IPL 2: Team Preview : Mumbai Indians

it would have been music to the ears of JP Duminy when he heard that he was bought for a whooping $950,000 by the Mukesh Ambani owned Mumbai Indian side for the second season of the IPL. Other steals were Bangladesh captain Mohammed Ashraful who was bought for $75,000, Kiwi fast bowler Kyle Mills . Zaheer Khan will be a vital addition to the side given his current form with the ball. In other swaps, Mumbai sold Ashish Nehra to Delhi Daredevils and bought Shikhar Dhwan who could well compensate for Utthapa's departure to the Bangalore Royal Challengers side.




Dwayne Bravo, has been given a permanent deal having played for Mumbai Indians last year. Two other key signings also came before the auction. They are limited-over specialists from the English county circuit, all rounders Graham Napier and Ryan McLaren - a Kolpak player South Africa wanted to get back after their ODI losses in England last year.

The team has three Sri Lankans in Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando, all of whom are available for the entire tournament. Mumbai were unlucky last time to miss Sachin Tendulkar, who was injured, and Harbhajan Singh - banned for his infamous slap - for the bulk of the tournament. If they manage to get it right, they would perhaps be able to do justice to Mumbai's tag of domestic giants.


Probable XI: 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 & 5 Dwayne Bravo/ Ryan McLaren/ JP Duminy/ Graham Napier, 6 Abhishek Nayar, 7 Yogesh Takawale (wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Lasith Malinga/ Dilhara Fernando/ Kyle Mills.





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IPL 2: Team Preview : Delhi Daredevils

Delhi may now no longer have the services of their Pakistani duo in the name of Shaoib Malik and Mohammed Asif, but the team looks even more dangerous after their imports in the likes of Australian opening batsman David Warner and the England Duo of Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood.Warners sensation T20 debut for Australia against South Africa proved his worth for the Delhi daredevils side. Having played these games in South Africa might help his cause. Delhi also have all rounder Allan McDonald, who too debuted for Australia in the recent T20 matches, and left-arm fast bowler Dirk Nannes, an out-and-out Twenty20 specialist.



Delhi were in great form last year and made it to as far as the semi finals when they lost to Chennai Super Kings in a one-off match. Gambhir and Sehwag put up partnerships that no teams had answer to. There was no one way to get them out, The only way the duo lost their wickets were to run outs most of the time. When the opponents eventually succeeded in picking them, In walked Shikhar Dhwan who played even better than the duo. sadly, Shikhar Dhawan will play for the Mumbai Indians side this year, leaving an open spot for Develliers to walk in and continue his form with the bat. Glenn McGrath continued to live up to the reputation, while Daniel Vettori who said that he was happy to be in Sehwag's side as he will not have to bowl to him will bring in his experience.


Dilshan and Collingwood could prove useful with both bat and ball, as Amit Mishra spinned a web around the batsman last year. Ashish Nehra, Yo Mahesh and Pradeep Sangwan will be battling for the second and third seamers spot with the foreign players. With most of their foreign players free for tournament, the only headache for Delhi could be getting their XI right.

Probable XI: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Tillakaratne Dilshan/ Owais Shah, 4 Manoj Tiwary/ David Warner, 5 AB de Villiers/ Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Rajat Bhatia/ Paul Collingwood, 7 Daniel Vettori 8 Amit Mishra/ Ashish Nehra, 9 Farveez Maharoof/ Yo Mahesh, 10 Dirk Nannes/ Pradeep Sangwan, 11 Glenn McGrath.





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IPL 2: Shilpa Shetty : New Owner.. New Cheerleader.. New Begining

Shilpa Shetty, The hot young bollywood actress who now is a 12 percent stake holder in Rajasthan Royals, the champions of the inagural season of the IPL, will be hoping for a repeat performace form the side as the first batch of 9 players arrived in Johanesburg. This bacth includes Mohammed Kaif, Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja who expressed that sentiment before departing for South Africa for the second edition of the IPL. Both Kaif and Yusuf agreed that the pressure would obviously be there because of their fairy-tale like victory in the inaugural season last year.



Kaif said that they will have to treat the tournament as a new beginning to nullify all the pressure that is upon them as defending champions. "It will be a fresh start because last year we played in India, the conditions suited our bowlers and the batsmen and fielders supported them well," Kaif said. "But this is a new start." Adapting to foreign conditions will be another key factor to the team and kaif agreed as he indicated that the bounce and pace of wickets in South Africa are not the same as they are in India.

