IPL is planning a grand opening on Friday the 18th when the Knight Riders meet the Royal Challengers at Bangalore. With Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid facing each other as rivals for the first time - it will indeed be a spectacular scene.
The opening ceremony will kick off at starting 18.30, when all the captains will come together at mid-pitch to jointly read out a pledge reaffirming the IPL’s faith in the spirit of cricket. There will be speeches by Ray Mali, the ICC president, Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, and IPL Chairman Lalit Modi.
The opening ceremony will consist of fireworks, stilt walkers, aerial gymnasts, performers in a bubble suspended over the ground and of course with a major Bollywood presence with Shah Rukh Khan the owner of Kolkata team - Knight Riders and some of his friends, Preity Zinta, co-owner of the IPL Mohali franchise - Kings XI Punjab. Shankar-Ehsan-Loy the music directors from Bollywood will perform throughout the ceremony even as the other performers go through their acts. And your guess is right - the key role behind sich an extravagant opening is played by none other than the Liquor Baron Vijaya Mallaya.
The most dramatic moment comes after the end of ceremony when all the floodlights are switched off at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and the two skippers walk out for the toss just under spotlights.This is really something unique and will add sufficient drama and excitement just before the match - a kind of Roman arena where gladiators use to sweat out in a fight till the end atmosphere.
After the toss, a couple of players from the fielding side will talk directly with the TV commentators during the match. However we have seen this before and is good value for the Tv Audience.
Bangalore is also waiting anxiously for the 12 cheerleaders from the Washington Redksins, the ‘First Ladies of American Football’.
So what we will find here is a mix of glamor and cricket and personalities which is planned to be presented with professional touch adding new colors to the serious game of cricket and maybe reflecting the true image of IPL. One thing for sure is that the audience will never feel bored in this kind of an event as also the match itself will have enough firepower within it.
We can only hope that this event will not be marred by faceless politicians crowding the stage to grab some limelight again. All the best to the two teams Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers and also for the millions of cricket fan waiting breathlessly for the IPL League to start.
Shahrukh Khan like others hates defeat and we cant agree more. His latest dream is winning the IPL Trophy and he is dead serious about it. SRK said recently that IPL is a completely new venture for me. If it was a movie, he would have been tension free, but this is cricket and he barely knows anything about it. So he got a little worked up about the ticket sales initially. But when the experts told him that it these are initial hiccups and will be done away with during the course of the tournament due to growing craze, he felt relieved. His only concern was that my fans and Kolkata people have no complaints with me.
SRk and Dada has taken all steps to ensure that their team performs at their very best level starting from the first match and the first game of IPL. With Bipasha and Rani cheering the players and over 100,000 supporters feeling up the Eden Gardens it is really difficult for any opponent to hold their nerve when Knight Riders plays at their home team in Kolkata.
SRK also said that this being the first year he is still trying to come to terms. It will atleast take two to three years to get used to things. he mentioned that he was not worried about money but there are other unsolved issues which he wished are taken care of at the earliest.
Srk on his part has been kinf enough to inform the Cricket Association of Bengal that we wanted to keep the price low. Members habituated to free tickets would however show some apathy as they now have to pay but Rs.100.00 or approx 2.5$ a match is peanuts. It would have been much better if SRK simply ignored the low turnout of CAB members and instead given those tickets to school and college kids. SRK also said that his team is targeting the youth and so he wanted to ensure that the youth could afford the tickets. We have heard that in comparison to movie tickets, the ticket price of cricket matches is much higher - he said.
Unlike Preity and Ness he is not going to sell tickets - SRK affirmed that he has a different role to play. He said that he is an entertainer and will entertain the crowd. Cricket is capable in itself. It doesn’t need stardom. He confirmed that he will keep his focus on how to attract the audience to my team.
Thats indeed a very encouraging staement from SRK and will long way with Kolkatas youth as Cricket will surely add the much needed hue and color to their otherwise staple diet of stale politics.
Cricket fever or shall we call it IPL fever is fast spreading among Calcuttans. With D-day approaching and the Kolkata Knight Riders’ players sweating it out under the watchful eyes of John Buchanan at the Eden, the demand for tickets has increased further.
The entire quota of tickets that went on sale for Sunday’s match was sold out within hours of the counters opening on Monday. It was the first day tickets were made available to the public.
