Redskins Shake for Red Royal Challengers of Bangalore

The first edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) saw some of the cheerleaders from USA in various city's in the country cheering for their team and also ensuring that the cricket crazy fans of the country got a look at what all cheer leading is all about. The Vijay Mallya owned Royal Challengers of Bangalore roped in the NFL Redskins from the Washington to dance and cheer the red from toe to head team through out the month long cricket gala.
The Redskins came a swiped away the crowd and also their cricket team. At the end of the month long event the owner of the team Vijay Mallya was left red faced from his red team’s performance ending up as the second best team from the bottom. It was all red every where and that’s why in all probability VM as he is known in Bangalore circles choose to bring down another US Varsity cheer leading team the ‘White Mischief’ this time around in the ongoing second edition of the IPL. But with three games gone for the men in red have managed to win only one so far, looks like VM will have to look for another team in the third edition too.
Anyway that is far fetched as of now. Take a back seat to have a close look at some of the pictures taken by me of the redskins during the first edition of the IPL in Bangalore.

BACK GROUND OF REDSKINS

First Ladies of Football
From the Redskinettes to the First Ladies of Football, the Redskins Cheerleaders are the longest running cheerleading team in the NFL. Founded in 1962, and originally named the Redskinettes, this team has brought worldwide recognition to the Washington, D.C. area, the Redskins football team, and the NFL.

The Redskins Cheerleaders team for the Bangalore Royal Challengers pose exclusively for the Mumbai Mirror and the Bangalore Mirror editions.

Partnered with the largest and most prominent Alumni Association among cheer leading teams--in 2008 over 1,000 strong--the women who have cheered and continued to support the Redskins have also helped raise millions since the team’s inception and support more charities and community events every year.
In the most powerful city in the world, the most popular professional sports team is only a part of FedEx Field. The Washington Redskins Cheerleaders are growing across the country and around the world. They are lighting up the airwaves and the media with new routines, uniforms, attitudes and have raised the bar of excellence for every other NFL cheer leading squad.

The Redskins Cheerleaders team for the Bangalore Royal Challengers along with their Director and Choreographer pose exclusively for the Mumbai Mirror and the Bangalore Mirror editions.

Adorned in burgundy and gold, flanking the field on every side and executing routines that would make even the fastest football player gasp for air, these ladies strive for one thing--to make a difference.

The Legacy
The Washington Redskins Cheerleaders are the oldest active cheer leading organization in the NFL. On September 30, 1962, 30 talented and beautiful women made their debut as the Redskinettes. As they marched down the field in their Native American costumes to join the band, they stepped into history and the tradition began. In their 45-year history, these ladies have become the most talented, innovative and personable in the NFL.

The Redskins practice at the Chinnaswamy stadium grounds the home to the Bangalore Royal Challengers. These cheerleaders spend hours training and stretching so that they stay in shape and perform at their best at any given point of time.

In the early 1980s, the Redskins Cheerleaders toured China to promote American-made products; toured Turkey, Italy, Sicily, Spain and France as part of the USO; filmed TV commercials for Sassoon and Barbara Ellen; were featured on the David Letterman’s Top 10 list and won the ESPN celebrity pool tournament. They have been featured in National magazines such as Newsweek, FHM, Ebony, Black Hair Magazine, Salon One, Cosmopolitan, Maxim and Sports Illustrated; performed with Country Grammy award winner Gretchen Wilson, Latin sensation Ricky Martin, Larry King, Jerry Lee Lewis, James Brown, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, the Pointer Sisters and Nancy Reagan; and filmed two E! Channel specials, are the stars of Comcast SportsNet show “Beauties on the Beach”, Are the Champions from the battle of the NFL Cheerleaders at the 2007 Super Bowl and were featured on the NFL Networks Cheerleader Challenge. Men’s Journal called the 2007 squad the Best in the NFL and Michael Strahan wrote in his book that the Redskins Cheerleaders are the Hottest in the NFL.

The Redskins perform for the Bangalore Royal Challenger fans before the start of the match between the Rajastan Royals who eventually became the IPL inaugural winners.

Who is interested in the match: The Bangalore Royal Challenger fans taking a close look at the Redskins performing even as Cricket takes a back seat. At the end of the nights match the fans went home with red cheeked and goose pimples on their face after watching the redskins performing with their eyes wide opened without an wink for more than 5 hours.
With their international appeal and stardom on the rise, the First Ladies of Football have transformed into the NFL cheerleaders of the millennium by breaking new ground with their sleek new style and amazing talents. From the simple, yet very visible redesign of the uniform, to the rejuvenated commitment to charity and community, these ladies have established themselves as the premier squad in the NFL.