South Africa has always hosted good batting tracks which also has good pace and bounce for the bowlers which helps keep the match alive. SA had successfully hosted the inaugural season of the T20 world championships 2 years back and none of the matches could be called low scoring. The only thing that the teams will be missing thsi time around is the local support, but what we see from watching the current matches between SA and Australia, the crowd support is very high and there are one or two Indian flags amongst the crowd, always. If not for the players, the spectators may flood the stadiums to catch Shah Rukh Khan, Priety Zinta, Shilpa Shetty in action :P

The presence of Smith in the team will help the team in performance. Smith brings in experience playing on South African conditions and the form that he carries playing host to the Australian team now. He will also be assisting Shane Warne as the vice captain of the team and the addition of Tyron Henderson will give the additional boost. However the team will miss the services of Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Tanvir who played a major part in the win last year both with the bat and the ball. The Pakistan Player contracts were suspended after the refusal of the Pakistan cricket board to participate in the IPL following the attack in Mumbai.

"We are going to miss some key players: Tanvir did really well last season and his four overs were something special every game," Kaif said. "Kamran Akmal did his job well whenever given the chance, both behind the stumps and with the bat. We have some new players this season so I'm looking forward to meeting the entire squad."


Yusuf said Tanvir was just one of the building blocks of Rajasthan's success and this year the team would need to move ahead in his absence. "Having won the championship will help us," Kaif said. "That and the youngsters having done well last season will also help. That was the secret to our success. In this format the opposition will look for the new players they don't know about and that helped last year for us." Jadeja, who hit headlines with his power cameos last year, said the responsibility is now on players like him to remain consistent. "The key player will be that one who will start well, remain consistent and then perform well in the main games as the tournament progresses."

Addition of Shipla Shetty will add to the glamor quotient and the players will want to perform really well to receive hugs and kisses from their owner, specially after they saw Priety Zinta throw a few at her players in the last season :P Jokes apart, There will be battles fought both on and off the field as to which team has the best looking owner this season :P





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IPL 2: Team Preview :Chennai Super Kings

A team built around Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings now have a player by the name of Andrew Flintoff taking higher salary than the captain himself. Team Chennai Super Kings lost their only match of the tournament to end runners up in the inaugural season of the tournament. Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has already proven to be the best captain around the world, will be aiming for one better performance from the players to have his hands around the IPL trophy this year.



Andrew Flintoff is the second highest paid cricketer next to his fellow countrymen Pietersen, He will however be losing out on his full amount as he will be missing the last part of the tournament as the England team plays host to West indies for a return series. Mathew hayden having retired completely from International cricket has made Chennai his second home and will be available for the Full length of the tournament.

Hard Hitting all rounder Albie Morkel who is already proving to be the next Lance Klusner of South Africa if lives up to the reputation will leave some captains sobbing. Micheal Hussey has announced his willingness to go back home after the series with Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, leaving CSK a batsman less.Adding to team's firepower is NewZealand Monster Jacob Oram who is yet to fire this season. Muralitharan will lead the bowling attack, the man has already earned a reputation of a good T20 bowler. Flintoff bolsters the bowling while Sri Lankan left-armer Thilan Thushara could be the dark horse among the foreign recruits.

Chennai's third signing at the auction was Tasmanian batsman George Bailey, but he is unlikely to feature given the team has consistent performers in Suresh Raina and S Badrinath. Suresh Raina seems to be in blistering form and Badrinath has already scored a few hundreds in the domestic tournament.


Chennai Probable XI: 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Michael Hussey/ S Vidyut, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 5 S Badrinath 6 Albie Morkel, 7 Andrew Flintoff/ Jacob Oram/ Joginder Sharma, 8 Manpreet Gony, 9 L Balaji 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Makhaya Ntini/ P Amarnath.

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IPL 2: Team Preview : Rajasthan Royals

The inaugural season's champins Rajasthan Royals managed to work out a winning formulas under the guidance of shane Warne, and would expect to do the same this year too. The team may not have the big names in the squad but they proved that playing as a team and celebrating other players success is the winning formula. Fined for not spending enough money on the side, Emerging Media, team owners are hopeful of a repeat performance with new recruits in the likes of Shaun Tait and Tyron Henderson.


Their Indian players were not the best of the lot, but Warne turned them into a formidable unit, and found two highly successful foreign recruits in Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson. Tanvir is unavailable and Watson doubtful due to Australia's schedule and fitness worries, but Rajasthan have found adequate replacements at the auction. Shaun Tait the tall fast bowler with slinging action from Australia is tailor made for Twenty20, and Tyron Henderson, one of the surprise picks at US$650,000, has proved his worth with skills in batting and bowling playing for MiddleSex. Yet to make international debut, Tyron will make his first international appearance courtesy Rajasthan Royals.

