IPL: Bravo joins Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians

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

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'

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

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

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

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

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