IPL-3 opens with a bang

MUMBAI: Last but not the least. Maestro Sachin Tendulkar was the last of the eight IPL-3 captains to sign the Spirit of Cricket board but the got the loudest cheers from the packed 55,000 DY Patil stadium when the event was inaugurated with much fanfare on Friday night.

The next best cheers were reserved for Deepika Padukone, who showed she could have been a gymnast if not a baddy star like dad Prakash should sport had continued to catch her fancy. The suppleness she showed when dancing some of her famous numbers showed how serious she took her job. She had been rehearsing till midnight on Thursday.

International performers Lionel Richie, Ali Campbell of UB40’s and Bjorn Again produced a ‘dhamaka’ that could only be rivalled by the fireworks that came at the tailend of their performances.

Performers wearing LED costumes brought a glow to darkness. A brief video collage titled “Journey of IPL” showed willowy cricketing figures in outlines on black. Like the film positives of the past.The great action shots the ghostly figures depicted was symbolic of the dhamaka that is to come in the days to come as the real business of T20 cricket gets under way.