COOL CRICKETISTAS Mandira, Payal and Tulip

Game for it, ladies ?

The Airtel Champions League T20-Season 2 promises to make  cricket a hot favourite among women too

The increasing popularity of T20 cricket among women and the glam added to the sport due to the IPL may just have spurred on more women than ever before to give menfolk company during a match. And how much more excitement the Airtel Champions League T20 Season 2 will create is anybody's guess.

         Ask Tulip Joshi if the IPL has got her, and other women, interested in cricket, and her, and other women, interested in cricket, and she says, "I think so,. To have all your favurite players playing together is definitely exciting. " So even though the Mumbai Indeians and Kolkata Knight Riders are Tulip's favourite teams, she's glued to any match that's exciting enough.

           For women like Payal Rohatgi, who love cricket in all its froms, the game's always been exciting. "but the 20-over matchjust makes things more interesting because of its pace. " Payal also understands how "the glamour quotient and the idea of foreign crickers playing in the same team as the Indians has made the IPL a big hit among the fairer sex. " But what really gets her excited is the idea of an international league of champions with the best cricket teams from all over the world, fighting for the top slot aka Airtel Champions League T20 Season 2. "The T-20 format and the best cricket leagues in the world will be a great combo!" she says.

       And if cricketista Mandira Bedi could choose her favourite teams from Inida for the Champions League, she'd send Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings. She feels, "A T-20 match is a short-team comitment. IT's a three-hour entertainer that women are ready to give their time to."

         Designer Mandira Wirkechoes the sentiment, "T-20 matches are very crisp and to the point, so they've become very popular. The energy in IPL matches is fantastic. At the end of the day, cricket too is entertainment. So, why not amalgamate it with glamour? It's no longer about women changing channels during a cricket match,"She's rooting for the Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils for the ACL T20 Season 2. So, w3ho are you rooting for?