Mumbai: The ICC Cricket World Cup fever has hardly subsided in India when the next cricketing wave, the Indian Premier League, is set to create frenzy across the country.
Huge hoardings welcome everyone for the IPL inauguration on April 8 here and first match that will be held on April 9.
With Mumbai being the home of Mumbai Indians, huge billboards of the team with skipper Rohit Sharma in clenching his fists, flanked by Harbhajan Singh, Hardik Pandya, yorker hero Jasprit Bumrah and Corey Anderson, can be seen at almost all traffic junctions.
Indian fans consider the IPL as their own tournament and the pride of the nation.
IPL has garnered a lot of attention over the years, especially off the field, given that some Bollywood stars are also team owners. Inviting one and all for the opening ceremony of the IPL at the National Sports Club of India in Worli, Mumbai, are posters with pictures of film actresses Jacqueline Fernandez and Katrina Kaif, actor Ranveeer Singh and singer Yo Yo Honey Singh.
All those likely to perform at this event have been holding press conferences, not only to project themselves, but also to highlight what they plan to do at the IPL opening night.
Ranveer Singh, known for his highly energetic shows, announced during a Vivo phone launch that he will be using imported technology for his stage performance on Friday night. “It is a special interactive graphic technology. We have designed the whole act around it, and infused a cricketing flavour into it.”
Amid all this showbiz, there is also a battle going on against staging the IPL in Maharashtra. A Public Interest Litigation has been filed at the High Court stating that when the whole state is facing acute water scarcity, the IPL that consumes nearly 6 million litres of water to maintain the pitches, should not be held. The petitioner wants all matches in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur to be shifted out of the state. A verdict over that is expected any time soon.
There were also some interesting snippets on IPL. The latest being that actress Pallavi Sharda, who acted recently in the film ‘Hawaizaada’, will be the face of the IPL’s popular show ‘Extra Innings.’ She was also part of the Australian Big Bash League and ambassador of Melbourne Renegades team.
To ensure that spot-fixing or betting scandals like what happened in the 2013 edition are not repeated, IPL Chairman Rajiv Shukla has announced that during IPL, phones of all players will be tapped and put under surveillance.
For the first time, fans will also be allowed to give their verdict on a pending decision with every spectator being given placards of ‘out’ and ‘not out’. Though the decision of the third umpire will be final, the majority opinion of the spectators will also be displayed on the giant screen.
American Singer Chris Brown and musical group Major Lazer have just confirmed their participation in the opening ceremony of the IPL. Brown is known for his hit tracks ‘Loyal’ and ‘With You’.
Tickets for the opening match at Wankhede between Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants are said to be selling like hot cakes.