Long queues snaked around the Eden from morning and several people were disappointed after counters downed shutters. With more people expected to show up on Tuesday, the police bandobast will also be enhanced.
A total of Rs 8 lakh worth of tickets were sold from the 18 counters during the day. Tickets worth Rs 110 and meant for the players were also made available to the public besides Rs 220, Rs 335 and Rs 665.
Tickets for the Knight Riders versus Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad) match will again be on sale from Tuesday.
“The demand has attained gigantic proportions. The sales on the net are also very encouraging. The way things are going we are expecting a full house on Sunday,” said a spokesman of Knight Riders Sport Pvt Ltd.
The CAB is also anticipating a boost in sales once Sourav Ganguly and Ishant Sharma start practising.
The former India captain returned to the city early on Monday morning. He stayed away from the Eden but enthusiastic fans had gathered around the stadium from early afternoon in hopes of catching a glimpse of their favourite Dada. Instead they had to be satisfied by cheering on the likes of Ricky Ponting and Brendon McCullum.
The Knight Riders’ captain is already focusing on his job at hand after a successful Test series. “I’ll get into Twenty20 mode once I practise for a couple of days,” Sourav said to The Telegraph, Kolkata.
He did not foresee any problem in leading a team comprising stars from various countries. “It is, after all, the same game of cricket. Here also one plays with the bat and the ball…”
Sourav also played down Shoaib Akhtar’s absence. “Umar Gul is in our team. He will serve us well,” he also added.
On Bengali New Year’s Day, he also hoped the coming year would turn out to be an even better one for him.
Sourav is expected to be present when the team plays a practice match on Tuesday. Ponting and McCullum will lead the two sides.
Its quite a challendge to feel up Eden Gardens, but with SRk’s charisma, Sourav;s popularity and Ccricket crazy public, anything is possible.
Shah Rukh Khan the owner of IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders is worried over problems with IPL.
In an interview to the Kolkata News Paper ABP - Ananda Bazar Patrika he said - ““I never thought so many problems would crop up when I bought Knight Riders. I was not prepared for these circumstances. I do not want to blame any organisation or association. But, a rosy picture, removed from reality, was painted to me.”
According to SRK, he was given an “unreal and rosy” picture about the IPL by Lalit Modi and team when he had decided to take the plunge into this megabuck tournament. What has taken him completely off-guard is the response to his team’s matches at the Eden Gardens.
“I’m quite disappointed with ticket sales of the first day. I was really surprised that only 237 tickets had been sold at the counter. I am truly finding it difficult to accept this. I have never, till date, requested my fans to go and see my films. I am a bit surprised as to why, despite keeping the ticket prices low, people are not showing any interest,” a puzzled SRK said.
We don’t think SRK has much reason to worry about - people will definitely turn-up for the match. What is required at the moment for IPL to correct their adamant and arrogant media property approach. Someone should rise up to the occasion and prevent Lalit and his act of greed in trying to monopolize the media. And with Media coverage anything and everything is possible.
SRK came up woith strong support for Shoiab yesterday saying that the charges against Shoiab is not so serious to disallow him from playing the Indian Premier league. “I will talk to Lalit Modi to reconsider the decision,” said Shah Rukh, who is owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders team, for which Shoaib has been roped in to play.
He said the charges against the fast bowler are not so serious that his presence could create a negative impression in the minds of young cricketers.
“It is a ban related to his behaviour and I hope things get sorted out in our favour,” Shah Rukh said.
“Shoaib is a great player and I would like to have him back. I don’t know why he cannot play. I want him in the team as he is very important for Kolkata Knight Riders,” Shah Rukh said.
“I know I am allowed to take another player but I want Shoaib back,” the superstar said.
Earlier in the day, Modi, Chairman of IPL’s Governing Council Chairman, told reporters that the speedster cannot take part in the high-profile Twenty20 competition, beginning from April 18, till the PCB lifts the ban on him.
“A big discussion on Akhtar has taken place. The decision of the Governing Council was very simple that Akhtar has been banned for a period of five years, he has appealed and till the time he is cleared, the Governing Council will not be allowing Akhtar from playing in the IPL,” Modi said.
The absence of Shoiab takes out much color from the Kolkata IPL team, Knight Riders and who knows that the low demand of tickets for the seven matches of IPL in Kolkata maybe a reflection of this.
