Enter Sahara Pune Warriors

The unveiling of the Pune team for the next IPL season was a grand affair,with over 50,000 attending the naming ceremony at SP College Ground,belying fears that the IPL controversy will cast a shadow on the event.

The by-lanes all around the venue were completely packed with vehicles of those who turned up to witness the event.

Clearly,the Warriors will have a boisterous support for all their matches next season.

The event,hosted by Bollywood personalities Mahesh Manjrekar

and Urmila Matondkar,kicked off with a

cultural programme.

A speech by Surendra Bhave,one of the selectors of the Indian cricket team,followed. Bhave,a Punekar himself,shed light on the cricketing history of Pune.

Subrata Roy,chairman of Sahara Group — the company that owns the Pune team — mentioned several reasons why the city is close to his heart in his speech. It was followed by the main event — the official unveiling of the team name,which was greeted with loud cheers from the massive crowd. And all these,despite that the entire function had been delayed by a few hours. The crowd did not seem to mind the wait as they cheered in anticipation of the Sahara Pune Warriors taking on teams like the Royals,Indians and Super Kings in

IPL 2011.

Flags bearing the team name and logo were distributed among the crowd that then took to waving them enthusiastically,creating an awesome sea of white at the ground.