THE INDIVIDUALS OF REDSKINS

Jenny sports the Redskins ring and is also one of the key members of the Redskins Cheerleaders team. Jenny is a mother of two children and fell in love with India during her month long stay.

Klohver one of the key members of the Redskins Cheerleaders team for the Bangalore Royal Challengers. She is a lawyer by profession.

Barbra (left) and Sooin (right) are key members of the Redskins Cheerleaders team for the Bangalore Royal Challengers. They are the main ones according to their team leader who make the best moves.

IF FANS CAN HAVE FUN I TOO CAN FROM A CLOSER RANGE: Rajastan Royals Player Shane Watson looks at the Redskins cheerleaders perform to the cheering crowd at the inaugural DLF - IPL match between the Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Saturday 26th April 2008.

Dhoni Stumps Cop

This story just so happened that I was covering the IPL match between the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Chennai Super Kings that at the end of the game Shivamani along with his troupe ran into the ground and a police constable in mufti tried to stop him than a spat happened between the Indian cricket team captain M S Dhoni and the cop. I quickly started to freeze them in my camera. The next day when I tried to ask DCP B N S Reddy who is a good friendof mine, told me how Dhoni apologized and also gifted a batting gloves to the cop later. This was a great story and I thanked Reddy and requested him to put me onto the constable which he readly obliged, later I thanked him for the great IPL story he had given me and my co-writer Niranjan.

At the IPL match between the Chennai Super Kings and Bangalore Royal Challengers, the Indian and Chennai skipper M S Dhoni was bowled over by a constable’s sincerity and sense of duty.

All the melodrama will be etched in his memory for a long time to come. And there is the memento too that constable Shivakumar will cherish for ever, First an altercation with none other that Indian cricket Captain Mahender Singh Dhoni and, then, as the marquee cricketer realized that Shivakumar was just doing his duty the profuse apologies followed by the spontaneous gifting away of his batting gloves, still drenched in sweat and with his initials on it, to the dumb-struck cop.

Constable Shivakumar stops Shivamani and his troupe from setting up the drums in the center of the field soon after the Chennai Super kings beat the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

As one of the security men on duty during a IPL match between the Royal Challengers and the Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy stadium, scarcely could Shivkumar have expected all this to happen. The whole incident spanning less than a minute became a memorable experience for Shivakumar, a constable at the Special Branch of Cubbon Park police station. As soon as Royal Challengers’ Praveen Kumar was declared run out, the ecstatic cheerleading team of Chennai Super kings led by ace drummer Shivamani rushed on to the field with drums in their hands.

Chennai Super Kings Captain M S Dhoni argues with constable Shivakumar even as Shivamani sets up his drums at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore during the IPL match.

DOING HIS DUTY
Perturbed over this apparent breach of security, Shivakumar, who was on duty in mufti, alerted the other officials and tried blocking Shivamani and his men from rushing on to the field. Angry over this and not really aware of his identity, Dhoni picked up a verbal altercation with Shivakumar that led to a few tense moments on the field. But, when the DCP (Central) B N S reddy intervened and revealed to Dhoni who Shivakumar was, the Indian captain regained his normal cool.
Explaining the situation to Bangalore Mirror, Reddy said, “while cordoning off the area for prize distribution, the constable only did his duty and followed orders. He could not distinguish between Shivamani and others. I and Dhoni might know Shivamani but what about the constable? He was scared about three to four persons running on to the field. As per the rules, no one other than the players and umpires is allowed to enter the field. When all others were rushing on to the field, how can he keep away from discharging his duty? ”

Chennai Super Kings and Indian Cricket captain M S Dhoni asks the constable Shivakumar to keep away from Shivamani and pushes him aside.

The police sources said that the officials were initially scared thinking that there might be explosives hidden inside the drums. Moreover, the intruders had no right to be on the field. Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Shivakumar said, "Dhoni came to me from the back and mistook for a commoner. Without knowing me as part of the security, he started arguing with me. When I showed him my ID card he was ok. Also the DCP intervened and helped in settling the issue. I am a big fan of Shivamani and I knew him, but I was afraid about others running in along with him."

