Refined cheers
With so much hue and cry around the cheerleaders in some parts of the country, the focus obviously was on the Washington Redskins girls at the Chinnaswamy stadium. The girls from the US, however, seemed oblivious to all the attention surrounding them. If anything, they were much more refined in their steps. While the Redskins had been all at sea dancing to Kannada numbers in the first match here, they looked in better sync this time around. Obviously, their best moves were reserved for their own beats.

Players are the Kings
The entertainment show prior to the match may not have been a patch on the opening ceremony, but there was enough for those who bothered to care. Noted sufi singer Kailash Kher enthralled the crowd with some of his popular numbers from Hindi movies while the dazzling laser show mesmerised the decent gathering.

But if there was any doubt about what brings public to the ground, it was put to rest when the Bangalore Royal Challengers trooped on to the ground for a warm-up session. With due respect to Kher's ability to get the audience on their feet, it must be said that the biggest cheers were reserved for the players. Even as the singer was in the middle of his song, the crowd put their vocal chords to test, virtually shutting out Kher's voice. It was a pity that there was no acknowledgment from the players. Certainly, a wave will not cost them much, but will certainly make the fans' day.    

Enthusiastic emcee
Not even the sparse gathering could douse the enthusiasm of the emcee for the evening. With barely a couple of thousand present, he started giving out the list of dos and don'ts for the public, including the clause on racism. A formality, but very necessary too in these days of strict moral policing!