KOLKATA, Apr 2: The ‘City of Joy’ opened its heart to the cricket world as a dazzling Bollywood-style opening ceremony kicked off the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here today, with American rapper Pitbull and superstar Shah Rukh Khan stealing the limelight.
The city let its hair down with SRK, Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone grooving to the desi moves, leaving the healthy turnout at the Salt Lake Stadium enthralled.
It reached a crescendo when the evening’s biggest attraction of them all, Pitbull, took to the stage.
The 120,000 capacity football stadium transformed into a magical kaleidoscope of Rabindra Sangeet, Bollywood dance, songs and, above all, unfettered enthusiasm as the 2013 leg formally opened with all the nine team captains taking the ICC Spirit of Cricket Pledge, ‘Play hard, play fair’.
Flying drummers, Chinese percussionists, fireworks were the some of the other attractions that were on offer for the event.
After that a collection of balloons rose slowly and smoothly into the hot air above to the sound of drums, music and the cheers of people, with a performer carrying the winner’s trophy.
The 1 hour and 45 minute extravaganza, which was high on entertainment, have surely made the 60,000-plus turnout forget the controversial build up cash-rich T20 league.
The opening though, at times, appeared to have fallen short of the standards Khan had promised prior to the event.
Divided into six segments, the evening began with Khan doing a poetic rendition of popular Rabindra Sangeet Aguner Paroshmani with the popular poetry ‘Where the mind is without fear ” being played in the background.
As is the tournament’s wont, the build-up to this edition, too, had been blighted by controversies, but the gala opening has has put to rest all apprehensions.
The evening started with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lighting the ceremonial lamp in the presence of a host of dignitaries, which included BCCI president N Srinivasan, vice-president Arun Jaitley, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla, Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya, besides the cricketers.
Khan, who is also the brand ambassador of the state besides being a co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, thanked Banerjee for her support and said, “I’ve always said our performances are in the periphery before the real show (cricket) begins.”
It was a flying female performer’s acrobatic descend on the dais with the trophy that stunned everybody. The performer handed the trophy to defending champions KKR’s skipper Gautam Gambhir.
All the captains beginning with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, skipper of the most successful franchise Chennai Super Kings, signed on the ICC Fair Play pledge.
Padukone made an appearance on the stage from the cutout of her mask as she danced to the tunes of the ‘tumi ho tumi ho shakha’.
Katrina made an entry on a chariot as the crowd roared to the tunes of her popular dance numbers in the long Bollywood segment.
Khan kept everybody waiting before making his entry after 45 minutes into the ceremony with the popular ‘main hoon don’ number.
“The IPL is not only about excitement, it brings the happiness wherever we go. I am not going to stop now but will continue to dance to the party,” Khan said while dancing to the tunes of ‘main hoon naa’, ‘kuch kuch hota hai’, and ‘baazigar’ among others.
Khan then invited veteran artists Bappi Lahiri and Usha Utthup, who added to the euphoria with yesteryear hit songs such as ‘hari om hari’ and ‘rambha ho’.
The show concluded with American rapper Pitbull making the youngsters in the audience groove to some of his peppy numbers.
Before that, 300 dancers lit up the evening with gala performance to Pritam’s music in the opening act, aptly titled ‘Poetry in Motion’.
Hundreds of drummers flew in an acrobatic act. There were about 120 performers from across the world, including 19 Red Poppy artists and a band of Chinese percussionists, who brought the atmosphere alive with their performances.
It was technology that came into the fore in the third segment, titled ‘IPL Universe’.
A huge balloon with the IPL logo embossed on it went up into the air as nine balloons (read planets), representing the franchises, made it look like a universe with about 400 artists performing on the stage.
The chartbusters ‘Sheila ki jawani’, ‘chikni chameli’, ‘zara zara touch me’ and ‘chammak challo’, made all danced to their tunes in the Bollywood segment. Much to the delight of those present at the venue, the dose of entertainment continued unabated with international rapper Pitbull performing some of his hits like ‘let’s start the party’.
Earlier, all roads led to Asia’s largest stadium on the EM Bypass as people made a beeline to the venue, leaving the traffic choc-a-bloc since 5.30pm when the gates were open.
As the crowd poured in, local artists set the tone for the evening chanting ‘It’s Kolkata. We will make maximum noise…’ even as record breaking track of Gangnam Style by PSY was belted out.
