Sourav Ganguly clears the air about Amitabh Bachchan controversy

Kolkata’s Eden Garden hosted the epic clash between India and Pakistan in the World T20 2016. The match was the 11^th meeting between the arch-rivals in World Cups. The match was a star-studded event with former cricketers like Imran Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar attending the match on the invitation of Cricket Association of Bengal’s president, Sourav Ganguly.

Also present on special invite was India’s biggest star Amitabh Bachchan, who was present on the ground to sing the national anthem of India before the start of the match. For Pakistan, singer Shafqat Amanat Ali was invited to sing the Pakistani national anthem.

After a wonderful and soulful rendition by Shafqat, Amitabh Bachchan took center stage and as he began to sing India’s national anthem, everyone present in the ground and people watching on TVs at their homes must have felt goose bumps. Making full use of his impressive baritone, Amitabh Bachchan captured the attention of all the fans in the stadium.

After that we all witnessed a brilliant game of cricket where the Indian bowlers restricted the Pakistanis to 118 and then chased down those runs on a difficult pitch and facing some of the best fast bowling by Pakistan. The hero of the match was Virat Kolhi who made 55* and kept India in the hunt till the end.

After the rendition of national anthems finished and during the match, a report started circulating on the social media that Amitabh Bachchan was paid a sum of Rs. 4 crores in lieu of singing the national anthem. The report went viral suggesting that fans were disgusted on reading such reports and called the actor’s act of patriotism a sham.

But today, the CAB president Sourav Ganguly himself put the rumors to rest, by officially giving a statement that Amitabh Bachchan didn’t charge a single penny for singing the national anthem, in fact, he paid for the whole trip, tickets and hotel himself.

Leading Bengali newspaper Anand Bazar Patrika quoted Ganguly, he said, “Mr Bachchan is one and only, a special person. I am eternally grateful to him” He further said, “Can you ever imagine someone paying Rs 30 lakhs of his own pocket to perform? He booked his own flight, bought his own tickets and even paid the hotel bills. I literally begged him to take some money but he said that I am doing it for love and there is no question of money being involved”.

Ganguly said that Bachchan insisted on rehearsing before the start of the match, despite the downpour and storms.

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