World Cup T20 Highlights

Top performer in T20 World Cup : Dilshan

2009-06-24T00:44:00.003+05:30

The top performer in the T20 World Cup is Dilshan.He was instrumental for Srilanka's success.IPL has had a huge impact on him and he seems to be full of confidence.He has been the most destructive player with an average of 52 and a strike of 140 plus he seemed to be a lethal weapon for SriLanka.He played some match winning knocks and the best of the lot was the 96 notout he scored.In this short version of the game he has scored 3 50's.

DILSHAN RECORD

Matches : 7

Runs scored : 317

Highest score : 96*

Average : 52.83

Strike rate : 144.74

Fours : 46

Sixes : 3

Dilshan was right called as the man of the series.Will Dilshan continue this drean run or he will fail to perform under pressure,sicne only great people can live up to their expectations,only time has to answer this riddle.

Live update:Match 18:Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals:Under Presure Warne takes on Sehwag

2009-04-28T19:28:00.003+05:30

A struggling Rajasthan Royals will look to resuscitate its title defence while a rampaging Delhi Daredevils will strive to continue its unbeaten run when the two sides lock horns in the Indian Premier League .We are a little over a week into the 2009 IPL, but Rajasthan Royals are heading towards the last-chance saloon.
Shane Warne’s side defied the odds to seal a thrilling victory in the 2008 IPL, but the defence of their crown has not gone as planned and they face the unbeaten Delhi Daredevils at Centurion on Tuesday aware that defeat will leave them in real trouble.
The Royals have three points to their name, with their only success coming courtesy of a Super Over contest with Kolkata Knight Riders.
Rajasthan have not looked too far off the pace with the ball, Kamran Khan has bowled with real venom, Dimitri Mascarenhas with guile and Warne is again defying old Father Time, but they have come up well short with the bat. The Delhi Daredevils, who have won all three of their games thus far, have a solid batting line-up led by captain Virender Sehwag , India's Gautam Gambhir and backed up by the in-form duo of South Africa's AB de Villiers and Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan .
If one has failed in the tournament thus far, then another has managed to get a big score. De Villiers did so with an unbeaten century against the Chennai Super Kings on Friday, followed by Dilshan's 67 not out against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday.
Throw in Daniel Vettori's accuracy and guile with the ball -- he has six wickets from the three games -- and the Rajasthan Royals will have a tough job

IPL 12th match:Deccan Chargers win against Mumbai Indians

2009-04-25T19:46:00.003+05:30

Deccan Chargers won their third straight match in the IPL 2nd season.Mumbai Indians lost their match inspite of some good batting by Sachin Tendulkar who has now crossed his 36th birthday. Batting first, Deccan Chargers had a good batting partnership in Gilchrist and Gibbs. Gibbs scored his first half century of this season. Deccan scored 169 in 20 overs.

Mumbai Indians started poorly with Jayasuriya getting out with the score on 4 and then Sachin Tendulkar got in with Duminy and scored well.But then after a mini collapse and they fell apart for 156/7.

Deccan Chargers: 168/9 in 20 overs.

Mumbai Indians:156/7 in 20 overs.

MOM: Pragyan Ojha.

Chennai Superkings snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

2009-04-23T19:44:00.003+05:30

Chennai SuperKings throw away the advantage to go down against Delhi Daredevils. Delhi Daredevils batting first were in for a shock as both Sehwag and Gambhir got out early. Dilshan and Devilliers then played a care free cricket scoring 10 per over. Dilshan was dismissed scoring a fifty but Devilliers played one of the best IPL innings this year. He scored a sensational century to get his team past 150. With help of other small innings from Karthik and Tiwary Delhi managed 189/5 in 20 overs. Balaji took 19/3 in 4 overs.

Matthew Hayden and Parthiv Patel scored heavily with Hayden punishing every bowler. They scored a quick fire half century after which Parthiv was sent to the pavilion. Raina too played well for his 41 but got out at an important stage. Hayden scored 51 when Sangwan sent him back.

The momentum fizzled out and Flintoff continued his forgettable IPL once again not adding to the team cause. Morkel didn't fulfill his promise of a big hitter and was left stranded at the non-striker's end watching the procession of his colleagues at the other end. Chennai managed only 180/9 falling short by 9 runs. Now, Delhi has won both their matches to raise to the top of the points table while Chenai has won only one from there three matches.

Match 9:

Delhi Daredevils: 189/5 in 20 overs.

Chennai SuperKings:180/9 in 20 overs.

MOM: AB Devilliers.

Rajashtan Royals take on Kolkata KnightRiders

2009-04-23T12:46:00.004+05:30

It’s another of those high profile contests featuring teams owned by Bollywood superstars. After Chris Gayle did the trick for the Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders in the rain-truncated match against Kings XI on Tuesday, KKR are gearing up to upset the calculations of defending champions Rajasthan Royals (RR) co-owned by Shilpa Shetty. Defending champion Rajasthan Royals will look for a quick turnaround in its fortunes when it meets a rejuvenated Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League.

Kolkata haven't done anything special yet, barring Chris Gayle's explosive cameo. They overcame their dismal opener with a Duckworth-Lewis win over Kings XI Punjab and plenty rests on Gayle and Brendon McCullum at the top .

Without big stars in its ranks, Royals has a tough task on hand after the thrashing in the campaign opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore and a wash-out in the second game against Mumbai Indians.Warne, Mascarenhas, Smith and Tyron Henderson should continue to be the four foreign players. Niraj Patel is the man most likely to be under pressure.Warne would also come face to face with old foe Ganguly .

It's time for RR to make a fresh start. After all, the IPL is all about forgetting defeats and making new beginnings

Chennai Superkings vs Delhi Daredevils

2009-04-23T12:39:00.002+05:30

Every IPL game is big because there is so much at stake, but the one taking place at Kingsmead on Thursday is special because it features two crack teams — Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Superkings. Both appear to be well balanced and possess enviable firepower in all departments.Last year’s runners-up the Chennai Super Kings will look to maintain their winning momentum after bouncing back from their opening match defeat.
On paper at least the Daredevils have an explosive batting order that starts firing from the top with openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir being in murderous form. They have depth in batting too and to make things intriguing, they will be up against a side which has the attack to test them. On the other hand,Australian Matthew Hayden, who holds the orange cap, has been in great touch even after his retirement. CSK has no less batting firepower than the formidable looking batting line-up of Delhi Daredevils.
Among pacers, Daredevils will depend on the exuberance of Indian youngsters Pradeep Sangwan, Yomahesh and Australian Dirk Nannes. For Super Kings, Manpreet Gony, L. Balaji and all-rounders Flintoff and Morkel will do the job.With spinners dominating the game so far, Thursday’s match would also witness New Zealander Daniel Vettori and Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan displaying their wily stuff.

Deccan Chargers thrash Bangalore Royal Challengers

2009-04-23T10:18:00.003+05:30

The team which had a forgettable first season of the IPL is making all the right moves. It was highly charged performance by the Deccan Chargers against Bangalore Royal Challengers. Bangalore lost its second game in succession, the magic of Rahul Dravid not withstanding. Winning the toss, Gilchrist, captain of the Chargers chose to bat first. He said during the toss that whatever they do first, should execute it well and that he did with aplomb. Gilly himself blasted the Bangalore bowling to all corners of the stands with Gibbs, the local favourite giving him good company.

Gibbs eventually fell for 13 off the bowling of Praveen Kumar trying to play across the line,caught plumb in front. Laxman didn't lost long spooning a catch to Steyn,Ryder the beneficiary this time.In walked Rohit Sharma and batted with circumspect. Meanwhile, Gilchrist strode past his half century. A settled Rohit Sharma started opening up, hitting Anil Kumble for three sixes in one over. Bangalore captain took matters in his hands and introduced himself into the attack.He was immediately rewarded with the wicket of Gilchrist,but not before Gilly made a thunderous 71 studded with 5 sixes. Sharma played aggresively to get his half century with half a dozen sixes. Deccan posted a more than competitive 184/5 in 20 overs.

Bangalore had a nightmarish start losing Jesse Ryder in the first over itself. Kallis and Uthappa struggled to cope with a wonderful bowling of RP Singh and Fidel Edwards. Eventually both got out and Bangalore was tottering at 57/4 at the halfway stage. Pietersen's ego call to go after a Ojha got the better of him. Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli got together to revive the team's hopes. 'The Wall' was in majestic form playing a gutful innings and guiding a Kohli through his initial phase. Dravid through the course of his innings became the leading run scorer of IPL 2. The valiant innings of his came to an end much to his frustration. Virat Kohli fought an lost battle, running Bishnoi out during his stay in the middle. Bishnoi was gutted and rightly so.

Virat Kohli soon fell after getting his half century and with him went Bangalore's hopes. RP Singh garnered 2 wickets giving away just 17 runs in 4 overs. RP Singh also picked up the purple cap from Kumble becoming the leading wickettaker so far in DLF IPL.

Match 8:

Deccan Chargers: 184/5 in 20 overs.

Bangalore Royal Challengers: 160/8 in 20 overs.

MOM: Adam Gilchrist.

ShahRukh Khan getting hate mails

2009-04-22T19:31:00.001+05:30

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) owner Shah Rukh Khan said he has been receiving 'hate' mails since the multiple-captaincy controversy brewed up a storm.'I am getting strange hate mails from people for taking decision for the team's sake. But is is okay, I'm saving them all so that I can go to each house and say 'Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo,' Shah Rukh said after KKR beat Kings XI Punjab by 11 runs in an Indian Premier League match.
It’s not just Kolkata’s icon Sourav Ganguly who has been dropped from captaining Shah Rukh Khan’s IPL team this season. The name “Kolkata” has been dropped from all Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) merchandise.
The team is still called KKR, but official sources said this could change to Knight Riders in the next IPL season.

IPL-2 marred by rain; ratings have come down significantly.

2009-04-22T18:38:00.002+05:30

Almost every match in IPL-2 has either been disrupted or abandoned due to rain. The match which was one of the most hyped between Sachin's Mumbai Indians and Warne's Rajasthan Royals was washed out due to rain. The IPL organisers ironically had said that South Africa edged out UK, because of the favourable climate prevailing in South Africa.
The rain gods have played spoilsport and maybe the organisers could have got facts from the local meteorlogical department. Also, the tickets sales seem to have gone awry and there seems to be more empty seats at the stadiums. The ratings of the LIVE relay from SETMAX has also gone down dramatically.Also, Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi has admitted that the 'strategy breaks' in the ongoing second season have not gone down too well with a section of players but insisted that the experiment will continue.
The seven-and-half-minute break at the end of every 10 overs has been criticised for slowing down the pace of the game with some players complaining that it was also disturbing their rhythm. Many experts say that Strategy breaks are only used for improving ad revenues. SETMAX could get some 106 crores from these strategy breaks alone.
Modi said he was aware of the issues raised by players and would consider the suggestions.But hopefully moving forward we may have a rain free IPL.

Knight Riders win rain shortened game

2009-04-21T19:26:00.003+05:30

ShahRukh Khan can afford a smile now, because Knight Riders have opened the points tally by winning their first match of this season's IPL. Kolkatta chose to field first after winning the toss and in came Ravi Bopara and Goel. Goel fell cheaply, thanks to a great catch from Gayle. Then Kings XI sprung a surprise sending Irfan Pathan in at No:3.Irfan was in some murderous mood smashing the ball all over the park and scored a quick fire 30 before getting out to Dada, again a wonderful catch, this time Murali Karthik. Ravi Bopara who was playing second fiddle to Irfan also fell leaving the score at 48/3. Dada with some assistance from the pitch bowled excellantly takin two quick wickets.

Sanga and Yuvraj put their heads down worked their way to a 50-odd run partnership before a minor indecision between the two cost the new SriLankan captain's wicket. Yuvraj played some thundering shots before getting out of the bowling of Australian Henriques.Mahela waged a lone battle scoring an unbeaten 31 off 19 balls to see his team past 150. They ended up at 158/6 in 20 overs.

In reply,McCullum and Gayle opening for the second time for Kolkatta, played briskly to smash the bowling. Home boy Yusuf Abdullah was unlucky not to get Gayle out, when a catch was put down by Goel but soon after was getting some serious treatment from the WestIndian hitting him for 2 sixes and 2 fours in a single over. McCullum got out of the bowling of new boy Malik. Hodge came in and then the rain came in. It poured down in Durban forcing umpires to call the match in favour of ShahRukh's team. Kolkatta was declared winners by 9 runs, courtesy the gentlemen,Duckworth and Lewis.

Match:6

Kings XI Punjab-158/6 in 20 overs.

Kolkata KnightRiders-79/1 in 9.2 overs(won by 9 runs D/L method)

MOM-Chris Gayle.

Chennai thrashes Bangalore Royal Challengers

2009-04-21T14:08:00.003+05:30

Bangalore Royal Challengers' skipper Kevin Pietersen said Matthew Hayden's blazing knock had given them no time to recover in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Chennai Super Kings here on Monday.
Hayden blasted 65 off just 35 deliveries as Super Kings routed Royal Challengers by 92 runs. Super Kings' captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said Hayden set the match for them and Muttiah Muralitahran finished it brilliantly.

