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ICL's Season 2 kicks-off
with a spectacular
opening ceremony
Diwali dawns early in Hyderabad!
Hyderabad|India|October'2008:
The ICL 'Opening
Ceremony' was a sight to behold and an unforgettable experience which will
surely be talked about for a long time to come. 'Diwali' is the Indian 'festival
of lights and sound' which is celebrated by Indians across the country. Although
this vibrant and vivacious festival is a few weeks away, watching the 'Opening
Ceremony' that announced the arrival of the second edition of the Indian Cricket
League (ICL) gave one a feeling that Diwali had dawned early in Hyderabad.
Gracing the opening ceremony were Shri.K R Suresh Reddy, Assembly Speaker, Shri
N. Chandrababu Naidu, former Chief Minister-Andhra Pradesh, Shri Subhash
Chandra-Chairman Zee & Essel Group and Kapil Dev-Chairman, Executive Board,
Indian Cricket League (ICL). Actor Ronit Roy was the anchor for the ceremony.
With the first match to be played between ICL's popular teams, Hyderabad Heroes
v/s Lahore Badshahs, the atmosphere in the stadium was pulsating with
energy. Over 1000 performers displayed their skills in what was an enthralling
event encompassing acrobatics, aerial artistry, Shaolin kung-fu , trampoline
daredevilry upon a heliosphere, and our very own brand of dancers and drummers.
The music was vibrant and every beat was perfectly synchronized by trained
international and national artists in a choreographed extravaganza which was an
amalgamation of lights, sound and a visual spectacle that was nothing short of
sheer bliss to the senses.
Trampoline artists were roped in from Ukraine doing somersaults in such perfect
harmony that it looked like they were puppets being controlled by unseen strings
from above.
Aerialists from the United Stated climbed up to the roof of the stadium using
nothing but a thin piece of cloth. These fragile and gifted women displayed the
sensuousness of ice-skaters; only they were 20 feet from the ground with nothing
but their many years of practice saving them from a deadly, if not fatal fall.
Yet gracefully they enthralled as they always do.
Shaolin Monks from monasteries in China brought their brand of kung-fu to India
reminiscing the era of Bruce Lee. Their physical endurance and apathy to pain
was a sight to behold as they performed a choreographed set with props like
swords, sticks and their very own bodies.
'Phoenix Productions', a group trained in 'playing with fire' took their art and
craft and converted it into a scary yet visually aesthetic act that sure set the
fireworks at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, quite literally.
With all these acts simultaneously vying for camera-time and a chance to
enthrall our senses, a trampoline artist set off on a heliosphere which hovered
around the stadium. The gifted female artist did flips, somersaults and
acrobatics taking the ICL to a 'different height'.
And let's not forget our very own Indian performing artists from the Shiamak
Davar Institute of the Performing Arts (SDIPA) – (aged 5 to 21) danced to the
beat of Bollywood tunes and not one of them missed a step, count or footing. So
professional were they that they single-handedly kept the audiences glued to the
TV screens.
The drummers from the south of the country played violently and made the entire
stadium come alive with the beat of their drums, announcing the ICL's arrival
with fanfare and oomph. Over 100 of them beat their dholaks in an effort to
breathe life into the ICL yet again and it was their pulsating rhythm that
announced to the entire world that the ICL is here.
In this way, like Diwali, the whole world participated in the Opening Ceremony
of the Indian Cricket League with performances and acts that will linger in the
recesses of the mind for a long time to come with such and awe and splendor
that's both unrivalled and unmatched, just like the brand of cricket it
unveiled.
From October 10th to November 16th, the ICL 20s Indian Championship in Season 2
will see a total of 41 pulsating matches being played at four international
standard stadiums in - Hyderabad, Panchkula, Gurgaon & Ahmedabad. A prize money
corpus of Rs.13.72crore for 'ICL 20s Indian Championship' was announced
recently. ICL promises to make this Season 2 an unforgettable experience for TV
viewers, spectators & cricket lovers across the globe. The 9 teams comprising of
the newly added Dhaka Warriors will play against each other once in every city.
In India, Zee Sports will telecast all matches live in Hindi, while Ten Sports
will do the same in English. Along with Zee Sports & Ten Sports, BTV & ATN
Bangla will telecast matches in Bangladesh, Gateway in North Africa,
Telkom-Malysia & Astro in Malaysia, Fox Sports in Australia, Zee Music in UK,
Zee TV in Africa, Zee Sports in USA, Ten Sports in Pakistan & Middle East and
Caribbean Media Corporation in West Indies and Caribbean Islands. Same way ICL's
web partners for this season-www.bollywood.tv, www.glutv.com, www.mypopkorn.com
& www.watchindiatv.com will telecast the matches live.
More ICL News
•Hyderabad
Heroes win the inaugural match
•ICL announces prize money corpus
of
Rs. 13.72crores for 'ICL Season-2
•The ICL Season 2 begins with a
high octane
opening ceremony in Hyderabad
•ICL
Season 2 Match Schedule: October 10 - November 16, 2008
Reachout's News Bureau
October'
2008
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