Salman, acrobats, laser show lend glamour to IPL final

Mumbai: Though Shah Rukh Khan was not there, fellow Bollywood actor Salman Khan danced with a bevy of starlets to popular chartbusters amid razzmatazz, setting the tempo before the start of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) final between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals here on Sunday.

Salman, always a crowd puller, had the audience swaying as he performed to songs from his forthcoming film with an entourage of 24 dancers in the background. Kim Sharma, Shamita Shetty, Dia Mirza and Sameera Reddy also shared the stage with him at the DY Patil Stadium in Nerul.

They also danced to the theme songs of the eight teams that participated in the first edition of the IPL.

His performance was followed by those from four trampoline acrobats, eight German wheels and eight German spinning wheels.

The multi-million-dollar IPL opened in Bangalore on April 18 with similar touches of glamour, leading to the 'cricketainment' that inaugurated the new chapter in the history of the game.

A laser show with 40 giant flames, followed by four para gliders and a fifth stunt man preceded the finale which had 16 dancers, all stunt artists.

Then it was the turn of the battery of IPL commentators, who made their presence felt in multi-coloured kurta-pyjamas.

Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar led the team of commentators, which also had Ravi Shastri, Arun Lal, Damien Fleming of Australia and Rameez Raja from Pakistan.

Speeches from International Cricket Council (ICC) president David Morgan, Indian cricket board president Sharad Pawar and IPL chief Lalit Modi over, it was time for folk dances.