It will be a tall order to match Watson's heroics from last season, but Henderson is an impact player in this format. The team will also be boosted by the availability of Morne Morkel and Justin Langer. Both had to miss the inaugural edition due to commitments to the specific counties..Dimitri Mascarenhaus will only make Rajasthan a stronger side. Yusuf Pathan made his way into the national side courtesy his power hitting and match winning performances. Mohammed kaif, Munaf patel and the likes of Ravindra Jadeja will have to play out of their skins to impress the national selectors. The big doubt however lies over the availability of Graeme smith who is expected to have a surgery post the current South Africa - Australia series. One other important person missing in the team is Kamran Akmal.

Rajasthan Royals play their first match of this season on April 18th against the Bangalore Royal Challengers. for Full match schedules go here: IPL 2 Schedule

Both Kamran Akmal and Sohail tanvir's contract has been suspended, which means they cannot be picked by any other team for a contract period of 2 years. Both players are serving their second year of the contract. If they were terminated, they would have been available for transfer to other teams. Currently all contracts with the Pakistani players stand suspended immaterial of the team they belong to.


The Rajasthan Royal Squad:
Graeme Smith, Niraj Patel, Justin Langer, Swapnil Asnodkar, Mohammad Kaif, Shane Watson, Tyron Henderson, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Mahesh Rawat (wk), Shane Warne, Shaun Tait, Morne Morkel, Siddharth Trivedi, Munaf Patel.

Playing XI that i assume will be used for the matches:
1 Graeme Smith/ Niraj Patel/ Justin Langer, 2 Swapnil Asnodkar, 3 Mohammad Kaif, 4 Shane Watson/ Tyron Henderson/ Dimitri Mascarenhas, 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Mahesh Rawat (wk),8 Shane Warne, 9 Shaun Tait/ Morne Morkel, 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel.

Do Join me later for more previews and Team news following the IPl Season 2 starting in South Africa on April 18 2009.

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IPL 2: Hussey backs out of the IPL

Many Australian players have decided to withdraw from this year's IPL, one who has lately joined the list is Micheal Hussey. He will not participate this year in an effort to regain lost form before the Ashes. Hussey is one of only two Australians, along with Brad Haddin, to have played in all 12 Tests and 10 one-day internationals since last year's tour of India, and was due to join the Chennai Super Kings after the limited-overs series against Pakistan next month. He has now decided to take a breather spending time with family in perth.


Hussey has been instrumental in a number of victories for Australia, and the Chennai Super Kings. In the IPL's inaugural season, Hussey posted the tournament's third highest score (116 not out) and the fourth highest batting average (84.00) in his four-game stint for the Super Kings. But he has struggled for form of late, averaging just 23.00 in eight Tests since the start of the Australian summer.

Hussey believes that his contribution with the bat in the Ashes will be more important than him playing in the IPL. Hussey will lose out on over 5 million dollars having made this decision and he doesn't regret the decision. He believes in practicing harder and peaking in form will be of top priority before the ashes. Hussey could have traveled to South Africa for the last fortnight of the IPL, but will instead follow the lead of his national captain, Ricky Ponting, in standing down from the tournament. Mitchell Johnson and Michael Clarke did not nominate for the 2009 IPL auction, citing their desire to focus on international cricket.

In addition to the IPL, he is also believed to be considering standing down from Australia's six matches against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates as he seeks to rejuvenate both body and mind. He will play the one-day series in South Africa, which begins in Durban on Tonight.


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IPL 2: Tournament kicks off April 18 in Cape Town, South Africa

Finally, The schedule of the IPL Season 2 is out and for everyone to see. All eight IPL franchises will play at least half their matches in Durban, Cape Town and Centurion, where they hope to have significant crowd support from the sizeable Indian-origin population, according to the official tournament schedule that was released on Friday night. The opening double-header in Cape Town on April 18 - Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals v Bangalore Royal Challengers - will feature at least nine South African players, including Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, in a calculated attempt to spark local interest in what is essentially an Indian domestic event.



According to the schedule, Cape Town hosts a chunk of the matches in the beginning of the tournament till April 26 when the action shifts to the Supersport Park and other venues. The matches in Durban, the main venue, run through the whole tournament from April 21 to May 20. The final is being held on May 24 in Johannesburg, which also hosts one of the semi-finals the day before

Kingsmead in Durban, which has a sizeable Indian-origin population, was allocated 16 matches, the highest among the eight venues, while Supersport Park in Centurion will host 12 games. The Wanderers and Newlands will stage eight matches each, while St George's Park in Port Elizabeth and Buffalo Park in East London were given seven and three matches respectively. Two matches each were handed to the Outsurance Oval in Bloemfontein and three to the De Beers Oval in Kimberley.