Constable Shivakumar being asked by a official of the Chennai Super Kings to leave the ground even as DCP B N S Reddy explains the who Shivakumar is to Indian and Super Kings captain M S Dhoni.

MAHI GIFTS HIS GLOVES
That was not the end of story. The DCP said “ After the prize ceremony, Dhoni himself came to me expressing his nwish to meet the constable. But I was taken by surprise and a bit scared too about the condition of my staff. So I also went along with him to the dressing room. But Dhoni, drenched in seat took out his gloves, signed ‘Mahi’ on it and presented it to the constable and shook hands with him.”

After realizing his mistake the Super Kings and the Indian Cricket Captain M S Dhoni put his arm around the constable who was shouted for doing his duty (left) and constable Shivakumar shows the batting gloves with MAHI signed on it gifted to him by M S Dhoni later the same night (right).

It was a unforgettable evening for Shivakumar who joined the department just five –years ago. “My first posting being Cubbon Park station, I have covered many tests, one-day matches and taken autographs of all players. But this is the first time that a player came in search of me acknowledging my duty and presented me with his gloves,” Shivakaumer said.

Special Guest at Aero India 2009

The Aero India International air show 2009 had some special guests apart from the the defense chiefs.

Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor inspects the static venue of the air crafts and also takes keen interest in the Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems display counter while taking a feel of the Helicoat simulator and the Spike-MR (Gill) with range of 2,500m, Spike-LR with 4,000m range. Spike is anti-armour weapons. The weapons are lightweight fire-and-forget anti-tank missiles and use electro-optical and fiber-optic technologies. The systems are used by infantry soldiers, special rapid reaction forces, ground forces and helicopter aircrew.

Defense Minister A K Anthony and MOS Pallam Raju, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshall F H Major along with other senior officials of the Defense ministry at the inaugural function of the Aero show 2009 in Bangalore (left) as he along with Rahul Dravid look at some of the manuvers of the Sarang Helicopter team (right).



Admiral Sureesh Mehta interacts with some of the officials of the Russian Mikoyan the builders of the MIG-35 at the display stall in the Aero India 2009.






Tamil Film actor Ajit was there to have a close look at the static display. He spend more than five hours being escorted by the HAL employees. He claimed that he was a very personal visit and that's why he was sporting a moustache along with the beard so that he will be able to hide his identity. Anyway after speaking to for a few moments and requesting him if I could take some pictures of himself freeze framing the Iron eagles on display he obliged and wanted me to picture him with the Sukoi static display plane and mail it to him. After framing him into my Canon-EOS D50, he handed me over his Nikon with a 80-200mm ED lens mounted to shot his pictures. With my pictures taken I parted ways with him and started to concentrate on the air show again.

Billy Bowden Farewell to A V Jayaprakash

These images were shot during the first edition of the Indian Premier league (IPL) during a the match between the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Mumbai Indians at the Chinnaswamy Cricket stadium in Bangalore. This match was going to the last one for AV Jayaprakash who hit the headlines along side Anil Kumble when he became the first umpire in the world to declare all ten wickets in an innings of an test match by the same bowler.
As I had reached earlier than the match scheduled time with rain playing spoil sport and a 1 hour delay in start of the match, this gave me the opportunity to move around and look for some unusual images. So when I saw Brent Frazer 'Billy Bowden', chatting up with AV Jayaprakash, I took some pictures of them together only to be told that he will be standing in his last match as an umpire. This made me to ask AV Jayaprakash to get close to Billy so that I get an better picture of them together. Suddenly AV (popularly called by his friends), started to pose with the hooked finger in typical Billy trade mark.



Umpires Billy Bowden and A V Jayaprakash pose for an picture at the Cinnaswamy Cricket Stadium.



Billy Bowden and AV Jayaprakash watch the pitch being dried up along with KSCA Secretary and the newly appointed CEO of the Bangalore Royal challengers Brijesh Patel (left), and AV Jayaprakash and Billy ask tghe ground staff to sort out a few wet areas (Right) at the Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium in Bangalore.


Billy Bowden signaling a Sixer and a all on the ground four during the IPL match between the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Mumbai Indians. Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasurya of the Mumbai Indians are seen in the backdrop (right).


Flying Billy Bowden signals a wide in typical copy book style at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.
Billy was at his frivolous best and the most active members on the field through out the match which eventually the Bangalore Royal Challengers lost to the Mumbai Indians.