Muralidharan, who bamboozled the Bangalore batsmen with his variations and turn, returning figures of 3/11 from four overs. Laxmipathi Balaji took two wickets while Manpreet Gony, Andrew Flintoff, Albie Morkel and Joginder Sharma chipped with one wicket each to throttle the Bangalore batsmen.
Set a huge target of 180 at nine per over, Bangalore were never in with a chance as their top five were gone by the eighth over for a mere 50 runs.

Chennai Superkings: 179/5 in 20 overs

Bangalore Royal Challengers: 82 allout

MOM: Mutthiah Muralidaran.

Delhi and Deccan register their first wins

2009-04-20T20:32:00.002+05:30

Delhi Daredevils with their victory over Kings XI Punjab became the second team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to register a 10-wicket win.
Daredevils Sunday also became the first team to post a 10-wicket win in the second edition of the IPL. The following are the others stats of the match between Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab: Vettori (3 for 15) recorded his best bowling figures in the IPL, surpassing the 1/19 against Bangalore on April 30, 2008.
Vettori has been adjudged the MOM for the first time in the IPL.

RP Singh led a disciplined bowling attack of Deccan Chargers with figures of 4/22 to bundle out Kolkata Knight Riders for a paltry 101 in 19.4 overs after Knight Riders captain Brendon McCullum elected to bat.
RP Singh got the swing and bounce on a Newlands pitch which was damp after rain to return figures of four for 22 from 3.4 overs to help Deccan Chargers bowl out Knight Riders in 19.4 overs. Rohit Sharma and South African Herschelle Gibbs then hit sparkling unbeaten 43 and 36 respectively to hit off 104 for two in just 13.1 overs.
Captain Adam Gilchrist and VVS Laxman contributed 13 and 10 respectively as last edition's bottom-placed team started their campaign in this season on a resounding note.

Match 3: Kings XI Punjab-104/8 in 12 overs

Delhi Daredevils-66/0 in 4.5 overs(Duckworth Lewis method)

MOM-Daniel Vettori.

Match 4:Kolkatta KnightRiders-101 allout.

Deccan Chargers-104/2

MOM-RP Singh.

Its Viru vs Yuvi time

2009-04-19T10:52:00.003+05:30

It’s tempting to say that every T20 match is a clash among equals. If this doesn’t hold true for all such matches under the sun, the one on Sunday between Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab is certainly one. For, both were losing semifinalists last year. The Daredevils, the pundits' favourite, boast off a balanced side with in-form batsmen and experienced bowlers in their ranks though the result can go either way as both the sides will be rusty in their first matches at Newlands.

Losing every match hurts, but losing in the semifinals probably hurts more because you are not counted among the elites who make the finals despite being better than the masses. That way, these teams would have this extra urge to go one step further this year.

The Delhi franchisee have an explosive batting line-up with the likes of captain Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, David Warner and South African AB de Villiers in pink of form while Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori will lead the bowling department.

This match is perhaps the best contest between the wily Sehwag and flamboyant Yuvraj Singh.

Kings XI Punjab are no less formidable in batting with Sri Lankans Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawradene besides captain Yuvraj Singh.But there bowling lacks depth with the likes of Irfan Pathan and Piyush Chawla are the only mainstays of this team's bowling.

Dravid and Kumble- chief architects of a Royal win

2009-04-19T10:00:00.005+05:30

Rahul Dravid struck a defiant 66 before Anil Kumble returned a brilliant five-wicket haul to set up Royal Challengers Bangalore's sensational 75-run win over defending champions Rajasthan Royals in the second match of the Indian Premier League. Man-of-the-Match Rahul Dravid’s 48-ball 66 — a fighting innings under adverse circumstances, putting up a modest total of 133 for eight— had given Royal Challengers something to bowl at.

They then bundled out Rajasthan Royals for a paltry 58 runs in 15.1 overs, the lowest IPL total, to make dream start to their campaign in the second edition of the T20 event.Kumble, former India spinner, used the bowlers friendly conditions to the optimum level to return incredible figures of five wickets at the expense of just six runs in 3.1 overs.Royal Challengers was full of beans. And Jesse Ryder made further inroads with his stump-to-stump medium pace bowling.

The defending champions had to swallow a crushing 75-run defeat tonight in the second match of second edition.In the first edition of the Indian Premier League, Kolkata Knight Riders were bundled out for 67 in 15.2 overs against Mumbai Indians.It was a dream start for the Bangalore team, one of the weakest teams in the first edition.A disciplined bowling by Bangalore bowlers made the modest looking 133 a mountain to scale as every bowler bowled his heart out.

Bangalore Royal Challengers:133/8 in 20 overs.

Rajasthan Royals:58 allout

Man of the match: Rahul Dravid.

Mumbai Indians win the first match of the IPL

2009-04-18T20:26:00.002+05:30

Mumbai Indians won the first match of the DLF IPL against Chennai Superkings. Sachin Tendulkar won the man of the match award for his match winning unbeaten half century. Mumbai Indians was put into bat and after losing some early wickets, pulled up heir socks and got to 165/7 in 20 overs. Abhishek Nayyar palyed a crucial knock scoring 22 runs in one single over.

Chennai Superkings in reply lost early wickets and even after some good knocks from Matthew Hayden and Dhoni they lost the match by 20 runs.

Mumbai- 166/7 in 20 overs

Chennai-145/7 in 20 overs.

Man of the Match- Sachin Tendulkar.

Dada gets the boot;Buchanan gets his way

2009-04-17T19:25:00.003+05:30

After VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, it's now the turn of Sourav Ganguly to be sacked as captain in the Indian Premier League.Putting all speculation into rest, Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders appointed New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum as captain of the team.
McCullum will replace Sourav Ganguly for the second edition of the tournament, which kicks-off in Cape Town on Saturday.

Now, it means that McCullum will go out for the toss while Sourav Ganguly, who was expecting to stay on as captain, will only have a senior management role along with Chris Gayle.The radical four-captain theory proposed by John Buchanan, the coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders, has the backing of one of its star players, Gayle, who said the theory is worth trying out.

Ganguly openly opposed the idea saying, "Tomorrow I can ask for four different coaches and will they have it my way".But,team owner, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan felt the proposal should be given a chance and said he would rather try and fail.

McCullum, the swashbuckling New Zealand wicket-keeper batsman, was the front runner to get the job.

Business IPL

2009-04-17T19:18:00.002+05:30

Tour on: AS Indian Premier League (IPL) to kick off, travel bookings for South Africa, which were initially slow, seem to have picked up. Bookings are largely being driven by corporate travellers, according to travel companies, even as tour operators lock horns to garner volumes through a price war.

Ads: Also,the world's biggest gum company Wrigley today announced its sponsorship tie-up with all the eight franchise teams of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the second edition of the T20 tournament starting in South Africa from April 18. The deals would be complimented by various promotional and advertising initiatives including special contests and prizes, fan trips to South Africa, electronic and print media campaigns and so on.

Team worries: Teams have yet to calculate the extra expenses they might incur for shifting an event of this magnitude abroad but first off, they are unhappy with having to pay extra for transporting official and commercial kits to SA. Airline charges are over Rs 1,000 per kg but since most of the material teams are transporting are in excess of 2000kg, the burdened franchisees might have to shell out Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh extra just for transporting these kits.

IPL to honour best performance

2009-04-17T19:08:00.001+05:30

If one thought the Indian Premier League (IPL) was the only ace up Lalit Modi’s sleeve, you might have to think again. For, the man who’s
made Twenty20 a million-dollar enterprise is now planning dedicated IPL cricket awards on the lines of the ICC awards. The proposed awards will be unveiled before the tournament gets underway in South Africa and will be held after the event. It is reliably learnt that the proposed venue for the awards will be in London as celebrity owners think the destination offers a good marketing proposition as compared to any other location. If things work according to plan, one could see Chris Gayle shaking a leg with Shahrukh Khan, on stage as cricket and Bollywood would come together once again . The broadcasting rights for the IPL are currently with Multi Screen Media (MSM), formerly Sony Entertainment Television.

Kings XI Punjab leaves behind Rs.4,50,000 cash in hotel room

2009-04-17T18:59:00.002+05:30

A South African businessman found hundreds of thousands of rands in a Port Elizabeth beachfront hotel room that had been occupied by the manager of the Australian cricket team.But the money turned out to belong to Kings XI Punjab — whose players include Australian Brett Lee, Indian Yuvraj Singh and Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene — who had stayed in the hotel at the same time as the Australians.

The money, which was their allowances for food, drinks and other expenses, in that room as they had been using it for team meetings ahead of their IPL campaign.Kings XI Punjab management confirmed yesterday that the mystery stash was theirs.

Sreesanth wishes Harbhajan well during IPL 2

2009-04-17T18:38:00.002+05:30

The slap-gate episode is no longer in S. Sreesanth's mind and the Kerala pacer has no qualms in wishing Harbhajan Singh a good performance in the second Indian Premier League starting on April 18.Sreesanth said being a Kings XI Punjab player he considers himself a Punjabi and would wish Harbhajan all the best in the IPL.

A back injury has kept him out of IPL season 2, but Sree has journeyed to South Africa in a new avatar for the Kings XI Punjab.
Antics on the field have made him a crowd favourite, so a new role as the Kings XI Punjab's official fan mentor is just up his tree. Injury has forced him out of his team's plans, but thanks to Preity Zinta, Sreesanth has an almost all-expense paid vacation.

IPL insured by BCCI

2009-04-17T18:22:00.003+05:30

The sole insurer of the much-hyped Indian Premier Leauge (IPL), state-owned Oriental Insurance Company Ltd today said it expects about RS.3 crore as premium from BCCI for the second season of the IPL.
route. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd will cover every match for Rs7 crore; this will include broadcasting interests, sponsorship losses and budgeted expenses of the match. Terror cover would be a part of the comprehensive cover, which will cost the organizers less than Rs1 crore in premium.
The premiums have gone up in the range of 5-10 per cent depending on international conditions and reinsurance charges. The reinsurer for Oriental Insurance is the UK-based Lloyd's. Insurance companies distribute the risk on large covers by going in for re-insurance. Of the 8 teams playing in IPL beginning on April 18 in South Africa, the sum assured and the premiums vary from players to players. Concerned at the security of the cricket teams, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shifted the second edition of the event to South Africa.
MS Dhoni attracted the highest individual insurance cover of $10.5 million, or Rs 52 crore, as the eight IPL team owners finalised policies for all 120 auctioned players against personal accidents, mediclaim and baggage losses with Oriental Insurance Company (OIC) for a total cover of $286 million, or Rs 1,340 crore.
The policies will be effective from the time the players leave for the tournament till they return home.

Mandhira Bedi set to sizzle IPL 2.0

2009-04-17T18:13:00.002+05:30

What's common between musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Mandira Bedi. They're a part of a show on the Indian premiere league.Based on MAX’s popular campaign for the DLF IPL - “Ek Desh Ek Junoon” - the musical maestros’ powerful composition will be played as an opening montage on every episode of Extraaa Innings T20.

Mandira’s association with MAX spans over six years and the talented presenter played a significant role in attracting, engaging and expanding the audience base for cricket viewing in India. Commenting on the association, Mandira Bedi said, “Extraaa Innings has always been very special to me. The show gave me an opportunity to live my passion for cricket. I am really excited to co-host Extraaa Innings again ".