Schedule, Courtesy CricInfo:







Kings XI Punjab play 10 of their 14 matches, the maximum among the eight franchises, at the three venues in demand, followed by Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Bangalore Royal Challengers and Chennai Super Kings (9), Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians (8), and Delhi Daredevils (7).

The matches will be held at 12.30 pm and 4.30 pm local time (4.00pm and 8.00pm IST; 10.30am and 2.30pm GMT ).

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Australia in South Africa: 2nd T20I Review : South Africa power to another T20 win

29 March 2009: Young, Dynamic and Determined SouthAfrican side continued to domiante teh shorter format after theyThe South Africans continue to dominate the limited-overs format after they beat the Autralian side for yet another T20I victory.. Having usurped Australia for top place in the 50-over rankings last year, South Africa now head to the World Twenty20 brimming with confidence after a second consecutive 20-over victory over Ricky Ponting's men, this time by 17 runs.



SouthAfrica were put into bat after Autralia won the toss and elected to field. As expected Gibbs was off in full speed as he smacked 20 off the initial 22 runs that SA scored. He played one too many shots to get himself out bowled to a slower delivery of Bracken. Bracken was flown in for the T20 and the five match one day series against SA strating April 3,2009. DeVellliers continued to show poor form in the format when he was out for 0 caught by White at Short Extra cover off the bowling of the debutant Laughlin. Peterson opened the innings with Gibbs and took the attack to the Australian bowlers as soon as Gibbs was dismissed. He scored 34 off 27 balls before he was out bowled by Hopes, but not before he got over 15 runs of his over. Duminy scored a very cautious 23 off 28 balls before he was out bowled by Harwood playing his 2nd international match for Australia.

Edges off the bat carried over the boundaries for six. RE Van der Merwe, a mighty South African hit 48 off 28, Played some convincing shots and some not so convincing shots.He played some blind shots in his inning of 48 off 30 balls before he lost his wicket to Harwood caught behind by Haddin. He at one point smashed Hoped over the Point Boundary for six trying to hoik that over Midwicket. Morkel scored 14 off 10 and Boucher scored 9 off 8 as he samashed the last ball off the inning for six over midwicket to finish the inning at 156 for 5 in 20 overs.

ScoreCard Courtesy: CRICINFO

The Australians seldom appeared comfortable in pursuit of South Africa's 156 for 5 on a pitch that troubled batsmen from both sides of the Indian Ocean. Michael Clarke (27 runs from 33 balls) struggled to combat South Africa's disciplined lines, while Ricky Ponting was dismissed for a solitary run for the second time in three days; this time to a well-angled delivery from debutant paceman Yusuf Abdulla. Hardly an ideal start. But the fatal sequence for Australia was saved for the eleventh over, delivered by the ever-effective Johan Botha, who must surely rank among the world's finest Twenty20 bowlers at present. Clarke was bowled attempting to sweep the first ball of the South African captain's second over, and Callum Ferguson - following a dreadful mix-up with David Hussey - was run out the next delivery, in a carbon copy of Michael Hussey's dismissal on Friday.

Thereafter, the tourists were never in the hunt. Roelef van der Merwe, who previously blasted 48 from 30 deliveries to provide impetus to the South African innings, claimed the vital wicket of Hussey to end the Australian charge. And when Johann Louw removed James Hopes and Nathan Bracken in the final over of the innings, the Australians found themselves marooned at 139 for 8 and facing a comprehensive tactical and selection overhaul ahead of the World Twenty20 in June.





SA will like to carry the same form and momentum into the five match one day series starting on April 3,2009. Graeme smith has been named in the squad and looked a fit man as he cheered his team from the dug-out during the T20 matches. SA will be looking to regain their 1st spot from the Australians before they head to England for the world T20.

Do Join me later for more action.

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IPL 2: Pietersen and Flintoff to lose millions by IPL's delayed start

Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff are set to lose over a million dollars after the IPl was announced to start week later. Both players are now busy playin against the WestIndes with the series tied at 1-1. Andrew flintoff is said to return in the next match starting tomorrow. He was earlier sidelined on the bench following a back strain. Kevin Pietersen was sold to Royal Challengers in bidding carried out to add new players to the already available pool of international players. Pietersen was bought for about 8 million dollars roughly about Rs.7.25 Crores ranked as the costliest player of the tournament. Flintoff cam running second when he was sold for just a million rupees less to the Chennai Super Kings.




