Mumbai: An otherwise taciturn Simon Taufel was surprisingly forthright about the World Twenty20. When asked how different the tournament would be from the just-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa, the world's best umpire had told DNA recently that he would be surprised if the tournament in England showcases all the glitz andglamour seen during the IPL.

Standing in the middle for all the 40 overs, the Australian, like every other umpire, is the best or worst affected by the cheer show. Taufel wasn't complaining but he could still be making a point -- that World T20 would be more about cricket than entertainment.

"I don't think there will be so much of glamour and cheer girls. ICC will conduct it differently," the Australian, who officiated in the IPL said.

Taufel could be right. The ICC tournament will be different in the extent but the world body has no plans to do away with the entertainment for the June 5-21 event.

The cheer leaders will be there but in neutral colours. Unlike in the IPL, there will not be any team specific cheer squads. More significantly there will not be all-woman squads.
Every match will have 12 cheer dancers with six men and women. They will be divided in four groups of three dancers each, spread over the park.

The brief for the cheer dancers is to give a presentation before the start of the match and dance every time a boundary is hit and a wicket is taken.

One more striking difference will be that there won't be any Bollywood numbers blaring through the sound boxes. The music will be hip-hop chart-busting English numbers.

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