India U19 team reaches final

India survived a late scare to beat New Zealand by three wickets to book a berth for the title clash of the under-19 cricket World Cup here on Wednesday.

In a thrilling rain-curtailed semifinal, the Kiwis rode on middle order bat Corey Anderson's 68-ball 70 to score a modest 205 for eight in 50 overs after electing to bat.

However, the target become slightly stiffer for the Indians after it was reset at 191 (rpt 191) in 43 overs due to rain interruption.

Opener Sreevats Goswami (51 off 76 balls) and captain Virat Kohli (43 off 53 balls) played sensible knocks to lay the foundation for India's win, which was achieved in 41.3 overs at the expense of seven wickets.

Even though India's firebrand pacer Pradeep Sangwan could not taste success today, other bowlers stuck to their task to check the New Zealanders from scoring freely and take wickets at regular intervals.

New ball bowler Ajitesh Argal provided the early breakthrough to India as he claimed opener George Worker (3).

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja breached Michael Guptill-Bunce's (11) defence to apply further brakes on the slow scoring rate of the New Zealanders.

Ken Williamson (37) and Fraser Colson (32) then consolidated the New Zealand innings by putting up a vital 57-run partnership for the third wicket.

Indian skipper Kohli took up the responsibility and rolled his arm with his medium pace to remove both the set batsmen, who were threatening to build a bigger stand.

That, however, was not the end of the Kiwi resistance as Corey Anderson blasted 70 runs, including six boundaries and four sixes, in no time to take his team to a respectable total.

Anderson gathered 58 runs for the seventh wicket with M Bracewell (17 not out) before falling to Tanmay Srivastava in the 49th over.

Kohli (2/27), S Kaul (2/43) and Srivastava (2/46) were the main wicket-takers for India.

During the run chase, India lost two of its reliable batsmen -- Taruwar Kohli (10) and Srivastava (13) -- cheaply, but wicketkeeper-batsman Goswami and Virat Kohli steadied the boat by adding 84 runs for the third wicket.

Both Goswami and Virat Kohli hit five boundaries each in their knocks.

Goswami was castled by Kiwi bowling spearhead Tim Southee, while Virat Kohli was caught by Williamson off George Worker.

The Indians were cruising to victory with 11 required off 21 balls with five wickets in hand. But suddenly, the Kiwis piled pressure and were able to notch up two quick wickets to provide a few jittery moments for their rivals.

But, middle order batsman Saurabh Tiwary (29 not out off 41 balls) held his nerve to see the Indians through.

Southee was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers with figures of 4 for 29.

Virat Kohli was adjudged the player of the match for his all-round performance.

Brief scores:

New Zealand 205 for 8 in 50 overs (Corey Anderson 70, K Williamson 37, Fraser Colson 32; Virat Kohli 2/27, Siddarth Kaul 2/43, T Srivastava 2/46)

India 191 for 7 in 41.3 overs (Sreevats Goswami 51, Virat Kohli 43; T Southee 4/ 29).

Defending champions Pakistan play South Africa in the second semifinal on Friday, and India will face the winner of the match in the final on March 2.-PTI

Read the news at Hindu at:
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/28/stories/2008022855352101.htm

Brad Hogg retires

Melbourne: Brad Hogg has announced his retirement from international cricket. The 37-year-old left-arm Chinaman bowler will bid adieu after the CB ODI tri-series finals against India.

An influential bowler in the middle overs of an innings, he orchestrated major momentum shifts in the ODIs. Hogg has 154 wickets in 121 ODIs at an economy rate of 4.52 and a strike rate of 35.4.

He was less successful in Tests, where he picked up 17 wickets in seven matches at an average of 54.88. He is a handy and spirited batsman down the order, a key figure in several Australian fightbacks. "It is an exciting and a sad time," he said.

The West Australian spinner said certain personal issues led to his decision. "I've had a good run and am really happy with what I have achieved," he said. "I'm going out on a high," Hogg added.