IPL is back

2009-04-17T16:57:00.002+05:30

Indian Premier League is back; more glamourous;better prepared but this time in South Africa. IPL 1 was a huge hit in India last year. Indian elections has forced it to be scheduled outside India. This time the extra attraction is the new players who were drafted during the second auction. These include England's Kevin Pietersen, who will be palying for Bangalore Royal challengers and he will have added responsibility of captaining the side.
Andrew Flintoff who will be playing for Chennai and he was the highest paid player in the second auction getting around Rs.8 crores. Apart from them,Paul Collingwood,David Warner,Owais Shah(all three in Delhi Daredevils),Shaun Tait,Tyron Henderson(both in Rajasthan Royals),Jesse Ryder(Bangalore Royal Challengers),George Bailey(Chennai Superkings),Mashrafe Mortaza(Kolkatta Knight Riders),JP Duminy,Mohammed Ashraful(both in Mumbai Indians) are the stars who will be aentertaining the South African crowd. Also, this season Zaheer Khan will play for Mumbai Indians and Robin Uthappa will return to his home town of Bangalore.
After lots of negotiations and another open auction for the the TV rights, Sony MAX will once again telecast the matches LIVE in India at 4 and 8 PM IST starting from April 18th.
The detailed scheduled is :

MumbaiIndians Vs Chennai Super Kings Cape Town April 18 4 p.m
Rajasthan Royals Vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Cape Town April 18 8 p.m
Delhi Daredevils Vs Kings XI Punjab Cape Town April 19 4 p.m
Deccan Chargers Vs Kolkata Knight Riders Cape Town April 19 8 p.m
Chennai Super Kings Vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Port Elizabeth April 20 8 p.m
Kings XI Punjab Vs Kolkata Knight Riders Durban April 21 4 p.m
Rajasthan Royals Vs Mumbai Indians Durban April 21 8 p.m
Bangalore Royal Challengers Vs Deccan Chargers Cape Town April 22 8 p.m
Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils Durban April 23 4 p.m
Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Rajasthan Royals Cape Town April 23 8 p.m
Bangalore Royal Challengers Vs Kings XI Punjab Durban April 24 8 p.m
Mumbai Indians Vs Deccan Chargers Durban April 25 4 p.m
Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders Cape Town April 25 8 p.m
Bangalore Royal Challengers Vs Delhi Daredevils Port Elizabeth April 26 4 p.m
Kings XI Punjab Vs Rajasthan Royals Cape Town April 26 8 p.m
Deccan Chargers Vs Chennai Super Kings Durban April 27 4 p.m
Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Mumbai Indians ort Elizabeth April 27 8 p.m
Delhi Daredevils Vs Rajasthan Royals Pretoria April 28 8 p.m
Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Durban April 29 4 p.m
Kings XI Punjab Vs Mumbai Indians Durban April 29 8 p.m
Deccan Chargers Vs Delhi Daredevils Pretoria April 30 4 p.m
Rajasthan Royals Vs Chennai Super Kings Pretoria April 30 8 p.m
Mumbai Indians Vs Kolkata Knight Riders East London May 1 4 p.m
Kings XI Punjab Vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Durban May 1 8 p.m
Deccan Chargers Vs Rajasthan Royals Port Elizabeth May 2 4 p.m
Delhi Daredevils Vs Chennai Super Kings Johannesburg May 2 8 p.m
Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Kings XI Punjab Port Elizabeth May 3 4 p.m
Bangalore Royal Challengers Vs Mumbai Indians Jhannesburg May 3 8 p.m
Chennai Super Kings Vs Deccan Chargers East London May 4 8 p.m
Rajasthan Royals Vs Kings XI Punjab Durban May 5 4 p.m
Delhi Daredevils Vs Kolkata Knight Riders Durban May 5 8 p.m
Deccan Chargers Vs Mumbai Indians Pretoria May 6 8 p.m
Bangalore Royal Challengers Vs Rajasthan Royals Pretoria May 7 4 p.m
Kings XI Punjab Vs Chennai Super Kings Pretoria May 7 8 p.m
Delhi Daredevils Vs Mumbai Indians East London May 8 8 p.m
Deccan Chargers Vs Kings XI Punjab Kimberley May 9 4 p.m
Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals Kimberley May 9 8 p.m
Mumbai Indians Vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Port Elizabeth May 10 4 p.m
Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Delhi Daredevils Johannesburg May 10 8 p.m
Rajasthan Royals Vs Deccan Chargers Kimberley May 11 8 p.m
Bangalore Royal Challengers Vs Kolkata Knight Riders Pretoria May 12 4 p.m
Mumbai Indians Vs Kings XI Punjab Pretoria May 12 8 p.m
Delhi Daredevils Vs Deccan Chargers Durban May 13 8 p.m
Bangalore Royal Challengers Vs Chennai Super Kings Durban May 14 4 p.m
Mumbai Indians Vs Rajasthan Royals Durban May 14 8 p.m
Kings XI Punjab Vs Delhi Daredevils Bloemfontein May 15 8 p.m
Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians Port Elizabeth May 16 4 p.m
Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Deccan Chargers Johannesburg May 16 8 p.m
Kings XI Punjab Vs Deccan Chargers Johannesburg May 17 4 p.m
Rajasthan Royals Vs Delhi Daredevils Bloemfontein May 17 8 p.m
Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Chennai Super Kings Pretoria May 18 8 p.m
Delhi Daredevils Vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Johannesburg May 19 8 p.m
Rajasthan Royals Vs Kolkata Knight Riders Durban May 20 4 p.m
Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab Durban May 20 8 p.m
Mumbai Indians Vs Delhi Daredevils Pretoria May 21 4 p.m
Deccan Chargers Vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Pretoria May 21 8 p.m
Semi Final 1 Pretoria May 22 8 p.m
Semi Final 2 Johannesburg May 23 8 p.m
Final Johannesburg May 24 8 p.m

If it's NFL, then DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket is the place to be !!!

2008-06-20T08:42:00.003+05:30

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Player Tracker feature helps you track upto 9 different players of your choice. With NFL Sunday Ticket , you can track the missed games through the special feature, "Highlights-On -Demand" available every monday morning. Also, know all the news, views and reviews of the NFL games available only in NFL TV , 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
NFL TV Package is comprehensively scheduled to cover all the exciting NFL matches in High Definition(HD) video with great audio quality.Exclusive SuperFan HD Programming is available on channels 718-727.
All this from Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket and much more for just 5 payments of $53.80! So, hurry!!! Book NFL Sunday Ticket now and enjoy your favourite NFL games right in your space!!!

Do or die for Knight Riders

2008-05-18T14:01:00.002+05:30

With the race for the semi-finals slots hotting up, Kolkata Knight Riders have a tough task ahead. While both Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have matches against Deccan and Bangalore, the two bottom-placed teams in the tournament, each of Kolkata's four remaining games are against formidable opponents. The clash between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders in a key match at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday promises lot of fireworks.

Korbo, lorbo, jeetbo re is a nice, peppy slogan but in order to do, fight and emerge victorious, SRK's team must be consistent.

The demoralising loss against Mumbai Indians on Friday will certainly bring into focus the Knight Riders’ inability to win matches against quality opposition.Both Chennai and Kolkata are looking to lift themselves after maulings at the hands of the resurgent Mumbai. The match could turn out to be a battle between Kolkata's outstanding bowling and the batting might of Chennai. It also pits the captaincy skills of former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and the national team's current leader in the shorter formats, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Though losing five matches out of ten so far may be par for the course, the Kolkata outfit cannot afford to lose any more ‘home’ matches. The forecast, however, isn’t good with thundershowers likely on Sunday afternoon.But for Sourav Ganguly & Co., it’s time not to look at the weatherman but to develop some steel.

Royal defeat for the challengers

2008-05-18T13:54:00.002+05:30

Rajasthan Royals continued their winning spree and became the first team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to enter the semi-finals as they thrashed bottom placed Bangalore Royal Challengers by 65 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here Saturday.

Chasing a challenging 198 to win, the visitors could manage just 132, largely built around skipper Rahul Dravid's brilliant unbeaten 75-run knock.Dravid waged a losing battle as he smashed Yousuf Pathan for three sixes in the 17th over but it was too late by then as Bangalore batsmen let their team down once again. White and Kallis stayed on for sometime, but unfortunately White (10) was taken by Trivedi and Patel took the fourth wicket of Bangalore Royal Challengers in the 8th over. Kallis tried to regain some lost focus, and added 20 crucial runs to the scorecard before Pathan took his catch off Trivedi’s bowling in the 11th over and shortened his stay on the pitch.

Munaf Patel (2/21) picked up his second wicket on the last bowl of his spell when he sent back White (10) and Skipper Shane Warne (3/23) joined the party when he took wickets of consecutive balls in his second over and then dismissed Zaheer Khan (1) off a stunning caught and bowled in the third.

Random Dope Tests to be conducted in IPL

2008-05-17T09:55:00.002+05:30

Chairman Lalit Modi said that Indian Premier League will conduct a random dope test on the players participating in the Twenty20 tournament. After rumours , which claimed that Shoaib Akhtar was questioned about a large number of syringes in his baggage prior to leaving for Mumbai earlier this month at the Karachi airport, the IPL commissioner announced that the test will be conducted in 2 to 3 days. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board has played down a report in a section of the media that fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was questioned at the Karachi airport.

The fast bowler, who is playing for Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders team in the Indian Premier League, told the custom officials that he needed the syringes because he was a diabetic.

Shoaib is playing in the IPL after the three-member appellate tribunal, hearing his appeal against the five-year ban imposed on him, suspended the ban for a month to allow him to play in the cash-rich Twenty20 competition.

Mumbai Indians Thrashed Kolkata Knight riders

2008-05-16T22:47:00.003+05:30

May 16,2008,Mumbai.Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata knight riders by 8 wickets and are foregoing in the points table.Mumbai captain Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and elected to bowl first.It was a good toss to win as Mumbai bowlers shined well.Shaun Pollock took the wicket of Salman Butt, caught in the slip.Very next ball,Aakash Chopra ran himself out.Pollock strikes again,this time batsmen is Hussey,he edged to the keeper.In the next over,he took Hafeez wicket caught in the slip.There was some resistance shown by Ganguly and Agarkar but nothing was going right for Kolkata.All the bowlers had an impact on their batting line up. In the end Kolkata knight riders managed a mere 67 in 15 overs.The lowest score in the IPL.Mumbai began to chase with a positive note as inform batsmen Sanath Jayasuriya got off to a flying start.Sachin got out early,but Sanath carried his sublime form and reached the target of 68 in the 6th over.He scored 48 off just 17 deliveries which included 3 big sixes.Mumbai now have 10 points ( 5 wins in a row) and Kolkata have 10 points .Shaun Pollock was named Man of the Match for his spectacular spell(3 for 12).Mumbai Indians are really playing well with a newly find touch of Jayasuriya.After losing 4 matches in a row,they are really on a roll.

Deccan Chargers taste another defeat

2008-05-16T12:41:00.003+05:30

May 15,2008,Delhi.Amit Mishra bowled a tight spell and also took the hat-trick(second in IPL) to ensure a win for Delhi Daredevils against Deccan Chargers here at Ferozshkotla.Gilchrist won the toss and decided to bowl first.Virender Sehwag failed once again with he bat.He fell in the first over of the match.Shikar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir shared a vital second wicket partnership which swings the way to Delhi's way.RP singh was once again not looking good with the ball.Most of the ball pitched short and put away by Gambhir.Gambhir,the leading run scorer in the tournament carried on his fine touch and got out for 79.Dilshan and Maharoof gave some massive blows towards the end.Shikar Dhawan remained unbeaten on 68.Delhi set a target of 195 for Chargers.Chargers begin with new opening pair of Gilchrist and Afridi.That move seems to be right but Gilchrist fell to Mcgrath early ,brilliantly caught by Dilshan at mid-off.Afridi played some massive strokes,He and Gibbs share quick runs.After 6 overs,they were 71 for 1.Amit Mishra came in and took Afridi wicket in first ball.In the next over,he bowled Gibbs.Run Rate keeps on climbing,Rohit Sharma steadied the innings but fell soon.Venugopal Rao played some blistering strokes but eventually caught at long off.Dramatic climax awaited as Chargers need 15 off the last over.Mishra bowled the last over and took hat-trick and Delhi ensured a 14 run win.Mishra was named Man of the Match.

Shane Warne will play in Jaipur : Lalit Modi

2008-05-15T18:38:00.002+05:30

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi rubbished reports that Rajasthan Royals` skipper Shane Warne, along with teammates Shane Watson and Graeme Smith, was quitting the tournament due to the bomb blasts in Jaipur. The trio was already on its way to the Pink City, for the next match there, he said. "All Australian players and the team is now going to play in Jaipur tomorrow. We are looking forward to it. Yes, they were little bothered, but now they are assured. They are on their way to the city," Modi said.

Modi said that hightened security measures would be in place at the Sawai Mansingh stadium during IPL matches. “No bags, bottles and lighters will be allowed into the stadium. Everybody will be frisked while entering in, and going leaving the stadium. The players will be completely cordned off, and nobody will have access to them,” Modi said. Rajasthan royals will take on Bangalore Royal Challengers in a home encounter this Saturday.Earlier in the day, there were been reports that the trio of Warne, Watson, Smith and team manager Darren Berry ‘are very scared after the incident and are refusing to return to Jaipur. They were apparently even considering leaving India altogether.

Jayasuriya's hurricane Knock lifts Mumbai Indians

2008-05-15T11:39:00.000+05:30

May 14,2008,Mumbai. Sanath Jayasuriya unbeaten hundred helps Mumbai to an easy win against Chennai Superkings here at Wankhede Stadium .He scored 114* off 48 balls *(9 fours and 11 sixes).It was the second fastest hundred in T-20.He smashed all the bowlers to all parts of the ground,as Mumbai finished the match in the 14 th over itself.Earlier,Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and elected to bowl first.This move from him seems to be right,as Mumbai Bowlers took wickets at regular intervals.Chennai had a major top order collapse.Fleming,yet gain struggled with the bat.Vidyut played some fine strokes but played a poor shot to got out.Raina and Kapugedra fell in quick succesion.They were 46 for 4 at one stage.Dhoni and Badrinath Powered Superkings to 156.Last 5 overs went for 71 runs.Badrinath played a sensible innings and scored his second fifty of the tournament.Mumbai was set 157 to win.Sachin and Jayasuriya opened he innings.Sachin start with a boundary and a six over third man.Then it was Jayasuria show.During first 6 overs Sachin faced only 8 balls.Jayasuriya took the strike in most occasionHe reached his fifty in mere 25 balls.Sachin was a spectator at the other end, as he can only watch the ball over ropes at the other end .Not only Sachin,even bowlers and fielders too.Sachin was Castled by Joginder Sharma,but damage was done already.Uthappa played sensibly and rotate the strike.Jayasuriya reached hundred with a huge six over fine leg.As anticipated,Jayasuriya was named Man of the match.Mumbai has now 4 wins in a row.

