Cheerleaders cheer for South over North

Life can get tough for the 50-odd IPL cheerleaders with the heat, cheering crowds and a whole lot of attention. But they take the good with the bad. And the good, for them, is Bangalore, according to a straw poll of their favourite centres conducted ahead of Wednesday’s game between Rajasthan and Delhi. Hindustan Times reported that Bangalore was rated their favourite city while Mohali, the suburb of Chandigarh, ranked at the bottom. “The Mohali crowds get very crude and nasty,” one of the cheerleaders told the paper, “they look as if they’ll get violent.” The atmosphere in Bangalore was described as “excellent” and Mumbai was voted their second favourite city. Another north Indian city, Delhi, was deemed as just “okay” by the cheerleaders. So could there be any connection to the fact that Mumbai and Bangalore are currently the top two teams in the IPL?