Cricket Indian Premier League

Sachin likely to miss IPL debut

2008-04-20T10:14:00.001+05:30

April 20: As the Indian Premier League extravaganza enters Day 3 on Sunday, it's the big match in Mumbai which is getting all the attention and all eyes are on one man. Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar, may be unavailable for the match as he is ailing from a groin injury. So, will it be an advantage for the Bangalore Royal Challengers at Wankhede on Sunday?

If Tendulkar is deemed unfit to play, then the mantle of captaincy will fall on none other than Harbhajan Singh which will be a huge honour for the tweaker. Sachin Tendulkar's absence due to injury could well turn out to be what the doctor ordered for a battered Royal Challengers, after being trampled by Sourav Ganguly's Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore in the IPL opener on April 18. Another positive for Rahul Dravid's side is the arrival of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, which will give their batting line-up a huge boost.

Dravid may be looking to bounce back in the tournament with a win against the Mumbai Indians, but punters are backing the home side in a battle that will see two big names from India Inc pitted against each other.

Tendulkar's absence will definitely be bemoaned by the Mumbai fans, if he doesn't take to the field but the presence of Sanath Jayasuriya and Robin Uthappa will ensure the fireworks fly at the Wankhede. It is a contest that will see the two business tycoons - Dr Vijay Mallya and Mukesh Ambani - who pitted against each other, in what promises to be a crackling match.

Sachin Tendulkar may miss the Mumbai Indians match against Royal Challengers but the punters are favouring Mukesh Ambani's side with odds of 1.61 to that of Dr Vijay Mallya's Royal Challengers with the odds of 2.20

'I am the good luck factor of Kings XI': Preity Zinta

2008-04-20T00:17:00.003+05:30

NEW DELHI: Glamorous Bollywood actress Preity Zinta on Saturday described herself as the "good luck factor" of her IPL-owned franchisee - Kings XI Punjab.

Zinta, 33, whose team is taking on the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Superstars in an IPL match at the Mohali Cricket on Saturday, was quoted by media reports as saying: "My involvement with the team is total. I am extremely passionate about our team. I believe I am the team's good luck factor, so I want to be there for everything."

"Bollywood and cricket remain the biggest draws in our country. The IPL will witness the marriage of entertainment and cricket. It will be a great fusion and the possibilities are endless. I am excited about it," she added.

Zinta, the star of countless Bollywood movies, is seen to symbolise all the glitz and the razzamatazz and the tamasha of a game that India's cricket board believes is set to revolutionise the game across the globe.

Her 76 million dollar team is coached by Tom Moody and will take on the Chennai Superstars, which has the likes of Australian opener Mathew Hayden and is coached by former South African cricket captain and opener Keppler Wessels.

Zinta, a convent-educated graduate in criminal psychology known for her outspoken views, said that with both Yuvraj Singh and Brett Lee in her team, and with Tom Moody as coach, she believed she had some of the best players in the game.

Asked why she had got involved in the IPL, breaking new ground in the sport, she said she had been a sports person all her life:

"My father used to have tournaments his name in Himachal Pradesh. I wanted to set up a sports school in Himachal. Then, I heard about the BCCI opening up an avenue for private participation in the IPL and I jumped at it. It's a matter of great pride for me to be able to promote the game at grassroots level," she said.

Others in the Kings XI Punjab team are Australian all-rounder James Hopes and the New Zealander Kyle Mills.

Facing them in the Chennai Super Kings, owned by Indian Cements, will be, in addition to Hayden, MS Dhoni, former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, Muttiah Muralitharan and South Africa spearhead Makhaya Ntini.

Australians will be to the fore in tonight's other big game between the Rajasthan Royals based in Jaipur and captained and coached by Shane Warne, and the Delhi Daredevils, whose mainstay is Glenn McGrath.

Both are planning major stadium spectacles as they begin their quest for a share of the more than four million dollars in prize money that is up for grabs in 59 matches played over the next 45 days.

We will bounce back strongly: Dravid

2008-04-19T23:20:00.004+05:30

MUMBAI: Rahul Dravid sounded confident of his team Royal Challengers of Bangalore bouncing back from the mauling they received on Friday in the IPL lung-opener against Sourav Ganguly-led Kolkata Knight Riders.

"We will come back strongly. There are 13 more (league) matches to be played," the former India skipper said ahead of Sunday night's battle here against Mumbai Indians, led by Sachin Tendulkar.

Bangalore lost by 140 runs to Kolkata and their bowlers were hammered to all corners of the field by New Zealand's wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum who registered the highest-ever T20 score when making an unbeaten 158.

Dravid said his team had some injury worries, especially the groin strain suffered by fast bowler Ashley Noffke, while seeing the positive side with the availability of West Indian veteran batsman and ex-skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the tie.

"Shiv would strengthen the team. We have some injury concerns. We would take a call on Noffke's groin injury tomorrow," he said.

Dravid, asked about their rivals for Sunday's match, said he was not concerned about individuals.

"They are a strong side".

Bangalore team's coach Venkatesh Prasad hoped his team members would be more consistent than what they displayed on Friday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Rajasthan Royals are a hit

2008-04-19T23:20:00.001+05:30

MUMBAI: The fishermen at Moragaon in Juhu are original inhabitants of Mumbai, but when it comes to the Indian Premier League they will be rooting for the Rajasthan Royals.

A local teen by the name of Shrideep Mangela, who has featured in the under-19 and under 22 tourneys for Mumbai, has been selected to play for the Shane Warne-led Rajasthan Royals side.

Mangela won selection after former Indian coach Greg Chappell identified him as being among the most talented players in the country in a Cricket Star hunt last week.

Ever since that announcement, the community, not necessarily known for its affinity towards the gentleman’s game, has taken a liking to the Twenty20 version. Rajesh Mangela, an office bearer of the Moragaon Macchimaar Vividh Karyakari Samiti, a representative body of the local fisher-folk, said “we are eagerly awaiting to see Royal take the ground.

Even though Shrideep is not expected to feature in the matches immediately, the community will support for the Royals in all their matches. We surely can do this much for a team that is promoting talent from our region,” he said.

Talk of IPL, sixes and fours, cover drives and Yorkers, has suddenly engulfed the region. In fact, many, especially youngsters, turn out to watch Shrideep practice in the nets at the nearby Conwood ground.

As for the boy himself he is quietly confident of making an impression. The southpaw, whose stroke play matches the elegance and ease of a Yuvraj Singh, says he is raring to play and learn alongside heroes like Shane Warne. Ask him who is his favourite batsman, and the confident lad will say he has modelled his game on the West Indian great Brian Lara.

Shrideep’s brother Mundeep also plays for the Mumbai Ranji team, and the two brothers are already heroes for the community. Shrideep’s friend Vasudev Keni, who also practices with them at times, says that many kids in the area have taken to cricket because of the two.

Appreciative of the locals’ support, Shrideep’s father Ganpat says his family would like to give back to the community. “If my two boys make it big in cricket, we will build a playground for promoting local talent,” he says.

Hussey's knock did us in: Yuvraj

2008-04-19T23:18:00.001+05:30

MOHALI: Smarting from the 33-run defeat in their IPL opener, Kings Punjab XI skipper Yuvraj Singh said it was Chennai Super Kings batsman Michael Hussey's unbeaten century that did the hosts in.

Terming Hussey's knock as "outstanding", Yuvraj said his team could have had a chance had James Hopes occupied the crease a bit longer.

"It was a bit too much, he was simply outstanding," Yuvraj told reporters after the match when asked to comment on Hussey's 54-run ball knock of 116.

Yuvraj felt giving away 70-plus runs in the final five overs, with 25 in the last over, also did not help their cause.

He, however, praised the way his batsmen Hopes (71) and Kumar Sangakkara (54) batted, saying if one of them would have made a century, results could have turned in their favour.

"We needed somebody to bat like Hussey. I also felt that if I had stayed at the crease for few more overs, it could have been achieved,"said Yuvraj, who made 23 before falling to Joginder Sharma.

He said if any batsman has a day like Hussey or Brendan McCullum, whose heroics in Bangalore on Friday amazed everyone, it would make the task of opposition all the more difficult.

Meanwhile, Hussey said he had great fun and he enjoyed being the anchor of the innings.

"I played according to the situation. But I believe it was a great team effort altogether and everyone played well," he said, adding the short boundaries had also helped his cause.

Kolkata Knight Riders piled 222 in Bangalore on Friday and on Saturday the Chennai side amassed 240. Asked if 300 is a possibility, Hussey said, "I don't know. We never thought 400 was possible in ODIs, but we got it and then South Africa got even better of us. In this format, you cannot draw a boundary."

About facing compatriot Brett Lee, Hussey said, "At his pace it is never fun to face him. His pace was hard. But there were no words exchanged between us."

Asked that he was not a favourite at the IPL auction and if he now felt he had proved a point by scoring a ton in his first match of the league, Hussey said, "I just enjoy being here and I never cared about the money part of it. It's good to see some of the young Indian guys rubbing shoulders with foreign players and some of their own top players. I simply enjoy cricket and love playing in the IPL."

Sachin yet to decide about playing

2008-04-19T20:54:00.002+05:30

Uncertainty continues to persist over Sachin Tendulkar leading the Mumbai Indians in their IPL opener against Bangalore Royal Challengers in Mumbai, with the champion batsman insisting he would take a call on the matter only on Sunday.

"We have to wait and see how I feel tomorrow. If I am ready I will play," Tendulkar said on Saturday on the eve of the match.

If he was unable to play then vice captain Harbhajan Singh would lead the team and would have his ears open for inputs from two other international captains in the team - Sanath Jayasuriya and Shaun Pollock, the master batsman said.

"Both I and Harbhajan, who would lead the team if I am unable to play, will be open to ideas. That's the way it should be," he said.

Tendulkar said he had already had a talk with his teammates from overseas on the vociferous vocal support they can expect from the Mumbai crowd.

"I have talked to them about the long tradition that Mumbai cricket enjoys when we had 'tika' ceremony the other day. I have told them that it will be an experience they should relish when the Mumbai crowd gets behind them. I told them to enjoy and not get overwhelmed by such support," he said.

Tendulkar was referring to his mentor Ramakant Achrekar applying 'tilak' to all the players with a mixture of Shivaji Park mud mixed with the 'sindoor' from the temples of Mahalaxmi and Siddivinayak and the holy water from Mount Mary Church in Bandra, near his residence.

Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab by 33 runs in Mohali

2008-04-19T20:48:00.002+05:30

There was no looking back for Kings XI, even though the players tried their best to save the game. Despite the good chase the Kings XI Punjab lost by 33 runs. They made 207 runs. Kings XI lost their king Yuvraj Singh as they reached the 150 mark against Chennai Super Kings.

Chennai Super Kings have got rid off Yuvraj Singh, openers James Hopes and Karan Goel. Captain Yuvraj Singh hit 23 runs before Amarnath caught him at deep extra cover off Joginder Sharma. Kings XI opener and Australian all-rounder James Hopes fell after scoring 71 runs off 33 balls while Karan Goel made 24 runs.

Hopes hammered Super Kings bowlers before falling prey to P Amarnath. He kept hopes alive for his side despite losing his opening partner Karan Goel to Manpreet Gony in the sixth over. On the other hand, riding on a ferocious knock of Mike Hussey, Chennai Super Kings managed to put a huge total of 240/5 in the Twenty20 encounter with Kings XI Punjab.

Despite losing five wickets Chennai Super Kings scored at a brisk pace against Yuvraj Singh's Kings XI in Mohali, all credit to the Australian batsman Hussey.

Hussey slammed his hundred in 50 balls and kept one end intact as he was running out of partners at the other end. Suresh Raina (32), Matthew Hayden (26) and S Badrinath (31*) were other batsmen who contributed to the total of 240.

Irfan Pathan was pick of the bowlers who took wickets of Mattew Hayden and Jacob Oram while Lee, Hopes and Mota picked one wicket each. Skipper MS Dhoni could not contribute much as James Hopes caught him plumb infront of the wicket.

Teams:

Chennai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Matthew Hayden, Parthiv Patel (wk), S Badrinath, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina, Jacob Oram, Joginder Sharma, Manpreet Gony, P Amarnath, Muttiah Muralitharan.

Punjab: Yuvraj Singh (Captain), Karan Goel, James Hopes, Kumar Sangakkara, Simon Katich, Pankaj Dharmani, Irfan Pathan, Brett Lee, Piyush Chawla, Wilkin Mota, S Sreesanth.

IPL: Bravo joins Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians

2008-04-19T20:46:00.001+05:30

West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has become the latest star to join the Indian Premier League, which kicked-off to an exciting start in Bangalore yesterday. The news confirms the latest rule of the IPL that allows teams to add new players.

Bravo will play for Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians, which also features off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and South African fast bowler Shaun Pollock.

Bravo will miss the next week''s Carib Challenge Shield Final against Jamaica but Trinidad and Tobago team manager Colin Borde feels the experience Bravo gains in the IPL will benefit the national team in the long run.

"I think everybody is excited for him going up to the IPL and playing with Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Shaun Pollock," Borde was quoted as saying by the 'Trinidad Express'. He further added, "I think it's good for him and as a Trinidadian you must feel proud...He's the first guy to get in the IPL."

Meanwhile, Mark Ramprakash became the second English cricketer after Alistair Brown to turn down an IPL offer. Ramprakash was approached by the Rajasthan Royals to replace South African captain Graeme Smith for two weeks, according to the 'Daily Telegraph'.

Australia to set up its own IPL

2008-04-19T20:44:00.001+05:30

Cricket Australia has said that it is open to the idea of launching its own version of a privately funded Twenty20 competition similar to the Indian Premier League (IPL) hosted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), but not at the expense of the Future Tours Program (FTP).

“We always look at new ideas. We remain committed to international tours, but we are also aware of what Allen Stanford is planning in the West Indies with Twenty20, as is the International Cricket Council. We will also be monitoring the new IPL competition, which is about to start in India. It will be a case of suck it and see,” Fox Sports quoted Cricket Australia’s acting chief executive Michael Brown, as saying.

Brown’s comments assume significance in the wake of reports that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is in talks with American billionaire Stanford to discuss the creation of a Twenty20 tournament similar to the IPL in England.”We’ve seen tremendous growth and interest in our own domestic (Twenty20 competition) KFC Big Bash. The competition has been a huge success, averaging crowds of between 12,000 and 15,000. But at the moment we are dealing in hypotheticals. We remain committed to our future tours policy, that is the game’s bread and butter,” Brown said.

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on the ECB to release centrally contracted players such as Test captain Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen to take up huge money deals in the IPL, which starts tomorrow, providing it does not clash with international commitments.The ECB said that it was considering detailed proposals from Stanford, who set up the Stanford Twenty20 tournament in the Caribbean.

