The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has banned cheerleaders from communicating with the cricketers and also prohibited extra hype at the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). But, an anonymous American cheerleader disclosed her league experience and revealed the negative side of her profession on the social networking platforms Reddit.
The IPL cheerleader went by the moniker IPLCheer. She participated in Reddit’s AMA live chat and revealed the negative side and her experiences in this job. She said, “I’m a bit late for this scheduled AMA. But I’m here! I’ll try to answer everyone’s question. Ask me anything! :)”
Here is the thrilling Q&A event with the IPL cheerleader. Let’s check out her responses:
Q. Do players hit on you?
A. No, they ignore us for the most part. We’re not allowed to talk to each other.
Q. What is the funniest thing you ever saw a cricket fan doing in a stadium?
A. Honestly? I put a blank stare on for the most part when I’m facing the crowd. There are just so many nasty men making kissy faces and taking my picture that I tend to just block it all out. Often I’ll lock eyes with some nice people that are smiling and those are the people I’ll focus on for most of the game. So I haven’t really seen many funny things. If someone genuinely made me laugh though, that would be a welcome thing.
Q. How often do you get ogled in the stadium while dancing? And how do you feel when you get ogled so much?
A. All the time. I hate it.
Q. How did you went on entering IPL and becoming an IPL cheerleader?
A. I’m on a dance contract through an agency in Mumbai. I do background dancing for Bollywood music videos as well. (No, none of them has come out yet) I was thrown into the IPL gig because of my dance background.
Q. As we Indians are quite new to seeing cheerleaders, what are few things about cheerleading that you think we don’t know but should know about?
A. We’re not all sluts. You might get the odd one or two out there in the world, but the mass majority of cheerleaders I’ve worked with are perfectly respectable women. I’m currently not working with any sluts, and for that I’m grateful. They tend to cause drama.
Q. What’s the alcohol situation like over there? Can you just buy a case of beer and bring it back to your hotel room to drink with your colleagues?
A. Some states are dry so you can’t bring alcohol back. But when the states aren’t dry, we have brought beer and vodka back to our rooms to celebrate.
Q. It must be very exhausting to dance every 5 or 10 minutes in searing hot weather. What do you do to keep energy levels high? What’s your diet & training regimen like?
A. The heat gets annoying. I try to embrace it. The energy is just part of the job. We have to appear upbeat even if we’re exhausted. I’m a vegetarian, I try to stay away from too many fried foods and too much sugar, but I do enjoy chocolate and an occasional samosa.
Q. When was the cricket ball closest to you? During a boundary I mean. Are there any experiences with the ball?
A. It’s never been really close, unfortunately. Sometimes I daydream about it coming right at me and I catch it like a badass before going up and dancing. I’d end the dance with a mic drop with my pom-poms and walk off the stage.
Q. Where do you hail from? How has been your overall experience in India?
A. I’m not saying where I’m from to protect my identity. But I’m from a western country. So far I’ve been loving India. I might be a rare Westerner in that I love the chaos here. People are living, kids playing cricket in the streets, goats and cows wandering around, people selling fruits and veggies on corners, I love it. It beats the closed-off living you’ll find in major cities in the U.S. the U.K. or Australia.
Q. Did you ever have plans to study at University? What would you like to study if you got a chance?
A. I’m a University graduate. I studied anthropology.
Q. As a fellow western woman living in India, not sure how I feel about white cheerleaders at the games. Why not Indian cheerleaders?
A. I agree. I love doing it, but I’d honestly prefer to see at least a mix of Indian women. Sadly there’s nothing I can do about that. If I refuse I’d be breaking my contract and they’d replace me with another white girl anyway.
Q. What’s your regimen like? Do you secretly wish that the batsmen of your team got out faster so that you wouldn’t have to dance so much?
A. No way! The games are always so much more fun if we’re winning. It’s much more boring to sit in a chair than it is to dance. I wasn’t a cricket fan before this, but I am now!
Q. You think cricket is a game where cheerleading makes sense? Do you feel the flow of the game lends to cheerleading or does it feel forced?
A. Yeah, I feel cheerleading fits well. The 4s and 6s are the main reason for this, and the breaks give ample time to pump up the crowd and cheer for the team.
Q. IPL or Superbowl?
A. IPL. I just don’t care for American football. It has always bored me.