Mumbai bolstered by Sachin's participation against Chennai Superkings

2008-05-14T17:56:00.000+05:30

The last time the two sides met the Mumbai Indians lost by a margin of six runs in one of the more gripping encounters of the IPL. Back then the Chennai Super Kings were sitting pretty at the top of the table while Mumbai, minus Sachin Tendulkar, were trying to work out a winning combination.

Now,Despite having two extra games in hand, Mumbai need at least five victories from their remaining seven games to earn a semi-final berth while Chennai need two wins from five games to qualify. Both sides have the momentum so it will be a case of who blinks first.

Today, Sachin Tendulkar, is back. That was what the Mumbai camp and also the whole of India, was looking forward to.Tendulkar is banking on Sanath Jayasuriya to give the Mumbai Indians a cutting edge in spin bowling in their IPL clash against Chennai Super Kings Wednesday.
“ Sanath got important wickets in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (at the Eden Gardens). Sanath will be a key bowler,” Tendulkar said on the match-eve.

It is unfair to expect Tendulkar the batsman to hit form after weeks of rest and rehab, nor will the Chennai Super Kings bowlers allow him the breathing space to get into groove in Wednesday’s tie at the Wankhede Stadium.

On the other side,Chennai does not have any plans of changing the batting order at the top. “Stephen Fleming and S. Vidyut are playing well, Suresh Raina is getting runs at number three,” coach Kepler Wessles of the CSK.

Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar will be the key for their respective sides. Also, its going to be Sachin vs Murali, this particular contest will be just awesome to watch.

So, get ready for some slam-bang action at the wankhede, this wednesday evening.

Rawalpindi Express's pace Rattles Delhi

2008-05-13T23:41:00.000+05:30

May13,2008,Kolkata. Shoaib Akhtar just made his debut in IPL against Delhi Daredevils today.It was a terrific spell from him.Rawalpindi express came with a firing spell which helps Kolkata Knight Riders to an unlikely win.Earlier,Saurav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat first.Delhi bowlers stick to their basic line.Mcgrath yet again impressive with the ball.Aakash Chopra fell in the 6th over.So much expected from Ganguly,but in vain.He was bowled out for just 7 runs.David Hussey and Salman Butt played a run a ball innings.But,that partnership last for just 40 runs.Some mighty blows towards the end helps Kolkata to go past 130 runs.Kolkata set 134 for Delhi to win.Shoaib Akhtar strikes in the very first over.Sehwag went out for a duck.In his second over he strikes again.This time the other opener,Gautam Gambhir.Then came a firing over from Shoaib(3 rd over).De villiers tried to hit a pull shot but eventually caught at the midwicket,Very next ball Manoj tiwari was caught plum in front of the wicket.Amit Mishra and Dilshan played sensibly,but Dilshan got out due to a smart fielding by LR Shukla.Shukla bowled the 18th over in which he took 3 wickets and ensured a comfortable win for Knight Riders.Shoaib Akthar was named Man of the Match.Kolkata are now with 10 points and Delhi with 8 points.

SRK evicts five players from his team

2008-05-13T19:14:00.000+05:30

In an apparent bid to cut cost, the Kolkata Knight Riders team management "politely" asked five of the players, who are yet to feature in the side's 14-member squad in any match, to leave the team hotel. The players are Ranadeb Bose, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sourasish Lahiri, Yashpal Singh and Hokkaido. One of the players said they were "politely given the option of either staying at the team hotel or going home".

It was clear what the team management wants. Apparently coach John Buchanan feels that he has found his set combination and had no need for the fringe players," one of the players said.

"I did not expect this was coming. I was surprised when John said that we have to win more games and we have to concentrate on the first 11 or first 14. This is unfair on our part that we will not practice or play any game. So, it is better we go back and relax rather than staying with the side",said Ranadeb Bose, KKR player.

However, team owner Shah Rukh Khan justified this eviction and said that no player has been dumped and all of them continue to play for Kolkata Knight Riders. He said, "John has been feeling that there is not much time for all the twenty-three players to practice. We have to concentrate on the core team because ours is more spread out. Which is why we have constricted the team to lesser amount of people so that they can concentrate on practicising effectively with whatever little time they have in their hands. This is purely a technical decision by John Buchanan."

So, clearly, the franchisees are mainly concentrating on their returns rather than the team members needs.

Everyone should remember what Lalit Modi said about IPL during its inception.He said,"IPL will encourage young Indian playerts and it is a big oppurtunity for them".

It seems, Lalit and his IPL franchisees have lost their memory and certainly, these will not encourage young Indian players.

"Royal challengers" becomes "Royal Paupers"

2008-05-13T08:49:00.000+05:30

It's all over for Dravid and his men !!! Bangalore was beaten fair and square by the young and enthusiastic Kings XI Punjab in their home game in Mohali. "No plan, no commitment,no energy" in the way the Bangalore boys played yesterday against Punjab(in fact, that has been the case throughout their "IPL campaign").

The Punjab backed by their team owner and the glamour quotient of their team "Preity Zinta" played some spirited cricket. On the other hand, Royal Challengers led by unusually somber, Rahul Dravid faltered in every step of theirs.

Riding on an unbeaten 74 from Shaun Marsh, Kings XI achieved the target of 144 in just 15.4 overs by losing the wicket of James Hopes (27). Luke Pomersbach was not out on 34 to compliment the brilliant efforts of his team’s bowlers who wrapped up the Royal Challengers for 143 for the loss of eight in 20 overs. Shaun was also elected as the Man of the Match.The Mohali team after their sixth win from nine matches are placed second.

The pressure was clearly on the Royal Challengers as they were desperately looking for a win. Their batting crumbled and Kings XI pacers made the best of the little assistance they got from the pitch.

And then, Punjab batters batted fluently to finish the job and put Royal Challengers out of reckoning for a semi-final berth.

Sehwag under the Scandal

2008-05-12T09:38:00.000+05:30

May12.2008.Jaipur.Virender Sehwag,Captain of Delhi Daredevils made himself into trouble for arguing with umpire.Rajasthan needed 7 runs from 11 balls.Patel gigs out a yorker top the off side and sets off for a risky run, Watson is sent back and he's miles out of his crease as the throw misses the stumps.Dinesh Karthick whips off the bails but Steve Devis refused to call for third umpire.Watson was miles away.Sehwag had a word with Koertzen.Then Steve Davis called for third umpire,Watson was given out.It was an umpiring error,Steve Davis refused to call for third umpire so Sehwag had a word with umpires.However that doesn't stop Rajasthan winning the game.But it might be a turning point of the game if Rajasthan loss the match.

Shane Watson steers Rajasthan to the top of the Table

2008-05-12T09:13:00.000+05:30

May12,2008.Jaipur.Shane Warne,Captain of Rajasthan Royals won the toss against Delhi Daredevils and decided to bowl first in front of the home ground.Sehwag and Gambhir once again gave a bright start and yet again Sehwag fell within power play overs.Shane Watson took his wicket.Shikar Dhawan sacrificed his wicket after his bad call for running a single.Then all depended on Gambhir who had a good tournament so far,but in vain.He fell to a slower ball from Trivedi.De villers and Dinesh Karthik shared some runs but both fell in same over by Dimitri Mascrenehas(who has replaced Sohail Tanvir).Dilshan and Maharoof played some blazing strokes.Delhi was struggling to past 140 but it was Warne's over changed the momentum to Delhi. Maharoof smashed 4 sixes of Warne's over(19 th over of innings) which help Delhi to set Rajasthan a target of 157 to win.Rajasthan made a shaky start.Mcgrath bowled a good line.Smith was dropped in the very first over.De villers ran out Yusuf Pathan in the next over.A few overs later.Sehwag made a stunning dive and ran out Kaif.Rajasthan were struggling at 15 for 2 in 5 overs.Shane watson and Smith shared a quick 71 from 34 balls.Watson was severe with his batting.Overall he hit 5 sixes.When he fell in the penultimate over,the game was on.Tail enders make sure a win for Rajasthan.Watson was named man of the match for his all round performance ( 2 wickets and 74 from 40 balls).Rajasthan now leading the table with 14 points,where as Delhi is still at 8 points.Rajasthan has won all the games played so far in their home ground.

An All Round Performance by Ganguly

2008-05-11T19:54:00.000+05:30

May11,2008,Hyderabad.Saurav Ganguly leads from the front with a stunnig performance with the bat and ball against Deccan Chargers.He scored 91 runs from 57 balls which has 5 boundaries over the rope.Ganguly shared two vital partnership,one with Aakash Chopra and other one with David hussey.These two partnerships helps Kolkata go past 200 runs.It was actually a poor performance by the Chargers with the ball and also with their fielding.Ganguly took his time to reach his 50 ,then it was a firing blows over the ground.David hussey too joined the party and he smashed 3 sixes.Chargers need a terget of 205 runs to win.Though Gibbs fell early ,Gilchrist was attacking but it was short lived.Gul took Teja's wicket in his very first ball.Ganguly came and bowled beautifully.He took 2 wickets giving away 25 runs in his 4 over spell. Venugopal Rao smashed a 42 ball 71,that cause some trouble for Knight riders,but Kolkata bowlers ensured a comfartable win.Ganguly was named Man of the Match for his all round performance.

Back with a Bang!!-Balaji's hat trick helps Chennai to an emphatic win

2008-05-11T10:31:00.000+05:30

May11,2008,Chennai-Lakshmipathy Balaji took the first IPL hat-trick to help Chennai a win in front of their home ground.Earlier,KingsXI captain Yuvraj Singh won the toss and chose to bowl first in a batsmen friendly wicket.Sreesanth strikes in the very first over.In his second over he took Fleming's wicket.Raina and Badrinath shared few runs.When Raina was about to strike every ball ,Chawla strikes in his first over.Then it was all Badrinath and Dhoni show.Dhoni was particularly severe against Chawla.He hits 3 sixes in his spell.Badrinath and Dhoni shared 91 runs between them.But last 5 overs went for just 37 runs.Punjab bowlers bowled splendidly in the last 5 overs.Chennai set Punjab a target of 182 win.Punjab began well,but wickets fell at regular intervals.Marsh,who was very consistent in this tournament,played some stunning strokes.He and sarwan shared 66 runs stand.At that stage.Balaji came to the rescue.He took both wickets in the same over.Yuvraj also fell soon.Pathan played attacking cricket but Chennai had the last laugh.Balaji was named Man of the Match for his stunning figures of 5 for 24 in his 4 overs.At last Chennai gained their winning momentum.

Yusuf Leads Rajasthan Royals to a thumping win over Chargers

2008-05-10T19:12:00.000+05:30

Yusuf pathan made a stunning 68 as Rajasthan beat Hyderabad by 8 wickets on Friday.Earlier Laxman Injury woes continues as Gilchrist took the Captain job for second successive game.Shane warne won the toss and elected to bowl first.Gilchrist and Gibbs started well.They smashed the ball all around the ground.Munaf got the first breakthrough.He took Gibbs's wicket.Gilchrist was playing freely but got out playing a wide ball which sliced the bottom edge of the keeper.Then,wickets fell quickly as Chargers slumped from 97 for 2 to 140 for 8.Venugopla Rao played some good shots to take the Chargers to a respectable score so that they have something to defend.But to their surprise,Opening pair put 109 runs stand.Yusuf and Smith played some great strokes and put the Chargers under fire.Chargers are in the last of the table with just 4 points whereas Royals are the top team with 12 points.Yusuf pathan was awarded Man of the Match.

Knight Riders ends their losing Streak

2008-05-09T08:49:00.000+05:30

Rain Showers down the Eden Gardens results in 16-16 match.Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat first.It was quite a steady start but Kolkata lose wickets in regular intervals.Some brilliant effect from Steyn and Cameroon White leads to the dismisal of Ganguly and David Hussey.Then it was upto the tail enders to take the responsibility.Saha and Murali Karthik shared some few runs and take the score past 100.Kolkata set 129 as target.Bangalore lost Chanderpaul early but Arun kumar was timing the ball well.He hits 3 fours of Gul first over and then he got out in the same over due to a brilliant fielding and direct throw by Hodge.Ganguly was impressive with his bowling.He took Dravid wicket and conceded just 7 runs in his 3 overs.Cameron white and Boucher played sensibly,but the asking rate keep on climbing.It was a great bowling from Kolkata.Last overs they need 34 runs.Murali Karthik was given the ball.He smartly ran out White,who was in the runner side,next 3 balls Boucher attacked(2 fours and 1 six in that over).Ishant bowled the final over.He bowled sensibly and ensured a 5 run victory for Kolkata.Boucher(50 of 40 balls) did a great effort but Kolkata had the last laugh.Saurav was awarded Man of the Match.

Last over Thriller!!!

