Pandya; Mahieka Sharma" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan; Hardik Pandya; Mahieka Sharma</em></strong></p>
<p>Sunday night at Wankhede was less about the wickets and more about the wardrobe &mdash; with the VIP boxes delivering greater drama than the middle order. While Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore clashed on the turf, the stands were a high-stakes face-off of the &lsquo;first ladies.&rsquo;</p>
<p>Anushka Sharma played it cool and classic, cheering on Virat Kohli in a crisp monochromatic ensemble that pointedly wasn&rsquo;t a jersey, while Ananya Birla went full fangirl in an RCB kit next to her. On the other end, Mahieka Sharma kept the cameras busy as she cheered for Hardik Pandya &mdash; opting for a Maje midi dress in MI colours.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As for the other WAGs, the memo was clearly &lsquo;logomania&rsquo; &mdash; lots of Gucci and LV belts paired with oversized sunglasses, because apparently, the stadium lights are just that bright.</p>
<p>The real buzz, however, surrounded Kareena Kapoor Khan. Bebo arrived in MI blue but was spotted heading to her car in a white tee after the game (with Saif, Taimur, and Ibrahim Ali Khan in tow; all still in their MI jerseys). Almost instantly, the internet was ablaze with cries of &ldquo;disloyalty&rdquo; over what was, in all likelihood, nothing more than a quick outfit change. With kids, crowds, and post-match plans in the mix, a wardrobe switch isn&rsquo;t exactly scandalous. But then again, when it comes to Bebo, even a T-shirt is headline material.</p>
<h2>Fifty shades of grumpy</h2>
<p><img title="Vikram Solanki and Harsha Bhogle" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/apr/sonali-fourteen-april-e_e.jpg" alt="Vikram Solanki and Harsha Bhogle" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>Vikram Solanki and Harsha Bhogle</em></strong></p>
<p>Sunday&rsquo;s IPL action also saw a dust-up between Vikram Solanki and Harsha Bhogle. It was the gentleman&rsquo;s game equivalent of a high-society spat over a spilled drink &mdash; entirely unnecessary, but impossible to ignore.</p>
<p>The drama hit a fever pitch during the clash between Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants. During a mid-innings chat, Harsha tried to pivot from technicals to a light-hearted compliment about Solanki&rsquo;s rumoured 50th birthday and his &ldquo;trim and young&rdquo; looks. Solanki, the Titans&rsquo; Director of Cricket and a man of few (but sharp) words, wasn&rsquo;t having the vanity talk. He essentially told Harsha to &ldquo;stick to the cricket&rdquo; and focus on the players, leaving the veteran broadcaster in a rare moment of live-air retreat.</p>
<p>Solanki&rsquo;s defensive stance felt less like a tactical disagreement and more like a coach protecting the professional sanctity of the dugout. While some fans loved the &ldquo;belt treatment&rdquo; for Harsha&rsquo;s banter, others (like yours truly) found it unnecessarily frosty.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In truth, we need both: technical grit and poetic flair, but sportsmanship allows for a touch of warmth too. Cricket isn&rsquo;t just played with bat and ball; it lives in the spaces between &mdash; in stories, in personalities, in moments that humanise the game. A gentle quip shouldn&rsquo;t feel like a boundary crossed, just as analysis shouldn&rsquo;t feel like a lecture. Somewhere between Solanki&rsquo;s stern guard and Harsha&rsquo;s easy charm lies the balance that keeps the game not just competitive, but captivating.</p>

Making sure the glow matches the legacy on April 12, Sunil Gavaskar gets a quick touch-up before Sunday’s IPL game

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Game Face: On

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