The show could not be carried on during the innings break as the Sri Lankan innings folded up almost 10 overs before their allotted 50 overs when complete darkness had still not set in. Hence the show was pushed back to the end of the match, but by the time it began most of the spectators had already left.
There was little to appreciate as the stands were filled with mobile phone torchlights even before the real show began. The six-minute show without any theme and loud background music failed to set the stands on fire.
Most of those who filled up the Eden stands on Thursday were not even born when soccer great Pele played at the venue on September 24, 1977. But their chance of revisiting history of that evening when the New York Cosmos Club played local giants Mohun Bagan in an exhibition match failed as the footage of Pele’s skills that flashed across the giant Eden screen as homage to the legend who passed away at the age of 82 on December 29 last year, were of his World Cup moments and little of the Eden match.
The blink-and-you-miss clips failed to rekindle those magic moments. No surviving members of that PK Banerjee coached Mohun Bagan team were also present on the occasion.