Published: Apr 16, 2014, 11:24 AM (IST)
Edited: Apr 16, 2014, 11:24 AM (IST)
Apr 16, 2014
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 did away with the elaborate opening ceremony of its previous editions, preferring to go for a gala dinner instead held in the Emirates Palace. Apart from the cricketers themselves, other guests at the dinner included Bollywood superstars Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone.
Khan, who is one of the owners of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise, told gulfnews.com that he was thankful to their host nation. “What a wonderful city Abu Dhabi is. I need to thank them for hosting us and being so warm and gracious. I wish all the players the very best and I can’t wait to see them create magic on the field,” he said.
The Bollywood duo went on to bring out their dance moves to enthrall the other guests. In characteristic fashion, Khan proceeded to banter with certain cricketers, among them India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Also present at the dinner was former Indian opening batsman and interim-Borad of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, Sunil Gavaskar. In somber tones, he promised that efforts were being made to ensure the integrity of the tournament stayed intact after the spot fixing scandals of the previous edition of the IPL. “We will leave no stone unturned to reclaim the piety in the world of IPL cricket,” he said.