Players are eager to take part in the newest form of the game, which held its first World Cup last year, drawing bigger audiences and more enthusiastic crowds in South Africa than the traditional 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean.The ECB has been concerned about scheduling conflicts with the English season and what is seen as a shift in power towards Asia. The inaugural IPL has attracted many of the world’s leading players, including Australians Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee, Matt Hayden, Andrew Symonds, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

'A handsome man owns Knight Riders, it will win'

2008-04-19T20:42:00.001+05:30

His popularity cuts across age groups, his films draw packed houses from Lalbagh to Leicester Square. Few movie stars enjoy the power that King Khan does. The 'Badshah' of Bollywood is now betting his money on cricket.

His IPL team, the Kolkata Knight Riders has already started off on a winning note and the star himself is happy to talk sports and entertainment.

Rajeev Masand: How badly will Knight Riders be effected with Shoaib's absence?

Shah Rukh Khan: Emotionally, it is affecting me. I am very fond of all the guys who are playing for Knight Riders whether it is Cheteshwar Pujara or Shoaib Akhtar or Ricky Ponting or McCullum. Unfortunately I haven’t met them because I have been busy. I just want to tell these guys that I am dying to meet them but I am just trying to get the backend of Knight Riders done and I will soon be there with them They are already in Kolkata. I am sad that I couldn’t be there to welcome them.

As far as the emotional bit is concerned, yes it is like a team loss. He is a controversial guy and he has had his downs and ups. There were talks whether he is the right choice or not and I stood by him and John Buchanan and Saurav stood by him. We were very happy to have him. Finally things worked out. He is also one of the few players who I met even before the auction. I told him that now you have to lose weight and you have to bowl at a sped of 160 km per hr and break all the world records.

IPL Mumbai Indians’ team anthem released

2008-04-19T20:37:00.001+05:30

Mumbai, April 19 (IANS) The team anthem of the Mumbai Indians, penned by well-known lyricist Javed Akhtar with music scored by Anu Malik, was released here Saturday, a day after the Indian Premier League (IPL) began in Bangalore. Akhtar’s inspiring words express the spirit of the team and their motivation to ‘Rock the World’ is in the form of a music video depicting the team’s determination to fight it out in the Twenty20 tournament.

The release of this anthem comes on the heels of the roll out of the advertising campaign featuring Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan. Piyush Pandey has penned the lyrics of the campaign song and Tapas Relia has composed the music.

Mumbai Indians play their first match against Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai Sunday.

IPL: Chennai Super win toss, to bat first

2008-04-19T18:08:00.002+05:30

MOHALI: Chennai Super Kings Saturday won the toss and elected to bat first versus Kings XI Punjab in the first match of the day in Indian Premier League at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali.

India’s star batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni leading the Chennai Super Kings with Makhya Ntini, Fleming, Michael Hussey, Jacom Oram and Partho Patel among some of the key players of the team.

Flamboyant batsman Yuvraj Singh is leading Kings XI Punjab with Mahela Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Irfan Pathan among important players of the team.

IPL changes its own rules within a month

2008-04-19T18:04:00.002+05:30

Indian Premier that kicked off on Friday at Bangalore, the organisers of the Twenty20 tournament seem to have forgotten it by allowing some franchise teams to include additional players.

The Bangalore Royal Challengers, led by Rahul Dravid and owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, did not have Australian pace bowler Ashley Noffke in the final list of names, but he surprisingly made an appearance and played in the opener at the Chinnanwawamy Stadium yesterday.

Even the official website of the tournament in the second list of players representing all the eight franchise teams, did not have his name even a day after he had turned out for the Bangalore team.

IPL 1st Match Kolkata KR vs Banglore RC Highlights

2008-04-19T10:22:00.000+05:30

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Akki to perform stunt at IPL

2008-04-19T10:14:00.001+05:30

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has begun on a smashing note and every star associated with it is raring to go. It’s almost like a show of strength for everyone involved.

Akshay Kumar, brand ambassador for the Delhi Daredevils team, has been busy shooting overseas for the past month. But today, the actor will be specially flying down to New Delhi to be an integral part of the match being held in the capital. As reported (‘Akshay, SRK stand-off’; Hitlist, April 14), the actor is taking time off his busy schedule for the tourney.

Royal treat

King Kumar is indeed being given the treatment befitting a real king. The company that’s signed him, GMR Sports, has sent a private aircraft to Bangkok for the actor and his family.

The flight,exclusively meant for Akshay, wife Twinkle and son Aarav, will reach Delhi this afternoon. Later tonight, the plane will take the actor back to Bangkok where he resumes shooting for his film, Chandni Chowk to China.

And all this hasn’t been done just for a mere appearance at the match. In sync with the name of his team, Akshay will be performing a special daredevil stunt for the audience once he lands at the Ferozshah Kotla Ground today where the Delhi Daredevils take on the Rajasthan Royals.

All preparations for the stunt are being finalised in Bangkok and Akshay is more than excited about the proceedings. “It’s my tashan (good luck) for the Delhi team,” he says.

Akshay’s new release Tashan hits theatres next Friday but he hasn’t seen it yet. For the last 20 days, he was busy shooting for CCTC in China and now the schedule continues in Thailand.

IPL: Time to disco for Daredevils

2008-04-19T10:13:00.001+05:30

NEW DELHI: Everything is new. Even when it comes to who's running the game. Even the lights here at the Ferozeshah Kotla. Far from the glitzy launch of the IPL in Bangalore, Delhi spent all of Friday gearing up for its own acid test.

The explosive start to the tournament in Bangalore was just what the doctor ordered. The franchisee is hoping the first game here, between Sehwag's Delhi Daredevils and Warne's Team Jaipur on Saturday, will whip up sustainable fan frenzy. There will be pressure, though, to sustain the intensity, to follow-up on Friday's tremendous opening.

Crowds here will be hoping the entertainment matches the hoopla. The association, relegated to the backbench, has nothing much to do except 'loan' its turf and watch. The cheerleaders haven't arrived yet. All the fancy costumes will be unveiled only on match day. It's a tightrope walk over unchartered territory.

Where does that leave the cricketers? Out in the middle on match day, answering questions about showbiz packages on offer the day before. At least Gautam Gambhir, bombarded with questions over whether he was looking forward to seeing Akshay Kumar dance, was candid. "No", he answered, "We're all professionals here, and my job happens to be to play the game. That will be my focus. The entertainment is for the fans, not for us."

That sums it up beautifully. If the IPL is to make waves as an entertainment package, it needs intense sporting competition. Half-baked measures will not do. Antiseptic corporate planning will not cut it on the field.

It's all up to the players, and the Daredevils are spoilt for choice, even without the likes of AB De Villiers or Mohammad Asif. Glenn McGrath has been bowling beautifully at the nets. The fielding is expected to be electric. The team can probably boast the best set of local players in the league, all in fine fettle. There are no major injury worries, and Team Jaipur are expected to be easy opponents first-up.

The South Africans and Pakistanis are missing from Shane Warne's kitty. So is Dmitri Mascarenhas. Shane Watson is there, though. Some catchment area players are very good - like Kaif and Yusuf Pathan - but overall they aren't a patch on the quality of the opponents.

But this is T20, and the fun lies in keeping your fingers crossed till the end. It's not wise to write off anyone, at any time. Can Sehwag outdo Brendon McCullum's stunning heroics? Now that's pressure of another sort.

The battle begins

2008-04-19T10:12:00.000+05:30

HYDERABAD: With curtains getting lifted off the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), the richest cricket show on earth has finally arrived.

Eight teams will be battling it out over a month to clinch the maiden IPL championship. But it’s a difficult road to the title, as assistant coach of the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers Kanwaljit Singh opines.

The fact that domestic players would have to find common ground with the international stars, in as short a time as possible, is a challenging task indeed.

"We had our own reservations about how the international cricketers would gel with the local lads," admits Singh. But the reservations have slowly come unfounded, says the former Hyderabad off-spinner.

"The international players have been really forthcoming with our players. The local players have been keenly following the way players of the stature of Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds go about their game. Given the experience that they bring, this is a huge learning opportunity for the youngsters."

The Deccan Chargers seem to be the strongest team on paper. According to Singh, the team will definitely go a long way, and fully deserves being called the favourite.

"Our team looks to be the most well-balanced. I’m very happy with the selection of the players. Almost every player has been a match-winner in his own right," he says.

The Deccan Chargers will face-off with the Kolkata Knightriders in their first match, in front of an undoubtedly intimidating crowd at Eden Gardens on April 20. But Singh exudes confidence in his team’s performance.

"We started our preparations almost a month ago. Even though we started out with the domestic players, eventually most of the others joined us, and the momentum has been great. The local boys have already shown considerable amount of improvement."

As the home team gets set for its Kolkata challenge, the fans in the city will get their first glimpse into the cricket extravaganza on April 22, when the Chargers take on swashbuckler Virender Sehwag’s Delhi Daredevils.

Kolkata beat Bangalore by 140 runs in IPL

2008-04-18T23:39:00.000+05:30

Brendon McCullum gave the Indian Premier League the start it craved, as he plundered 158no as Kolkata Knight Riders claimed a resounding victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Rahul Dravid won the toss and put the Knight Riders into bat and it proved a far from wise move, as his bowlers were taken to task by McCullum.

The Kiwi set the tone for his innings by smashing his first scoring shot for four, but that was a mere taster.

McCullum smashed 13 sixes in posting a Twenty20 record of 158 and his contribution enabled the Knight Riders to post 222/3.

Bangalore’s chase got off to a terrible start as Dravid fell in the second over and the skipper’s departure summed up their innings in a microcosm.

They failed to gather any momentum and were bowled out for 82 off 15.1 overs.

McCullum received little support of note, as Saurav Ganguly looked out of touch and Ricky Ponting made a steady if unspectacular 20.

But such was his utter dominance, it mattered not one iota. No bowler was spared punishment as he plundered 13 sixes and 10 fours in his knock of 158 off 73 balls.

Bangalore needed a rapid start, but they never got off the ground as Ishant Sharma clean bowled Dravid for two.

Ashok Dinda provided excellent support and he claimed the wickets of Wasim Jaffer and Virat Kohli.

Ajit Agarkar claimed 3-25 and Ganguly pitched in with 2-21 as Bangalore capitulated.

Big names Jacques Kallis, Cameron White and Mark Boucher failed to reach double figures – in fact the only batsman to do so was number nine Praveen Kumar.

Kumar remained unbeaten on 18 and it was fitting that McCullum had the final say - taking a comfortable catch to dismiss Sunil Joshi off the bowling of Laxmi Shukla.

McCullum hits record in IPL opener

2008-04-18T23:32:00.000+05:30

Brendon McCullum hit a record 158 from a paltry 73 deliveries for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League’s inaugural match in Bangalore.

The New Zealander smashed the stunning total to send his side to 223-3 as he broke the record for the highest individual score in a Twenty20 innings, surpassing Cameron White’s previous record of 141 for Somerset which had stood since July 2006.

McCullum turned in his one-man stunning display live on Setanta Sports as our coverage of the competition got off to the most exciting of starts possible.

The 26-year-old gave Bangalore Royal Challengers’ bowlers no chance as he brashly returned everything they threw at him with interest.

McCullum lured Bangalore’s bowlers into a false sense of security as he took nothing off the first six balls of his innings, but the fury was unleashed as he quickly moved to 18 within the next four deliveries.

Not content with taking the highest runs total, McCullum also hit the highest number of sixes in a Twenty20 innings as he rattled of 13 to mark the opening game in some style.

Spectacular opening ceremony kicks off IPL

2008-04-18T23:30:00.000+05:30

Dazzling fireworks that lit up the sky and a glittering opening ceremony attended by the top brass of the ICC and the BCCI kicked off the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) here this evening.

In a spectacular ceremony before the opener between Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Kolkata Knight Riders, the BCCI patted itself for heralding the start of a new phase in international cricket.

A packed house erupted in excitement as captains of the eight participating teams walked out to sign the MCC's Spirit of Cricket, under which the entire tournament will be played out.

BCCI President described it as a "historic day" for international cricket and hoped that fans would maintain their interest for the next 44 days, which will see 59 matches.

"I am confident that all cricket-loving people will support this new initiative that the BCCI has taken," he said.

ICC President Ray Mali also congratulated the Indian board for the spectacular arrangement.

"You have taken cricket to the next level," he said. Later, BCCI vice-President and IPL chairman Lalit Modi declared the tournament open.

‘IPL would need time to develop’

2008-04-18T11:01:00.000+05:30

BANGALORE: The hype over DFL-IPL launch is gathering momentum, but are we expecting too much out of this nascent venture?

“Well that could be the danger of the whole thing. There are too much expectations about the event, format and even the quality of the game,” Manoj Badale, Executive Chairman, Emerging Media, the franchise of Rajasthan Royals, said.

In a chat with The Hindu here, Badale struck a note of caution on the aspect where expectations might not be the reality.

“The IPL as a structure would need time to develop and all of us, the franchisees, teams, players and fans and of course the media, need to be patient before it evolves into a viable and vibrant proposition for all of us,” said Badale.

He felt that the Rajasthan Royals had a balanced team.

“We respect our rivals, but we have an inspirational leader and coach in Shane Warne, who has adapted to the conditions admirably.

“We have Graeme Smith, Darren Lehman, Justin Langer, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal, Mohd. Kaif, Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel. I am sure we are very much in the reckoning for the title,” Badale said.

IPL sells website rights for $50m

2008-04-17T21:22:00.000+05:30

Canadian company Live Current Media is to develop the official website for the Indian Premier League in a $50m (£25.2m) deal that will see the formation of a Getty Images-style picture and video syndication service.

Vancouver-based Live Current Media has struck a 10-year deal with IPL and Indian cricket's governing body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, to develop and generate revenue from two new web portals, IPLT20.com and BCCI.tv.

Under the terms of the deal, LCM will make a guaranteed payment of $5m a year - $3m for the BCCI and $2m for IPL - for the online rights.

After that, revenue will be shared between the partners based on advertising, sponsorship and merchandise sales through the two websites.

LCM is launching IPLT20.com tomorrow, the day of the first match in the Twenty20 competition, as the official online portal for the 59 fixtures in this year's inaugural tournament.

The Canadian company aims to generate revenue from the IPL website by selling products, online advertising and through applications such as a fantasy cricket application for Facebook.

A key part of this strategy will be setting up the website as the official home for photos and short video clips of action from the IPL.

Footage and pictures will be available to buy on the website - but no live streaming of games will be offered.

The IPL has moved to stop specialist cricket websites, such as Cricinfo and Cricket365, having full access to matches from inside grounds, although it has struck a compromise deal with news organisations.

"I expect the site to extend the stadium experience of a cricket match to the worldwide audience of cricket fans at large," said Lalit Modi, the chairman and commissioner of the Indian Premier League.

"The website is highly interactive and includes everything a cricket fan would need to get their daily, hourly and minute-by-minute fix."

LCM aims to develop the official online destination for the BCCI, which represents all Indian cricket including the national team, into a "premier sports website, akin to Fifa.com".