Rule changes came about for the second season of the IPL to make things more interesting. Each franchise is now allowed to have 10 international players as against 8 in the last season. lalit Modi announced this considering the fact that most Pakistani players refused to play in the IPL which led to a setback to teams like Rajasthan Royals and the Kolkatta Knight Riders who banked on these players. This rule change was of course announced well before the bidding process.

Amonsgst the other popular players selected are Tyron Henderson and Mashrafee Mortaza who went to the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkatta Knight Riders respectively. More drama was seen when Priety Zinta, owner Kings Punjab XI and Juhi Chawla, associate owner for the Kolkatta Knight Riders went about the proceedings raising stakes in million dollars for Mashrafe Mortaza. he was finally sold to the KKR for a whooping Rs.2.5 Crores. Hopefully Mortaza will provide as much entertainment during the matches as he provided during the bidding.

What makes IPL an interesting affair is the kind of rules it has. Player Transfers is a onfusing yet interesting rule where in a Team management can either suspend or terminate the contract with the player for the next season. A player suspended by a team continues to belong to the team until his three years with the team are complete as per the contract. A player if terminated from the team is put up as a potential player to be bought or transferred to another team at a certan cost. No player transfers have been seen so far, it will be interesting to know who gets transferred at what price:) For now IPL2 is set to start on April 18th in South Africa and hopefully it will provide the same entertainment as the first season.

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IPL 2: Telecast Rights sold for Rs.8200 Cr

Sony has won the telecast rights courtesy,Multi Screen Media and World Sport Group, who have signed a deal for 9 years upto 2017 making them the exclusive and official broadcasters of the IPL. The nine-year deal, is worth Rs 8,200 crore which is much higher than what was signed earler between the two parties. The new agreement, which is more than double the earlier deal signed last year for 10 years with the same two parties, gives Multi Screen Media the exclusive audio visual rights (in India) to all the 59 matches of the second edition of the IPL. The decision came after the Bombay High Court rejected a plea filed by Sony TV which had challenged the BCCI's Decision to terminate the five year deal.



Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, was "absolutely delighted" with the new deal. "We have what we believe to be the best deal for the DLF Indian Premier League and Indian cricket fans alike," Modi said. "I am certain that Multi Screen Media will pull out all the stops in ensuring that the best technology is utilized to deliver excellent content that is creative, innovative and enriching for the cricket fans in India and indeed across the globe." This comes courtesy statements made to the media and CricInfo.

With the tournament moving away from India, there is likely to be a significant international audience now. All matches will be telecast at 4 pm IST and at 8 pm IST in the evening to coincide with prime time for television audiences in India from which a lot of revenue is sid to be generated given that more audiences will be watching the television the same time. We as spectators can only hope for more entertainment in the form of cricket than advertisements which are sure to be on the TV screens every single minute. The IPL governing body has to force the channel not to place annoying ad's that disturb the audiences. There have sometimes been 5 ball overs in season one which BCCI should not overlook. It's now upto Sony to decide on the quality of content they want to provide to make sure it's a happy and a memorable experience to the audience.

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PS: I hate ad's that come up after every boundary or six with annoying sounds that dominate the commentary. Ad's that shrink the screen to 3/4th are also a big no-no to the audience. Get Mandira Bedi back, I miss her :P
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IPL2: Saurav Ganguly - Part Time Captain - Kolkatta Knight Riders

Earlier in his carrer, Sourav had been sidelined by ex Indian coach, Greg Chappell which led to a contraversy that still itches painfully in Saurav's mind. Ganguly made a tremendous comeback after being left out of the Indian side for over 12 months. Both Greg chappel and Sourav moved on and soon the contraversy faded into the past as Greg Chappel was removed as the Indian Coach. If that was not enough, Another Australian now in the form of John Buchanan has decided to sideline Ganguly of the responsibilities of a captian. Ganguly is the base player for the Kolkatta Knight Riders and by default was given the captincy role in Season one.




In a press conference by Kolkatta Knight Riders, Coach John Buchanan annouced to the media that come season 2 the captain's responsibilities will be shared between his other team mates . Some of the populist choices are Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum who will also be the decision makers on the field. He said there could be four or five captains through the tournament. Buchanan called this a formula that will help the side perform better this season. Buchanan also clarified that this as not because of any personal issue with Ganguly but in aid of the teams future.

A grim-looking Ganguly, sitting beside Buchanan at the press conference, refused to elaborate on the decision and simply said the concept was new and needed to be assessed as it went on. Asked if he was upset by it, Ganguly did not answer directly and Buchanan interjected: "Of course he will be upset. He is the Prince of Kolkata." Ganguly laughed and put his hands up and said "I am not upset". Pherhaps speaking more with his body language than words. A look of disappointment and disgrace was seen through out the press conference in every action of Saurav Ganguly.

