IPL's blockbuster closing

The people behind the inaugural DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) definitely know how to celebrate and make the sport of cricket very interesting. The concept of the IPL has won millions of hearts with its cricket matches and also with the entertainment angle.

If the opening ceremony of the tournament was a super hit, then the closing at the DY Patil Sports Stadium, Mumbai was a mega blockbuster. The show was sponsored by Reliance Industries Limited and the IPL curtain dropper can be rightfully called the marriage of cricket with entertainment.

There were Bollywood stars, dancing, music, acrobats, paragliding, laser shows and stupendous performances by the Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil (Circus of the Sun), which lit up the stadium before the big cricket action between Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals and MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings began.

The ceremony started with Bollywood actresses in the spotlight. Amrita Arora began by dancing to the tune of Kings XI Punjab's theme song. Her amazing performance was followed up with a sensuous Sameera Reddy shaking her hips to the Kolkata Knight Riders tune.

A sizzling Shamita Shetty followed next and swayed to the Bangalore and Chennai theme songs. While the beautiful Dia Mirza was the crowd's favourite with her dance to the Mumbai Indians' song 'Ala re'.

Once the Bollywood beauties left the stage, the Cirque du Soleil troupe took over with some breathtakingly unique blend of circus styles from across the globe. Next, a dance troupe performed brilliantly to superstar Salman Khan's movie numbers. The star himself took centre stage by promoting his new television show.

What followed next was an eye-captivating laser show, as streaks of different hues came down on the stadium and paragliders dashed the evening sky, carrying the flags of the eight franchisees.

The final night of the IPL was undoubtedly remarkable, first for the phenomenal closing ceremony and then for a humdinger of an encounter between the Royals and the Super Kings. The final ended off the very last ball with Shane Warne's boys getting the better of MS Dhoni's warriors.

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M V Ramakrishna
Posts: 7

Commercial is good
Reply #1 on : Tue June 03, 2008, 00:28:55

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For a long time, India has been behind in ecomomics AND sports. With economy doing well, IPL represents dominance of economics in sports. This dominance will lead to greater fairness in selection, training and hence the final quality of the players and hence the game.

When it is the $$$ that matters, each owner wants to hire the best players instead of caste/regional basis in selections. in years to come I expect Indian cricket to do as good as WIPRO/Infosys/Satyam companies rather than the caste and regional politics riddled public sectors of earlier years as ITI/BEL/etc. etc. companies.

hemant
Posts: 7

utilisation of T20 cricket
Reply #2 on : Tue June 03, 2008, 08:58:04

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ICC, BCCI must utilise the T20 cricket to spread this game globally. If T20 will become popular 2-3 european countries, and 1-2 American countries. U will see Trillion dollar income every year. And only T20 have the potential to beat the football as well as other sports

So utilise T20 properly to increase its popularity in world

Arun O. V.
Posts: 7

The IPL Trophy
Reply #3 on : Wed June 04, 2008, 07:30:20

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The IPL event has been excellent. Kudos to all those involved in conducting it with all glamor and quality.
The biggest disappointment, for me, is the IPL trophy. They say it is the costliest in the world with all the rubies and other jewels, but it really does not look attractive. Try to have something big- like the English Premier League Trophy or even the Cricket World Cup Trophy. The current one lacks charm.
Hope the IPL people will take this in the right spirits and ensure a better one for 2009.

MANGESH
Posts: 7

DULL TROPHY
Reply #4 on : Thu June 05, 2008, 02:48:07

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THE IPL TROPHY IS VERY BADLY DESIGNED,SERIOUSLY LOOK AT THE CHAMPIONS TROPHY OR EPL TROPHY. TROPHY SHOULD LOOK LIKE TROPHY,NOT A PRESENT GIFT.
IPL SHOULD ALLOW MAX 5 OVERSEAS PLAYERS, N THERE SHOULD BE TRANSFER WINDOW. WHY SHOULD TEAM OWNER PAY MILLIONS OF $ to NON PERFORMING PLAYERS.LOOK AT THE BRAINS OF ROYAL CHALLENGERS HAD.

Mohamed
Posts: 7

Closing Ceremony
Reply #5 on : Fri June 06, 2008, 01:14:00

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I missed the closing ceremony. How can I obtain a DVD of the ceremony? Would you be puuting a video on your website?

Rahul Vasudevan
Posts: 7

IPL Television Coverage
Reply #6 on : Sat June 07, 2008, 06:19:28

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The IPL TV coverage on MAX had nothing to boast about other than the presence of Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar in the commentary team along with the likes of Tony Cozier, Robin Jackman and Greg Chappell.

However the pre match and post match analysis (Extraaa Innings T20) lacked any substance with too much Bollywood stuff. It simply wasn't cricket.

Ajay Jadeja was excellent as usual for his insightful analysis, though he wasn't comfortable as a host during the initial part of the league.

There were a few commentators as well who lacked any credibility and who wasn't required in the commentary team in the first place, given that experts like Shastri and Gavaskar had already been released by ESPN Star Sports.

souvik
Posts: 7

The IPL Trophy
Reply #7 on : Thu June 12, 2008, 03:42:49

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, BCCI must utilise the T20 cricket to spread this game globally. If T20 will become popular 2-3 european countries, and 1-2 American countries. U will see Trillion dollar income every year. And only T20 have the potential to beat the football as well as other sports

So utilise T20 properly to increase its popularity in world