The spinner's enhanced accuracy made him a greater force in the ODIs during the final stages of his career. He varies the extent of his turn and is not easy to read. He switches the angles and uses the crease intelligently. His role in Australia's World Cup triumph last year in the Caribbean was significant. He brought variety to the attack. — Special Correspondent

Read the news at:
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/28/stories/2008022855302100.htm

David Boon - happy and content

Hobart: David Boon is happy and content. He isn't concerned that the cricketers of the modern era are making more money than he did. "Don Bradman said when you leave the game, you should leave it in better state for the next era," he said. On the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL), he said, "I am a bit of a traditionalist. Test cricket should be given its due. But Twenty20 cricket appears exciting, is popular and quick. The ODI cricket changed the way Test cricket was played and I think Twenty20 will change how one-day cricket is being played."

Boon was rock solid either as an opener, where he formed a formidable partnership with Geoff Marsh, or at No. 3 where he was a picture of defiance.

"Me and Marsh, we spent a lot of time together off the field, tried to understand each other. It helped. We also, at the right times, sought advice from past greats like Sunil Gavaskar," he said.
Vital cog

Boon was an integral part of the Allan Border-led side that made the transition from a struggling side to a world beating one. "It was a very inexperienced side but AB (Allan Border) was a captain's captain. He led from the front. There was a bit of AB in Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh. There is a bit of AB in Ricky Ponting."

He recalls the 1987 World Cup and Australia's triumph in the competition, "There was a lot of support from the Eden Gardens crowd in the finals. It was incredible. It was a significant win for Australia in the period."

Boon's catching at short leg is legendary. "AB believed in aggressive field placings. There were usually three slips and a short-leg. I enjoyed fielding there," he said.

He remembers his battles with the West Indian pace bowlers. "They played four pacemen and all the four were menacing. I think Malcolm Marshall was the best.

"He consistently bowled at around 150 to 155 kmph, moved the ball around and could extract lift. He was accurate and hard to face."
Turning point

Boon says Australia's Test series triumph against the West Indies in the mid-90s was the pivotal point of the side's resurgence as an all conquering Test playing nation.

On the issue of sledging, Boon said, "Words said on the field has to be taken in the right context. There will be some chatting and if it is in the right language, then it is all right. But if it insults a person's colour, race or religion, it is wrong."

Boon said Mahendra Singh Dhoni held promise as a captain. The Aussie revealed he was a great admirer of Sachin Tendulkar.

Read the news at:
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/28/stories/2008022855292100.htm

India's aggression pleases new coach Kirsten

NEW DELHI (AFP) — India's new cricket coach Gary Kirsten said Wednesday he was impressed with the team's aggressive attitude despite controversies on their ongoing tour of Australia.

"What I like about Indian cricket as a whole now, and especially about the young players, is that they are ready to accept the battle," said the former South African batsman, who officially takes over as coach next month.

"I think that's very healthy for the game, whereas in the past they tended to back off. I am excited by some of these younger players coming through with a belief that they are ready to compete with the best."

The relations between the Indian and Australian teams suffered yet another blow on Tuesday when opening batsman Matthew Hayden called Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh an "obnoxious weed" on Brisbane radio.

[What is obnoxious weed?
Read it at http://lordstimes.blogspot.com/2008/02/obnoxious-little-weed.html]

Fast-rising teenage Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma was fined on Sunday after a verbal clash with Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds during a one-day match of the ongoing triangular series, also featuring Sri Lanka.

The Indians claimed the youngster was provoked by Symonds and lodged a complaint with match-referee Jeff Crowe about the "provocative" behaviour of the Australians, particularly towards Harbhajan.

The bad blood stretches back to the second Test in Sydney in January when Harbhajan was suspended for three matches for racially abusing Symonds, a ban overturned at a subsequent International Cricket Council hearing.

Kirsten said he did not believe in sledging, but authorities would have to take a decision on it as the stakes were "high".

"There's a lot of gamesmanship, but I think somewhere along the line there will be a high-level policy decision taken. I have experienced various styles of playing the game, but did not believe in sledging," he said.

"I don't know what the right way is. I think we must be careful because as far as I know, most teams sledge. We must not think that it's just one country. So I have to be cautious about singling out any particular team."

Kirsten, who met Indian officials and captain Anil Kumble in Mumbai on a two-day visit, said his biggest test during a two-year tenure would be to help the team go through a smooth transition.

The current Indian Test side contains five ageing players, with Kumble being the oldest at 37. Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly are both 35, followed by Sachin Tendular, 34, and Venkatsai Laxman, 33.

"I would like to see a smooth transition. Maybe in 18 months we could have two new players in the Test side," said the 40-year-old Kirsten, who quit international cricket in 2004 after playing 101 Tests and 185 one-dayers.

