DUBAI // The toast of Bollywood meets the cream of cricket – and tickets go on sale today.
The Bollywood actor and heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan will headline a private gala dinner in Abu Dhabi to mark the opening of the Indian Premier League.
The Twenty20 cricket league begins on April 16, and the actor will strut his stuff the night before at an event organised by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
The UAE is hosting the first phase of the IPL, one of the world’s richest and most glamorous sports leagues, with eight teams playing two weeks of matches in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
Khan and the Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla co-own the Kolkata Knight Riders, who open the tournament at Sheikh Zayed Stadium against the defending champions Mumbai Indians.
The actor played a star role in the IPL’s glitzy opening events in Kolkata last year and in Chennai the year before.
Khan was the star attraction of the league's street parade in Cape Town in 2009 when South Africa hosted the tournament.
The actor’s impending performance and the IPL’s arrival in the UAE has sent Bollywood and cricket-crazy fans into a tizzy.
“Shah Rukh Khan studied with my elder brother and my children are huge fans of him,” said Vikas Bakshi, an Indian expatriate, who plans to watch the first match in Abu Dhabi.
“Besides we Indians are big cricket fanatics and nothing is bigger than the IPL. We rarely get cricket here,” said Mr Bakshi, who also plans to watch a few matches in Dubai.
Saeed Al Musallam, an Emirati entrepreneur and a diehard Bollywood fan, said he would consider going to Abu Dhabi to see the actor’s team play.
“I watch cricket sometimes but do not follow the IPL because it is too detailed and there too many matches,” said Mr Al Musallam, who played cricket in his school days.
Alya Al Sanad, an Emirati, said she was a huge fan of the Bollywood star.
“I always watch the film awards and his movies. I go to the cinemas just to see his films.”
She said was not a big cricket fan, however.
“I have seen cricket matches but don’t follow them closely. I know how crazy Indians are about cricket.”
Khan, who owns a villa on The Palm Jumeirah, was last in Dubai in December when he kicked off his Access All Areas world tour alongside a troupe of Bollywood celebrities, including Deepika Padukone.
In September, Padukone, Khan and the film-maker Farah Khan spent a month filming at The Atlantis, the Palm hotel and other Dubai locations, for the forthcoming drama Happy New Year.
Tickets for the IPL games will be available online today at the IPL’s website and through Ticketmaster’s UAE website.
From Sunday, tickets will also be available at some Lulu hypermarkets, and then at venue box offices from April 10.
Tickets for the seven Abu Dhabi games at Zayed Cricket Stadium start at Dh20 for a single game and Dh30 for a double header.
Dubai’s Sports City stadium will host seven games, with tickets priced at Dh30 for a single match and Dh50 for a double header, and the six games in Sharjah are priced Dh30 and Dh40.
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