IPL off to an electrifying start

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Bangalore, Mumbai, Apr 18: As you drive out of the Bangalore airport, among the clutter of festoons and banners of political parties for the upcoming Karnataka polls, there is one red hoarding that stands out. Welcome to the home of Royal Challengers, it reads.

Much before the first ball had been bowled in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the ‘King of Good Times’, liquor baron Vijay Mallya, came out with a recipe for making the inaugural match between Bangalore’s Royal Challengers and Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders a huge success. From draping the famous Chinnaswamy Stadium, a turf of many battles, with red colour, to getting Washington Redskins perform, Bangalore is giving a royal toast to one of the biggest extravaganzas in the short-form of cricket.

The inaugural show went live at 6.30 pm at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, with cricket commentator Charu Sharma as the master of the ceremony. The red-orange striped stage was set high up for visibility. The first trio to hit the stage and give an electrifying performance was music director Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. The packed stadium shrieked, screamed and cheered as they broke into famous Bollywood numbers. Next was a special act by the Redskins who were flown in from Washington. Draped in white, purple, midnight blue and fluorescent green, they spread all around the ground–accompanied by a live band. Their acts included air-trapeze, a laser show and songs. The show ended with crackers going up in air from all corners of the stadium, creating a ring of fire.

After this, former cricketer Ravi Shastri introduced captains of the eight teams, who then signed the MCC spirit of cricket.