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A couple of hours before Pro Kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat's debut match for the Tamil Thalaivas, scores of fans queued up at the ticket counter in anticipation of a theatrical atmosphere that was in store at the Sree Kanteerva Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru.
Sehrawat's return to action in front of his former home fans lasted just 10 minutes, with the PKL star raider stretchered away off the mat after what seemed like a horrible knee injury - but more on that later.
For now, let's focus on why Sehrawat means a whole lot to Bengaluru and its passionate kabaddi fans.
As for those who haven't felt the adrenaline rush at the Kanteerva Stadium, there's a famous 'Konark' hotel that welcomes sports fans from all age groups (this writer would advice you to try the coffee and dosa there), and there's a road that divides the indoor and outdoor stadiums.
Granted, with the Sunil Chhetri-led Bengaluru FC playing their first home game of the 2022-23 Indian Super League season, the fanfare for the football match was nothing short of palpable. Sporting the home team's blue & white colours, the BFC fans wore a mix of anxious and excited looks on their faces, in anticipation of unparalleled entertainment from Chhetri's side.
On the other side of the road, though, it was one man's name that stole the show.
"Pawan Sehrawat match yaavaga idhe?" was a constant question - and for those who haven't grasped Kannada yet - everyone wanted to know what time Sehrawat was due to play his PKL match.
For no small reason, Sehrawat was the talk of the town on a Saturday evening. Since PKL 6, where he put in a title-winning, MVP-winning performance for the Bengaluru Bulls, Sehrawat has been one among the city's favourite sporting superheroes.
Pawan Sehrawat might have moved out of the Bulls, but never from Bengaluru fans' hearts
Franchise teams from Bengaluru have always boasted of some extremely big names, across sport - and kabaddi is no exception. Take the case in cricket, where the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have given the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle a second home.
Even someone who has no idea what's happening in Indian football will have heard of BFC captain Sunil Chhetri. Before anyone jumps on this and creates a fuss, yes, of course, he's also the Indian national team captain, but the Chhetri-BFC emotion just cannot be written off.
Similar is the case with the Bengaluru-Pawan love affair, which stretches across three seasons of the Pro Kabaddi League. Three seasons in a row, Sehrawat topped the raid points charts from PKL 6 to PKL 8, a statistic that is enough to highlight why any kabaddi fan - leave alone the Bulls faithful - would go gaga over watching Sehrawat play.
Sehrawat's return to the mat in Bengaluru for Pro Kabaddi 2022 - exactly 3 years and 2 days after he turned out for the Bulls against the Telugu Titans in September 2019- was bound to draw crowds in large numbers.
Although he had now switched the Bulls' red & black jersey for the Thalaivas' blue & yellow, fans turned up to watch the 'Hi-Flyer' in action. It didn't matter that they were playing against the Gujarat Giants - a team which now has one of India's greatest kabaddi minds at the helm in coach Ram Mehar Singh - all of that was only a challenge in Sehrawat's eyes, maybe.
The Bengaluru Pro kabaddi fans came to watch Pawan Sehrawat dive, fly and enthrall on the mat - only to see him taken away on a stretcher after 10 minutes
Sehrawat came in to raid for the first time in Thalaivas' colours backed by vociferous applause from the Bengaluru crowd, but he came back with nothing but an empty raid.
Soon enough, he was back on the prowl, and even though he picked up only a bonus point, Sehrawat elicited shouts and screams that were a few decibels short of permeating even into the Kanteerva outdoor stadium.
However, that was all on offer from the costliest player in Pro Kabaddi League history.
While attempting a tackle from the right corner position, Sehrawat's leg folded in a really weird, acute angle and he dropped down on the mat, screaming and gripping his feet in terrible pain.
The anguish was writ large among all the members of the Thalaivas' team, who looked on in shock. For the fans, Sehrawat's injury was enough to put a lid on all the noise, and the Kanteerva Indoor Stadium converted from a cauldron of noise to pin-drop silence.
The team physio rushed in and along with the umpires, all of them were waving their arms around like a windmill, calling for a stretcher. Sehrawat continued to lay on the mat, eyes closed and having to deal with a million thoughts that were rushing into his head.
Once he was transferred onto the stretcher, the crowd found some life again, and they broke into cheers as Sehrawat was slowly carried away beyond the mat and away from their sight.
This time though, the cheers meant something else. For many matches, Sehrawat had entertained and sent people home happy with beaming smiles on their faces. On Sunday, the case was the exact opposite.
Pawan Sehrawat fans left the stadiums wearing a rather sad look on their faces, scrolling through social media endlessly to see if there was any update on his injury. Alas, there wasn't, and the Bengaluru crowd will have to wait a long longer to see their kabaddi superhero back on the mat.
