An army of star sportsmen and actors will descend on Delhi to promote the Commonwealth Games 2010.

The organising committee has sent out invitations to 17 personalities.

“We have chosen people involved with sports — either on screen or on field and we are not paying anybody any money at all for the promotion,” said Suresh Kalmadi, the chairman of the organising committee. New names, though, may be added in the list, he added.

For now, letters have been sent to prominent personalities - sportsmen and actors.

None of the current cricketers, however, have made it to the list. Instead, the organising committee has approached former cricket stars Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar.

Pugilist Vijender Kumar, chess player Vishwanathan Anand and golfer Jeev Milkha Singh are part of the list as well. Tennis stars Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati and shuttler Saina Nehwal have been invited too.

The Bollywood bouquet includes music director A R Rehman, who has been

selected owing to his Oscar win. Rehman was also supposed to hold a concert to kick off the 'One-year to go' event. The concert was cancelled as part of austerity measures.

“Aamir Khan has been invited due to his Lagaan which showcased cricket and Shahrukh Khan promoted hockey in his film Chak De. That is why we invited both Khans,” Kalmadi added.

The list of invitees also includes Deepika Padukone and her father Prakash Padukone. Senior Padukone has been a badminton legend, whilehis daughter played national-level badminton before joining films.

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