Despite all the hue and cry, cheerleaders are here to stay in cricket. The Indian Cricket League (ICL) Tuesday has chosen Bollywood’s sex siren Rakhi Sawant to lead its cheerleaders’ squad ICL Zeebras which will be present at every match of the second season of the league that begins at Hyderabad Oct 10. There are eight other cheerleaders in Rakhi’s team- Ritika, Preeti, Jessica, Geeta, Richa, Sharvari, Jayshree and Sangeeta. They will perform across all the match venues of Gurgaon, Panchkula, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. Sawant has personally auditioned and hand-picked the squad members and their performances will be designed by a Mumbai-based choreographer.
“Cheerleading is not just tamasha (mindless drama). It is a sport by itself. Until now, it was the exclusive domain of the international cheerleading troupes. But, thanks to ICL, This country will now have an indigenous cheerleaders’ squad,” Sawant said in the statement.
“It was after my performance at Panchkula during ICL’s Season 1 that I saw a huge opportunity for a possible Indian cheerleading squad,” the actress said.
“That dialogue resumed a few months later and culminated in the formation of the ICL Zeebras. I can’t wait to don my Zeebra outfit and break into a jig every time Rohan (Gavaskar) or Raviraj (Patil) hits a six. I am sure, this will be one cheerleading squad that the country will remember for a long time,” she added.
Shariq Patel, ICL’s senior vice president (Marketing & Operations), said. “Cheerleaders have a significant role to play in the modern context of sports. The ICL Zeebras squad includes some extremely talented and graceful dancers. I am confident that this synergistic initiative between cricket and entertainment will formulate a completely new experience for sports fans of the country.”