Buchanan was at pains to explain that the multiple-captains theory was not prompted by a lack of confidence in Ganguly's leadership skills. "In fact it could actually be of benefit to someone like him because it could free him up for his batting, when he just needs to his batting or for his fielding when he just needs to do his fielding or when he needs to just do his bowling without the burden of the twenty-over format on his shoulders. At the same stage we might be asking him to make some key decisions for us. It has nothing to do with Sourav Ganguly whatsoever. It has everything to do with how I perceive the 20-over game and what the demands are running that game should be." Ganguly remained mum to making any comments on what Buchanan had to say not wanting to spark any controversy.

Ganguly said the plan was Buchanan's. "He is the coach of the team and he has got the right to make decisions. We'll see as it goes along. At the end of the day we all have to deliver." Off the record Ganguly to various Indian News Channels has said that he was disappointed and by not have one captain through out will only lead to de-motivating the players. It's a team's decision and we'll see how it goes said Ganguly. He felt disappointed with the way he learnt everything only from the media instead what should have been communication from the management.

Buchanan also informed the media that the concept was new and would not be well accepted by the Indian people or people across the world but if it works, we would have a positive change in approach to the game. "This is more like how Ric Charles worth runs the Australian women's hockey team. Everyone takes a leadership role." He added.

Personally, What he says might work. The T20 game is so fast that decisions have to be taken quickly, A late decision might cost the game. By having seperate batting, Fielding and Bowling captains the game will be a little more organized and plans will start working as they should. This will however work only when all captains work together without conflicting or contradicting others decision. Who do the local players look up to? A Chris Gayle or a Brendon mcCullum who will be only available for a short period given their commitments with the National side? Who do they go and discuss their problems with? A Ricky Ponting, with a communication gap? The only person who they can look up to is Saurav Ganguly. He may not be the fittest on the field but he is a inspiring captain, something that a team should always get. By making divisions of roles and responsibilities all Buchanan is going to get is a split team.

People of Kolkatta are already feeling disappointed on Ganguly's removal. Some even going on to say that they will from now on will never watch any Shah Rukh Khan (Team Owner and a bollywood star) movies. Buchanan will have to face criticisms if his formula fails. He is probably the next one to get the Indian flavor of hatred hitting the streets. He should be happy that this year the tournament is in SouthAfrica and not Kolkatta otherwise he would have been disappointed seeing a a hundred thousand people holding banners against him.

With Saurav Ganguly removed as a part-time captain, Shane Warne leading the Rajasthan Royals, Pietersen chosen over Dravid and Gilchrist over Laxman it's now safe to call this years IPL as the International Premier Leaugue.

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Kunal

PS: I won't be surprised to see 'Toss' specialist walk out for Kolkatta Knight Riders during the toss. Ganguly has been confirmed captain for the first 3 matches of KKR.
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IPL2: Player Reactions - IPL2 Moves to South Africa

Ex captain of South Africa, Shaun Pollock is a very happy man after hearing the news about SA being confirmed as the host for the second edition of the IPL. Shaun Pollock plays for Mumbai Indians team and most of his team members are already preparing for the tournament in South Africa.

Sachin Tendulkar, captain of the Mumbai Indian team feels that the it will not be the same as playing in India. "It is disappointing that the IPL has been moved out of India," he said. "We will certainly miss playing in front of our supporters. It won't be the same. It was a good concept to play home and away matches. This is something that the teams will miss this time around. Wherever we play, we hope to have the same fervour that we had had last season." said Sachin.

Steyn and Smith of South Africa who are currently busy playing host to the South Africans are happy to learn that the IPL governing body decided to hand them an opportunity. They promised good cricket and a bigger support from the crowds. More player reactions inside..


Yuvraj Singh, the Kings XI Punjab captain, also said that this season was going to be different from last year. He also hoped that the Indian players would be allowed to take their families to the IPL because they would have just returned from a long tour of New Zealand. "It is sad that the IPL won't be held in India. But we have to go ahead with it as it is the decision of the board," Yuvraj said. "As we would be returning home from New Zealand after a long tour, we hope we are allowed to take our families along.



Mutaih Muralitharan is happy that the matches are still on as he recovers from the attack on the team bus during their tour to Pakistan. The SriLankan players are int he recharge mode as they prepare getting back to the nets as they get ready to participate in the IPL. "I'm glad that the matches are still being played even when there were number of problems in front of the IPL working committee", Cricket had taken a back seat after the terrorist attacks on the SriLankan player in Pakistan. " We have to move on and Cricket should never stop" added Murali.

