IPL 2: Coming Soon?

With the continuing ‘Yes’ ‘No’ politics from the government, a deadlock still lies over whether the most awaited Cricket tournament of the year would even begin? Lalit Modi, Commissioner IPL, is still confident that the revision of dates will be accepted by all concerned parties and that the tournament will begin on the decided dates. The Tournament still hangs in balance of the coming Lok Sabha elections in India with concerns over security, Home minister, Mr. P Chitambaram has already suggested moving the IPL to later dates in the year.

The anger of the government has increased after it learnt that none of the states were even notified or consulted before the revised dates were submitted. TamilNadu does not want any matches to be hosted, Bangalore wants matches only after May 14th, Ahmedabad, nagpur, Jaipur and Chandigarh have requested black out days, Delhi and Mumbai have asked for additional para military forces. With the busy schedule of all international teams, the doubt about whether the second season of the IPL would ever take place this year still hangs in balance. Lalit Modi on the other hand remains optimistic on this front and hopefully he’s proven right.

Another rejection of the schedule by the government is almost certain to lead to the tournament’s cancellation this year, since there is no other window for the six week event in an overcrowded international cricket calendar. Postponing the tournament from its original April 10 to May 24 window has already been rejected by IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, with the eight franchisees having already gone ahead with their merchandising and ad campaigns.The tournament also cannot go beyond the scheduled date of May 24 because players need sufficient time to prepare for the forthcoming World Twenty20 Championships which commences in Great Britain on June 5. A way out is to drastically shorten the event by holding as many as three matches in a day and move some of the matches to smaller venues so that there is a relatively less dependence on the security forces.

IPL has suddenly turned into the Indian ‘ Problem’ League, with more problems coming IPL’s way, Sony Entertain-ment Television has dragged the Indian Premier League to the Bombay high court over the termination of its contract to broadcast the 2009 edition. Even I’m not sure about what the actual dispute is, It’s something to do with the production rights, see News for more.

What happens if the tournament stands ‘Cancelled’?
Sony loses about Rs. 250 Crores as it has already stated production, and marketing for the tournament. Ad bookings for the slots during the matches have also been booked. In case the tournament is called off, Sony will have to return the sponsor’s money and stands for a big loss. The franchisees lose well over their worth for the team, IPL governing body loses a few hundred crores for not hosting the tournament, more so the reputation of the board. A net loss of what is expected to be over Rs. 800 Crores.

They are all going to be out of Jobs

In Other News: South Africa welcomed the decision of the ICC to move this year’s Champions Trophy to SA. The ICC board approved the recommendation of its Chief Executives’ Committee to shift the event from Sri Lanka, which had been selected the host after strife-torn Pakistan was stripped of the rights, due to security concerns. This decision came after ICC learnt that there were problems relating to the weather in SriLanka during the time Champions Trophy will be played. Wanderers in Johannesburg and Centurion have been identified as the preferred venues for the event, scheduled from September 24 to October 5.

World twenty20 Championship begins on June 6th 2009 in england which will be soon followed by chmpions trophy 2009 in September. Expect More entertainement if the IPL starts as per schedule. It’s going to be a season full of entertaining world cricket. Enjoy and keep coming back for more.

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Kunal

PS: This is posted on my personal blog earlier. IPL 2: Coming Soon?

I'm making a switch to Blogger for all my sports blogs which i will update regularly. wef April 1 09, All sports posts be exclusive to this blog alone.

PS: Don’t forget this man.. He’s has only one source of Income.. IPL.. S Sreesanth.. Sobbing Sreesanth ( :’(