"So there's going to be a lot of planning on that front and a lot of discussion with senior players on when their time is up.

"That's something we have to manage very carefully, with myself being involved and some of the other people, including the players themselves. My motivation is to make the Indian team highly competitive and consistent."

Kirsten begins his new assignment with a Test series in India against his home side.

South Africa arrive in India next month for three Tests.

Read full news at:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gq-csvHmIQSW-aWNMu1K54wKyOmg

Lord's set for 200 mln pounds facelift

By Mitch Phillips

LONDON (Reuters) - Lord's, cricket's most famous ground, is set for a 200 million pounds redevelopment, owners the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) announced on Wednesday.

Over the next 10 years, five of the northwest London's ground's stands will be redeveloped, though not the 120-year old pavilion, which is a listed building.

Other plans include the building of a hotel, private apartments, a new academy and the installation of floodlights and all come after a series of consultations with the club's 22,000 full and associate members.

"Nearly half of MCC's membership responded and there was overwhelming backing to support the improvement of Lord's for future generations of cricketers, cricket fans and of course members," David Batts, MCC's Masterplan project director said on the ground's Web site www.lords.org.

"To achieve this we are in the process of appointing a Masterplan architect who will be tasked with preparing a development plan which will provide an overall approach to the design and layout for the entire Lord's site.

"MCC are wary of maintaining the unique atmosphere of Lord's and as such remain sensitive that the revamp will not cost the ground in character -- the tiny Allen Stand has housed spectators since 1935 while the Warner Stand is 50 years old."

The MCC has made major improvements to the ground in the last 20 years, with the Compton and Edrich Stands both completely rebuilt in the 1990s and the landmark media centre added in 1999.

At the end of the redevelopment, the ground's capacity, currently 28,000, should exceed 38,000.

Read the full news at:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/cricketNews/idUKL2772172220080227

The long-running feud between Australia and India took another twist on Wednesday when Matthew Hayden was reprimanded by his employers for remarks made about Harbhajan Singh.

Commissioner Ron Beazley issued a reprimand to the batsman as a penalty for breaching the Cricket Australia code of conduct following a lengthy hearing in Melbourne after Hayden had described the India off-spinner as an "obnoxious little weed" in a radio interview.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, had asked CA to investigate, and secretary Niranjan Shah said: "The BCCI have taken all the necessary steps. The matter is now closed. The BCCI would not like to react to it."

What does “obnoxious little weed” mean?

 

Obnoxious means in simple words horrible/hateful/repellent/intolerable.

 

So what Hayden means by the statement?

 

Hayden has addressed Harbajan as intolerable little wild plant.

 

What made Hayden talk like this?

 

Well, frankly speaking God only knows what made Hayden speak like this. Hayden is in verge of a retirement, maybe that’s why his tongue is slipping out of his brain. He cannot think frankly what he is doing and he cannot do what he is thinking.

 

What will happen to this new episode?

 

Well nothing is ought to happen to this episode because of the following reasons:

Point#1: India is playing in Australia

Point#2: Australian media is behind all this utter nonsense talks. They are really interested in hosting these kinds of shows and motivate the players to talk rubbish.

Point#3: BCCI doesn’t want to put more pressure on ICC to resolve this. Even though BCCI can approach ICC in the matter, it is not going to affect Hayden or Australian team. So BCCI will not prefer to play a spoilt play.

Point#4: ICC will always favour Australia. (Well this is more or less a fact now-a-days).

 

What about the final of the current series, will this effect in any way the players?

Sure. This campaign has been started by Australians to make Indians play in anger rather than spirits. They want some Indian players esteem to be doomed. They dislike all subcontinent players (Not only players but also all from the subcontinent. I don’t really know what made those Australians think this way.). Now for the series final, it will see more heated exchange of words, wrong appeals (Now umpires are granted the stick to beat the Indians). There is a major possibility of watching a bad final from the part of Australians. Well are the Indians in the same mood? Lets wait and watch.

IPL: How will India Inc recover its money?

As the IPL bids for players touch a rocketing high, the franchises have only one question on their mind - will they be able to recover their money?

Here's how it works: There are four ways in which the franchise can recover their money

The first on the list is Broadcast Revenues:

World Sport Group bought the media rights for IPL at a whopping $1.75 billion out of which $918 million will be left after deducting around $100 million for promotion. The $918 million will be split between three entities - the eight sponsors, BCCI and the prize money.