2008-05-08T19:37:00.000+05:30

It was a fantastic game of cricket between Chennai Superkings and Delhi Daredevils.Chennai needed 15 of the last over.Sehwag gave the ball to shoiab malik to bowl . Gony was the batsmen.He hit the first ball for six,that gave hope for superkings.Then followed by a wide and a thick edge for four.At last they needed 1 to win of 1 ball,Badrinath ensured that there is no need of bowl out.Earlier Dhoni won the toss and chose to bowl.As usual,Sehwag and Gambhir gave a great start.but sehwag and De villers went out soon.It was then upto Gambhir and Shikar Dhawan to take the responsibility.They shared a 121 run stand.Delhi set Chennai a target of 188 to win. Superking new openin pair of Fleming and Vidyut made a great impact.Vidyut was first to go followed by Fleming.Both reached the score of above 40.Dhoni and morkel shared some runs,especially Morkel turn the things back after hitting Sehwag for 23 runs in an over (3 sixes in that).Dhoni fell due to a great catch by De villers in the deep.Then Came the last over drama,which Chennai hold the nerve till the last minute

IPL ropes in Vodafone as official telecom partner

2008-05-08T15:48:00.000+05:30

The master-mind of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has managed it again. Halfway through the season, IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi has roped in Vodafone Essar as the official telecom partner and the official ground sponsor for five years. The deal is estimated to be valued at nearly $25 million. “Vodafone has a long standing association with sports globally, ranging from Formula 1 with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to the UEFA Champions League. I am certain the company’s association with the DLF Indian Premier League as its official partner will prove to be mutually beneficial. This association with Vodafone bears testimony to the success of the DLF Indian Premier League as has been witnessed in the last fortnight of fantastic cricket and further reiterates the fact the league is set to carve out a distinct niche for itself in the international cricketing calendar,” said Mr Modi. With this, tickets for the DLF Indian Premier League matches will now be available on Vodafone live! — a service the teleco offers to customers. Vodafone customers will also be able to participate in the ‘Predict the Man of the Match’ contest and the winner will be announced as the Vodafone Winner of the contest after match.

Riya Sen is the IPL brand ambassador

2008-05-08T15:43:00.000+05:30

Bollywood actor Riya Sen has been appointed as the brand ambassador for Indian Premier League’s official website, www.iplt20.com. Riya’s role will require her to attend the IPL matches, interact with cricketers and post her interactions and views on the website.
Talking from Dubai, Chief Technical Architect of www.iplt20.com, Akash Aurora confirmed Riya’s appointment. He said, “Yes, we have appointed Riya as the brand ambassador of our website. Explaining why they chose Riya, Akash said, “We saw Riya attending a couple of the IPL matches. We observed that she was quite well-versed with the game and its proceedings. Rather than having somebody naive on board, we preferred getting someone who knows about the game. Riya was our first choice and we went ahead with her.”

Charu Sharma outsted, Brijesh Patel in

2008-05-07T15:34:00.000+05:30

Former Indian cricketer and KSCA Secretary Brijesh Patel has been appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Challengers Bangalore. Patel steps in for Charu Sharma, who resigned from the CEO’s post.
A press release from the Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd, the franchise holder of the team, stated, “Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd, has announced that Brijesh Patel has taken over as the CEO of the company as Charu Sharma steps down due to personal reasons. Royal Challengers team acknowledges his contribution and wishes him luck in his future endeavours.”
Rumours about a top-level change of guard was doing the rounds since Tuesday evening.
Brijesh Patel as well as Charu Sharma were not available for comment.
Meanwhile the team, struggling with four points from seven matches, is all set to play Knight Riders on May 8.

IPL players may get as high as Rs.61 crores next year

2008-05-07T09:37:00.000+05:30

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to scrap the $ 5 million cap on the players' salaries from next season onwards, a move that could see top cricketers earn as much as $15 million (Rs 61 crore approx).
The IPL had put a cap of $ 5 million (just over Rs 20 crore) for the franchises this year to prevent the rich team owners from splurging too much.
But with the inaugural edition turning out to be a major success, the players are set to reap the rewards in the next season.
"If we hadn't done that, I can tell you that our players would already be the highest-paid across any sport in the world," IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi .
"It will happen - if not today, then tomorrow. Because once the franchises have established themselves, it will be a free-for-all," he added.
Hayden confirmed that players were up for a financial windfall when the next season of the IPL gets underway.
"From what I have heard, some of the stuff (payments) this year could be just the tip of the iceberg," Hayden said.

Bhajii- Sree Video footage shocking: Nanavathi

2008-05-07T09:33:00.000+05:30

“I am shocked, don’t ask further. What I saw on the video footage was much beyond what I expected,” Sudhir Nanavati said after viewing the slapping incident involving S. Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh in the DLF-IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians in Mohali on April 25.
He was speaking about the footage supplied by the official broadcaster that provided proof of Harbhajan roughing up Sreesanth at the conclusion of the match and compelled the IPL to throw Harbhajan out of the competition.
Harbhajan, in fact, admitted to his guilt and lost 100 per cent of his match fee.
Soon after issuing a show cause notice to Harbhajan, the BCCI appointed the senior advocate of the Gujarat High Court, Mr. Nanavati, as Commissioner to inquire into the episode.

Giily upbeat after victory, Dhoni to bat up the order

2008-05-07T09:27:00.000+05:30

Adam Gilchrist led from the front to help the Deccan Chargers upstaged the fancied Chennai Super Kings but the humble Australian said he was only carrying forward the good work done by regular skipper VVS Laxman.
In the post-match press conference, the Aussie, however, humility personified and said he was enjoying playing under Laxman."He (Laxman) has put up a strong foundation and I am only carrying that good work," Gilchrist said.Though the win boosted the morale of the side that was at the bottom of the point chart, Gilchrist was not ready to get carried away.
Struggling to digest the team's third defeat in a row, Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed his batsmen for playing too many shots too early and said he might bat up the order from the next match of the Indian Premier League."We have to settled down as a side. Our top order batsmen played too many shots. They were in two minds whether to go for the shot or not and ultimately lost their wickets playing their shots late', Dhoni rued after his side was humbled by lowly Deccan Chargers by seven wickets on Tuesday.Dhoni said, "We will try different combinations but there will not be much changes. I may come up the batting order, perhaps third or fourth slot."We could not get off rightly with the combinations in the last three matches. But, we should not panic by the losses and it is not individuals but we have to work as a team," he said.
So, as the DLF IPL moves to next round, captains of the respective teams have their hands more than full.

Chargers Thrash Superkings

2008-05-07T06:36:00.000+05:30

Chennai May 7 ,2008.Deccan chargers thrash superkings by 7 wicket victory here at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on tuesday.Chargers had a earlier set back after Laxman withdraw from the match due to injury.It was then upto Gilchrist to lead the Chargers. Gilchrist won the toss and chose to field.In the very first over,Chargers got the breakthrough.Some superb fielding and catchin lead to earlier set back for Superkings.They were 51 for 4 at one stage.Dhoni and Raina tried to steady the innings,but all went in vain .Raina was looking good but fell to Sanjay Bhangar.Superkings managed to score 144 in 20 over,last over(20 runs) helped them to reach a respectable total.Superkings came good with the ball for first two overs , then it was all Gilly show .Gilchrist thrashed a 36 ball 54(7 fours and 2 sixes).Then Styris and Rohit sharma made some good strokes ,Rohit fails to finish the game but boom boom Afridi came and finish the formalities soon. Gilchrist was named Man of the match .Superkings were defeated for second succesive time in their home ground .

Chargers fight Superkings in their den

2008-05-06T18:35:00.000+05:30

Languishing at the bottom of the table - Hyderabad need a victory badly to keep their chances alive. And against Chennai who have lost their last two games, they will fancy their chances.
The Deccan Chargers may be described as the unstoppables in their promotional campaigns but they have been stopped far too often in their tracks already. Five times out of 6 games in the tournament, so do the Chargers need to re-think their tactics? Not really; says their under-fire captain.
"I think the team composition is good. It is just that we have lost some close games and now we have to come out and go strongly against each and every team we are playing," said VVS Laxman.
The Chennai Super Kings too seem to have lost some of their early momentum. In Jaipur on Sunday they were dismissed for a paltry 109 and couldn't even bat out their whole quota of overs.
Clearly, Dhoni's outfit is finding it hard to overcome the loss of Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey and Jacob Oram who have left on national duty.
"Obviously, we are going to miss the guys who have left. They are all good players and they were a part of our strategy. But we have got some good players who have come into the side and it is just a matter of establishing with the new players and then we should be back to where we need to be," said Chennai coach, Kepler Wessels.

Now to the trump cards for the respective teams:

Chennai: MS Dhoni.

Hyderabad: Adam Gilchrist.

DLF IPL all set to rock on April 18th

2008-04-17T20:52:00.000+05:30

Put on your seat belts for this grandest extravaganza.Its here and is here to stay. The DLF Indian Premier League, after months of hype and hoopla, has finally arrived. Its going to kick start with a big flair and colour in Bangalore on 18th of April. Many believe, IPL might just change the way, Cricket is played. Its a new kid on the block and after all that hype, the cricket is gonna be played amidst anxious fans.

There will be a sensational contest between Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Chinnaswamy Stadium .Former captains of India Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly are leading the teams of Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively.Great cricket stars like Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies, Nathan Baracken and David Hussey of Australia, Mark Boucher and Jaques Kallis of South Africa and others will be seen in action in this inaugural match of the IPL.

Its the first match of the IPL tournament and has created lots of expectations.Critics still vouch for Test cricket but this is purely entertainment and the 8 teams are all raring to go.The teams seem to be equally matched and the cup in the inaugural tournament beckons them.

Together with the glamour of Bollywood, a new style of sports and entertainment will take place at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The opening ceremony will be a blend of fireworks, stilt walkers, aerial gymnasts, performers in a bubble and some Bollywood glitter with the presence of Shah Rukh Khan, also the co-owner of the Kolkata team, and Preity Zinta, co-owner of the Mohali franchise.

So, await lots of fireworks and entertainment and ofcourse cricket !!!!

IPL can damage cricket: Akram

2008-04-14T17:46:00.000+05:30

FORMER Pakistan bowling great Wasim Akram warned the Indian Premier League could seriously damage international cricket if the game's governing body fails to intervene.
The lucrative IPL, which starts from Thursday, has already stirred controversy with high profile players willing to retire to feature in the multi-million dollar bonanza.

“I fear the IPL can be a serious distraction and destruction if the International Cricket Council (ICC) doesn't intervene because it involves huge money and players are ready to abandon international cricket,'' Akram said. .

The tournament marks the first time that international cricketers will put aside national allegiances to play for privately-owned and city-based teams. “The ICC should have foreseen the danger 10 years ago because the ICC and cricket boards of countries earn billions of dollars with players getting a small percentage, so such a thing was bound to happen,'' Akram said. “Had players been paid properly by the ICC and the boards they would not have joined such leagues. Now there has come a stage where players are willing to opt out of international cricket, which is dangerous.'' Akram, “Test cricket will stay on as it is but I think the ICC will have to find some ways to keep the 50-over interest alive,'' said Akram who holds the world record of most one-day wickets with 502. “Overs 20 to 40 are starting to prove boring for fans - even I would not watch the middle overs if players like Adam Gilchrist, Sanath Jayasuriya and Shahid Afridi aren't batting,'' he said.

Kallis and Boucher to stay back in India

2008-04-14T15:42:00.000+05:30

South African players Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher might be good enough for the Bangalore IPL franchise to justify paying almost US$1.5 million for them, but they are not good enough to make their domestic Twenty20 squad. Both are therefore staying in India and not returning home with the rest of the South African Test squad.
Both players, as well as Ashwell Prince, represent the Cape Cobras in the Standard Bank Pro20 tournament in South Africa. Shukri Conrad, the Cobras' coach and convenor of selectors, chose to include Graeme Smith and JP Duminy from the six nationally-contracted players but could find no place in his team for Prince and seamer Monde Zondeki as well. Smith and Duminy replace promising youngsters Richard Levi and Stiaan van Zyl.
A statement from the Cobras said that Kallis, Boucher and Prince were now "free to stay on in India to participate in the new IPL league if Cricket South Africa (CSA) gives them the go ahead."

IPL: Aircel bags team sponsorship for Chennai Super Kings

2008-04-14T15:41:00.001+05:30

Aircel announced that it has bagged sponsorship rights for Chennai Super Kings in the soon to be launched Indian Premier League (IPL). The Chennai team is to be led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Indian Cements have bought the rights for Chennai team and Tamil actors and Nayanthara are roped in as brand ambassadors for the team.

Aircel, as team sponsor, has received branding rights on the players’ uniform including their shirts and hats.

Aircel COO, Gurdeep Singh said, "Aircel, is the leading cellular service provider in Chennai and Tamil Nadu, and hence an association with Chennai Super Kings, led by Dhoni was a natural fit."

Modi climbs down on IPL media guidelines issue

2008-04-13T11:50:00.000+05:30

Lalit Modi, Chairman and Commissioner of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), who met representatives of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) here on Saturday, claimed to The Hindu that the problems relating to the contentious terms and conditions of the Media Guidelines – even after they were revised once by IPL – may have been resolved.
“I have dropped the last clause, allowed the websites of the newspapers to upload a reasonable number of pictures [instead of six] and clarified certain clauses to them. We have agreed in principle on all matters,” Mr. Modi told this correspondent. Clause dropped
The following clause has been dropped altogether: “IPL may request publications to provide for use and reproduction, free of charge, worldwide and without limit in time any photographs/images captured by the Accredited Party at any Ground and the Accredited Party shall make the same available to IPL.”
Another clause restricted newspapers to the use of only six pictures per match on their websites. According to this particular clause, “No online use or publication or syndication of any such still photographic images is allowed except for the website of the publication. Only used photos can be put on website of a publication. In the media gallery of the website, six more pictures other than those used in the publication can be used.” IPL has now agreed to the use of a “reasonable number of pictures.”

