Music, glamour go missing from IPL parties

If the spartan Chirayu Amin didn’t spell enough bad news for the IPL, the Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is fast proving a party-pooper as well. Khurram Habib reports.

If the spartan Chirayu Amin didn’t spell enough bad news for the IPL, the Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is fast proving a party-pooper as well.

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The reason: The restriction on the decibel levels around the Chief Minister’s residence, which is adjacent to the Jai Mahal Palace hotel where the Royals squad members are lodged.

Says a team member, “We have parties after every win at the hotel lawns, but the rule says you can’t play music after 10 pm. It leaves us with nothing except exchanging a few pleasantries over drinks.”

The parties must then be so different from the ones held until last year that went into the wee hours and even comprised fashion shows. The new IPL chairman Amin had put an end to the IPL night bashes saying the focus should be on cricket.

So, the franchises and their sponsors host more informal parties. But do the players enjoy it? “Well, the good bit is that the players are not being forced to attend. But the sad part is it lacks glamour. Worst is the restriction on music. Even if it is early match, at 4 pm, it ends at eight. So the players reach there at about 9 or 10 and hardly get any time. It is alright for guys like Rahul (Dravid); he doesn’t attend these parties, but for players like Ross Taylor and Shaun Tait who like to hang around, it is very boring and dull.”

Most of the stars tend to leave the parties early and everything is believed to wind up by midnight. “Fortunately, for us, there is liquor,” he adds in a lighter vein, pointing to a logo of Kingfisher, who are sponsors of the Royals.