"Our team extends to north America, the UK and India and is set on creating the most interactive environment for cricket fans worldwide to engage in the world of Indian cricket from wherever they live," said Geoffrey Hampson, the LCM chief executive.

LCM also intends to develop its own website domain Cricket.com as a global cricket portal.

SRK hopeful of Shoaib playing in IPL

2008-04-17T21:21:00.000+05:30

Thursday, April 17, 2008: (Mumbai):

IPL Kolkata Knight Riders team is still hopeful that Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar would be able to play the first match of the Indian Premier League, actor and owner of the team Shah Rukh Khan said.

"I am still hopeful that he will be able to play in the first game," Khan said at a function in a suburban hotel.

The Indian Premium League starts on April 18.

The actor also announced the team's association with mobile phone company Nokia whose logo would be the central logo on the team's jersey.

"Even if he (Akhtar) can come midway through the tournament, I would like him to play," the actor said.

Akhtar has been slapped with a five-year ban by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for violating the players' code of conduct.

The actor said he had spoken with team coach John Buchanan and captain Sourav Ganguly who had assured him the team would be a balanced one even in Akhtar's absence.

"I believe the tribunal is hearing the appeal the day after tomorrow and we are hopeful that the PCB gives him an NOC (No Objection Certificate) and he can play," Khan said.

Despite reports that initial ticket sales at stadiums, where the Indian Premier League matches would be played, were not good, Khan said he was hopeful that they would improve.

"In this case, unlike films, the tickets for the matches will sell even on the day and day before the match. Hopefully, sales will be better in the coming days," Khan added.

Kolkata Police demands six times more fee for IPL Eden match

2008-04-17T17:15:00.000+05:30

Kolkata (PTI): The Kolkata Police has demanded Rs 25 to 30 lakhs for providing additional security to the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches to be played at the Eden Gardens, though the amount, six times the standard fee, is negotiable.

Seven matches would be played at the Eden starting from April 20 and for every match 5,500 men in uniform and 1,500 men in plain clothes would be deployed, DC (headquarters) Vineet Goyal said on wednesday.

The policemen deployed will be in addition to regular personnel on duty. They will look after security at the playing arena, manage traffic around the venue, take care of VIPs and set up cordons around hotels where the players and the VIPs will put up.

Goyal said calculating the rate of payment at Rs 389 for a constable, Rs 457 for an ASI, Rs 671 for a SI and Rs 822 for an inspector for six-hour duty as also a food allowance of Rs 900 per day the total amount would be around Rs 25 to 30 lakh.

He explained that they were demanding six times the normal fee taking into consideration the commercial nature of the tournament as well as some entertainment events being lined up inside the venue.

Cricket Association of Bengal authorities said the amount asked by the police has to be paid by the organisers, Red Chillies Entertainment, only. A spokesman for the Red Chilies Entertainment said they have received the payment proposal by the Kolkata Police.

We will lose money in IPL: Shah Rukh Khan

2008-04-17T10:13:00.001+05:30

Bollywood superstar and owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in the Indian Premier League feels that all the franchises would lose some money in the first year of the T-20 cricket series.

In an interview published in the Times of India, Shah Rukh Khan, however, expresses confidence that the IPL would be a success in the years ahead. "It is the first time and as a business venture this too will require a gestation period." he said in the interview to the newspaper.

He attempted to refute reports that the franchisees felt cheated by the IPL and said, "All of us know that there are going to be losses to a certain level and if God forbid the losses are huge, then I am sure the IPL will look into it."

The Bollywood Badshah who reportedly forked out Rs.300 crore for owning the Sourav Ganguly-led Knight Riders, said he was perturbed by the repeated demands for money from the stadium authorities in the form of entertainment tax, municipality tax and the cost of providing security cover through the police forces.

"I had told my people that whatever is the running cost, ticket price se sirt 10 per cent jyaada mila toh (if I get 10 per cent from ticket price), it is enough for us. I am not looking at making money out of it," Shah Rukh Khan said in the interview published in today's Times of India.

On the media restrictions, Shah Rukh Khan said the the franchises were not informed about it. He claimed that the concept was a western one and would soon come to India. "The content or the bi-product of the leage matches in the west are a value addition and th emedia buys it for exclusivity," he said in the published interview.

Source: India Syndicate

IPL resolves dispute with TV news channels

2008-04-17T10:12:00.000+05:30

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has settled its dispute with the News Broadcasters' Association (NBA), the umbrella body for TV news channels, on issues related to the coverage of the high-profile event after a meeting in Mumbai.

"All the pending disputes were resolved and the meeting was a success," sources close to IPL said on Wednesday.

The TV channels were unhappy with the charges demanded for showing clips of the IPL matches that, they felt, were too high and had threatened to boycott the multi-million dollar Twenty20 tournament starting in Bangalore on Friday.

Last night, representatives of the NBA discussed the contentious issues with IPL Chairman Lalit Modi and representatives of Sony Entertainment Television, which holds the broadcasting rights for the event that ends on June 1.

The television channels were protesting against the exclusive rights given to Sony network and the NBA had written a letter to Modi which resulted in the late night parleys among the parties involved.

A few days ago, the IPL had resolved a dispute arising over stringent media accreditation guidelines with the Indian Newspaper Society.

Katrina Kaif is the face of Vijay Mallya's IPL team

2008-04-16T21:38:00.001+05:30

MUMBAI: Katrina Kaif joins the list of celebrities associated with Indian Premier League cricket teams. The gorgeous actress will support Vijay Mallya's Bangalore team.

"Let me clarify that Katrina is the face of Vijay Mallya's cricket team but not a brand ambassador to his Royal Challenge products," said a source close to the actress.

The actress, who sizzled in the recently released thriller "Race", will be shooting an exclusive solo music video for Mallya's team to be directed by Sanjay Gupta.

After starring in four hits last year, Katrina today ranks amongst the top league of actresses. Her next release is "Singh is King".

Tendulkar excited about leading IPL team

2008-04-16T14:53:00.000+05:30

Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday said he was looking forward to the challenge of leading Mumbai Indians in the high-profile Indian Premier League starting on April 18.

"It is going to be a challenge. I was not expecting it (to captain the Mumbai side). Mukesh Ambani spoke to me and he wanted me to lead the side. I have accepted it and I am looking forward to it," he said.

Tendulkar did not believe his side is one of the weakest in the eight-team league and said he was happy with the composition of the team.

"I am happy with the team. It has nice blend of seniors and juniors, it is a terrific team. Who says we have a weak side, let the tournament start and everybody will know," he told NDTV.

The master batsman was also happy that he got feisty tweaker Harbhajan Singh in his side and said the 'turbanator' would be an asset to the team.

"He is a world class player, I am happy that I have got him. Anybody who has played for more than 10 years for his country should be a terrific player."

When asked about the prospect of facing India team-mates like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and M S Dhoni in the IPL, Tendulkar said it would be a new but exciting experience.

"It will be a strange experience, playing against somebody who are next to me in the dressing room. It is a club system, it will be a new experience. It will be exciting for players as well as spectators."

Tendulkar was also excited about opening the innings with explosive Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya besides once again facing retired champion spinner Shane Warne.

"Sanath is a terrific batsman. I have enjoyed his batting and not only that, he is also a handy slow bowler. I am excited to go out and bat with him.

"It will be a good challenge with (Shane) Warne. He is going to come back hard and we will be prepared," Tendulkar said when reminded of his past on-field duels with the Australian.

Tendulkar felt the IPL would most benefit the youngsters who will rub shoulders with the biggest names in the game.
"My team has promising youngsters like Abhishek Nayar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ajinkya Rahane and Ankeet Chavan. Think of them playing against Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, Shaun Pollock, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. It is a great opportunity for them to show the world their potential."

Tendulkar said the IPL would be a successful venture and spectators would flock to the stadiums to watch the Twenty20 matches. "It has all the big names in the world of cricket, so it has to succeed. People will come, they want to watch exciting cricket."

The master batsman, who is turning 35 on April 24, is, however, racing against time to be fit before the start of the tournament.

"I am not fully recovered and have not started practice. I have just started doing a few throw-downs and some basic things. A final assessment on my fitness level will be done soon," he added.

Positive response to IPL tickets across country

2008-04-15T20:35:00.000+05:30

The Indian Premier League (IPL) will kick off in another three days and there has been a positive response to the ticket sales across the country. The rate of season tickets vary from Rs 1200 to 30,000, while the daily tickets range from Rs 200 to Rs 5000.

While the sales have picked up in Kolkata, the response in Chennai has been lukewarm. In Mumbai, the tickets have gone for online booking only on Sunday and a clearer picture will only emerge in a couple of days' time.

Though the counters were pretty empty right through the afternoon at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai TNCA secretary KS Viswanathan claimed that the sales are encouraging. However, in what should be the peak hour for sales, the booking counters were empty and the officials in charge were enjoying the practice game of the Chennai IPL team.

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, only 80 per cent of the tickets are available for sale. According to R Balachandran, director of the newly-modified Indiawin sports, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, which owns the franchise outfit, "20 per cent of the tickets will have to be given to the IPL."

The sale of tickets online for the Mumbai home league matches started from Sunday. The ticket price ranges from Rs 250-500 to the upper end Rs 3000-5000 for the first match while for the second match it ranges from Rs 200-400 to Rs 1000.

In Kolkata the fans have warmed up to the IPL, snapping up all the 3046 tickets that were put up for sale on the opening day at the Eden Gardens counter. In all, tickets priced at Rs 220, Rs 335 and Rs 655 worth Rs 8 lakh were sold on Monday, which happened to be the Bengali New Year's Day.

CAB registered players also picked up all the 1100 tickets that were offered at a discounted price of Rs 110, but according to official sources, the response from the CAB members and affiliates continued to be poor. Out of the 31,000 CAB life, annual and associate members, who are used to getting complimentary tickets for international matches at the Eden, only 1800 bothered to buy tickets even though they had the first choice of best seats in all blocks.

Honorary members will be allowed free entry. Of the 121 CAB affiliates only 57 lifted a part of their quota of tickets. Apart from online sales, tickets worth Rs 65 lakh have been sold so far.

The Chandigarh franchise, though, hasn't made any provision for season tickets and the rate of daily tickets are Rs 50, 250, 750 and 3,000. "The first day's response has been quite average," an official said.

The sales in Hyderabad, though, has been encouraging. "The figures haven't come in yet as the sales are still being done through branches of the ICICI bank," an official said. Tickets are priced at Rs 250, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500, and there are no season tickets.

Spirit of Cricket a high priority of IPL

2008-04-15T20:34:00.000+05:30

MUMBAI, April 15: Tim Wright cluck-clucked in regret when told that a Hampshire U-17 team was in the city training and playing matches at Bombay Gymkhana under a programme of the World Cricket Academy. Wright has played for the Hampshire U-19 team.

Wright, an IMG veteran from England, has been drafted temporarily to head IMG India over the next four to five months and ensure that the IPL is conducted smoothly and without glitches.

The history of sport shows that big money and the sporting spirit do not go hand in hand. But Wright, senior vice-president, IMG, hopes it won't be so at the Indian Premier League. He said together with the other branding, the promos of the Spirit of Cricket will be greatly visible at every venue including the opening ceremony. He was sad the press didn't give wide publicity to the news of IPL joining hands with the Marylebone Cricket Club to support the MCC Spirit of Cricket.

"The pioneering agreement will see each of the eight Indian franchises sign an MCC Spirit of Cricket Declaration at the IPL opening ceremony to demonstrate their commitment towards upholding the spirit of the game.", said Wright. He said they had in mind an audio-visual which will project this Spirit of Cricket. He expects Martin Crowe to be roped in to speak on the Spirit of Cricket.

Wright said the players in the IPL are role models for an entire generation of youth and it is crucial for youngsters all over the world to learn straight away the values of this great game and the spirit in which it should be played.

"We won't focus on the negatives and there have been too many of late but we will only project the positives of the Spirit of Cricket."

MCC secretary and Chief Executive, Keith Bradshaw has already been quoted as saying, "We are delighted that, right from the outset, the DLF Indian Premier League is embracing the MCC Spirit of Cricket initiative. This is an innovative and forward-thinking league that has captured the imagination of the cricketing world and it is pleasing that each player and each team will play their part in supporting the very best traditions of the game."

Pawar asks IPL to settle all media issues

2008-04-15T20:32:00.000+05:30

New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sharad Pawar Tuesday asked the organisers of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to resolve all contentious issues regarding media accreditation. “I don’t have anything to do with IPL. But I have told Lalit Modi (chairman of IPL), that I don’t want to hear any complaints from the electronic and the print media,” Pawar told reporters at the Feroze Shah Kotla cricket stadium. He was speaking at the inauguration of the floodlights at the stadium.

Inderjit Singh Bindra, former BCCI president and a member of the IPL, said he thought everything was settled, but promised to take it up with Modi if there was anything left resolved.

“I thought the issue was settled. But I will again look into it,” he said.

The stand-off between the IPL management and the media on the guidelines issued for accreditation is threatening to rip apart the world’s most lucrative cricket event due to start Friday.

Shahrukh sells IPL tickets at cheap rate

2008-04-15T12:33:00.001+05:30

Shahrukh Khan is breathing, eating and sleeping cricket these days. He is pinning high hopes for his Kolkata Knight Riders and with a desire to make the matches widely viewed by the spectators from the ground; he is selling ticket at a cheaper rate.

The inaugural ceremony will be held in Bangalore and we can see Dr.Vijay Mallya's Bangalore Royal Challengers take on Shahrukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chinaswamy stadium. Shahrukh had also invited some of his close friends like Farah Khan, Karan Johar, Juhi Chawla, Arjun Rampal and many others to watch the IPL match which will start on April 18.

Shahrukh wants more cricket buffs present at the Eden Garden to cheer for his team and so he has kept the price reachable to the Aam Admi. He is selling it as cheap as Rs. 100. He will be present at all the places wherever the Knight Riders will play to boost up the confidence of his team. At the IPL, the audience will get to see the glamour and glitz of Bollywood along with cricket stars. The entertainment quotient will make IPL more exciting.

With 100 hours to go, IPL debut a trial by fire?

2008-04-15T12:31:00.000+05:30

New Delhi: Millions have already been spent. More will be spent in the next few days. But who gets to show the matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the world's most lucrative cricket event, or who gets to see them is still not clear.

The stand-off, with the IPL management on one side and media -- both print and electronic -- on the other, has not been resolved yet, though the IPL top brass says that all outstanding issues relating to the media have been sorted out.

The National Broadcasters Association (NBA), a group of broadcasters, is said to be holding meetings on how to deal with this issue and the dreaded word 'boycott' has figured often enough.

Agence France Presse (AFP) New Delhi bureau chief Barry Parker told IANS: "We have not seen any official version about IPL's media accreditation going online again. We have only seen IPL commissioner Lalit Modi's comments in the media. We are expecting a decision soon."

The Press Trust of India (PTI) management, which has been holding talks with IPL officials, stated on Monday that all issues except one have been resolved.