Four camera units, 14 commentators to cover IPL

2008-04-13T11:45:00.000+05:30

Four camera units and a star-studded panel of 14 cricketer-turned-commentators, split into three teams, will cover the Indian Premier league (IPL) starting Friday in Bangalore. The commentators include Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Greg Chappell. According to an IPL source, Gavaskar and Shastri, who are employed by ESPN-STAR Sports, have been given special permission by the broadcasters to commentate during the lucrative Twenty20 tournament. Incidentally, both are also on the IPL governing council.
Greg Chappell, who was India coach for two years starting 2005 and has also worked as a commentator for Channel Nine in Australia, has also been allowed by the Rajasthan Cricket Academy to commentate. Chappell, a former Australia captain, is currently the head coach of the academy housed in Jaipur’s Sawai Man Singh Stadium.
TransWorld International is producing the live telecast of the tournament and it has formed four camera units to cover the 59 matches in 45 days. The two semi-finals as well as the final will be played in Mumbai.
IPL commentators’ list:
Group 1: Rameez Raja (Pakistan), Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (India), Robin Jackman (South Africa) and Ravi Shastri (India)
Group 2: Greg Chappell (Australia), Ranjit Fernando (Sri Lanka), Aamer Sohail (Pakistan), Ian Bishop (West Indies, until May 17) and Damien Fleming (Australia, from May 17)
Group 3: Sunil Gavaskar (India), Arun Lal (India), Pommie Mbangwa (Zimbabwe), Tony Cozier (West Indies, until May 17) and Danny Morrison (New Zealand, from May 17)

Parthiv wants to get back to Indian team via IPL

2008-04-13T11:42:00.000+05:30

Parthiv Patel, aiming to stage a comeback into the Indian cricket team, underlined his determination by getting straight to work for Chennai IPL team on arrival here to prepare for the Indian Premier League starting April 18.
"Of course, it is great to get such an opportunity as I am sure there will be a lot of people watching your performance. I hope to do well in this tournament (Indian Premier League)," said Parthiv as he wiped the perspiration off his forehead.
Parthiv, who turned 23 last month, is also aware of the fact that he needs to work that much harder now than at any time in the past to regain his spot in the Indian team.
The Ahmedabad-based player made his debut for India in 2002 at Trent Bridge against England as a late replacement for an injured Ajay Ratra to become the youngest wicketkeeper ever in Test history.
He went on to play 19 Tests and 14 ODIs, but failed to retain his spot and it was not long before he was omitted from the Indian team. The arrival of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik further affected Parthiv's chances of staging a comeback.
Looking back, Parthiv said: "It is always tough when you get dropped from the Indian team. However, I took this in my stride and worked harder on my technique, both batting and wicket-keeping besides my overall fitness. Hopefully, I will get an opportunity to get back into the Indian team."

Sharing attack with Pathan, Sreesanth excites Lee

2008-04-13T11:40:00.000+05:30

Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee said on Saturday that he was looking forward to sharing the new ball with Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Praising the Indian bowlers as “world class,” Lee said: “It would be great to share the new ball with them.”
The Australian quick also rubbished suggestion that the Indian Premier League (IPL) would lure players away from national duty, saying both could co-exist without being detrimental to each other.
“I don’t think we should compare or match the IPL with Australian team as both have their own place,” said Lee, who would be playing for Kings XI Punjab.
On being quizzed about a recent survey conducted by Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) which says nearly half of the Aussie players were willing to give up their central contracts to play in the cash-awash IPL, Lee said: “I don’t think there is any reason why we can’t do both (play for Australia and the IPL simultaneously).”
“My heart is for Australian team and wearing baggy green is a great honour,” he added.

SRK to sell IPL tickets for Rs 100

2008-04-13T11:38:00.000+05:30

Next week this time the biggest cricketing extravaganza, IPL (Indian Premiere League), will be on and cricket mania is surely going to be at an all time high for the following few weeks.
Needless to say the presence of Bollywood stars in some cricket matches will truly be a case of sone pe suhaaga for every Indian. The opening match of the IPL sees Dr Vijay Mallya's Bangalore Royal Challengers take on Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chinaswamy stadium in Bangalore.
While most of the team captains and owners will be present for the opening ceremony in Bangalore on April 18, once the tournament starts, most owners will be seen only in the places where their teams are playing.
So this means that Shah Rukh Khan will be seen cheering his team Kolkata Knight Riders wherever they play. The charismatic Khan is particularly looking forward to cheering his team at the spectacular Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata. In fact, Khan has even decided to keep the ticket prices as cheap as Rs 100 (lowest denomination) so that the youth can see all the cricketing action live.
What's more, Shah Rukh will even be handing over every 1,000th purchased ticket personally to the spectator. The superstar has urged some of his good friends to be present along with him to cheer his team.
Surely, Shah Rukh is going all out to promote his team and get maximum spectators to watch the action. After all it's no mean feat filling the massive Eden Gardens.

The IPL And It's Possible Impact On Indian Football

2008-03-25T20:43:00.000+05:30

Indian Premier League (IPL) launched by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is all set to become the costliest competition in Indian sports. A few days earlier, it was Force India which made it to the headlines for the right reasons. In days to come before the Commonwealth Games 2010, India will set foundation stones for many sports properties and thus reflect the confidence of the current Indian sporting scenario.

The present condition of sports in India allows cricket to consolidate its position firmly due to the absence of any strong competitor. The plot of IPL is pretty similar to the American Football Scenario in the US were millionaires are invited to buy franchises of the NFL teams. Whether the IPL would be a success or not would be seen once the season ends.

But the real question lies whether the IPL is good or bad for Indian Football? Definitely due to the advent of the IPL, the sporting culture in India is all set to change. It is true that IPL may not help Indian football directly but who knows whether the emergence of professional sporting culture due to the IPL might just benefit the beautiful game.

The list franchisee owners of IPL boast of corporate tycoons like Dr.Vijay Mallya and Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, who are known to be very passionate about football. We also have to note that there were few corporate bigwigs who had failed in their attempt to get the ownership rights of an IPL team. They do have football as an option for investment due to the strong club culture present in Indian football.

Football in India is already attracting fresh corporate interests and with more than a billion people living in India, we have the option to have a multi-sport industry in our country. The immediate need of the hour is for the football clubs to attain professionalism.

Knight Riders come together for the Badshah

2008-03-12T17:54:00.000+05:30

Shah Rukh Khan unvieled the logo and the uniform of his much awaited Kolkatta team. Everyone were on their toes in the function and the real attraction apart from SRK himself is the captain of the Kolkatta Knight Riders team Sourav Ganguly. Coach John Buchannan was also present in the team function.

Part owners Jay Mehta, his wife and actress Juhi Chawla and the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Prasun Mukherjee were also present.
Shah Rukh said, “we are here to play to win.” Explaining the name of the team he said it was chosen keeping the youth in mind. “It should be appealing to kids,” and added “you have to play cricket like football in Kolkata.”
The matinee idol said the team anthem was composed and sung by Vishal Shekar; Reebok designed the team’s kit and Manish Malhotra designed the formal clothes.
“Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo” (will do, will fight, will win) is the team’s slogan while ‘Hoog Lee’ a Royal Bengal tiger is the mascot.
While taking questions from the media, Shah Rukh said any extra money earned from this venture would be diverted to develop soccer in the state

Indian Cricket League, ICL v/s IPL : lets compare.

2008-03-09T12:37:00.000+05:30

For the next 3 months, India will witness two rival twenty20 tournaments. First, the “rebel” unofficial Indian Cricket League and then the “official” Indian Premier League. The IPL has the support for BCCI and all the cricketing boards. And more importantly the ICL, is being opposed by all cricketing boards and steps have been taken by BCCI that ICL does not get genuine cricket stadiums, their players are banned from local, state and national teams. With this as the background, lets look at why ICL is not as second grade as IPL lovers would think it is.

Actually ICL is the original league. Only after ICL was announced by ZEE and Subhash Chandra, BCCI felt threatened that their monopoly over cricket would get affected and arranged the IPL as a counter attack.

IPL is more a business venture where players are bought and sold with an aim to make more money. The cricket teams revolve around big stars who will drop in from all over the world to play for a few days and go back. While ICL ’s official intention is to promote young players. The ICL players are mostly involved only with ICL and the young players are playing the same league all year round. You should watch a game of ICL to see how motivated the young cricketers are.

If you just look at young players, ICL has some great talent too. Ambati Raydu, Abhisehk Jhunjhunwala and Mortaza to name a few. Its just that promoting young players by pushing aside seniors is a new strategy from BCCI. If this started few years back, these would be the Rohit and Ishant Sharma’s of India. Lets look at the biggies. Sachin and Dhoni will play in the IPL. Well ICL has Brian Lara and Inzamam Ul Haq. It is important to note that most of non Indian players may not play in the whole season of IPL because of clashing schedules. ICL has a pretty impressive list of 2020 players, Shane Bond, Lance Klusener, Chris Cairns, Shane Bond. Right, some of them are retired. But they retired from test cricket and one day but were always suited for the 2020 form of the game.

ICL is not a second grade tournament. BCCI would love if you think so. Lets give these fighting cricketers a chance. Lets watch and find out.

IPL will be a super hit: Tendulkar

2008-03-09T12:28:00.000+05:30

— Photo: Vivek Bendre

EXCITING PROSPECTS: Sachin Tendulkar, who will lead Mumbai Indians in the IPL, at the unveiling of the team name and logo in Mumbai on Saturday.

Mumbai: Sobriety was the soul of Sachin Tendulkar’s answers after he named the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) franchise team as ‘Mumbai Indians’, posed for pictures in front of the crest resembling a Sudarshan chakra in motion with an outline of India and was named the captain of the team.

Tendulkar said Mumbai Indians was a well-balanced team, like most other teams in the DLF IPL Twenty20 competition to be played from April 18 to June 1.

The Mumbai Indians will sport ocean blue, to which neither the BCCI nor IPL has objected, as its official team colour.

Excited

It was evident that Tendulkar, who, along with Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, opted out of the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, is thrilled and excited about the prospect of leading a team that will have a reasonable sprinkling of overseas players and promising players from Mumbai and its designated catchment areas in Maharashtra and Vidarbha.

Tendulkar said he had not been sure of giving 100 per cent to the team after the long tour of Ireland, Scotland and England last summer and hence had opted to stay away from the ICC T20 competition.

“But in Australia, we were all excited by the IPL developments. I was curious to know which player was going where, not the price they commanded.

“What’s going to make the IPL thrilling and exciting from the players’ point of view is that there will be a combination of players from around the world in a team.

Privilege

“I will get an opportunity to lead, plan strategy and provide excitement to the fans. The IPL is going to be a super hit. It will be an evening out for the family. And, it’s a privilege for me to lead the Mumbai Indians,” he said.

Tendulkar said the Mumbai Indians would have a good combination of seniors and youngsters and would be looking forward to whip up support from the followers of the game in Mumbai.

“I want Mumbaikars to support Mumbai Indians. We will play in the right spirit.

“Thirty years ago, one-day cricket provided all the excitement, 30 years later I will be happy to say I was part of the inaugural IPL and how all the players enjoyed playing it.

“I wish all the franchise teams and players my good wishes and hopefully there will be plenty of entertainment. It provides plenty of spills and thrills in three hours. It’s a game for the 5-year-old and the 80-year-old, and students don’t have to bunk school or college,” he said.

Finally asked about his availability for the home series against South Africa, he said: “As far as I am concerned, I am fit.”

Win the reality show, play with warne in IPL

2008-03-05T20:13:00.000+05:30

Emerging Media (EM) has launched the second edition of its cricket-based reality show Cricket Star Twenty20. The hunt looks to find budding T20 Indian cricketers.

EM also owns the Indian Premier League (IPL) Jaipur franchise which was recently named Rajasthan Royals. Chappell will oversee the selection trials and the Cricket Star Academy, which will be based in Jaipur. The boys chosen will have an Academy stint and they will also interact, train and play with the Rajasthan Royals who will be captained by spin whiz Shane Warne. Reebok and Sony have tied up with EM for the endeavour and the finalists will get a contract for 2009 with the Rajasthan Royals.
In the past winners of Cricket Star have been sent to England to play county cricket with the Leicestershire County Cricket Club. Registrations for this event were opened in December and entries from 500 towns and cities have been received. A shortlist has been created and these have been invited by EM to attend trials, which kick off on 5 March in Mumbai and seven cities across India. The process will last for three weeks. The selected contestants will attend a boot camp in Jaipur where they will be trained in the Twenty20 format under Chappell’s watchful eye.Cricket Star was conceived by a company, Investors In Cricket, a couple of years back and was then acquired by EM.
EM CEO Fraser Castellino says, “The launch of the IPL tournament has introduced the Twenty20 format of cricket to the nation and we believe that Cricket Star Twenty20 will discover and nurture a new breed of specialist Twenty20 cricketers.”

Vodafone to sponsor IPL telecast by Sony Entertainment

2008-03-05T20:08:00.000+05:30

The broadcaster is looking to net Rs 170 crore from major sponsors.

