It's not quite the bright lights of Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla or Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, but Whanganui will host its very own Indian Premier League today.
The inaugural Sports Emporium Cricket Whanganui IPL Twenty20 Cup will be contested between eight teams over the next two days, starting at the Springvale grounds this morning and continuing at Victoria Park tomorrow, weather permitting.
The brain child of tournament director Dilan Raj, the aim of a local IPL is to provide a competitive environment for New Zealand's Indian cricket clubs to compete against each other annually, while also bringing many of Whanganui's own casual cricketers into a formal tournament structure.
Whanganui has a large Indian community, who have a great passion for cricket.
However, due to the nature of their work shifts in places like Whanganui Hospital, few of them have been able to commit to the local Porter Hire Premier club cricket on Saturday's, instead playing pick-up games at Springvale and Victoria Park in their own time.