PTI Executive Editor V. Chandrasekhar told IANS: "We are still in talks and there is only one sticking point, that is selling photographs to dedicated cricket websites. They have assured us that we will not have any other problem regarding other issues."

But a top IPL official said that the organisers have addressed all issues raised by the news agencies and websites, including those pertaining to the dedicated cricket web-sites.

Sources say some media outlets have gone to the extent of advising their reporters to "black out" IPL coverage. This could increase as the event nears and the franchisees are already worried, though it is not known whether any have spoken to the IPL on the issue.

Things are still not clear on how the non-rights holding media, primarily TV channels, will deal with the coverage, since Sony, the rights holders, are said to be demanding huge sums for even small durations of footage, sometimes as little as three to five minutes. Also things are unclear on how the channels can use archival footage.

The official said IPL had nothing to do with the channels' problem as they have to work it out with Sony. The right-holders seem to have agreed to the usage of their footage for seven minutes daily.

The championship has also raised security concerns in the cities the matches are being played as nothing has been heard about transport arrangements after the matches late in the night.

Security after the match is causing concern in Delhi and Mumbai as the police forces want a greater say in matters.

Then there is a lack of information on ticket sales and disputes on entertainment tax on tickets. All these things put together are making IPL's debut a trial by fire.

While many cities have started ticket sales, some franchises have not yet started them. In cities like Delhi (Daredevils), Kolkata (Knight Riders), Bangalore (Royal Challengers) and Mohali (Kings XI Punjab) sales have started, but the response is said to be lukewarm still.

In Kolkata, Shah Rukh Khan's team is said to be facing a lot of problems in trying to get exemption on entertainment tax. While the franchises are claiming it to be a sport, the state governments are said to be saying that it is also entertainment, as can be seen by the involvement of Bollywood stars and their performances. Other franchises are also likely to encounter the problem over next few days.

On entertainment tax, the West Bengal government is believed to have agreed to charge three percent on the entertainment component of 35 minutes of the 195 minutes' match duration.

And, finally, even as overseas players are joining their respective teams, there are questions on who will be available for how many matches as Pakistan, Australia, Bangladesh and West Indies are going to be engaged in international Test and ODI series.

Said a knowledgeable observer who did not wish to be identified: "The hype has been terrific, but the problems accompanying it as big. Only time will tell over the next few days how the IPL -- and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) whose brainchild it is -- will handle it".

Source: Indo-Asian News Service

IPL ad upsets Chennai Super Kings fans

2008-04-15T08:59:00.001+05:30

An Indian Premier League (IPL) advertisement seems to have got off on the wrong foot with fans of the Chennai Super Kings.

The TV ad involves an uptight woman, who is a fan of the Kolkata Knight Riders, accusing a nerdy-looking fellow in an elevator (supposedly a South Indian and a fan of the Chennai Super Kings) of feeling her up. The ad has put off quite a few fans who believe the ad reinforces stereotypes of a docile, South Indian male being bullied by a dominating woman.

While some viewers have brushed it aside as a funny video, other fans of the Chennai team have been more vitriolic in their retorts on Youtube with comments like, "So you're ready to cheat as well? Chennai will meet you in the lion's den", "The Knight Riders are going to cry and play like the Aussies now?" among others.

Sheena Kandasamy, a senior account planner with an advertising agency and a fan of the Chennai Super kings team, says, "I did not like the ad because it portrays a woman leveling false allegations against an innocent man. The ad would have looked better if they didn't make the woman look like Parineeta."

Ad guru Prahlad Kakkar remarks, "Stereotyping has always been a part of the ad world. An ad should be able to convey its idea in the 30-second slot given to it. How do you expect a person to recognise a character in an ad as a South Indian male or a Bengali woman unless you cast them in an image commonly associated with them? You can pinpoint the regional ties of the actors only because you have the reference point of a 100 ads that have come before this and feature the same stereo types."

Prahlad adds, "I feel the ad should be taken sportingly. For all you know, the jingoism the ad invokes can have Chennaiites lining up by the hordes for games against the Bengal team. What more can the organisers ask for? At a time when nobody cares about local teams, they come up with one ad and that's all it takes to shift loyalties back to one's regional team."

Singer Vijay Yesudas says, "The rivalries should be built in a healthy way. One should not see an ad and have a notion that people from one region behave in a certain way. Everyone has a tendency for good and bad, You have to be able to see the humour and laugh along with it."

IPL’s main challenge

2008-04-15T08:57:00.000+05:30

The advertisements of the Indian Premier League (IPL) tell us a lot about the weak link in the new cricket league’s business model— building customer loyalty.

The television spots do not try to promote either the players or the Twenty20 game format. Instead, the entire point of the campaign is to build team loyalties. It will be a long battle.

Indian cricket enthusiasts are passionately nationalist. They wave flags when the national team wins and they burn effigies when it loses. It will be worth seeing whether the same passion will be shifted to the subnational teams that will be competing in IPL.

There was a time when fans rooted for home teams in the Ranji Trophy. In countries such as England and the US, city-based sports teams are magnets of pride. That is what IPL will try to do in the long run.

IPL already has a model to look up to. The various reality shows on TV areunashamedly parochial.Voting is geographical. Can IPL create regional pride in another context?

IPL ticket fever spreading fast

2008-04-15T08:55:00.001+05:30

Calcutta: Indian Premier League (IPL) fever is fast spreading among Calcuttans. With D-day approaching and the Kolkata Knight Riders’ players sweating it out under the watchful eyes of John Buchanan at the Eden, the demand for tickets has increased further.

The entire quota of tickets that went on sale for Sunday’s match was sold out within hours of the counters opening on Monday. It was the first day tickets were made available to the public.

Long queues snaked around the Eden from morning and several people were disappointed after counters downed shutters. With more people expected to show up on Tuesday, the police bandobast will also be enhanced.

A total of Rs 8 lakh worth of tickets were sold from the 18 counters during the day. Tickets worth Rs 110 and meant for the players were also made available to the public besides Rs 220, Rs 335 and Rs 665.

Tickets for the Knight Riders versus Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad) match will again be on sale from Tuesday.

“The demand has attained gigantic proportions. The sales on the net are also very encouraging. The way things are going we are expecting a full house on Sunday,” said a spokesman of Knight Riders Sport Pvt Ltd.

The CAB is also anticipating a boost in sales once Sourav Ganguly and Ishant Sharma start practising.

The former India captain returned to the city early on Monday morning. He stayed away from the Eden but enthusiastic fans had gathered around the stadium from early afternoon in hopes of catching a glimpse of their favourite Dada. Instead they had to be satisfied by cheering on the likes of Ricky Ponting and Brendon McCullum.

The Knight Riders’ captain is already focusing on his job at hand after a successful Test series. “I’ll get into Twenty20 mode once I practise for a couple of days,” Sourav said.

He did not foresee any problem in leading a team comprising stars from various countries. “It is, after all, the same game of cricket. Here also one plays with the bat and the ball…”

Sourav also played down Shoaib Akhtar’s absence. “Umar Gul is in our team. He will serve us well,” he said.

On Bengali New Year’s Day, he also hoped the coming year would turn out to be an even better one for him.

Sourav is expected to be present when the team plays a practice match on Tuesday. Ponting and McCullum will lead the two sides.

IPL: Aircel bags team sponsorship for Chennai Super Kings

2008-04-14T16:43:00.002+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."

IPL giving Shah Rukh 'sleepless nights'

2008-04-14T16:41:00.001+05:30

Four days before the start of the Indian Premier League -- the latest initiative of the Board of Control for Cricket in India -- and the negatives are piling up.

In an extensive interview to the Kolkata-based Anand Bazaar Patrika, Shah Rukh Khan , who owns the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise, said he is "quite disappointed" at the poor audience response.

"The first day, when I heard this, I was really surprised that only 237 tickets had been sold at the counter," Khan told the Kolkata paper. "I am truly finding it difficult to accept this. I have never, till date, requested my fans to go and see my films. Never ever done it. I am a bit surprised as to why, despite keeping the ticket prices low, people are not showing any interest."

Khan said he is "very tired" by the IPL experience. "I never thought so many problems would crop up when I bought the Knight Riders. I was not prepared for these circumstances. A rosy picture, removed from reality, was painted to me," he said.

One element in that rosy picture was that the franchise owners would be allowed to stage various forms of entertainment at the venues, in order to woo the fans. Apparently even that has run into trouble -- apparently the Kolkata government, unlike governments of states hosting other franchises -- has refused to provide tax exemptions.

"How can I do it [hold an entertainment package] unless the entertainment tax is waived?" Khan told the ABP. "The tax has been exempted at all the other centres in India except in Kolkata."

He said officials of the franchise have met government officials and appealed, but thus far, he has no word on whether exemption will be granted. "Involvement with the Knight Riders is giving me sleepless nights," a clearly disgruntled Khan told the ABP.

The interview comes as the final straw on what has been a bad week for the IPL. The Press Trust of India late last week announced that it will boycott the event in protest against the draconian conditions laid down by IPL for the media.

The PTI boycott is a potentially devastating blow. In its inaugural year, the IPL needs as much publicity as it can get; PTI is the agency smaller, out of town newspapers and the vernacular media that cannot afford to send correspondents to cover the event live -- or may not get accreditation, given the pressure on space -- will rely on for news, information and features. The boycott by PTI virtually ensures a near total blackout, therefore, of the IPL in the medium and small scale segments of the media -- thus preventing the league from drumming up interest and support in the grassroots communities.

The same is true for international coverage. The News Media Coalition, an umbrella body that incorporates global news and photography services such as Reuters, Associated Press (AP), Agence France Presse (AFP) and Getty Images, have also said that in view of the IPL's restrictive clauses -- most notably, the proscription on news agencies selling content and photographs to websites -- the Coalition will boycott the event; thus reducing or in some cases eliminating international coverage of the much-touted league.

Shah Rukh Khan, and other franchise owners, are reportedly concerned over the threat of a blackout by some sections of the media. Cricinfo reported late last week that franchise owners plan to voice these concerns to IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, and ask that he resolve the issues.

'If the issue escalates to a point where media or sections of the media will choose to ignore the IPL, we will have to step in, meet with IPL and seek clarifications. We need to find an amicable solution,' Cricinfo quoted Charu Sharma, chief executive of the Vijay Mallya-owned Bangalore Royal Challengers, as saying.

The website also quotes Fraser Castellino, CEO of Jaipur's Rajasthan Royals, as saying they had invested heavily in the venture and would like the entire media on board, to ensure that the event "reaches every heart".

"For that, we need the entire media on our side," Castellino said. "We hope the two parties, like two sensible people, will sit across the table and resolve the issue. We really have no time but we, as a franchise, are willing to step in and help resolve this situation."

Castellino's wish is unlikely to come true. Getty Images, a global photography service, has taken the IPL off its list of assignments for the month; equally significantly, PTI did not apply within deadline for accreditation, which effectively means it will not be present ringside to send in reports and features.

Uthappa ready for IPL Challenge

2008-04-13T13:59:00.002+05:30

Ahead of the Indian Premier League, TIMES NOW's Correspondent Mikhail Vaswani caught up with Robin Uthappa, who is sporting a new hairstyle ahead of the League. Robin Uthappa, spoke about his new look, on playing for Mumbai and opening with Sachin Tendulkar.

Mikhail: First straight to your hairstyle. What is with the new hairstyle, who suggested it and is it the IPL special?
Uthappa: Well you could say that. It is something couple of friends and I were discussing when went to a jungle to take a break. So, this is something that I thought I should just try and I think its worked a bit.

Mikhail: Bangalorean boy playing for Mumbai Indians. Missed out on playing for Bangalore?
Uthappa: Well not really. It is pleasing to know that people around the country really like the way I play and everyone wants to have me in their side. So, its very comforting and encouraging feeling to know that the kind of cricketer I am is appreciated. I am looking forward to play for Mumbai. I have a lot of friends who have played a lot of cricket here. I play for my corporate team as well over here. So, I know all the boys here and I know how they play. They are tough cricketers who are professional and play their cricket very hard so, I am looking forward to the IPL.

Mikhail: But the Royal Challengers were disappointed. They said we couldn't get Robin Uthappa, we were trying for him. Clearly they wanted you in the side, it would have been a heartening sight for them as well.
Uthappa: It would have been amazing to play alongside Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble and players that they have with all my team mates who play for the Karnataka state. It would have been good to play for Bangalore but as of now my loyalties lie in Mumbai. I am grateful to Vijay Mallya for saying those kind words about me.

Mikhail: Much is said about Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar opening the innings. You have opened with Sachin in the ODI's will you miss out to open along with him in the shorter format of the game?
Uthappa: I am happy doing it in the slightly longer version. I enjoy it, Sachin is fantastic to bat along with. You can just learn so much batting with him. In those 2-3 games that I opened with him, I learnt so much from Sachin. Just batting with him, being around him helps us to learn the game. When he talks, its cricket Bible. You know then that you can take his words and you know its true.

(Interviewed by Mikhail Vaswani)

Four camera units, 14 commentators to cover IPL

2008-04-13T10:57:00.001+05:30

Kanpur, April 12 (IANS) 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)

SRK to sell IPL tickets for Rs 100

2008-04-13T10:44:00.001+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.

Kings XI Punjab Music Video

2008-04-11T21:20:00.000+05:30

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IPL: Indian cricketers angry with income

2008-04-11T21:19:00.000+05:30

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ICL vs IPL: Clash of cricket titans

2008-04-11T21:18:00.001+05:30

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SRK, Ambani, Mallya win IPL bids

2008-04-11T21:16:00.000+05:30

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Aussies hope IPL can mend ties

2008-04-11T21:12:00.000+05:30

Relations between the Indian and Australian cricket team, at an all time low after the acrimonious series Down Under, could be mended during the multi-million dollar IPL, set to start on April 18 .

The four-match Test series was marred by a bitter racism row and poor on-field behaviour as well as "obnoxious" comments off it.

Skipper Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden and Brett Lee are among a large group of Australians spread across the eight franchises in the cash rich Indian Premier League and it is hoped that the Aussies could regain their lost popularity in India.

Player agent Neil Maxwell has asked the Australians to bridge the gap with the Indians.

"If the players are smart, and already I've seen Matthew Hayden extend an olive branch, they'll use this opportunity ... to be embraced by their local community and then be appreciated by the broader cricket audience in India," Maxwell told The Age.

"There's definitely a level of negativity towards Australian players en masse, but there's an opportunity for Cricket Australia to do something about it, and they need to use this opportunity to build or enhance their brand image during this tournament," he said.

CA chief executive James Sutherland said "The potential is there once they all get together and communicate and understand each other better, it can break down a whole lot of those issues.

"It takes willing parties to do that and I would be very optimistic that our players would be wanting to take that approach."

Don't cover IPL if they don't want you to: Kapil

2008-04-11T21:11:00.000+05:30

In light of the restrictions imposed on media organisations by the Indian Premier League, former captain Kapil Dev has hinted that the press should not to cover BCCI's multi-million dollar venture if the IPL does not lift the curbs.