Jayawardene and Sangakaara along with other Srilankan players have confirmed their availability. Amongst other News, Lalit Modi confirmed that the Pakistani players will not be participating in the tournament following their board's disapproval of the IPL. Players who played in the ICl, a rebel league to the IPL have also been taken back into the national side and have been named in the squad for a one-day seris against Australia in Abudhabi this year.

The Indian Players should be happy with the announcement of delay in the start which allows them to have a breather in already busy schedule ahead of them. Many other young cricketers who will be a part of the IPL will use this as a opportunity to play and perform in a foreign country, A chance that they would have only gotten playing for the National side. The shifting of venue to outside of India could prove as a blessing in disguise for most of these youngsters and the BCCI as this gives them opportunity to enhance their local talent.

So hows does a fan base build when city based teams from India play in South Africa? The only hope for BCCI and the IPL will be that South African Spectators turn up to see a Greame Smith play for the the Rajasthan Royals and Shaun Pollock celebrate a wicket with Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians. It will be a dilemma for most of these spectators too, hopes BCCI. Everybody loves cricket, be it in India or South Africa, Cricket emerges winner.


The players will be missing out on the local support, but were also excited about the fact of feeling different on a different soil playing amongst a neutral crowd. The organisers of the IPL were forced to shift the tournament out of India after the government said it could not guarantee adequate security for the matches because the tournament would clash with general elections in the country in April-May. The decision to shift was taken after the IPL schedule was reworked several times and finally it was confirmed to be hosted in Sauth Africa a week later starting April 18th as against what was decided as April 10th.


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IPL 2: England Vs South Africa?

Indian Premier League is now more of a battle between England and SouthAfrica, not on the cricket field but off it. Four Indian Officials from the BCCI including Mr. Lalit Modi are already in SouthAfrica talking to the officials at ECB(England Cricket Board) and CSA (Cricket South Africa) for hosting the event in their respective countries.
As I write this post there are plans being sketched out by these officials to ensure that the matches are on schedule and live up to the expectations of the fans. Earlier, in a press conference hosted by BCCI (in India), Mr. Lalit Modi confirmed moving the IPL season 2 to either England or South Africa after 40 re-worked schedules were rejected by the Indian Home Ministry over Lok sabha elections commencing shortly.
The tournament will begin on April 10 and conclude on May 24, as scheduled earlier. Sources told TOI England was the first choice. With England Cricket Board CEO Giles Clarke saying ECB was willing to host IPL, ‘‘it’s 99.99% England,’’ a top BCCI official said. Courtesy : IPL-T20 (Official Website)
Apart from ensuring that Indian fans would still be able to watch the event on prime time TV, England would also offer the advantage of the sizable Indian population settled in England providing a ready made audience at the stadiums. Besides, it would provide perfect practice for the T20 World Cup, The Indian camp has already suggested hosting the IPL matches in London allowing the team to practice on these grounds and will getting used the conditions. India will be defending their world title with 11 other teams in the T20 world cup scheduled to be held in England starting June 6 2009.
Both venues have their plus and minus points, but England appears to be emerging as the country of choice even though IPL commissioner Lalit Modi is reportedly inclined more towards South Africa, whose cricket board chief Gerald Majola he shares a close rapport with.
For England
- Large Indian Population settled in England will fill up venues.
- No problem in getting matches to start at Indian prime time (4pm & 8pm IST)
- Perfect practice for T20 World Cup (starting June 6 in England, 2 weeks after IPL)
- Venues within driving distances, will cut costs for organizers and suit fans
- Cheap and good air connectivity from India
Against England
- Higher hotel costs
- ECB could face opposition from Sky TV as IPL will clash with England-WI series, for which Sky has exclusive telecast rights.
-Cold Weather conditions. Most Cricket matches in England are hosted in the summer which is generally called as the ‘English Summer’, The weather in England in unpredictable during the winter.
For South Africa
- Venues and hotels will cost less
- Warmer weather will suit more players
- Timings not a problem
Against South Africa
- Travel from India and between venues costly and tiring
- Filling up stadiums could be difficult. BCCI would also keep in mind that a larger Indian turnout was seen during the last years T20 World cup in SA, venues like Durban, Johannesburg have already registered record number of spectators during Indian matches.
The Franchisees
The franchises will now need to gobble up more money, about 20-25 % more for expenses but the franchisees hope of making more money out of it this time given that there will be a larger Indian Audience glued to their television sets across the country. The Franchisees each earned about rs. 27 Crore from the television right alone in the last season which is expected to double with the tournament moving out of India.
Given that the T20 World cup is just round the corner in England, The chips seem to be going towards England. A News paper Story also indicates the Tournament being Hosted in SA as r. Lalit Modi opted to fly to SA before England. Lalit Modi also shares a good raport with CSA’s CEO. Reports on Monday night suggested that Cricket South Africa was willing to walk the extra mile to make the event a success and had also assured the BCCI of government support to make that happen. “We still feel that South Africa is a better bet for the IPL when it comes to weather, TV timings and logistics,” a South African official said. Hopefully we will hear an official announcemnet soon.
IPL Season 2 promises to be a better and a bigger affair that what faired up the last time. With more international players added to the already full bag of experienced international and national players expect a tournament full of excitement and entertainment.
Join me for full coverage of the IPL 2 story soon.
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PS: This post is a part of my personal blog @ IPL2: England vs SouthAfrica?
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IPL2: NRI-PL?

