Cape Town waiting for the celebrity Invasion
IPL to produce fevered festivities for S.Africa
CAPE TOWN (AFP) — Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi promised Wednesday a non-stop carnival atmosphere at this year’s tournament in South Africa.
There have been fears the Twenty20 event would lose some of its character because of the forced move across the Indian Ocean owing to a clash of dates with general elections that could have compromised security.
However, Modi insists South Africans can expect a continuous party with organisers looking to raise the bar in terms of festivities.
“The entire IPL second season is going to be like a carnival,” Modi told AFP from his base at a five-star Cape Town hotel.
“We are kicking off on Thurday with a parade through Cape Town, when we will embrace and meet the people and interact with them.
“The entire atmosphere in every ground the minute you enter the stadium, and the minute you leave the stadium, is going to be like a carnival with festivities all round.
“There are going to be performers outside the stadium, around the stadium walls, inside the stadium at every match. In the intervals you will have live performances by musicians.
“So we are taking it a notch higher.”
Pakistan’s absence will affect IPL following – Ramiz (Cricinfo staff)
Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has said the absence of Pakistan players in the IPL in South Africa will seriously affect the television viewership of the event in the country. Though the players will miss the entire tournament, they will be engaged in a limited-overs series in the UAE against Australia starting April 22 and Ramiz hoped the interest will pick up after series ends.
“The event’s moved out of India, there are no Pakistani players playing, so the interest in our country has definitely gone down,” Ramiz told AFP. “With hardly any international cricket in mid-May the fans will turn towards the IPL and the GEO Super sports channel showing the matches is also drumming up the event.”
The captain Younis Khan – a member of the Rajasthan Royals last season – added that the Indian fans too will miss not having them around. His team-mate Sohail Tanvir was the leading wicket-taker in the competition last year.
The Pakistan Cricket Board had earlier banned its players from participating in the IPL after the country’s relations with India deteriorated after the terror attacks in Mumbai in November. When the tournament was moved out of India – over security reasons – the Pakistan players were hopeful of returning but IPL officials said it wouldn’t be possible as the squads had already been finalised earlier.
Cricket WAGS and IPL glitz set for Cape Town
In a bid to glitz the tournament up to the hilt, IPL chairman Lalit Modi has spared no costs to get fans into the stadiums and retain the global TV audiences that made the inaugural Twenty20 tournament a success.
So it was no surprise when Telegraph Sport learnt that Modi has spent lavishly in South Africa as the opening ceremony approaches.
According to one insider, the IPL commissioner asked for more advertising space around Cape Town but was told that he had already taken out every available slot.
Cape Town is no stranger to the rich and famous and the IPL teams will stay at the lavish and recently-opened One and Only, the city’s latest five-star venture.
As soon as you leave the airport, advertising for the new hotel hits you straight in the face. The hotel is constructed on two artificial islands and features restaurants operated by Gordon Ramsey and Nobu Mastsuhisa, the world renowned celebrity chefs.
CAPE TOWN (AFP) — Cape Town is readying for the biggest celebrity influx of the year as the off-field stars of the Indian Premier League (IPL) converge on the Mother City.
As a popular holiday destination and film-shoot location, Cape Town is no stranger to the rich and famous, but with the glamorous Twenty20 tournament due to start here Saturday, the city is set for a different sort of invasion.
The eight teams in the Indian competition are owned by some of the biggest Bollywood stars and richest people in the world, who will stay at Cape Town’s new five-star hotel, One and Only.
Officially opened by local hotelier Sol Kerzner just two weeks ago, One and Only was built with celebrities in mind, and extravagant rooms cost between 610 and 3,880 dollars per night in the low season.
The IPL task team are camped at the hotel as the tournament approaches, and confirmed that celebrities were expected to arrive from Tuesday.
“All the franchise owners, Shah Rukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Preity Zinta, the Ambanis, will arrive today,” organisers told AFP.