Sony Entertainment Television has signed on telecom service provider Vodafone as the presenting sponsor for DLF Indian Premier League (IPL). Pepsi Co India, Hyundai and Nokia are also on board as associate sponsors.

The broadcaster plans to have two presenting sponsors and six associate sponsors. Sony is also looking to rope in one more presenting sponsor and three associate sponsors.

According to sources, Sony is in talks with ICICI, the UB Group (which owns the Bangalore team), Future Group, ITC, TVS and Hero Honda for sponsorships.

The two presenting sponsors will shell out around Rs 25-30 crore each for about 250 seconds of time per match and the six associate sponsors will each pay about Rs 20 crore for about 200-150 seconds of advertising time.

The sponsors will get mileage through interactive initiatives that will use between 1,500 to 1,600 seconds of a total 2,000 seconds of commercial time available in a three-hour match.

The remainder time will be sold as spot buys. Media buying executives estimate the 10-second slots will be sold at about Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh.

When contacted Rohit Gupta, president (network sales, licensing & telephony), Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India, declined to comment.

SET, along with sports marketing and management agency World Sports Group (WSG), won the IPL broadcast rights for $1.03 billion (about Rs 4,120 crore), which includes $108 million (nearly Rs 430 crore) for compulsory promotional spend for 10 years. Sony will cover the Indian sub-continent and WSG will explore the international market.

IPL, the Twenty20 tournament hosted by the BCCI, will begin on April 18. Eight city teams will play 59 matches over 44 days.

Second round of auction to take place for IPL

2008-03-05T20:00:00.000+05:30

The Cricket Board-floated Indian Premier League (IPL)will conduct a second players' auction next week to enable franchises, that have money left after the initial auction held on February 20, from the five million USD cap, supplement their player base.
"We plan to hold an internal players auction next week with only the team mangement who have money left to supplement their players," said Lalit Modi, IPL Commissioner and Chairman.
Each franchise was to spend a minimum of $3.3 million and a maximum of $5 million for buying players put up at the auction as well as paying for the five icon players whose value was fixed at 15 per cent over and above the costliest player bid successfully by that particular franchise.
Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag are the icon players for Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mohali and Delhi franchises respectively.
The first auction held last month saw 79 players snapped up by the eight franchises for sums ranging from $4,00,000 (base price) to $1.5 million (amount paid for Indian one-day and T20 captain by Chennai franchise India Cements).
Modi admitted that the response for the first auction was a bit above what was expected, while mentioning that it was not extra-ordinary considering it was a pioneering effort towards the dawn of a new era in the game.
"To be absolutely honest, the response garnered by the DLF Indian Premier League has been a tad above expectation. But I would not state it is out of the ordinary, when we consider that this was a first towards a bold, new cricketing era," he said.

The IPL chairman, who is also a Vice President of the BCCI, defended the auctioning of players in which they were sold like commodities which has come under fire from a few quarters.
"For me the DLF IPL is all about showcasing cricketing talent on a global stage. People that make remarks otherwise simply have not understood the essence of professional sports. What the IPL has done is simply allow free market forces to facilitate a free and fair evaluation of cricketers based on their future potential.
"If a cricketer does not perform at the international level while playing for his country he will not receive the kind of valuations from the free market based on the very principles of economics," he said.

Sachin wanted match winners for his Mumbai team

2008-03-03T09:26:00.000+05:30

The Reliance Industries-owned Mumbai franchisee had gone to last month's IPL players' auction armed with a strategy and wish-list outlined by master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and executed them to a large extent, according to the chief representative of the franchisee.
In an exclusive interview to PTI, the President and Chief Marketing Officer of Reliance Retail Limited, R Balachandran said he would give a figure of 8 on a 1-10 scale about the outcome of the February 20 auction in which they trained their focus on roping in match-winning players.
"We went into the auction with a fairly clear idea of what we wanted. He (Tendulkar) thinks cricket from many angles and thinks continuously. We had a lot of dialogue. He had a wish-list and there was a strategy behind the players that we went out to pick and the players we got. We executed that strategy.
"He sought specific players. If you look at the players you will see we have selected people who by themselves are match-winners. That's a very important aspect.
"Yes, we came out a happy lot. If you put it in a scale of 1-10, I would say it probably would be around 8," said Balachandran, who headed the Mumbai franchisee team at the auction.
"I believe it's not just possession but a question of choosing match winners. This is what is behind a good amount of our strategy. I know Sachin's mind has worked on all this a lot," he elaborated.
Another major factor influencing their choice of players was their availability in the first year of the April 18-June 1 League, Balachandran said.
"All the players we have picked up at the auction are 100 per cent available this year. That's very important. We did not necessarily go into the auction to choose the entire team which could not have been done as per the rules of the auction."What we did was to pick the core of the team in which Sachin is the nucleus, as the icon player not only as a batsman and a vastly experienced captain but also as a thinking cricketer," he said.
The Reliance official also said that the three Ss in the squad - Sachin, Sanath (Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka) and Shaun (Pollock of South Africa) - would play key roles in the moulding of the team with their vast experience as players and captains in the international arena.
"If you take Sanath, Sachin of course or Shaun Pollock, quite apart from anything else they are cricketers with so much experience. Experience finally makes a difference in that split second of a decision and a split second often comes when you have got the compressed format of play.

Gilly looking to IPL to heal the hurts of summer

2008-03-02T07:40:00.000+05:30

THE IPL Twenty20 tournament has the power to mend international cricket's destructive feuding, according to Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.

The tit-for-tat summer of spats is set to climax today when Australia and India clash at the SCG in the first final of the one-day series.

Gilchrist admitted the season had "got out of hand" and had been "exhausting", as much because of the off-field drama and political power plays as the on-field intensity.

But the retiring gloveman was hopeful relationships between international players could be enhanced by the cultural mix of the IPL.

Gilchrist said professional cricket had limited the chance for players to mix with international rivals.

In the IPL, they will become teammates.

For example, Australian captain Ricky Ponting will join Indian teenage firebrand Ishant Sharma at Kolkata, while MS Dhoni and Matthew Hayden have been partnered at Chennai Superkings.

"That's where I see something like the IPL's going to be ground-breaking territory," Gilchrist said.

"That's going to be an opportunity for players around the world to get to meet, know and understand opposition cultures and customs.

"I think that's going to be a very positive offshoot of IPL. Any world XI team I've ever played in there's always been a great camaraderie in the rooms."

The summer of discontent has boiled over so much that there are now suggestions of rumblings within the Australian dressingroom. Cricket Australia's decision to reprimand Matthew Hayden this week for calling Harbhajan Singh an "obnoxious little weed" is seemingly another sign of CA appeasing the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

It's understood players feel let down by the a lack of support from CA, particularly in the Harbhajan Singh racial abuse case against Andrew Symonds.

Symonds has also been gagged, his exclusive column in The Sunday Mail withdrawn after CA insisted on overseeing it.

Gilchrist denied any conflict within Australian cricket ranks.

Asked if players had become pawns in a political battle, Gilchrist said: "There's been evidence that the players probably haven't been able to totally represent exactly how they've felt. There's no doubt about that.

"It's grown beyond just the cricket. It's a business now and I think people are mindful of that."

But Gilchrist said players also had a responsibility to adhere to professional standards, especially in the present fragile environment.

"I don't think the players can totally complain too much though because it's a professional world and we're the beneficiaries of that professionalism."

Gilchrist admitted professional sport had become "sanitised".

"I think the situation this summer has got out of hand somewhat," he said.

"Hopefully, over the next week we'll see some great cricket, the series will finish and we'll all just move on and forget the almost tit-for-tat reactions that have been going on."

Kirsten fears IPL money may pose new challenge

2008-03-01T18:16:00.001+05:30

New Delhi (PTI): India's new cricket coach Gary Kirsten feels the huge sums offered by the Indian Premier League could pose a challenge for him in terms of management of the players with heavy pockets.

"The IPL is new territory for all of us. So maybe, the kind of money that's come in presents a new sort of challenge for me," said Kirsten, who will take over the reins of the team from March 1.

But Kirsten said he would deal with it only when the need arises. "We will focus on that if the need comes."

Indian players, including even the rookie players like Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma, are reaping a rich harvest to play for the IPL, a cash-rich Twenty20 competition.

Kirsten said the IPL was a great opportunity for international cricketers and saw "no reason why it shouldn't succeed".

"The IPL is unique because it brings in a new kind of supporter to cricket. It also adds a new dimension to the game. I think it's great," Kirsten told cricinfo website.

"But I am clear that it's not for me. Certainly, not now. My focus right now is on getting my plans in place for the Indian team."

On the replacements for physio John Gloster and trainer Gregory King, Kirsten said the names were under consideration.

"There are a couple of names in the mix, but we will have to discuss various options before coming to a decision."

Kirsten said he was keen on bringing along his business associate and mental skills coach Paddy Upton on a permanent basis.

"He brings a tremendous amount of experience into the field, and am sure that will add a lot of value," said Kirsten.

IPL 'cricketers will earn as much as Lampard'

2008-03-01T07:37:00.000+05:30

Any regular reader of these pages who happened to be passing through the lobby of the Carlton Towers Hotel yesterday would have spotted Terry Venables conducting a meeting over a pot of coffee. They would have been rather less likely to notice the affable-looking Indian businessman in the brown corduroy suit. Yet this same man has set off an earthquake that has shaken the world of cricket - the world of sport, even - to its foundations.

Exclusive: Billion-dollar battle threatens English cricket

Derek Pringle: Matthew Hayden should not be punished

Nick Hoult: Symonds joins millionaires club

Lalit Modi, the chairman of the Indian Premier League, has pulled off an astonishing and unprecedented conjuring trick: he has created a billion-dollar tournament out of nothing. A few months ago, no one had heard of the IPL or its eight city franchises. Now those franchises have been sold for prices ranging from £34 million to £56 million. More than 70 international stars have been recruited for salaries that, until last week, would have been beyond even Sachin Tendulkar's wildest dreams. Buoyed by wallet-busting enthusiasm from owners, sponsors and broadcasters, Modi is convinced that the IPL will catapult cricket up to the level of football's Premier League and beyond.


	Big hit: could Kevin Pietersen be about to sign for the IPL?

"If you look at the comparison, Aston Villa were recently sold for £62 million," he said. "That is a historic club with a ground and established supporters. We just sold the Mumbai franchise for almost the same amount of money, and the team doesn't even exist yet. Then you can compare the players: Andrew Symonds is making £100,000 a week for the duration of the tournament, Mahendra Singh Dhoni even more than that. Tell me who in the Premier League earns as much? Maybe Frank Lampard, maybe Cristiano Ronaldo. But not many.

"We set a salary cap of $5million [£2.5 million] per team for the first season," Modi said. "We didn't want a couple of extremely rich individuals to create a situation where it's only a few teams, like Manchester United or Chelsea, who can win the title. But if we hadn't done that, I can tell you that our players would already be the highest-paid across any sport in the world. It will happen - if not today, then tomorrow. Because once the franchises have established themselves, it will be a free-for-all."

Modi's enthusiasm for his project is boundless. Like many other members of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, he is a businessman first and a cricket administrator second. The gigantic sums pouring into the BCCI's coffers are, for him, a validation of the whole ambitious scheme. Yet the very speed of India's Twenty20 explosion has left the rest of the world feeling shell-shocked.

What will these new economics do to the traditional world of five-day Tests and three-month tours? Will players be torn between patriotism and the temptation to pay off the mortgage in one go? The timing of the IPL, which runs from April 18 this year until June 1, means that no country will be feeling more anxious about these questions than England.

It would be easy to portray Modi as a free-market predator, in line with Oscar Wilde's definition of a cynic as "someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing". Clearly he is not moved by sentiment: at one point in our conversation he predicts that Test cricket should be able to survive as a game "with its own skills and its own charm, which will continue to be enjoyed by hard-core cricket fans". His tone suggests he does not see himself among that group.

Yet there is no reason why cold business logic should be at odds with the best interests of the game. Modi knows as well as anyone that he needs a stable international circuit to provide his tournament with its manpower. He has an understanding with the other national boards that he will not go poaching players against their will: all cricketers who appear in the IPL must have a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from their home board, whether they have retired from international cricket or not. And he has gone out of his way to protect England by declaring their players - including prime targets Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood - off limits for the first year at least. In return, he expects the counties to reject anyone who has signed for the IPL's unauthorised rival, the Indian Cricket League.

"We accept that people are committed to certain pre-existing contracts, but it's not acceptable for any county to knowingly sign an ICL player," he said. "They need to keep to that understanding, otherwise the trickle-down effect is that none of the English counties could end up being invited to the Champions Twenty20 Trophy in the autumn."

Modi added: "The ICL is run by businessmen for profit, whereas the BCCI and the IPL are non-profit organisations: anything we do goes back into the development of the game and the enhancing of infrastructure. We are working with private enterprise to change cricketers' lives. You take someone like Ishant Sharma: his father earned £75 a year and his whole family lived in a single room in Delhi. Now he's being paid £475,000 for two months' work: his life has changed, his family's life has changed, it's wonderful to see.

