Cheerleaders add zing to ICL

Panchkula: Often considered the retired army man's abode, Chandigarh and neighbouring Panchkula, at first glance, is just that.

A handful of cinema theatres, markets galore for upper middle-class shopaholics, and a kind spread of gardens in and around the 'City Beautiful', life here generally wears a mundane, sombre look about it.

It gets worse during the winters, when night creeps up early, the chilly wind blowing across making it tougher to get around town, though very small. Youngsters here, though fond of outdoor sports, prefer jumping shops at the Sector-17 market for the evening out.

And going by the turnout each day at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium at Panchkula, where the inaugural Indian Cricket League is on, looks like it has given a reason to rejoice for the locals.

Rs 100 a ticket for a day's double header or Rs 150 for two days, and a packed stadium even on a Saturday night, the ICL seems to have cracked the entertainment code for sure.

ICL's Chairman and former India captain Kapil Dev, for one, is ecstatic with the way the tournament has been received. Hailing from Haryana himself, Kapil is doubly pleased that the first edition of the venture has set foot at Panchkula, though he would have been overjoyed had Chandigarh, too, offered its ground to make it two stadiums rather close by.

The excited faces at the stadium, too, say it all. Cheerleaders dancing on either side of the park, paint-smeared faces, some sporting lion masks to pledge allegiance to local team Chandigarh Lions, and a series of Sikhs wearing turbans of the same colour seated together, and queuing up for autographs of cricketers they have never seen or heard of, have redefined entertainment altogether.

Not even a week into the tournament, but the Indian Cricket League has managed to grab necessary eyeballs, and filled up the stands almost on every occasion. Although the people who it intends or wanted to get a point across may have been caught up in their own ongoing, five-day avatar, the ICL has scored a point when it comes to livening up a town or two.

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