IPL cricket teams parade in the streets of Cape Town

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bollywood  and cricket Superstars combined in a colourful, star-studded parade through Cape Town on Thursday as the 2009 Indian Premier League made its high-profile brash entrance.
Nine floats, one for each of the eight teams plus one for the IPL, made their way along one of the main streets, accompanied by energetic Indian dancers and brass bands drawn from the local community.
More than 150 cricketers were in attendance, as were Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty, part-owners of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals respectively.

Hundreds of people lined the streets to watch the parade, which launched festivities that will run until the grand final in Johannesburg on May 24.
One of the tournament's initiatives aimed at maintaining the flame-buoyant atmosphere is the introduction of a Miss Bollywood South Africa competition with contestants drawn from fans attending matches.
The idea came from IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, who has employed the help of the three Bollywood idols associated with the tournament.
"We're looking for someone who has the star quality to stand out in a crowd, probably without even trying that hard," Modi explained at the launch of the concept in Cape Town.
"It's that special, almost indefinable, quality that makes someone a star more than a beauty queen that we are looking for.
"One Miss Bollywood of the Day will be found at each of the 56 round-robin matches and stands a chance of winning a trip to India, a role in a Bollywood film and 5,590 dollars.
"Star searches like this are a really great way to find people who may never even have thought that they have what it takes to really make it big," said Khan, the so-called 'King of Bollywood'.
"The heart of our idea is to search the crowd at IPL matches for someone who has the attitude and appearance that automatically draws the eye.
"It will be the kind of person who is not necessarily showing off for the camera, but who can mesmerise even total strangers.
"The announcement of the winner will be shown during a 'strategy break' and will be declared Miss Bollywood o