Taking place in South Africa
Freddie Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen will lead the carnival when the Indian Premier League slogfest opens in that well-known Indian city, Cape Town, today.
England superstars Flintoff and Pietersen, the world's most expensive players valued at £1.1million each under the IPL auction hammer, feature in the double-header which launches the second season of excess all areas.
In addition to last year's dancing girls, fireworks and Bollywood glitz, seven-minute time-outs have been added to the schedule in mid-innings, ushering in the dreaded Americanisation of Twenty20.
But while the IPL shamelessly maximises TV advertising revenue with a word from their sponsors, the tournament's migration to South Africa is still expected to attract three billion viewers worldwide.
Teams from the eight franchises launched the sixweek competition with a parade through Cape Town's business district in carnival floats with Rajasthan Royals, the reigning champions, sporting comedy black moustaches.
Royals skipper Shane Warne, who will have to shake off a year of ring-rust and poker, looked a treat - but Bollywood superstar Shilpa Shetty was spared the fashion accessory of synthetic facial hair.
Tickets for today's double bill at Newlands sold out within four hours of going on sale, and when the curtain goes up Flintoff's Chennai Super Kings take on the Mumbai Indians.
Four hours and umpteen advert breaks later, Pietersen climbs back in the saddle as captain for the first time since he was sawn off as England skipper as the Bangalore Royal Challengers explore whether there are any stiff upper lips beneath Warne and company's moustaches.
Lord's have granted Flintoff and Pietersen two weeks' leave from their central contracts to participate in a tournament shifted 4,000 miles because of security fears on the subcontinent, where police are preoccupied with elections in India.
What a nice gesture from the England and Wales Cricket Board to let KP and His Freddieness make around £330,000 each, especially as the only alternative moneyspinner ECB chairman Giles Clarke hatched was a tacky circus with a suspected multibillion dollar fraudster in Antigua.
Flintoff is relishing the chance to flex his muscles in the IPL without the 'I' and he said: "I love it in India, but South Africa is an enjoyable place to play cricket as well and I'm sure they will put on a good show.
"We have a Twenty20 World Cup coming up in England, so this is an opportunity for me to develop my own game."
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