"If they (IPL) don't want, don't cover it," Kapil told reporters in Panchkula on Friday night on the sidelines of the first final of the Indian Cricket League's Twenty20 tournament between Lahore Badshahs and Hyderabad Heroes.

Kapil's comments came when mediapersons asked him about accreditation norms put forward by IPL authorities, though he went on to add that it was "unfair" for him to give a "judgement for somebody else".

"As a cricketer, I wish them luck," said Kapil, the chairman of the ICL's Executive Board.

He hit out at the BCCI for allegedly bending rules when it "suits them".

Kapil said many players in the Indian Test side, flouting the Board's own rules, were busy attending various launches in connection with the IPL, which starts its first Twenty20 championship later this month.

Another senior ICL functionary, Kiran More said the Indians looked jaded in the Ahmedabad Test.

"How many turned up for the net practice session tells the story. The players were already too tired by attending the launches," More claimed.

IPL on song

2008-04-11T21:09:00.001+05:30

With the IPL poised to take off, promotional music videos have become a talking point.

Daler Mehndi's anthem for Preity Zinta's team is already on the channels. Now Shah Rukh Khan's Knight Riders are about to release a hot new album titled 2 Hot 2 Cool. It has five songs. Two are by Bappi Lahiri and two by Pritam and one by Vishal Shekhar. Jeet lo by Vishal-Shekhar is already on air.

SRK will feature in the video of one of the songs composed by Lahiri. Lahiri has reportedly convinced Khan to lend his voice to the song too. The other song will be sung by Usha Uthhup.

Pritam is working with SRK on Billoo Barber as well.

"I was initially supposed to score only one of the songs. But Shah Rukh liked the second track too, so now I have to work at breakneck speed. The album will have to be released soon," he says.

Fast forward D-day is apparently sometime next week but Pritam refuses to reveal more details. Currently Pritam is also busy with the scores of Singh is Kingg and Kidnap.

Singh is Kingg will obviously have a generous dose of Punjabi.

"I'm sure once it's out I'll have to change my name from Pritam Chakraborty to Pritam Singh," the composer jokes.

"In fact, thanks to Paape pyaar karke (Pyaar ke Side Effects), Nagada and Mauja hi mauja (Jab We Met), a poster advertising a concert in Delhi hyped me as Pritam Singh."

Media stand has IPL franchises worried

2008-04-11T21:08:00.000+05:30

The stand-off between the Indian Premier League (IPL) and leading news agencies over contentious accreditation clauses for the Twenty20 tournament starting on April 18 has been termed as a matter of concern by franchises, with some of them planning to discuss the issue with IPL officials if media coverage of the event is affected.

"If the issue escalates to a point where media or sections of the media will choose to ignore the IPL, we will have to step in, meet with IPL and seek clarifications. We need to find an amicable solution," Charu Sharma, the chief executive of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, told Cricinfo.

Fraser Castellino, the CEO of Jaipur's Rajasthan Royals, said they had invested heavily in the venture and would like the entire media on board to ensure that the event "reaches every heart". J Krishnan, of Hyderabad's Deccan Chargers, said he was sure the IPL officials would sort out the issue.

Sharma is a well-known television professional while the Jaipur franchise is backed by the UK-based Investors in Cricket, a media group with significant interests in television. The Hyderabad franchise is owned by Deccan Chronicle, the newspaper group.

The Press Trust of India (PTI), the country's leading news agency, on Friday joined leading international agencies in calling for modifications in IPL's coverage norms, failing which they have decided to ignore the event. The News Media Coalition (NMC), the umbrella body that covers global news and photograph agencies Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Getty Images, had earlier expressed deep concerns about IPL's media norms, including curbs on selling photographs to websites and a press-box bar on websites.

The Editors Guild of India has expressed reservations on the IPL's media clauses and the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), a representative body of newspaper publishers, said it was disappointed about the accreditation terms, even after the IPL revised them following discussions with media representatives on Monday.

"As far as we are concerned, this issue involves the IPL's IPR, and has to be sorted out by the IPL. However, if the situation [on media accreditation] escalates we will have to have a say in the matter and will want to discuss the issue with IPL," said Sharma. "If push comes to shove, we will want to get involved as a franchise on this matter. Generally, we believe that nobody can go forward on an event of this magnitude without getting the media on board and addressing all their concerns."

Castellino offered help to resolve the issue because the franchises needed "the entire media" on their side. "Definitely, the possibility of the media ignoring the event is not a great development from the franchise point of view. We are concerned and may need to discuss with the IPL if the situation is not resolved," he said. "We have invested heavily in this venture, and we need the event to touch every heart. For that, we need the entire media on our side. We hope the two parties, like two sensible people, will sit across the table and resolve the issue. We really have no time but we, as a franchise, are willing to step in and help resolve this situation."

Krishnan said Hyderabad will leave the issue to the "capable" IPL officials. "We really don't want to comment on this matter, except to state that we are sure the IPL will find a solution to this issue."

The inaugural IPL tournament starts in Bangalore with the Royal Challengers, the home team, taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders. A Knight Riders spokesman declined to comment on the issue.

IPL: A cricket league or a Bollywood enterprise?

2008-04-09T20:21:00.000+05:30

THE CONCEPT of an Indian Premier League (IPL) is interesting. Never before have we had this kind of money and media muscle supporting our teams. Ranji trophy and the state cricket teams that played the domestic circuit were tame affairs that the cricket players had to play in to make their dreams of making it to the national team come true. Only the most devoted fans followed the matches of the state teams and the average fan would have been hard put to name the key state players.

In this scenario has arrived the football style league with world famous players on the rolls. No match has yet been played but the IPL is already a household name. The fact that the players are famous entities, already, has helped generate high interest in it.

For the first time we have the chance to see Ricky Ponting playing alongside Indian national team players with whom he had such an edgy relationship during the recently concluded Test series in Australia. He might also be playing under an Indian captain, in India in front of an overwhelming Indian audience. It is a chance of a lifetime for the fans of the game. But it will also throw up some dilemmas for sure. How do you cheer the team in which Ricky is playing if you still want to boo him for his behavior in the Australia matches? How will Misbah play with his Indian colleagues? How will Shoaib (if he is allowed to play in the IPL) use his deadly skills to bowl out a compatriot in a rival team? Definitely exciting stuff to look forward to but there is this small doubt in the mind.

Since our one-man publicity dynamo, Shah Rukh, is part owner of one team and has taken it upon himself to fashion the team image, one wonders if The Knight Riders will always remain in his shadow. The initial video clips of the team anthem show Sharukh looming large over the whole thing. His desire to promote the team, though understandable, should not go so far that the cricketers end up playing second fiddle to the movie icon.

Premier league teams, the world over, are owned by wealthy individuals mostly from the world of business. This perhaps is a world first where a famous movie star is the main promoter of a team. Preity Zinta is the second name from the glamour world attached with an IPL team (Mohali) but she has played safe so far saying, diplomatically, that a team that has such names as Yuvraj Singh, Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan and Sangakarra in it does need her to promote it. Nonetheless, she is very much a hands on person with a say in everything from team anthem to team uniforms.

Sharukh on his part is not satisfied with having just one team song so he is already thinking of making more videos. So, what is next? A CD of the top IPL team anthems? Maybe the music channels will start assigning chart spots to these songs. With King Khan at the helm there is no predicting where the IPL is headed.

Then there is the small issue of Vijay Mallya being the owner of another team. Does that mean we can look forward to our cricket hunks baring their six packs for an annual calendar?

Only time and the coming matches will reveal how much of a Bollywood affair does the IPL become but as a fan of the game one hopes this does not become merely a Shahrukh – Priety Zinta starer because then the fear would be that maybe for the IPL, Kal Ho Na Ho.

Is the IPL right in barring websites?

2008-04-09T15:25:00.002+05:30

The Indian Premier League organisers may have announced that all outstanding issues have been resolved, but is it actually so?

While newspapers may be delighted that restrictions imposed on them have been lifted, websites have been left in the cold, and it seems no issue at all for IPL chairman Lalit Modi and the BCCI.

The deadlock over the IPL's media coverage ended on Monday following a meeting between the organizers of the Twenty20 tournament and editors from leading newspapers in Mumbai. While the print media got relief on the use of images and the number of reporters and photographers who will be granted accreditation to cover matches in the tournament, websites like Rediff.com and Cricinfo were cold-shouldered.

Adding insult to injury, the IPL went a step further and decreed that websites, which will have no access to the press enclosure when the matches are on, can cover pre-match and post-match press conferences,

Further, the IPL said websites will not be allowed to upload photographs of the matches, and news agencies cannot sell pictures to websites.

While newspapers are quite delighted with the relief they have got, top global news agencies are considering a boycott of the event. The News Media Coalition, which includes top global news agencies like Agence France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP), Reuters and Getty Images, is concerned about not being allowed to sell photographs to websites. They fear this could set up a bad precedent.

The IPL says websites are being barred as it has sold the right to a US-based Internet company.

I S Bindra, a member of the IPL's governing council, had said last week: "We have not allowed online usage only because we have sold the portal rights of the event to a respected company based in North America for US$50 million. We can't disclose the company's name at the moment as they are in the process of getting listed."

At this rate, it won't be long before the viewers will be asked to pay to watch cricket matches on television. Going to stadiums and watching matches live have always been a premium because of the BCCI's policy of issuing a very few cheap tickets to the general public.

DLF IPL's second season to kick off on 10 April '09

2008-04-09T15:22:00.000+05:30

MUMBAI: The tentative dates for the second season of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) have been announced. As per the announcement, the league will start from 10 April 2009 and end on 29 May 2009.

Willow TV has secured exclusive rights from World Sport Group (WSG) to telecast IPL in North America, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. The deal has been signed for a period of five years.

DLF IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi also announced that the format of the tournament will remain the same as that of the inaugural season.

"The dates of the second season of the DLF IPL were decided at a meeting of the Governing Council of the DLF Indian Premier League held in Mumbai. I am confident of the inaugural season becoming a huge success and the second season will be an even bigger success," said Modi.

The eight franchises will first play against one another in a league on home and away basis. The top four teams will then figure in the two semi-finals and the winners of the semi-finals will clash in the final.

The inaugural season of the IPL will begin on 18 April with Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders fighting Dr Vijay Mallya's Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

ICC may revise cricket calendar for IPL: Lorgat

2008-04-09T00:17:00.000+05:30

MELBOURNE: Newly appointed ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat has hinted that the international cricket calender may be revised to make room for the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).

Lorgat, who will take over from Malcolm Speed as the ICC CEO in July, said it was hard to ignore the league and the game's governing body was more than willing to tinker with the Future Tours Programme (FTP) to accomodate it in the international calender.

"The IPL is something that is exciting and can be used to enhance and grow the game around the globe. Cricket is unique in that we have three formats now, and that can be used to attract new fans. If we need to revisit the FTP, we will do that," Lorgat told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Lorgat allayed fears that twenty20 would kill Test and one-day cricket and said all three forms could survive if the number of games was managed properly.

"If well managed, I think all three forms of the game are sustainable. It's just about finding the right balance," he said. On the other issues facing the game, most prominently umpiring, the standard of which raised considerable storm this summer, Lorgat said the ICC was exploring new technologies to make the on-field officials' job easier.

"It is important to assist the umpires, not replace them. They have an incredibly difficult and important job, and they should be offered help wherever possible," he said.

"I do not know yet all the factors that have been considered by the ICC, but would suspect that, where it makes sense, technology should be used to help the umpires," he added.

Dates for second IPL season announced

2008-04-09T00:16:00.000+05:30

MUMBAI, April 8: Even before the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League gets underway, the second season of the BCCI-backed Twenty20 venture has been scheduled tentatively from April 10 to May 29, 2009.

IPL chairman Lalit Modi made the announcement on Tuesday, adding the format of the tournament would remain unchanged in its second season.

The eight franchisees will first play against one another in a league on home-and-away basis. The top four teams will then figure in the two semi-finals and the winners of the semi-finals will clash in the final.

The first edition of the IPL kicks off on April 18 with a game between Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore, and will end on June 1.

"The dates of the second season of the DLF Indian Premier League were decided at a meeting of the Governing Council of the DLF Indian Premier League held in Mumbai. I am confident of the inaugural season becoming a huge success and the second season will be even a bigger success," Modi said in a release.

Bollywood biggies to play against Indian Premiere League

2008-04-09T00:15:00.000+05:30

MUMBAI: While Indians will be spoilt for choice of entertainment in the coming days, both cricketers and filmmakers will have to keep their fingers crossed. Cricket and movies are both religion to our population of a billion and this time they are pitted against each other with the forthcoming Indian Premiere League (IPL).

Moreover, this is the first time that the star quotient is at its peak in cricket. While until now it has been restricted to actors' appearances at matches to cheer the Indian team or new cola ad campaigns specially designed to break at the big ticket matches; this time round the IPL boasts of mighty associations with movie stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Preity Zinta and Akshay Kumar.

These stars are going the whole hog to promote their respective teams by rolling out official music videos, special appearances at events et al.

As these Bollywood guns hop onto the cricket bandwagon, there are films set to hit the box office simultaneously.

It’s no less than the clash of the titans between the 63 IPL matches and movies such as Tashan, Bhoothnath, and Jannat and another 14 films scheduled to release from 18 April to 1 June.

Majority of the film frat Businessofcinema.com spoke to believes that the IPL matches will definitely impact box office collections of movies. However, BR Films CEO Sanjay Bhutiani, whose Amitabh Bachchan starrer Bhoothnath is slated to release on 9 May, refutes all apprehensions. "IPL is a new initiative in India, so no one really knows about its audience loyalty. There is no denying that TV is bigger than movies, but TV has its own share of loyal women audience who are definitely not interested in the IPL matches that will be telecast," Bhutiani says.

Nonetheless as a precautionary step, Bhutiani says that no stone will be left unturned for the marketing and promotion of Bhoothnath. "As it is there is tremendous advertising clutter from various cola brands and holiday packages during the summer season. And this time around there is IPL too. Hence we are also upping the ante on advertising across every possible medium."

Percept Picture Company IPR and distribution head Ashok Ahuja says that since the theme of cricket is reflected in Vishesh Films’ Jannat, IPL perfectly compliments the movie's release. Percept has acquired the global distribution and commercial rights of this film.

Says an industry professional, "Shah Rukh goes all out to promote his movies and ensure that the maximum number of people watch it. It needs to be seen if he will apply the same pull to draw audiences for Kolkata Knight Riders' matches."

Coming to how this situation is likely to affect programming and collections across multiplexes, a point that comes forth is that IPL matches will have only 20 overs and hence the match duration will be short. This in turn should come as a relief point. The cricket matches are scheduled to be held from 2 pm to 8 pm.

