IPL-ayers go Gangnam
With star-studded opening ceremonies, glamorous cheerleaders and funfilled after-parties, the Indian Premier League has always been an exciting combination of action with the right dose of entertainment. Though that doesn’t seem to be enough for players this year.
Gone are the days when a high five was enough to celebrate a wicket, a six or a century. A bit of running around, hugs and high jumps are passé and Gangnam style, popping-n-locking, hip-hop, baby dance and bhangra moves are in.
This season IPL players are not shying away from breaking into victory dance on field. Be it Virat Kohli, Harbhajan Singh, Parvinder Awana, Sreesanth, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard or Darren Sammy, they all break into quirky dance moves during the match every now and then. And cricket lovers are gung ho about their dancing skills.
“Recently when Harbhajan sent Chris Gayle, one of the best scoring players in IPL, back to the pavilion in a match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, it was awesome. But when he broke into a bhangra Gangnam style, he gave his fans an added treat. I never knew that cricketers like Virat Kohli and Harbhajan could be such good dancers,” says Anika Mishra, a cricket fan.
While victory dance is very common in soccer matches, it’s still a new phenomena for cricket players. Another ardent cricket follower Manil Gupta says that he had been waiting for cricket players to show some moves on the field. “My brother and I follow each and every match and celebrating a catch or a wicket with some funky dance moves is something we have always done. But seeing these cricketers on field doing the same is all the more fun,” says Manil, who adds that Bravo is the best dancer of all.
If Sreesanth of Rajasthan Royals is famous for his dancing skills, Darren of Sunrisers Hyderabad is gaining popularity for his baby dance, which he did recently while playing against Rajasthan Royals.
This is the first IPL season that musician Jasmine Saxena is following thanks to Virat Kohli and Darren Sammy’s victory moves. “I am a musician and have never found cricket matches so entertaining. The first time I saw Sammy dance I was hooked to it. And then I loved seeing Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle doing the perfect Gangnam Style during their match against Pune Warriors India. They were just too cool. I believe players dancing is lot more fun than just breaking records,” says Jasmine.
However, Akhil Gautam insists that such quirky moves dents the intensity of sport. Chris Gayle started this trend and now other players are coming up with their own versions of celebratory moves that seem to dilute the earnestness of play, he says.
“Once in a while is fine. But now there are too many victory dances on the field. I find IPL more entertainment than sport now. Celebrating after winning the game has been a norm but dance moves after every wicket is a bit too much I guess,” adds Akhil.
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