Say jeers! Politicians take the cheer out of IPL

CHEER COSTS DEAR: CNN-IBN panelists debate if cheerleaders degrade the game of cricket.

J & K | Chhattisgarh | Delhi | MP |
Mizoram | Rajasthan

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Bedi said cricket is entertainment and cheerleaders add to the entertainment. "They don't demean baseball or basketball in America and they don’t demean cricket," she said.

India is not America, said Guha. Cheerleaders "disrobing" in America and disrobing in India is not the same. "There are cultural differences. We in India don't have to accept every thing from the West."

Advani called the cheerleaders "gross obscenity" and saw no reason why India must import Western concepts of entertainment. "Tomorrow, somebody will demand gay and lesbian parades in India. Is that what you want to teach the next generation of India," she said.

Cheerleaders were not an issue in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa. If they seem to be all over the game during IPL it is perhaps because telecasters choose to focus their cameras on them, said Bedi. "Perhaps cheerleaders should be more modestly dressed, but Twenty20 has brought in lot more fans for cricket." The focus is on cricket.

Agreed, Guha. “Let us focus on the game, not the cheerleaders,” he said.

Results of SMS polls question: Do cheerleaders demean cricket?

No: 70 per cent

Yes: 30 per cent

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