NEW DELHI, March 15: India’s leading film stars, politicians and industrialists are at the head of thousands of fans going to South Africa for next week’s World Cup semifinal clash with Kenya, officials said.

Business tycoon Vijay Mallya, who is also a member of the upper house of parliament, is laying on his Boeing 727 and Gulfstream private jets to ferry India’s glitterati to the Durban fixture.

India clash with surprise package Kenya in the tournament’s second semifinal at Kingsmead, Durban on Thursday. Most fans believe Saurav Ganguly’s men already have one foot in the finals.

“There will be about 23 of us in the Boeing. We will be cheering all the way, with special T-shirts on — the works,” Mallya said in comments published on Friday.

Former Miss India Nafisa Ali, Kashmir’s former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, his son and ex-foreign minister Omar Abdullah and Paris-based designer Ritu Beri will be on Mallya’s plane, nicknamed “Cricket Express.”

Actresses Preity Zinta and Bipasha Basu will keep the ground cameras roving during the match, along with former Miss World Aishwarya Rai and film star Manisha Koirala, newspapers said.

Cricket legend Kapil Dev, who captained India to World Cup glory in 1983, has already arrived in South Africa and will soon be joined by a number of cabinet ministers, MPs and top officials.

According to Indian immigration officials, some 10,500 fans flew to South Africa for the start of the World Cup. Some 2,000 witnessed the big games, such as the March 1 match with Pakistan, which India won.

“And now it seems another 5,000 to 6,000 fans will be flying across for the sizzling final lap of the 14-nation tournament,” an official said.—AFP