IPL Stars Walk the Red carpet for the IPL Awards Night
Pics by Rons Bantwal
Daijiworld Media Network
Mumbai, Apr 24: The inaugural IPL awards night function was a culmination of the best of Bollywood and the cricketing world with actors and players walking the red carpet at the Grand Hyatt on Friday night.
Actors and cricketers alike walked in with some posing for the shutterbugs while others were in a hurry to get to the party. The crowd-pullers were Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh.
Yuvraj looked dapper in a suit and even spent a few minutes speaking to the media while Harbhajan Singh arrived in a Mumbai Indians T-shirt with jeans and wore a hat. The Bangalore team came in together in their team blazers with Kumble posing with his family for a few shots.
If you thought Lalit Modi is in trouble, it was not evident at the function. The IPL commissioner arrived with a beaming smile and posed for the eager cameramen. His son Ruchir Modi was in tow with three security guards for company.
Franchise owners Vijay Mallya, Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra, Gayatri Reddy and Jay Mehta turned up and showed their support for embattled Modi.
Preity looked stunning in red while Shilpa was spotted in a blue dress. The two biggest stars missing from the event were Team India skipper MS Dhoni and Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar.
Arjun Rampal, Sameera Reddy, Amrita Rao and Dia Mirza were a few of the celebrities in attendance.
The awards night was co-hosted by Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar.
Mallya rubbished match-fixing allegations in the IPL. “I don’t know who is talking about all these match-fixing,” he said adding: “I think there has been lot of drama, hype and sensationalism. I would say this is uncalled for. Even out senior politicians don’t seem to understand the concept if IPL and what it is all about and they jump to conclusion.”
He also backed Modi. “I wish there will be a proper, calm and comprehensive inquiry and people who would read the report of the inquiry will realise that this is a storm that is quite unnecessary,” Mallya said.
And the award goes to...
Jury Awards:
Best Debut Performance: Kieron Pollard (MI); Best Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar (MI); Best Bowler: Pragyan Ojha (DC); Best Dramatic Performance: Harbhajan Singh (MI); Most Consistent Performer: Jacques Kallis (RCB); Best Breakthrough Performance 2008: Brendon McCullum (KKR); Best Breakthrough Performance 2009: Anil Kumble (RCB); Best Fielder: AB de Villiers (DD); Best Ground: M Chinnaswamy; Best Stadium Experience: DY Patil
Viewers’ Choice Awards:
Best Catch: David Hussey (KKR); Best Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar (MI); Best Captain: Sachin Tendulkar (MI); Best Bowler: Pragyan Ojha (DC); Best Commentator: Ravi Shastri; Most Stylish Player: Robin Uthappa (RCB); Most Fan-Friendly Cricketer: Adam Gilchrist (DC); Best Fielder: Suresh Raina (CSK)
Statistical Awards:
Most Economical Bowler: R Ashwin (CSK); Fastest Hundred: Yusuf Pathan (RR); Highest Percentage of Runs Scored in Boundaries: Virender Sehwag (DD)
Captains’ Award:
Legend I Would Want in my Team: Kapil Dev