Fame Cinema programming head Aditya Shroff is of the opinion that IPL matches will definitely impact box office collections. When queried whether screening the matches in multiplexes is a viable money making proposition, he says, "We may play the final match on 1 June but playing all the matches is not viable, primarily because people like to watch matches in their homes except for the finals and the license fee for running these matches in the multiplexes is too high."

During any cricket season movie producers and distributors avoid releasing big budget movies. Therefore, only average or below average films hit theatres, which too end up bombing at the box office. What’s more, the buck is more often than not passed on to cricket.

However, in retrospect, nothing stopped Biwi No 1 from spinning its success web at the box office during the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

For cricketers, actors and producers… it’s ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, GO…

No free IPL tickets at Eden: Court

2008-04-08T18:59:00.004+05:30

Kolkata: A city court on Tuesday refused to grant free tickets to the 31,000 Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) members for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) matches to be played at Eden Gardens here.

Judge Anindita Roy Saraswati of the City Civil Court did not pass any interim order on the application by Bengal Cricket Lovers' Forum for giving free tickets to the CAB members for the matches organised by Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment.

It also did not entertain their prayer for an injunction on distribution of tickets for the IPL matches to be held here from April 20.

Forum secretary Jyotipriyo Mullick said they would move the Calcutta High Court challenging this order.

The petitioners had contended that according to CAB rules, life, annual and associate members were entitled to watch all matches - except charity ties - at Eden Gardens free of cost.

Claiming that the rights and privileges of all the CAB members were being infringed upon by asking them to pay for viewing the matches, they prayed for the restoration of the members' rights.

RCE is the franchisee owner of the team 'Kolkata Knight Riders' that would organise the matches at the Eden as per IPL rules.

Also Read:Shahrukh Caught between IPL and 'Paachvi Pass'

IPL relaxes media restrictions

2008-04-08T18:58:00.001+05:30

NEW DELHI, April 8: The standoff between the Indian Premier League and the media over controversial guidelines to cover the inaugural tournament looks set to ease as the IPL governing body has issued relaxed guidelines for media to cover the Twenty20 extravaganza.

The IPL has toned down some of its earlier restrictions, especially benefiting the print media and their respective websites. However, the websites having no print association would not be able to cover the matches from the ground. The IPL ban on news agencies supplying images to the websites stays. The fresh guidelines have been issued after a meeting with media representatives and IPL governing body members on Tuesday.

The new guidelines, which have been reduced to two pages, allowed website reporters to the venue a day before the match and for post match press conferences only. No online use or publication or syndication of any photograph clicked by accredited photographers is allowed except for the website of the publication.

The media gallery of a website can have up to any six pictures per match beyond whatever else is carried in the newspaper's various editions.

The rules however warned the photographers for supplying pictures to any third party, including web portals and syndicates.

Earlier, IPL chairman and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Lalit Modi agreed to relax rules to benefit the print media after discussing the matter with the Sports Journalists' Federation of India (SJFI) and sports editors of mainline dailies on Monday.

Last week, the IPL had announced the media guidelines for accreditation, which a large section of the media houses found unacceptable.

The SJFI, on behalf of sports journalists and photographers, requested the BCCI President Sharad Pawar to resolve the contentious clauses.

The contentious norms arose from IPL's terms and conditions, in which BCCI attempted to appropriate intellectual property rights on photographs shot by media organizations. IPL had banned websites from the event and demanded that agencies and print media houses upload, at their own cost, the pictures shot by them on IPL's website for unrestricted use. Media organizations were irked by these guidelines, which amounted to restricting the use of images in any other publication even if it belonged to the same media house.

That BCCI was under some pressure was evident - the link to the media guidelines on the official tournament's website was deactivated soon after the controversy broke.

ECB Should Take Note Of IPL Warning Signs

2008-04-08T18:57:00.000+05:30

"The IPL'' is not something I'm particularly interested in. Money's not really too important, it's not as if I need money right now. England has given me a fantastic opportunity to a fantastic life at the moment. So I'm fully committed 100% to playing for England, to winning games for England, to scoring thousands more runs for England." (BBC Radio 5 Live)

5th April 2008: "I won't jeopardise my England career for the IPL just yet, but the schedules have to be sorted because the England players are the only ones missing out." (The Times)

Thirty-five days to crack under Lalit Modi's torture methods (he ties pros to a chair and makes them watch as he hands Cameron White a cheque for $500,000): Kevin Pietersen makes this job too easy some times.

Except we didn't need his help on this occasion: we asked on 21st February, "Does English cricket really want to issue Kevin Pietersen with a stark choice between hundreds and thousands of pounds, and Three Lions? And all in the build-up to the 2009 Ashes?"

C365 was hardly alone either; the reporters who follow the England team began dropping hints that certain players were less than happy to be landing in New Zealand as auction prices took off in Mumbai.

So how is it that the ECB is still treating the IPL as some vulgar non-event attractive only to the ungrateful and idiotic?

Giles Clarke declared in October - six weeks after the IPL was convened - that cricket is "ultimately another business".

And on Monday he tried to play deaf to the IPL in the same terms: "Employment contracts are a matter between an employer and an employee. If you don't want to be employed by someone you don't have to be, but in turn you run the risk of not being employed by that person."

Given the money on offer in India, is this really the time to be teaching 'O' level commerce to the players?

IPL and ECB income/sponsorship are comparable - but one takes a fraction of the time to earn.

And what is this 'risk' that Clarke talks of? Any KP substitute available in English cricket please make themselves known to the nearest selector.

Pietersen's rational decision is to dive headfirst into an IPL deal before Clarke can say homo economicus and take his international chances on a Test-by-ODI basis.

Here's the difference that the ECB don't seem to have clocked: Pietersen is an individual responsible to himself; Clarke a governor responsible to English cricket.

At the moment they seem to have it the other way around: selling tv rights to Sky for their own profit (English cricket was hardly starving on C4 money) but furious that players might follow their example.

Clarke was ridiculed for his "ultimately another business" line because very few things are only about money - and certainly not international sport.

But even fewer have nothing to do with money at all.

Of course it would be the decent thing for Pietersen and his less vocal (i.e. less financially valuable) team-mates to demonstrate some loyalty to their employers and the supporters.

But they do that by giving ECB time to formulate a fair policy that balances players' responsibilities with their right to earn a living.

Monday's press conference suggested that the ECB instead want to bully its 'employees' into towing the line.

It's a crazy strategy, indefensible and unworkable in equal measure.

If the ECB is a business then Clarke is acting like the obtuse proprietor of a lone, ramshackle bric-a-brac stall making a last stand on the intended site of a new-out-of-town Tesco.

ECB chief says England players unlikely to feature in IPL

2008-04-08T15:00:00.000+05:30

David Collier has said it is unlikely that any England players will feature in future Indian Premier League (IPL) tournaments.

Collier, who is chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), says it is due to the hectic international schedule rather than the principal of letting centrally-contracted players play elsewhere.

The IPL has brought together the best talent from around the world to compete in a Twenty20 competition, which begins at the end of the month, but the ECB has barred all England players from participating.

Collier explained the ECB's decision, saying: "The obvious time for the IPL to play is April and May, but that clashes with the start of our international season."

Because the International Cricket Council (ICC) organises tours years in advance Collier explained that it would be hard for any of England's players to compete in next year's tournament as well.

"The IPL has said that the tours programmes will take precedence, and clearly that will clash with us being in the West Indies," said Collier.

"[For] the IPL to play in October and November would be a problem because that clashes with the majority of global events – [such as] the ICC Champions Trophy - are played during that period, so that time is unlikely."

However, Collier is not completely opposed to the concept of the IPL and claims the current domestic Twenty20 competition could be adapted to function in the same way as the IPL – allowing a greater influx of international players for the competition.

"It is a question of finding periods of the year for this to take place. We are one of the few countries who play in June, that is why our competitions are so successful because we can attract the best players in the world," Collier added.

Pietersen wants to cash in at IPL

2008-04-08T14:58:00.001+05:30

Kevin Pietersen has called on the cricketing authorities to sort out the scheduling clashes which prevent England players from cashing in on the lucrative Indian Premier League.

Pietersen and his England team players are the only major Test playing nation not involved in the Twenty20 competition - for which the top players are being paid over £500,000 for just seven weeks work - because the event clashes with England's Test series with New Zealand.

Pietersen insists he is happy to play for his country, but admits he wants the problem resolved so, in future years, he can also play in the IPL.

'I won't jeopardise my England career for the IPL just yet, but the schedules have to be sorted because the England players are the only ones missing out,' said the South African-born batsman.

'As long as it doesn't interfere with me playing for England then I'm all for the IPL.

'There are guys in our team who could be earning a lot of money and you don't want them choosing between the two.'

Pietersen's Hampshire captain Dmitri Mascarenhas is the only Englishman signed up for this month's IPL tournament, and the all-rounder admits his employers are desperate to tempt Pietersen to the sub-continent.

'I've spoken to KP, he's expressed an interest in the IPL and they certainly want him,' Mascarenhas confirmed.

'They are trying to accommodate English players next year by changing their dates so hopefully the ECB will loosen their stance. I think they will have to.'

Exclusive: I'm treating IPL like a film: Preity Zinta

2008-04-07T10:20:00.001+05:30

Indian Premier League has got the imagination of every cricket fan across the world. CNN-IBN spoke to the owners of King’s XI Punjab, better known as the Mohali IPL team, Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia.

Meha Bhardwaj: Are you happy you’ve got just about everybody you wanted on the team, be it Sreesanth, Brett Lee…

Preity Zinta: Irfan Pathan, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Piyush Chawla...yes you’re right. We’ve got everybody we wanted. Thank God we already had Yuvi on the team.

Meha Bhardwaj: I know commercial interest is fine but…

Preity Zinta: I’m purely in for the game. I’ve been a sportsperson all my life and I think it’s time for some action now.

Meha Bhardwaj: And how much is Ness influencing you in this?

Preity Zinta: I think we have all influenced each other. I’m really lucky to be supported by such wonderful friends and partners. It’s a long journey.

Meha Bhardwaj: I want to take you guys back to the auction days. So much was happening. There was this whole talk about the kind of money that was going to be involved, the kind of money we’ve never heard of and suddenly you have players being sold off. As an Indian viewer, people were glued to television channels because they had never seen anything like this. So when you were sitting inside, what was going on inside – like putting in one crore…

Preity Zinta: This department was with Ness and Tom. I think they did a fantastic job and thanks to them and our coach we have the best team.

Ness Wadia: There was a lot of planning like any business meeting or pitch. So we went through it (our strategy) two-three times and also on the phone during lunch time. I think we had strategies in place. Most important thing was that we were not interested in pushing other people’s prices up. We were really interested in getting the players we wanted to get. We were so focussed on what we were doing, frankly speaking, the rest didn’t really matter. Of course, there’s luck as well.

Meha Bhardwaj: Were you also involved in the technical bit like — we are going to have three all-rounders, etc?

Preity Zinta: Of course, that’s team strategy.

Meha Bhardwaj: Were you a part of it as well Preity?

Preity Zinta: Honestly, on the table two nights before, it was all going above my head. So I sat back when it came to things I didn’t know about.

Meha Bhardwaj: How did the Brett Lee and Sreesanth happen? Did you go for Sreesanth because of the character he brings to the game?

Preity Zinta: No we have a fast wicket and on fast wicket we need fast bowlers. Of course, the strategy was put together by Tom and Ness. And there was budget to be considered too.

Ness Wadia: I think Sreesanth is one of the better players today in the Indian team. He’s been through that first high and now he’s sort of coming off, not into a low but in sort of a lull like most sportsmen do where they start thinking where am I, what’s happened etc. I’m pretty sure he is going to bounce back, and as far as the selection strategy was: everyone had 10 players and there was a number to be pulled out and whichever number came out, that was the number for bidding. So when we were looking at spinners, we were short of spinners and we had no spinners left. We had Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla, so we just wanted to safeguard ourselves and we took a lot of decisions which were risking our model as opposed to just going and buying for the sake of buying.

Meha Bhardwaj: Preity, are you going to be involved in just about everything when it comes to IPL. I’m not saying movie are going to take a backseat, but for the moment, before the launch and before the tournament begins, is Preity Zinta’s life about King’s XI for the moment?

Preity Zinta: Absolutely. King’s XI Punjab, is a team of Punjab and there cannot be a chance we don’t mention Punjab. It’s not a country playing another country. It’s a state playing another state. In Bombay, people have already started calling me K11P, as they do it in the film industry. But yes, I’m treating IPL like a film. I’m dedicating three months of my life to it till the tournament gets over and then I will go back to films. I have four films releasing this year. So it is a very exciting year for me in terms of film as well as cricket. Hopefully, we will win the tournament.

Meha Bhardwaj: Are you worried that the timing of these games are going to be in the evenings when people will be flocking to the stadiums instead of watching your films?

Preity Zinta: I’m going to tell all my producers to not release any movie between 19 April and 30 May. It will be suicide.

Meha Bhardwaj: Your very good friend Shah Rukh Khan owns another team Knight Riders. Now when you have conversations with Shah Rukh do you say — Oh you know what? We’re going to beat you hollow because we have Brett Lee. Do you have any of these friendly banters?

Preity Zinta: The only friendly banter we have is Kolkata and Mohali are coming to finals.

Meha Bhardwaj: Ness, any regrets about any players you wanted but could not get — like Dhoni went for a huge sum of six crore?

Ness Wadia: Our focus was not to have too many international players. We focussed on Indians who could play.

Meha Bhardwaj: Did you think during the auction that it was nicer to get these Indian players because at the end of the day people here welcome them in stadiums?

Preity Zinta: We are Indians. I mean, come on, you put me in a stadium and tell me are you going to cheer for Pathan or for Yuvi as opposed to Gilchrist? No offence, they are lovely cricketers. It is like when you go to an ozzie crowd and have Indians play there with them. They will first cheer for their home heroes and then they will cheer for the other guys.

Meha Bhardwaj: But you’ve got international players. Are you are happy with them?

Ness Wadia: We are happy with international players and we also have a lot of young Indian players below the Sreesanths and Pathans and Yuvis of the world. I think we’ve got a good mix.

Meha Bhardwaj: On the parting note, for everybody who is watching this show, what about would you like to say about King’s XI Punjab? What’s the message you want to give to your viewers?

Ness Wadia: I think the first thing we’re going to cricket fans is a great cricket team. We’ve got a lot of entertainment. We’ve got the likes of Brett Lee and Sreesanth, Yuvraj and India’s greatest all-rounder Irfan Pathan. So I think you will see a very Indian team. You’ll also see a lot of youngsters coming in. We’ve got guys like Tanmay Srivastava and Ajitesh Argal. Then there’s a young emerging cricketer Yash Gandhi who’s scored 365 runs. So this is basically a team for the people of India. It is a team which has a lot more Indians than the rest. It is India’s pride.

Preity Zinta: For me, it’s live Punjabi, play Punjabi. So we’re in Punjab and the spirit of Punjab means always having a huge heart and being very hospitable, and being a little crazy and having lots of fun. It’s young, it’s dynamic, it’s fun and we’re going to go and win the cup!

