Despite initial fears of cheerleaders being antithetical to India culture, they have become part of the Indian Premier League. No match is complete without them loudly applauding every four and six and wicket, often to the tune of a DJ.
Not that they are necessarily cricket aficionados. An American girl cheerleader admitted to have never even known the existence of cricket until she was hired for the season. She also revealed that, despite the glamour they depict during matches, they do not live a high life during their time in India, often forced to stay in one-star hotels infested with rats and cockroaches.
She also complained of unwelcome attention from some Indian men, and of cheerleaders often being treated as sex objects.
And the cricketers themselves came in the firing line after South African Gabriella Pasqualotto opened up about her experiences in the IPL in 2011. Employed by the Mumbai Indians, she started writing an anonymous blog, mentioning flirtatious cricketers at IPL parties who could not keep their hands to themselves.
When a fellow cheerleader ratted her out to the Indians management, Pasqualotto was sacked and sent home. But when she landed back in South Africa, she took to social media to go all out against the IPL management.
She complained that the IPL and Mumbai Indians management preferred to remain silent, and that cheerleaders were treated like pieces of meat. Once people had a few drinks inside them at parties, they misbehaved, assuming the girls were “easy.”
She also complained of being treated like a criminal, and never being given an opportunity to produce her side of the story. Nobody was specifically named, apart from South African Graeme Smith. Nevertheless, her stories made headlines around the world at the time and exposed a seamier side to the IPL.