Celebrity cricket

Shilpa Shetty

The sultry actress, who co-owns the Rajasthan Royals with her London-based husband-to-be Raj Kundra, has expressed her deep disappointment over the fact that her squad won’t be able to play on home ground – India’s pink city of Jaipur, Rajasthan – due to the change of venue.

“It’s sad that we’re not going to be able to play in Jaipur, which happens to be our home ground. But I’d like our fans to know that it was a decision that wasn’t left to us to take,’ Shilpa, 33, posted on her blog recently.

All the same, the lissome lass isn’t about to let the venue issue hamper the promotional activities for her team. The winner of Britain’s Celebrity Big Brother series in 2007 has just shelled out a hefty amount to shoot the rousing team anthem Halla Bol.

She can afford it. After paying US$16.4mil (RM59mil) early this year for a 12% stake in the Rajasthan Royals – champion of last year’s inaugural IPL tourney – Shilpa went on to launch a luxurious spa in Mumbai.

The Bollywood beauty, who is said to be tying the knot with jewellery tycoon Raj in October, is also busy working on the joint Indian-Chinese production, The Desire. In the film – her first in English – Shilpa portrays an Indian classical dancer who falls in love with a Chinese artist played by Xia Yu.

Preity Zinta

With her film career seemingly on the decline, it’s a smart move on the actress’ part to plump for an extension of her public life through the IPL extravaganza. Last year, the 34-year-old and her industrialist boyfriend Ness Wadia bid for and won the Kings XI Punjab team for US$76mil (RM273.6mil).

Preity Zinta being interviewed before a cricket match between India and New Zealand in Napier, New Zealand, on March 3. Her involvement in the sport has elevated her profile. – Reuters

Known to be a hands-on owner – quite literally – Preity hugs, kisses, pats and consoles her boys in full public glare. She even wiped the tears off Sreekanth’s face when the latter was given a resounding slap by the intemperate Harbhajan Singh at one of the matches last year!

Clearly, here’s a maiden who bowls people over.