Mumbai/Shimla: Scantily dressed cheerleaders may have added to the fizzy cocktail of cricket and film stars at IPL cricket matches but they have stirred a moral debate with political leaders calling them "worse than bar dancers" who are making a "mockery of cricket."
Special: IPL 2008
The cheerleaders who have been specially flow in from the US have earned the ire of actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha and the Maharashtra unit of BJP raising questions whether these girls would be allowed to perform during the coming matches in Mumbai. The saffron party demanded a ban on the shows by the cheerleaders who have been described as "cricket's item numbers."
Describing their performance as an "indecent dance", Sinha said it is "difficult to find cricket in these matches" and it is making a mockery of the sport.
For more news, analysis click here>> | For more Science and Medicine news click here >>
"If you are so interested in deploying these cheer girls who dance after hits of fours and sixes, it is better to give chance to the bar girls who became unemployed after Maharashtra government banned their dance in bars," Sinha said.
Maharashtra BJP president Nitin Gadkari raised the issue in the state Legislative Council prompting the government to say it will consider a ban on shows by cheerleaders in Mumbai during the matches.
"The show by the scantily clad girls was nothing but vulgar dance and they are worse than bar dancers," Gadkari said.
But BCCI Vice President Rajiv Shukla saw nothing wrong in the cheer girls adding glitz to a racy game of cricket. "There is no harm if they dance when a boundary or a six is hit since it is all entertainment," he said.
Some cheerleaders who were in Hyderabad for a match took the attack on them in their stride, especially their skimpy outfits, saying what they were doing is their profession. "I have seen similar outfits in Bollywood films in video clips," a girl who called herself Sam said.
For more International news click here >> | For more Political news click here >> | For more Offbeat news click here >>
| Slide Shows | Columns | Calendar
Share | 
Print | Rate 