"It's not cheap to do this. The model is very different to the ICL: they have one stadium, where they play all the games. We have eight cities involved, and you have to take the cricket to each of them if you want to build that concept of 'My city, my team'. There were two TV production crews at the last World Cup, but we have four, and two jumbo jets to carry them in.

"The two biggest entertainments in India are cricket and Bollywood. And with film stars like Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta among the franchise owners, we are putting the two together."

So what about accusations that Modi and Co are using India's fearsome economic clout to boss the rest of the world around? He said: "India has been subservient for 100 years. People are used to dictating terms to us. We're just evening the playing field. And if it's our turn to have some glory, so much the better."

Warne to lead Jaipur in IPL

2008-02-28T21:11:00.000+05:30

ndian Premier League (IPL) franchise Jaipur has announced retired Australian leg spinner Shane Warne will coach and captain the Twenty20 side.

Chief executive Fraser Castellino of Emerging Media, which owns the Jaipur franchise, said they were looking for a "legendary cricketer".

"Shane's commitment and astute cricketing brain makes him one of the most respected cricketers in the history of the game," he said.

Warne is one of the four foreign cricketers in the side, others being South African captain Graeme Smith and Pakistan's Younis Khan and Kamran Akmal.

Smith emerged the team's highest-paid overseas player after last week's auction in Mumbai with $503,890, followed by Warne ($477,370), Khan ($238,735) and Akmal ($159,160).

Each player will receive his auction price as an annual wage over the initial three-year contract. The IPL starts on April 18.

"Our main goal is to build a winning Twenty20 team. Reputation and track record in Tests and one-day internationals are not necessarily relevant when it comes to Twenty20," Warne said in a statement.

"I am very happy with the list of players chosen at the auction. They are all part of the strategy to building a winning team. I am looking forward to leading the side, to playing with the boys and to a successful season."

Warne, 38, quit international cricket last year after bagging 708 wickets in 145 Tests and 293 in 194 one-day internationals.

Spin doctor

Meanwhile, Warne has called on the Australian selectors to take three or four spinners on this year's tour of Pakistan.

The comments come after yesterday's retirement of Australian spinner Brad Hogg from international cricket.

Warne is working for Cricket Australia (CA) in a mentoring role for emerging spinners.

He says the tour of Pakistan would be an ideal opportunity to groom some of the country's up and coming cricketers.

"Hopefully the next tour the Australian selectors might take three or four spin bowlers and get them all working together - whether it's Dan Cullen, or Cullen Bailey, or Haury (Nathan Hauritz) or Bryce McGain," he said.

IPL can't beat the pride of playing for India: Kaif

2008-02-27T17:45:00.000+05:30

The cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) may be a lucrative proposition but India discard Mohd. Kaif feels no cricketer worth his salt would consider it more important than donning national colours.
"It's OK to play in IPL but the satisfaction and pride that you get by playing for India is unbeatable. You just cannot compare IPL with playing for your national team," Kaif, who will play for Jaipur franchise team in the League starting April 18.
IPL has been launched amid much fanfare and there are concerns that the Twenty20 league would drive youngsters away from domestic cricket.
However, Kaif felt such concerns were unfounded.
Kaif, who has been out of the national team for close to a year, said he was not disheartened by not being in the side despite his good record in the domestic circuit and was hopeful for making a comeback soon.
"I concentrate on my game. It is upto the selectors to decide whether I should be back in the team or not. I have made nearly 1200 runs playing for Uttar Pradesh and India 'A'," he said.
"I am willing to bat at any position in the line-up," he added.

John Buchanan says IPL must benefit all

2008-02-27T11:14:00.000+05:30

AS NEW Twenty20 mentor John Buchanan prepares to juggle egos in the Indian Premier League, he warned the International Cricket Council to handle superpower India with care.

Buchanan, signed to coach Kolkata, has urged the ICC to stand up to the Board for Control of Cricket in India and ensure all nations benefit from Twenty20's rich harvest.

"India is a powerhouse in terms of revenue and the new format. But if cricket is to develop, then all countries - including India - need to deliver in the best way," said Buchanan, who finished as national coach following Australia's 2007 World Cup triumph.

"The ICC has to make sure this happens. It has a critical, primary role going forward.

"The ICC needs to protect not only older players, but also careers of younger players."

Buchanan said the ICC must sanction the unauthorised Indian Cricket League, despite opposition from both the BCCI and the IPL.

"I think it will all be resolved in the next 12 months as the ICC works with other countries," he said.

Buchanan is concerned by the imminent exit of first-class stalwarts Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie to the ICL.

"It's unfortunate they have to choose because the rebel ICL is the so-called banned league. I don't think that is good for the game in terms of keeping players playing," Buchanan said.

"I think everyone should come back to the fold and that is why the ICC will play an incredibly important role."

Buchanan, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and $734,000-man David Hussey will align with Indian rivals Sourav Ganguly, Ishant Sharma and Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar at Kolkata.

Buchanan expects to win a tug-of-war with English county side Nottinghamshire over Hussey's services, but said Ponting's immediate priority should be touring Pakistan with Australia.

"My view has always been to go, as I feel that is an important step against terrorism," Buchanan said.

UK broadcaster Setanta bags IPL rights for 5 years

2008-02-26T21:00:00.000+05:30

UK broadcaster Setanta Sports has further broadened its coverage of sport by announcing that it has secured the rights to the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) in a five-year deal.
The exclusively live coverage will start with all 59 games of the inaugural Indian Premier League season that takes place across India from 18 April to 1 June, 2008.

The eight teams involved in the tournament - Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mohali and Mumbai - have attracted big names in world cricket to play in the competition. Indian cricketing stars such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly will all feature alongside cricketing legends such as Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Muttiah Muralitharan, Jacques Kallis and Adam Gilchrist.

Setanta's director of sport Trevor East said, "The Indian Premier League is going to be massive. We're absolutely thrilled to acquire these rights and add another major sport to Setanta's programme line-up. Twenty20 cricket has been a phenomenal success and this tournament with all its world-class players is sure to capture the imagination of sports fans young and old.
"I firmly believe that the IPL will become a highlight of the international sporting calendar for years to come. That's why we've shown our commitment to it by signing a five-year deal."
World Sport Group CEO, South Asia Venu Nair says, "We are delighted to have concluded this landmark deal with Setanta, the UK's fastest growing sports network, on their first major international cricket property."
"The IPL, which is set to become one of the top sports leagues in the world, featuring some of the finest international stars of the modern game, is a natural fit for Setanta, itself the rising star of the UK sports broadcast market."
IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi said, "BCCI-IPL would like to welcome Setanta as its newest Broadcast Partner and is pleased to be working with Setana Sports on the broadcast of the DLF Indian Premier League in the territory of United Kingdom and is confident that this will be a successful working partnership for the next five years.
" We believe that the viewers of Setanta will have a exciting line up of matches to look forward to with an array of international stars and the best of cricketing action."

IPL TEAMS AND THEIR STRENGTHS,'LET THE GAMES BEGIN'

2008-02-26T20:44:00.000+05:30

Hyderabad stitches in the best team. Chennai comes a close second even as Kolkata squanders a good opportunity to rival the best. At the end of nine rounds of bidding for the 75 players, here is how the teams in the Indian Premier League stand, in order of the moey spent.
HYDERABAD:
Hyderabad, which ended up as the highest spenders has the most balanced and dangerous looking team. At least on paper. The move to forgo the so-called iconic status to VVS Laxman seems to have paid off. It enabled the Deccan Chronicle-owned team to go ahead and invest big.
The team went ahead and secured what is easily the most destructive top order by rounding off Adam Gilchrist , Herschelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi. It also has some mean hands in VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma and Chamara Silva, making it the best batting line up in the league.
That doesn't mean it neglected the bowling department. It got for itself the left-arm seam trio of Chaminda Vaas , RP Singh and Nuwan Zoysa. All-rounders Scott Styris and star buy Andrew Symonds perfectly round it off for the team, lending a much wanted balance.
The fact that this was the only team that did not dip its fingers in the reserve pie, speaks volumes about the planning and timing that had gone behind assembling the best mix. If we are to stick our neck out and guess the champion, we would put our money on Hyderabad.
Spent: $5.885 milllionOn: 11 playersAdam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi , Scott Styris, Rohit Sharma, VVS Laxman, Chamara Silva, Nuwan Zoysa, Chaminda Vaas, RP Singh.
CHENNAI:
Chennai, which spent only a few hundred thousand dollars less than Hyderabad, also has a very strong line-up.
Though nowhere close to the Hyderabad line-up, Stephen Fleming , Matthew Hayden and Mahendra Singh Dhoni can nevertheless destroy any attack on their given day. Suresh Raina's potential and the all-rounder duo of Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel, who can turn a match on its head with either bat or ball, lend stability to the team.
Makhaya Ntini and Muttiah Muralitharan can be a handful for any batting line up and Joginder Singh brings in all his luck, charm and guile that were instrumental in India's Twenty20 World Cup win.
They also managed to poach Mike Hussey, who surprisingly no one wanted in the initial round.
Spent: $5.825 millionFor: 11 playersMS Dhoni, Muttiah Muralitharan, Matthew Hayden, Jacob Oram, Stephen Fleming, Mike Hussey, Parthiv Patel, Albie Morkel, Joginder Singh, Suresh Raina, Makhaya Ntini
KOLKATTA:
All was going well for Kolkata and SRK
And then he went and bought Ajit Agarkar . His subsequent buys -- Umar Gul, David Hussey and Murali Kartik � somehow seem to have skewed his side's balance. And add to it, the erratic Shoaib Akthar and things do not look well at all for the team.
However, a line up reading Saurav Ganguly , Chris Gayle, Ricky Ponting , Brendon McCullum can leave even the deadliest bowling attacks licking their wounds. And then there is the latest kid on the block Ishant Sharma. But what will he be able to do on a day when Akthar decides to wander off?
Spent: $5.05 millionFor: 11 players (Saurav Ganguly not counted)Shoaib Akthar, Ricky Ponting, Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Ajit Agarkar, David Hussey, Ishant Sharma, Umar Gul, Murali Kartik, Ramnaresh Sarwan , Tatenda Taibu
DELHI:
Delhi, who seemed to be taking increasingly long toilet breaks as each round of bidding went past them, are left with a team that is neither here nor there.
Yes, Gautam Gambhir is a proven Twenty20 match winner. Yes, they have the maverick Virender Sehwag and the classy AB de Villiers. But beyond that and the presence of Daniel Vettori and Glenn McGrath, there is nothing to show for a core assembled at $4.8 million.
Spent: 4.825For: 9 (minus Virender Sehwag)Daniel Vettori, Shoaib Malik , Mohammad Asif , Dinesh Karthik , AB de Villiers, Ferveez Maharoof, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwary, Glenn McGrath.
MOHALI:
There was something about the way Mohali went about selecting their team.
They had Yuvraj Singh to start with. Then they picked Mahela Jayawardene and Kumara Sangakkara. They spiced it up with S Sreesanth and Brett Lee . They brought in balance with Irfan Pathan , though it will remain to be seen if he is worth almost a million.
But after that, they put their feet up and went to sleep as the rest of the teams went berserk in the bowlers round. They could have picked better support bowlers instead of Piyush Chawla and Romesh Powar. One positive though. This might be the best-looking team of them all.
Spent: 4.62For: 9 players (Yuvraj not included)Mahela Jayawardene, Kumara Sangakkara, Brett Lee, S Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Romesh Powar, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Simon Katich.
MUMBAI:
The most expensive franchise to lay hands on also happens to be the most insipid among the heavyweights. An opening combination reading Sachin Tendulkar - Sanath Jayasuriya is sure mouthwatering. But what after that.
Robin Uthappa is the only exciting prospect. And, with all due respect to Shaun Pollock , this bowling attack is not going to skittle out a bully batting line up like Hyderabad's or Chennai's. Though Lasith Malinga is definitely one player to watch out for.
Spent: 3.825For: 7 players + (Sachin not included)Robin Uthappa, Shaun Pollock, Harbhajan Singh , Sanath Jayasurya, Lasith Malinga , Dilhara Fernando, Loots Bosman.
BANGALORE:
For a meager 3.6 million, this is a real good deal in terms of value for money. Dr Vijay Mallya has lined up a bowling attack best suited for Twenty20.
And then there is the exciting Mark Boucher . But there is just one glitch here. A very serious one. If a few early wickets fall, the last pair of names we want to see flashing on the giant electronic scoreboard in a Twenty20 match is Rahul Dravid - Jacques Kallis .
And then, in a cunning move, the team went ahead and bought Aussie discard Cameron White for five times his base price.
Spent: 3.8 For: 9 (Dravid not included)Anil Kumble , Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan , Shivnarine Chanderpaul , Mark Boucher, Cameron White, Wasim Jaffer , Nathan Bracken , Dale Steyn.
JAIPUR:
Before bidding began, this was the least of the teams. Eight labourious hours and $2.5 million later, it still is the least of the teams.
Shane Warne , past his prime, was pouched for his base price in the very first round. But that was about it. And oh, just what must have went through the mind of the person who bid for kaif at $675,000 (base price: $175,000) when the hammer fell!
2.7 million7 playersShane Warne, Graeme Smith , Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Kaif, Munaf Patel, Justin Langer.