As the excitement builds up towards season two of the IPL, what could one be looking forward to? Maybe the big sixes. Maybe the cheerleaders. Maybe a dash of controversy. Or maybe the First Ladies Club of the glitzy league that has shattered the myth that cricket is an all-men club.

She has only jumped onto the IPL bandwagon this year, but Shilpa Shetty is making an appearance in the arc-lights quite often, dancing to the tunes of a new video one day and unveiling the new outfit for the Rajasthan Royals on the other, increasingly comfortable talking cricket.

“I only want to wish the players a safe journey and hope they play well and put their best foot forward,” she says.

Shilpa Shetty’s Bollywood rival Preity Zinta is now a veteran at talking cricket. The owner of Kings XI Punjab is quite a ‘hands on’ boss as was seen last year. But she too can make quite a song and dance about her boys. So the African Safari this year seems to agree with her.

“Last year it was fantastic to see everyone get together for the first time,” Zinta says. “I think this time it’s only going to be bigger, better and stronger because everyone knows each other now and it’s a lot of fun.”

The other Bollywood diva with a finger in the IPL pie, Juhi Chawla, isn’t heard often, instead letting co-owner Shah Rukh Khan do most of the talking for the Kolkata Knight Riders. But she and a few others are sure to be seen cheering their teams on in South Africa.

“It’s quite different from any other matches taking place anywhere else in the world,” says IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. “We have a lot of entertainment and top-quality cricket at the same time. I think it is going to be non-stop carnival atmosphere from the start to the end.”

The IPL’s First Ladies Club will clearly be worth keeping an eye out for.
Source – cricketnext.in.com