From Ian Botham to Dilip Ghosh, Kirti Azad's Ability To Surprise Remains Intact

If Dilip Ghosh ends up with a stunned look on his face wondering what hit him, he can just go back and watch a four-decade old video of Ian Botham, disbelief written all over the contours of his facial lining. Whether on the 22-yard strip at London's Oval or the corner of a far off political field in the industrial town of Bardhaman-Durgapur, one can't help but marvel at Kirti Azad's ability to put heavyweights in their place.

Leading by over 1.37 lakh votes right now, Azad is set to take down one of BJP's most senior state leaders at a constituency which was anything but familiar to him when he was first declared Trinamool Congress' candidate.

In that World Cup semi-final at the Oval, Azad's famous 'grubber' -- a delivery that remains abysmally low, cleaned up Botham. World's No. 1 all-rounder at that time, Botham could only look back in frustration at his rattled furniture.

On Tuesday, when the man from Bihar is on the verge of decimating Ghosh in a Bengal township, where there is a sizeable population of non-Bengalis, the 65-year-old's win could well be termed as one of the biggest victories for Trinamool Congress.

Those who understand Bengal politics could argue that the former BJP state president was forced to come out of his comfort zone and contest from an unfamiliar territory but then, it wasn't a very familiar zone for Azad either.

Azad had won back-to-back elections for BJP from Darbhanga in Bihar before his open feud with the late Arun Jaitley on the alleged corruption in the administration of Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) led to him switching to Congress.

If his close friend Kapil Dev's presence was a boost during his short but mostly uneventful international career, West Bengal CM Mamata