First pictures of the IPL 2 you will see on Instablogs for the first time! Two days before the drama on the field gets underway, the IPL 2 celebrated its presence in South Africa in a multi colour carnival that saw the teams enjoy the party flavour before getting down to the business of the sport.

The venue was the picturesque Cape Town and the atmosphere was one of a carnival. The festivities included the host of performers and the troupes of buses gaudily decorated as floats to hold the respective teams as they waved through the crowds that came out either in support or out of plain curiosity.

While for former players like Jonty Rhodes who is now a consultant fielding coach with the Mumbai Indians, it was a proud moment as a South African while for others such as Shane Warne, captain and coach of the Rajasthan Royals, and Adam Gilchrist, captain of the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, it was a moment to actually draw affection from the crowds of the kind they did not as members of a fierce Australian touring team.

There were cautious moments as well and not everyone wanted to get carried away by the gala atmosphere. Rahul Dravid took the time rather politely to point out to a television commentator that he was no longer captaining the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) team but that Kevin Pietersen was. KP was happy to have South Africa play hosts but his bigger challenge remains turning the crowds, who turned against him after his ‘defection to England’, to turn them in his team’s favour.

Sourav Ganguly sounded a cautious note (unlike Modi who was effusive in his praise of the South African hospitality and the fans, forgetting perhaps the Indian fans who are simmering with disappointment) and stated that while playing in India held a different perspective, his team would try to outperform their last year’s results and give the South Africans something to cheer about.

While Lalit Modi, the IPL Commsisioner, sounded intoxicated the atmosphere as also of the fact that the IPL was getting underway finally, the Bollywood stars held their guard even as they appeased to the fans that turned up to see them. Leading the brigade was Shilpa Shetty with the Rajasthan Royals. She has been making her presence felt.

Also to be counted were Shah Rukh Khan aka SRK for the Kolkata Knight Riders as well as Preity Zinta with her Mohali team, the Kings XI Punjab who incidentally also had Sreesanth dancing on their team bus even though he is not expected to be fit before the tournament ends.

If one thought this was the curtain raiser to the IPL 2, the opening ceremony is a good twenty-four hours away!

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