Amitabh Bachchan’s commentary stint during the highly tom-tommed India-Pakistan World Cup match last Sunday was more than just a promotional gimmick. True, the broadcasters Star Sports had pulled off a coup by getting Bollywood’s most enduring star to agree. But for the thespian himself I believe it was a dream come true.

A week before the match I had interviewed Bachchan for the channel NewsX when he was promoting his new flick Shamitabh. Word had already been out that he would be doing commentary when the arch rivals from the sub-continent played each other.

We spoke of his unusual assignment. ``You’ll are the experts, I have to listen and learn’’ he said modestly. But he sounded excited. Like grown ups who end up owning fancy cars which they’ve played with as dinky toys when they were kids, I think Amitabh was enamoured about cricket commentary.

I couldn’t confirm this from him, but there are some tell-tale signs. Avid moviegoers might remember a scene from one of his megahits Namak Halal in which he launches into a 3-4 minute monologue of cricket commentary as it used to be on radio in the 1960s and 70s.

In this he parodied (as the script demanded) Vijay Merchant’s unique delivery style, but he did it with a verve and assurance that showed that, apart from being an actor with a wonderful sense of timing, he was also serious follower of the game.