A day that most football fanatics were desperately waiting for, the Pepsi T20 Football grand finale was finally here. 17th June 2012 was one day that created history both for Delhi and football. A game that was different within its format, the fun involved came out to be the biggest event that India had witnessed as of yet. World’s finest football player Drogba showed his presence by being a part of the grand event.
The day was fun filled with loads of energy and charisma spreading out through out the venue. From the long queues to celebrity buzz to cricket fever and non-stop entertainment are just a few words that I can express. The show kicked off with loads exciting stuff and was hosted by the magnificent and super talented VJ Nikhil Chinapa. The format of the game consisted of eight participating teams throughout the country, battling to win the title in the first of its kind cage football championship.
The venue was one of the key motivator for people to be a part of the event, an indoor stadium that gave people comfort while watching. The crowd enjoyed things that were more than the game with interactive characters Mr. Bhukkad, Bak Baki Betty, Delhi Boy and Daring Diana. Bhukkad was big foodie we kept on blabbering about food, he even tried to take away my sandwich but I luckily escaped his trap. Celebrities both from Bollywood and the Indian Cricket Team that included Ranbir Kapoor, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Baichung Bhutia and Harbhajan Singh. All these sparkling entities made the people on the stands go crazy and wild.
Music was felt at its best with Sivamani and his crew giving a mind-wobbling act that kept the pace high. Fresh ‘Desi’ tunes kept the crowd dancing on their feet.
Drogba was the key highlight, his speech literally made the crowd shout and cheer for him like anything. I saw people waving off their tees and jerseys to express their love for the guy who is simply best at the sport of football. Also, Drogba captured moments from the entire stadium as a token love that he could carry on his way from India.
The online fun was in place with people tweeting second-by-second happenings on Twitter. It was twist when we got to hear stuff from Pepsi India’s Twitter handle on when Drogba landed with fun contests and whacky tag lines for Drogba and Dhoni as team. I also loved their hashtag (#pepsifootyfinale), the name itself invoked me to continue tweeting as much as I could.
The game ended with two finalists out of the total teams and our very own SGC Delhi winning the match. Delhi crowd was simply uncontrollable to express the joy, the entire buzz poured in with blast at one go. To roll it all up an all celebrity match kept the momentum high before everything came to an end.
Delhi witnessed a big day full of chirpiness, excitement and thrill that had finally come to end. Pepsi has yet again changed the game in style.