Indian cricket team gets 2 extra days for IPL promotion

2008-04-07T10:18:00.001+05:30

It is great news for BCCI and the IPL. The Indian cricket team now has 2 extra days to promote IPL after India ended the second test match in record time. Who cares if India won or lost. After all, the multi million dollar IPL league is about to start and every one, BCCI, the IPL and the Indian cricketers need to prepare for the mega tournament.

BCCI bent its own rules when it allowed the Indian cricketers promote the IPL. The IPL is not international cricket and according to BCCI ( officially ), international cricket comes first. But still our cricketers ( ICON PLAYERS ) were busy launching apparels, slogans, brand ambassadors for their local teams.

South African players are also playing the IPL but they were busy practicing. And maybe this is why after being under pressure from the Indians in the first test match, the South African came back and crashed the Indians in all departments of the game and ended the match imposing a humiliating innings and 90 runs on India ’s home ground.

Korbo Lorbo and Morbo, well that seems to be one IPL teams slogan but the Indian cricketers are doing the first two for IPL promotions, (performing and fighting) and leaving the third for international cricket ( dying ). We doubt BCCI and the IPL cares, as long as IPL is on track and the test match performance does not affect IPL ticket sales.

SRK caught between IPL & 'Paanchavi Pass'

2008-04-07T10:17:00.000+05:30

MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan, proud owner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) team 'Kolkata Knight Riders', is in a dilemma.

Will he perform on the field at the IPL event, or will he be best placed with his antics in a studio for his new television show Paanchavi Pass ? The dates of both shows clash. Advertisers who have been kept out of the IPL arena are gearing up and cornering time slots on Paanchavi Pass .

IPL's 44-day cricket bonanza flags off on April 18 with 59 T20 matches. Paanchavi Pass (PP) is SRK's new quiz show on Star Plus, which begins on the same date. It is to be telecast 8 pm onwards over the weekend.

While Star Plus has signed on Airtel as the presenting sponsor for PP, Airtel's competitor Vodafone is on board as presenting sponsor for IPL, to be telecast on Sony. This has initiated a battle of sponsorship between the broadcasters as SRK endorses Airtel too.

Despite the lukewarm response to SRK's Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), Khan and Star are gearing up for PP. The show is an adaptation of an international television game show, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader ?

Incidentally, Bulldog Media and Entertainment has licensed the format from the owner, Mark Burnett Productions. Synergy Adlabs is to produce the show in India.

The prize money on PP is Rs 5 crore, while that of IPL is several times more. Media agencies buying air time slots told TOI that PP will be set in a classroom-like ambience with five and 10-year-old kids as part of the audience.

If a contestant is stuck, he can refer to the audience who will act as his classmates. Cut to IPL. In this case, cricket on field will follow only after entertainment antics of fellow Bollywood personalities, and sizzling 'item numbers', both on and off the field.

Easing of IPL's media restrictions on the cards

2008-04-05T22:43:00.001+05:30

The outcry over the stringent and unprecedented conditions set by the Indian Premier League (IPL) in its guidelines for covering the inaugural tournament may prompt a climbdown on certain issues, including perhaps reworking the contentious clauses governing media coverage. Top officials of the Indian Premier League, who are due to meet on Sunday, appear keen to avoid a media boycott - which is a possibility - and are likely to frame a suitable formal response to the criticism.

On Friday, Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, called up Alok Gupta, president of the influential Editors' Guild of India - which earlier in the day had condemned the restrictions - and indicated he didn't want a media boycott. It is also believed that Modi indicated the IPL was working on amendments to the terms and conditions.

The IPL had indicated a possible softening of stand on Thursday when IS Bindra, a member of the governing council, told Cricinfo the league was ready to discuss the issue with all parties involved to reach an amicable solution.

One of the factors behind the IPL's stringent terms is a feeling of discontent in the BCCI - which controls the IPL - over not having the rights to, or control over, photographs taken by the news agencies at earlier matches played in India. That, it is believed, prompted the inclusion of the clause giving the IPL rights to all photographs taken at all matches.

As reported earlier, the contentious clause deals with IPL's right to use all pictures taken at its grounds for free and without restrictions; the commitment by news organisations to upload on the IPL site, within 24 hours, all images taken at the ground; and the restriction of web portals' access to images without prior permission from the IPL.

Bindra explained that the restrictions on web portals' access to images was a fallout of the IPL having sold web portal rights for the event to a company based in North America for US$50 million.

Along with the Editors' Guild of India, the Sports Journalists' Federation of India had also issued a statement expressing "alarm and concern" over the IPL's conditions and asked that the "unfair and unethical restrictions being placed on the media be withdrawn unconditionally".

The reactions from Indian associations came a day after Agence France-Presse (AFP), a respected international news agency, indicated it would not cover the IPL given the conditions laid down at present. "The terms and conditions are too strict and raise questions about press freedom," Barry Parker, AFP's South Asia bureau chief, told Cricinfo. "The present terms and conditions don't allow us to cover the event."

Deccan Challengers-The unstoppables

2008-04-05T21:58:00.001+05:30

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‘Akhtar’s contract with IPL still valid’

2008-04-05T18:34:00.000+05:30

Mumbai: Banned Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar’s contract with the DLF-Indian Premier League (IPL) is still valid and he will be allowed to play if he is cleared by the Pakistan Appellate Tribunal, the IPL Chairman, Lalit Modi, said on Friday.

“His contract is still valid and has not been cancelled. He is still contracted to the IPL and through it to the Kolkata Knight Riders,” Modi told reporters here.

However, as per the rules of the BCCI, any player who had been suspended by any other cricket Board would not be allowed to play in the IPL, he said.

The Pakistan speedster, who was served a five-year ban by the Pakistani Cricket Board (PCB), will not be allowed to play in the first IPL starting on April 18, BCCI officials had said on Thursday.

“We cannot have the situation where a player banned for any reason is harboured by the IPL,” Modi said.

“Currently his contract stands since he is in the appeal process... we hope it will be resolved at the earliest. His contract is not being cancelled presently,” he said. — PTI

IPL targets websites

2008-04-05T18:33:00.001+05:30

The much-acclaimed Indian Premier League (IPL) is in the media line of fire much before it comes into its existence, as the highly lucrative IPL is leaving no stone unturned to make money out of its venture.

The latest controversy to break out is between IPL administrators and various media organisations due to its stringent media polices regarding the coverage of the tournament.

The IPL’s autocratic way to put restriction on the freedom of media by adopting demanding media policies surely leads to media boycott of the much-hyped event

The IPL mainly targets the websites and online-portals of the leading newspapers and news agencies restraining them from carrying exclusive photographs and news of the mega-event, which is nothing new for them, as they have been practicing it for so many years.

The IPL governing body has denied accreditation to websites for the event. It has also restricted web portals’ access to images without prior permission. The IPL authorities mustn’t forget the fact that it is the websites that has extensive global reach and if they prepared to boycott the IPL then it will be a rather any domestic event of any country.

In addition IPL has also asked media organisations to upload all their original photographs on the IPL website within 24 hours, claiming sole copyright over all news photographs clicked by newspapers and agencies during the games.

Reacting on IPL’s stand, the Editors Guild of India and the Sports Journalists Federation of India both wrote critical letters to BCCI chief Sharad Pawar on Friday.

The guild letter that was sent to BCCI and IPL stated, "With deep regret and dismay, we are forced to point out that there are prohibitive conditions in the terms and conditions attached to the form, specifically paras (d) and (e), which deal with conditions of accreditation for print media and photographers. These are unprecedented and unacceptable."

The SJFI has also expressed “alarm and concern over the decision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India promoted Indian Premier League (IPL) to impose stringent restrictions on the media vis-à-vis coverage of the forthcoming IPL Twenty20 tournament. This is with specific reference to the clauses pertaining to photography at the venues."

The Official DLF Indian Premier League Promo video

2008-04-05T13:31:00.000+05:30

Here comes the Motivational Video!!

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IPL KOLKATA KNIGHTRIDERS IN ACTION , STUNTS video

2008-04-05T13:30:00.000+05:30

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IPL KOLKATA KNIGHTRIDER'S DANCING BATSMAN video

2008-04-05T13:26:00.000+05:30

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IPL KOLKATA KNIGHTRIDERS,, BALL EATING VIDEO video

2008-04-05T13:25:00.001+05:30

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Delhi Dare Devils Team IPL League Indian Premier League video

2008-04-05T13:24:00.000+05:30

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Adam Gilchrist Message - Deccan Chargers, IPL Hyderabad Team video

2008-04-05T13:21:00.002+05:30

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The Future of Cricket video

2008-04-05T13:21:00.001+05:30

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Bangalore Royal Challengers - Making of the AD video

2008-04-05T13:20:00.001+05:30

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Kings XI Punjab - IPL Mohali Team video video

2008-04-05T13:18:00.000+05:30

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IPL Kings XI Punjab Music Video video

2008-04-05T13:17:00.000+05:30

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Kings XI Punjab - Team Video video

2008-04-05T13:16:00.000+05:30

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Indian Premier League - Mohali video

2008-04-05T13:15:00.000+05:30

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The Making Of Korbo Lorbo Jitbo Re :Vishal Dadlani Gets Cand video

2008-04-05T13:13:00.000+05:30

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Srks IPLTeam Kolkata Knight Riders :The Music Piece video

2008-04-05T13:12:00.000+05:30

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SRKS IPLTeam Kolkata Knight Riders :Spirit in the Making video

2008-04-05T13:09:00.000+05:30

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SRKS IPLTeam Kolkata Knight Riders The Win video

2008-04-05T13:06:00.000+05:30

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SRK New IPL Video::Kolkata

2008-04-05T13:01:00.001+05:30

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Mumbai Indians take on Delhi Daredevils video

2008-04-05T12:57:00.000+05:30

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Kingfisher sponsors IPL umpires for Rs.1.06 billion

2008-04-05T10:23:00.000+05:30

Mumbai, March 20: Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines will pay the Indian Premier League (IPL) Rs.106 crores (Rs.1.06 billion or $26.17 million) to sponsor the umpires for five years for the Twenty20 tournament beginning next month.

While announcing the deal here Thursday, Lalit Modi, IPL chairman and commissioner, said that the airline would be known as the Umpire Partner for the eight-team tournament.

'Kingfisher Airlines has had a long association with a variety of sports, at both the domestic and international levels, including tennis, Formula 1, polo and now cricket. Their decision bears testimony to the fact that the DLF IPL is here to stay and is set to carve out a distinct niche for itself in the international cricket calendar,' he said in a statement.

Kingfisher chairman and CEO Mallya, who had bought the Bangalore Royal Challengers for $106 million, said he was happy to acquire the sponsorship for the umpires.

'Our five-year association with the IPL is further testimony to our commitment to building the Kingfisher Airlines brand through sports. The DLF Indian Premier League is a highly innovative concept and the Twenty20 format will undoubtedly take cricket's popularity to a new high,' he said.

'Kingfisher Airlines will present the DLF IPL umpires in a completely new and modern style while retaining their critical role in the sport.'

Earlier, broadcaster Sony Max and World Sport Group had bagged IPL's global media and production rights for $1.026 billion.

Soft drink giant Pepsi has paid $12.5 million to be the official beverage partner for five years.

The eight competing IPL teams are Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mohali, Kolkata and Jaipur.

A total of 59 matches will be played over 45 days starting April 18, with each team playing seven home and seven away matches. The top four teams in the league will contest the semi-finals and the winners will vie for the top prize of $3 million in the final June 1 in Mumbai.

'Harsh, but he had it coming'

2008-04-05T09:42:00.000+05:30

"Tell me how many players in world cricket have been banned for five years on discipline charges? Previous incidents of indiscipline should have been dealt with at the time instead of being allowed to accumulate."
Imran Khan thinks the Pakistan board should have been more proactive

"Disappointing is no word to describe Akhtar's ban, I would call it pathetic and request the new political government to sack the Nasim Ashraf-led PCB."
Sarfraz Nawaz, is in favour of the ban ... the other way round

"I don't think the board has done anything wrong by banning Shoaib Akhtar. I am sure the PCB has taken his past record into consideration before banning him ... It's not right on Shoaib's part to approach the media."
Inzamam-ul-Haq, who has captained Shoaib at his best and worst

"Personally, I wouldn't have banned him. I'd have made him earn his international place back by playing domestic cricket."
Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson thinks it's a bit harsh

"The PCB should have supported Akhtar more because there have been characters like Akhtar - there was John McEnroe in tennis and our own Aamer Sohail - who were temperamental yet talented and gave sports a lot to cheer."
Bad boys should get some slack, Rashid Latif thinks

"I can tell you with all honesty that there was no ulterior motive involved in the ban. It was a situation where we had to decide how much longer could we allow Shoaib Akhtar to keep on violating discipline and work ethic."
Muneer Hafeez, the PCB's disciplinary committee chairman, explains the decision

"Shoaib shot himself in the foot and there's nobody else to blame. Something like this was waiting to happen and there's a very clear sequence to Shoaib's self-destruction."
Ramiz Raja saw it coming

"Just like a child, Shoaib too has a very low tolerance level. He should first think before saying or doing stuff. Shoaib needs to be mature and get married too."
Shoaib's friend Meera, a Pakistani actor, puts it down to a lack of TLC

"I feel sorry for Shoaib, but it is also true he has been involved in many disciplinary cases. However, I would like to add here that it is the result of the PCB's leniency towards Shoaib's past blunders. His [latest] offence is not that grave, as several Pakistan Test cricketers in the past have done this type of wrong act repeatedly and got away with it."
Javed Miandad is another who thinks the sentence doesn't match the crime

"I think after me now the board has targeted Shoaib Akhtar. Their next targets are Mohammad Yousuf and Shahid Afridi."
Abdul Razzaq knows what it feels like

"I think the matter has gone too far. This whole issue is damaging for Pakistan cricket so I hope that a compromise is reached."
Younis Khan pleads for the madness to stop

"His USP is his aggression. All these things keep on happening. We should take things in the right spirit.
Shahrukh Khan co-owner of the IPL's Kolkata Knight Riders franchise, which Shoaib is contracted to play for, defends his temperamental star

Flintoff considering future in IPL

2008-04-05T09:36:00.000+05:30

Andrew Flintoff has admitted to being curious about how the Indian Premier League and says it could be an option for him in the future.

For the moment, however, the 30-year-old has only two main targets - returning to action for Lancashire and then England following a fourth operation on his troublesome left ankle.

"I have got no definite thoughts either way about it because I just want to get my game in order and my cricket in order," England all-rounder said.

"At this moment in time it is not really an option but further down the line, who knows.

"Everybody is asking me how I see the IPL going, where it is standing in world cricket, but I don't know.

"We will have to see what happens and how the competition pans out but my sights are firmly set on Lancashire."

Flintoff's county colleague Dominic Cork, meanwhile, has acknowledged that the IPL and the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League [ICL] will give other options to players currently based in Britain.

