Kiccha Sudeep: Shivanna works 363 days out of 365; he’s playing cricket for KCC on the other two

Kannada cinema’s Century Star Shivarajkumar has done over 125 films in his career that is 37 years and going strong. He averages about four films a year, and is, perhaps, the only actor in Sandalwood, whose date sheet is blocked for at least 3-4 years on any given day. Despite his crazily busy schedules, Shivarajkumar has set time aside to be a part of the two-day Kannada Chalanachitra Cup that will be held on February 24 and 25.

“Shivarajkumar is the only actor who works 363 days out of 365 in a year and those two days that he isn’t on the set of a film, we managed to get him to come and play cricket at KCC,” joked Sudeep, but then added in all earnestness, “The fact that Shivanna is playing the tournament is not the major thing, it is that he is setting aside time every morning to practice and only then heads to his shooting location.”

KCC will open on February 24 at 2 pm with an inaugural for which Sudeep says he is planning something spectacular, which has never been attempted before. And to keep the mystery alive, he requested media who’ve been covering the training sessions of the teams to refrain from broadcasting the rehearsal for this programme. The first match will begin at 3pm, with each day to have three each.

Match fixtures on February 24

• Ganga Warriors vs Hoysala Eagles
• Hoysala Eagles vs Wodeyar Chargers
• Kadamba Lions vs Rashtrakoota Panthers

Match fixtures on February 25

• Vijayanagara Patriots vs Kadamba Lions
• Ganga Warriors vs Wodeyar Chargers
• Rashtrakoota Panthers vs Vijayanagara Patriots

This time around, KCC has international players like Chris Gayle playing on Sudeep’s team, while Shivarajkumar gets Brian Lara. Herschelle Gibbs and Tilakaratne Dilshan are also among the international players this season.

Zee Network is the broadcast partner, with live telecast to be available on Zee Picchar and online on Zee5. The organizers are looking at tying up with other YouTube pages too, on which the live telecast will be made available, details of which will be announced before the tournament starts.