Chennai: The second season of the cash-rich extravaganza Indian Super League (ISL) got off to a grand opening on Saturday at Chennai's Jawaharlal Newhru Stadium with a blend of music, dance, entertainment, Bollywood and cricket.
It was an evening to remember for the people of southern metro city of India as the ISL management made all the right moves to create the buzz and hype in the city ahead of the extravaganza. Thousand of people were seen entering the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium early in the evening with both Chennaiyin FC and Atletico de Kolkata flags flying high.
The ceremony began with hundreds of children starting the countdown in a colourful manner, and followed it up by unveiling the flags of all eight ISL franchises. That was accompanied by a cultural performance from the women of the state of Tamil Nadu showcasing the city's rich heritage. And adding flavour to that was a sizeable crowd whistling and shouting.
And then it was all glitz and glamour with Bolywood actress Alia Bhatt grooving on foot-tapping numbers from her movies.
It was followed by mascots carrying the flags of eight teams with the anthems of respective teams playing in the background.
Host of the ceremony and Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor then called the team owners of the franchises playing the opening match - hosts Chennaiyin FC and defending champions Atletico de Kolkata (ATK). First it was Chennaiyin boss Abhishek Bachchan accompanied by the their marquee player Elano. With ATK co-owner and former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly giving the opening ceremony a miss because of prior commitments, the team's marquee signing Helder Postiga came onto the stage.
And then came one of the highlights of the evening with the former Miss World and Abhishek's wife, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, gracing the stage performing on a few peppy Bollywood numbers.
The crowd reserved the loudest cheers of the evening for Sachin Tendulkar, who walked up the stage with his fans cheering "Sachin...Sachin." That was followed by a standing ovation for one of the best batsmen the game of cricket has ever seen.
The roar for Tendulkar was matched by one legendary actor Rajinikanth got from his home fans here. He made a grand entry to the stage with a football in his hands and waving to the crowd while riding an open vintage car.
Touching the hearts of the football-loving crowd in India, founder person of the ISL, Nita Ambani, then formally declared the ISL open, saying "Lets Football", which was followed by a huge roar as the crowd got settled for the real action to begin.
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