Ganguly, Shah Rukh face-off a crowd puller

Navi Mumbai: The presence of Sourav Ganguly and Shah Rukh Khan drew in a capacity crowd here at DY Patil Stadium on Thursday. None of the previous Pune Warriors home fixtures had seen packed houses, but Ganguly's past involvement with Kolkata, and presence of a strong Bollywood fraternity convinced spectators from both Pune and Mumbai to give the Warriors a grand farewell.

It took almost eight overs into Pune's innings for the 40,000 plus spectators to enter the ground.

Venue Manager Shyam More confirmed that most tickets were sold a week prior to the game. "This is the first and only packed house we have had this season. I don't think people have come in because this is Pune's last home game.

"They came primarily because of Shah Rukh, and Ganguly, and the fact that he's playing against his former team also caused a buzz," said More.

"We were struggling to draw in big crowds because most games have been on weekdays and driving to DY Patil Stadium is not an easy task for people from both cities (Mumbai and Pune).

"Ganguly played in the last game but the ground was not even half filled, but playing against Kolkata has made a huge difference," added More.