Kolkata crowd keen to watch Sachin's maiden IPL at Eden

Kolkata, Apr 28 (UNI) Can Mumbai stop their losing streak, four in a row, when the truncated side takes on host Kolkata at Eden Gardens in floodlights tomorrow.

Kolkata Knight Riders learnt a lesson in Chepauk losing by nine wickets to M S Dhoni's Chennai side after first two emphatic victories over Banglaore and Hyderabad on April 18 and 20 respectively.

Ganguly and his boys returned yesterday and already had a round of strategic talks with coach John Buchanan on how to get back into the winning combination.

All overseas players- West Indies captain Chris Gayle, Australian Brad Hodge, Pakistan's Salman Butt and Omer Gul- have arrived and are eager to play.

Already four foreigners- Ricky Ponting, Brendon McCullum, David Hussey and Mohammed Hafeez- are in the first eleven. IPL rules say only four overseas players can play for a side.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who returns home after tomorrow's play, had scored only 20 runs in the first match and no runs in the subsequent plays. New Zealander McCulllum would also go back like Ponting as they have to play for their country in next month.

Mumbai, a side worth of 111.9 million dollars, would fly to Kolkata today after a record 10-wicket lose at home to Hyderabad, latter's first win in four plays, probably play at Eden without beleaguered Harbhajan Singh and captain Sachin Tendulkar, who is yet to don colours in the IPL.

After stand-in-captain Harbhajan Singh was locked in alleged slapping controversy with S Sreesanth of Mohali, now awaits for adjudication in Delhi today. Former South African captain Shaun Pollock came in to lead but realised how hard to move with a truncated side.

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