Shilpa hopeful IPL to be a success in South Africa

New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, who co-owns Indian Premier League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals, hopes that the new venue for the matches will be a success for the T20 series.

'Kudos to the South African government and South Africa cricket body who have welcomed us with open arms and I am really hopeful after attending the Australia vs South Africa Pro T20 Match on Friday, seeing the huge cricket fan base there, I am sure that the IPL will be hugely successful,' Shilpa posted on her blog shilpashettylive.com/blog Sunday on board a flight to Cape Town.

The second edition of IPL is taking place in South Africa. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to shift the Twenty20 tournament outside the country after state governments failed to assure security for the event that clashed with general elections.

Last year's winning team, Rajasthan Royals will kick off the series with a match against Bangalore Royal Challengers at Newlands, Cape Town April 18 and the 33-year-old actress also admitted to undergoing pressure to maintain the winning streak.

'The pressure is really on, especially for us but I feel Rajasthan Royals have an edge since three of our players belong to the South African team, namely South Africa captain Graeme Smith, Morne Morkel and Tyron Henderson,' she wrote.