In an official statement given to the press and Media, The working committee of IPL announced moving this year tournament to a place outside India. England and SouthAfrica have been penned as the the front-runners to host the second season of the Indian Premier league (IPL) after inconclusive negotiations of the board with the Indian Home Ministry and various state governments to shift the tournament outside of India.

The venue and the new schedule will be announce on toady, the 23rd of March. Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, said the tournament had been relocated “because of the extraordinary situation existing this year.” The 45-day tournament clashes with the forthcoming general elections in India and there had been concerns over security.
This statement came after a never ending game of ‘Yes’ ‘No’ politics played by the central and the state governments over the issue ended, Thanks to the Maharastra state government which pulled out at the last minute asking for fresh dates post the polls. The IPL committee in the last meeting with the Home Ministry had submitted over about 40 possible schedules only to be rejected. With only about 15 days to go for the tournament the organizers will now need to work day and night to get things better than the last season.

Gerald Majola, Cricket South Africa’s chief executive, said South Africa was ready to host the tournament if needed. He expected to have “positive discussions” with Indian officials in this regard over phone on Monday. CSA has sidelined five venues to host the event and is now waiting for the official call from the IPL working committee with exact requirements. CSA also confirmed availability of all the necessary infrastructure and promised a larger turnout of people to watch the matches as the timezones were not much different.

Mr Lalit Modi, who was also present at the press conference confirmed that the matches will be played at 4PM IST (Indian Standard Time - 10.30 AM GMT) and 8PM IST so that the Indian Public will not miss out on the action. He also ridiculed all doubts about whether the semi-finals and the finals will be played in India. “The semis and the finals cannot and will not be hosted in India as this would add more stress amongst the players who will be preparing for the ICC world twenty20.” ICC world Twenty20 begins June 6 2009 in England.

The ECB said it had received a request from the Indian board and the IPL and was examining the possibility of hosting the tournament. The board however showed lesser interest than the counter-part (CSA) issuing a statement that said that the temperature now in England is not suitable for playing cricket. “It’s very cold to play Cricket” said CEO of ECB. The boars however said that they were in discussions with the IPL committee and will not back out to help BCCI as they have had a very healthy relationship in the past.

What’s the loss? The franchisees stand a bigger loss after the tournament was moved out of India. The first major setback is the ticketing sales, Each franchisee will lose Rs.5 crore per match just for the ticket sales at their respective venues. Adding to further financial burden will be the newly incurred travel expenses. But they should be thanking all their luck as if at this point, if the tournament stood canceled, The franchisees could have been in a bigger hole. Sony however should gain from this, increased television viewership and more ad’s. I hope the BCCI instructs Sony or reccomends some rules for airing ad’s.We don’t want a 5 ball over or an interuption in the screen at a crucial point in the match.

Explaining the decision to move out, N Srinivasan, the BCCI general secretary, said the Indian board was not in a position to either play a truncated IPL or to cancel the tournament’s second edition. “It is a matter of great regret that, in the prevailing atmosphere, where the government is expressing concern for providing security to the IPL matches, the BCCI is left with no other option but to conduct the IPL in another country,” he said. It just did not happen, The government kept complaining about security and the board kept trying. Sooner than Later, the BCCI had to decide an alternate venue given the money around the tournament. People who watched the matches on TV should not be complaining, It’s just people like me who went into the stadiums and cheered the teams who will lose our on some fast-paced Cricket action. Given the specuations that were going around, I’m still thankful that the tournament is taking place. Hopefully the tournament will live up to the expectations specially after the controversies surrounding the start of the season.
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Official Statements, Coutesy: CricInfo

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wef 1st April 09: all Sports posts will be a part of this blog exclusively. Keep visiting for full coverage of all IPL matches including reviews and Previews.

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