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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Kunal Janu
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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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Kunal Janu
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