Security arrangement were at its tightest as the spectators were screened about 10 times before entering into the venue. (PTI)
INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE
Date/Time Match Venue
03 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils Kolkata
04 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Bangalore
05 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Sunrisers Hyderabad v Pune Warriors Hyderabad
06 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals Delhi
06 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians Chennai
07 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Pune Warriors v Kings XI Punjab Pune
07 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Sunrisers Hyderabad v Royal Challengers Bangalore Hyderabad
08 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders Jaipur
09 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Royal Challengers Bangalore v Sunrisers Hyderabad Bangalore
09 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils Mumbai
10 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings Mohali
11 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders Bangalore
11 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Pune Warriors v Rajasthan Royals Pune
12 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Delhi Daredevils v Sunrisers Hyderabad Delhi
13 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Mumbai Indians v Pune Warriors Mumbai
13 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore Chennai
14 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Kolkata Knight Riders v Sunrisers Hyderabad Kolkata
14 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab Jaipur
15 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Chennai Super Kings v Pune Warriors Chennai
16 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders Mohali
16 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils Bangalore
17 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Pune Warriors v Sunrisers Hyderabad Pune
17 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians Jaipur
18 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings Delhi
19 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kings XI Punjab Hyderabad
20 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings Kolkata
20 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rajasthan Royals Bangalore
21 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians Delhi
21 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Kings XI Punjab v Pune Warriors Mohali
22 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals Chennai
23 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Royal Challengers Bangalore v Pune Warriors Bangalore
23 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab Delhi
24 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians Kolkata
25 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Chennai Super Kings v Sunrisers Hyderabad Chennai
26 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab Kolkata
27 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Rajasthan Royals v Sunrisers Hyderabad Jaipur
27 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore Mumbai
28 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders Chennai
28 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Delhi Daredevils v Pune Warriors Raipur
29 Apr 2013 (16:00 IST) Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore Jaipur
29 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab Mumbai
30 Apr 2013 (20:00 IST) Pune Warriors v Chennai Super Kings Pune
01 May 2013 (16:00 IST) Sunrisers Hyderabad v Mumbai Indians Hyderabad
01 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders Raipur
02 May 2013 (16:00 IST) Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab Chennai
02 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Pune Warriors v Royal Challengers Bangalore Pune
03 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals Kolkata
04 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Sunrisers Hyderabad v Delhi Daredevils Hyderabad
05 May 2013 (16:00 IST) Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings Mumbai
05 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Rajasthan Royals v Pune Warriors Jaipur
06 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore Mohali
07 May 2013 (16:00 IST) Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils Jaipur
07 May 2013 (16:00 IST) Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders Mumbai
08 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Sunrisers Hyderabad v Chennai Super Kings Hyderabad
09 May 2013 (16:00 IST) Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals Mohali
09 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Pune Warriors v Kolkata Knight Riders Pune
10 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Delhi Daredevils v Royal Challengers Bangalore Delhi
11 May 2013 (16:00 IST) Pune Warriors v Mumbai Indians Pune
11 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Kings XI Punjab v Sunrisers Hyderabad Mohali
12 May 2013 (16:00 IST) Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore Ranchi
12 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings Jaipur
13 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Mumbai Indians v Sunrisers Hyderabad Mumbai
14 May 2013 (16:00 IST) Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab Bangalore
14 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils Dharamsala
15 May 2013 (16:00 IST) Kolkata Knight Riders v Pune Warriors Ranchi
15 May 2013(20:00 IST) Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals Mumbai
16 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils Dharamsala
17 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Sunrisers Hyderabad v Rajasthan Royals Hyderabad
18 May 2013 (16:00 IST) Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians Dharamsala
18 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Royal Challengers Bangalore v Chennai Super Kings Bangalore
19 May 2013 (16:00 IST) Pune Warriors v Delhi Daredevils Pune
19 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders Hyderabad
PLAYOFF WEEK
Date/Time Match Venue
21 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Qualifier 1 – TBC v TBC (1st v 2nd) Chennai
22 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Eliminator – TBC v TBC (3rd v 4th) Chennai
24 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Qualifier 2 – TBC v TBC Kolkata (Winner Eliminator v Loser Qualifier 1)
26 May 2013 (20:00 IST) Final – TBC v TBC Kolkata
Follow our WhatsApp channel