"Players will have difficult decisions to make, whether they be England players or just ageing players," Cork said

"I am sure that a lot more is going to come out about both leagues and a lot more difficult decisions will have to be made.

"Obviously ICL and IPL is a topic that it is all around county cricket. It is a competition that you can't hide away from - it is happening and it is now."

Preity Zinta hurt at IPL launch

2008-04-05T09:34:00.000+05:30

Actress Preity Zinta, co-owner of the Indian Premier League's Mohali team, suffered a minor injury during its formal launch in Mohali, on the outskirts of Chandigarh.

"I don't know how it happened," Preity said. "But in the melee at the launch (Monday), an elbow came and hit me straight in the eye. I had to go through the event with a black eye wearing dark glasses."

Eyewitnesses said there was a huge rush at the launch, and somebody appeared to have thrown something at Preity. As one of her bodyguards lunged to catch whatever had been thrown, his elbow appeared to have hit Preity in the eye.

After the event, the actress spent the evening nursing her eye with ice packs. "It will swell a bit. I guess it's bound to happen when one is in such situations," she said.

The IPL Mohali team is led by Yuvraj Singh. The tournament starts April 18.

$24,850 for IPL player of the tournament

2008-04-05T08:53:00.000+05:30

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri will choose the ‘Player of the DLF IPL Twenty20 championship’. DLF will present a trophy and cash prize of Rs. 10 lakhs ($24,850) to the winner.

Sunil Gavaskar said the IPL would be hugely beneficial for the entire cricketing fraternity in the long run. “Choosing a Man of the Match or a Man of the Series is always a difficult job, but hopefully with the years of experience between Tiger, Ravi and myself, I am sure that our choice for the Man of the Series will not disappoint the lovers of the game.”

“I feel we will have a major headache on our hands considering the quality of players on view and I can only hope that one star shines brighter than the others to make our task easier,” said Shastri.

IPL Schedule::

2008-04-04T23:49:00.000+05:30

April 2008
Fri 18 Floodlit Match
19:00 local, 13:30 GMT IPL Bangalore v IPL Kolkata
M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Sat 19
09:30 GMT IPL Mohali v IPL Chennai
Venue TBC
Mohali

Sat 19 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Delhi v IPL Jaipur
Venue TBC
Delhi

Sun 20
09:30 GMT IPL Mumbai v IPL Bangalore
Venue TBC
Mumbai

Sun 20 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Kolkata v IPL Hyderabad
Venue TBC
Kolkata

Mon 21 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Jaipur v IPL Mohali
Venue TBC
Jaipur

Tue 22 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Hyderabad v IPL Delhi
Venue TBC
Hyderabad

Wed 23 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Chennai v IPL Mumbai
Venue TBC
Chennai

Thu 24 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Hyderabad v IPL Jaipur
Venue TBC
Hyderabad

Fri 25 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Mohali v IPL Mumbai
Venue TBC
Mohali

Sat 26
09:30 GMT IPL Bangalore v IPL Jaipur
Venue TBC
Bangalore

Sat 26 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Chennai v IPL Kolkata
Venue TBC
Chennai

Sun 27
09:30 GMT IPL Mumbai v IPL Hyderabad
Venue TBC
Mumbai

Sun 27 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Mohali v IPL Delhi
Venue TBC
Mohali

Mon 28 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Bangalore v IPL Chennai
Venue TBC
Bangalore

Tue 29 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Kolkata v IPL Mumbai
Venue TBC
Kolkata

Wed 30 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Delhi v IPL Bangalore
Venue TBC
Delhi

May 2008
Thu 1
09:30 GMT IPL Hyderabad v IPL Mohali
Venue TBC
Hyderabad

Thu 1 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Jaipur v IPL Kolkata
Venue TBC
Jaipur

Fri 2 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Chennai v IPL Delhi
Venue TBC
Chennai

Sat 3
09:30 GMT IPL Hyderabad v IPL Bangalore
Venue TBC
Hyderabad

Sat 3 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Mohali v IPL Kolkata
Venue TBC
Mohali

Sun 4
09:30 GMT IPL Mumbai v IPL Delhi
Venue TBC
Mumbai

Sun 4 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Jaipur v IPL Chennai
Venue TBC
Jaipur

Mon 5 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Bangalore v IPL Mohali
Venue TBC
Bangalore

Tue 6 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Chennai v IPL Hyderabad
Venue TBC
Chennai

Wed 7 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Mumbai v IPL Jaipur
Venue TBC
Mumbai

Thu 8
09:30 GMT IPL Delhi v IPL Chennai
Venue TBC
Delhi

Thu 8 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Kolkata v IPL Bangalore
Venue TBC
Kolkata

Fri 9 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Jaipur v IPL Hyderabad
Venue TBC
Jaipur

Sat 10
09:30 GMT IPL Bangalore v IPL Mumbai
Venue TBC
Bangalore

Sat 10 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Chennai v IPL Mohali
Venue TBC
Chennai

Sun 11
09:30 GMT IPL Hyderabad v IPL Kolkata
Venue TBC
Hyderabad

Sun 11 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Jaipur v IPL Delhi
Venue TBC
Jaipur

Mon 12 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Mohali v IPL Bangalore
Venue TBC
Mohali

Tue 13 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Kolkata v IPL Delhi
Venue TBC
Kolkata

Wed 14
09:30 GMT IPL Mumbai v IPL Chennai
Venue TBC
Mumbai

Wed 14 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Mohali v IPL Jaipur
Venue TBC
Mohali

Thu 15 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Delhi v IPL Hyderabad
Venue TBC
Delhi

Fri 16 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Mumbai v IPL Kolkata
Venue TBC
Mumbai

Sat 17
09:30 GMT IPL Delhi v IPL Mohali
Venue TBC
Delhi

Sat 17 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Jaipur v IPL Bangalore
Venue TBC
Jaipur

Sun 18
09:30 GMT IPL Hyderabad v IPL Mumbai
Venue TBC
Hyderabad

Sun 18 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Kolkata v IPL Chennai
Venue TBC
Kolkata

Mon 19 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Bangalore v IPL Delhi
Venue TBC
Bangalore

Tue 20 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Kolkata v IPL Jaipur
Venue TBC
Kolkata

Wed 21
09:30 GMT IPL Mumbai v IPL Mohali
Venue TBC
Mumbai

Wed 21 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Chennai v IPL Bangalore
Venue TBC
Chennai

Thu 22 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Delhi v IPL Kolkata
Venue TBC
Delhi

Fri 23 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Mohali v IPL Hyderabad
Venue TBC
Mohali

Sat 24
09:30 GMT IPL Delhi v IPL Mumbai
Venue TBC
Delhi

Sat 24 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Chennai v IPL Jaipur
Venue TBC
Chennai

Sun 25
09:30 GMT IPL Bangalore v IPL Hyderabad
Venue TBC
Bangalore

Sun 25 Floodlit Match
14:30 GMT IPL Kolkata v IPL Mohali
Venue TBC
Kolkata

Mon 26 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Jaipur v IPL Mumbai
Venue TBC
Jaipur

Tue 27 Floodlit Match
13:30 GMT IPL Hyderabad v IPL Chennai
Venue TBC
Hyderabad

Fri 30 Floodlit Match 1st Semi-Final - TBC v TBC
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Sat 31 Floodlit Match 2nd Semi-Final - TBC v TBC
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
June 2008

Sun 1 Floodlit Match Final - TBC v TBC
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

IPL Bangalore Team

2008-04-04T20:53:00.000+05:30

Team Name: Bangalore Royal Challengers

Owner’s Name: UB Group

Captain: Rahul Dravid

Coach: Venkatesh Prasad
Home ground: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium

Icon Player: Rahul Dravid

Players:

1.Rahul Dravid (C),India

2.Anil Kumble,India

3.Jacques Kallis,South Africa

4.Zaheer Khan,India

5.Mark Boucher,South Africa

6.Cameron White,Australia

7.Wasim Jaffer,India

8.Dale Steyn,South Africa

9.Nathan Bracken,Australia

10.Shivnarine Chanderpaul,West Indies

11.Misbah-ul-Haq,Pakistan

12.Ross Taylor,New Zealand

13.Praveen Kumar,India

14.Abdur Razzak,Bangladesh

15.Sunil Joshi,India

16.Arun Kumar J.,India

17.Vinay Kumar R.,India

18.Akhil B.,India

19.Devraj Patil,India

20.Bharat Chipli,India

21.Appanna K.P.,India

22.Virat Kohli,India

23.Shreevats Goswami,India

IPL Jaipur Team

2008-04-04T20:51:00.000+05:30

Team:Rajasthan Royals

Owner’s Name: Emerging Media

Captain: Shane Warne
Coach: Shane Warne

Home ground: Sawai Mansingh Stadium

Players:

1.Shane Warne(C), Australia

2.Graeme Smith,South Africa
3.Younis Khan,Pakistan
4.Kamran Akmal,Pakistan

5.Yusuf Pathan,India

6.Mohammad Kaif ,India

7.Munaf Patel ,India

8.Justin Langer,Australia

9.Dimitri Mascarenhas,England

10.Shane Watson,Australia

11.Morne Morkel,South Africa

12.Sohail Tanvir,Pakistan

13.Pankaj Singh,India

14.Anoop Revandkar,India

15.Ravindra Jadeja,India

16.Taruwar Kohli,India

IPL Mumbai Team

2008-04-04T20:50:00.000+05:30

Team: Mumbai Indians

Owner’s Name: Reliance Industries

Captain: Sachin Tendulkar

Home ground: Brabourne Stadium

Icon Player: Sachin Tendulkar

Players:

1.Sachin Tendulkar (C),India
2.Harbhajan Singh,India

3.Sanath Jayasuriya,Sri Lanka

4.Shaun Pollock ,South Africa

5.Robin Uthappa,India

6.Lasith Malinga,Sri Lanka

7.Dilhara Fernando,Sri Lanka

8.Loots Bosman,South Africa

9.Ajinkya Rahane,India

10.Abhishek Nayar,India

11.Yogesh Takawale,India

12.Pinal Shah,India

IPL Delhi team

2008-04-04T20:48:00.000+05:30

Team: Delhi DareDevil

Owner’s Name: GMR Holdings

Coach: Greg Shipperd

Captain: Virender Sehwag

Players:

1. Virender Sehwag (C), India
2. Rajat Bhatia, India
3. AB de Villiers, South Africa
4. Shikhar Dhawan, India
5. Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lanka
6. Gautam Gambhir, India
7. Dinesh Karthik (WK), India
8. Glenn McGrath, Australia
9. Farveez Maharoof, Sri Lanka
10. Yo Mahesh, India
11. Mithun Manhas, India
12. Mohammad Asif, Pakistan
13. Shoaib Malik, Pakistan
14. Mayank Tehlan, India
15. Manoj Tiwary, India
16. Daniel Vettori, New Zealand

IPL Hyderabad Team

2008-04-04T20:47:00.000+05:30

Team Name: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers

Owner’s Name: Deccan Chronicle

Captain: VVS Laxman

Head Coach: Robin Singh

Assistant Head Coach: Kanwaljit Singh

Home ground: Rajiv Gandhi Stadium

Icon Player: VVS Laxman

Team Manager: Vijay Mohan Raj

Players:

1.V. V. S. Laxman (C),India

2.Andrew Symonds,Australia

3.R. P. Singh,India

4.Rohit Sharma,India

5.Adam Gilchrist ,Australia

6.Shahid Afridi,Pakistan

7.Herschelle Gibbs,South Africa

8.Chaminda Vaas,Sri Lanka

9.Scott Styris,New Zealand

10.Nuwan Zoysa ,Sri Lanka
11.Chamara Silva ,Sri Lanka

12.Venugopal Rao,India

13.Arjun Yadav,India

14.Pragyan Ojha,India

15.P Vijay Kumar,India

16..D Ravi Teja,India

17.D Kalyan Krishna,India

18.N Sarveesh Kumar,India

19.Halhadar Das,India

IPL Chennai Team

2008-04-04T20:45:00.000+05:30

Team Name: Chennai Super Kings

Owner’s Name: India Cements

Captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Coach: Kepler Wessels
Home ground: MA Chidambaram Stadium

Players:

1.M.S.Dhoni(C),India

2.Muttiah Muralitharan,Sri Lanka

3.Matthew Hayden ,Australia

4.Jacob Oram ,New Zealand
5.Stephen Fleming,New Zealand

6.Parthiv Patel,India

7.Joginder Sharma,India

8.Albie Morkel,India

9.Suresh Raina,India

10.Makhaya Ntini,South Africa

11.Michael Hussey,Australia

12.Ashwin R,India

13.Anirudha Srikkanth,India

14.Sudeep Tyagi,India

15.Subramaniam Badrinath,India

16.Shadab Jakati,India

17.Napoleon Einstein,India

18.Abhinav Mukund,India

19.Viraj Kadbe,India

20.Lakshmipathy Balaji,India

IPL Kolkata Team

2008-04-04T20:42:00.000+05:30

Team: Kolkata Knightriders

Owner’s Name: Red Chillies

Captain: Sourav Ganguly

Coach: John Buchanan

Home ground: Eden Gardens

Icon Player: Sourav Ganguly

Players:

1.Sourav Ganguly (C),India

2.Shoaib Akhtar ,Pakistan

3.Ricky Ponting ,Australia

4.Brendon McCullum,New Zealand
5.Chris Gayle,West Indies

6.Ajit Agarkar,India

7.David Hussey,Australia

8.Ishant Sharma,India

9.Murali Kartik,India

10.Umar Gul,Pakistan

11.Tatenda Taibu,Zimbabwe

12.Salman Butt,Pakistan

13.Mohammad Hafeez,Pakistan

14.Siddarth Kaul,India

15.Iqbal Abdulla,India

16.Akash Chopra,India

17.Cheteswar Pujara,India

18.Lakshmi Ratan Shukla,India

19.Ranadeb Bose,India

20.Sourashish Lahiri,India

IPL Mohali Team

2008-04-04T20:38:00.000+05:30

Team: Mohali

Owner’s Name: Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta

Captain: Yuvraj Singh

Coach: Tom Moody

Icon Player: Yuvraj Singh

Players:

1.Yuvraj Singh (C),India

2. Mahela Jayawardene,Sri Lanka

3. Kumar Sangakkara,Sri Lanka

4.Brett Lee,Australia

5. Irfan Pathan,India

6.Sreesanth,India

7.Piyush Chawla,India

8.Ramesh Power,India

9.Ramnaresh Sarwan,West Indies

10.Simon Katich,Australia

11.VRV Singh,India

12.Uday Kaul,India

13.Karan Goel,India

14.Kyle Mills,New Zealand

15.James Hopes,Australia

16.Luke Pomersbach,Australia

17.Ajitesh Argal,India

18.Tanmay Srivastava,India

Welcome to Cricket Indian Premier League Blog!

2008-04-04T20:19:00.000+05:30

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War begins from 18th April!