The second in the line is title and ground sponsors:

DLF bagged the title sponsor for $200 million.This money too will be split with between BCCI , the teams and the prize money.

But the most important decider of the returns will be the local revenues.

This will come from ticket sales of the matches and the team merchandise

How much money a team makes thus depends on the response from the audience.

Finally there is the money made by valuing each team - either by listing the team on the stock exchanges or selling it to a new owner.

As a concept, IPL is a new beginning for cricket following the time tested and money spinning history, especially in international football.

But whether or not Shah Rukh Khan's team becomes as profitable as a Manchester United in England depends cricket fans and their love of the game.

News Courtesy: Yahoo
http://in.news.yahoo.com/indiabroadcast/20080221/r_t_ibn_sp_cricket/tsp-ipl-how-will-india-inc-recover-its-m-16a6683.html

April 2008
Fri 18 D/N 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 D/N 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 D/N 14:30 GMT	IPL Kolkata v IPL Hyderabad Venue TBC Kolkata
Mon 21 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Jaipur v IPL Mohali Venue TBC Jaipur
Tue 22 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Hyderabad v IPL Delhi Venue TBC Hyderabad
Wed 23 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Chennai v IPL Mumbai Venue TBC Chennai
Thu 24 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Hyderabad v IPL Jaipur Venue TBC Hyderabad
Fri 25 D/N 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 D/N 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 D/N 14:30 GMT	IPL Mohali v IPL Delhi Venue TBC Mohali
Mon 28 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Bangalore v IPL Chennai Venue TBC Bangalore
Tue 29 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Kolkata v IPL Mumbai Venue TBC Kolkata
Wed 30 D/N 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 D/N 14:30 GMT	IPL Jaipur v IPL Kolkata Venue TBC Jaipur
Fri 2 D/N 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 D/N 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 D/N 14:30 GMT	IPL Jaipur v IPL Chennai Venue TBC Jaipur
Mon 5 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Bangalore v IPL Mohali Venue TBC Bangalore
Tue 6 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Chennai v IPL Hyderabad Venue TBC Chennai
Wed 7 D/N 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 D/N 14:30 GMT	IPL Kolkata v IPL Bangalore Venue TBC Kolkata
Fri 9 D/N 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 D/N 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 D/N 14:30 GMT	IPL Jaipur v IPL Delhi Venue TBC Jaipur
Mon 12 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Mohali v IPL Bangalore Venue TBC Mohali
Tue 13 D/N 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 D/N 14:30 GMT	IPL Mohali v IPL Jaipur Venue TBC Mohali
Thu 15 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Delhi v IPL Hyderabad Venue TBC Delhi
Fri 16 D/N 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 D/N 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 D/N 14:30 GMT	IPL Kolkata v IPL Chennai Venue TBC Kolkata
Mon 19 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Bangalore v IPL Delhi Venue TBC Bangalore
Tue 20 D/N 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 D/N 14:30 GMT	IPL Chennai v IPL Bangalore Venue TBC Chennai
Thu 22 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Delhi v IPL Kolkata Venue TBC Delhi
Fri 23 D/N 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 D/N 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 D/N 14:30 GMT	IPL Kolkata v IPL Mohali Venue TBC Kolkata
Mon 26 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Jaipur v IPL Mumbai Venue TBC Jaipur
Tue 27 D/N 13:30 GMT	IPL Hyderabad v IPL Chennai Venue TBC Hyderabad
Fri 30 D/N	1st Semi-Final - TBC v TBC Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
Sat 31 D/N	2nd Semi-Final - TBC v TBC Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
June 2008
Sun 1 D/N	Final - TBC v TBC Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

 

Teams, their owners and Bid amount and the players

Teams, Owner, Bid Amount

Team	Owner	Bid Amount
Bangalore	Vijay Mallya	$111.6 million
Mumbai	Mukesh Ambani	$111.9 million
Kolkata	Shah Rukh Khan	$75.09 million
Delhi	GMR	$ 84 million
Chennai Super Kings	India Cement	$91 million
Mohali	Preity Zinta & Ness Wadia	$76 million
Jaipur	Emerging Media	$67 million
Hyderabad	Deccan Chronicle	$107.1 million

Players and their Bid amounts

Team	Players	Bid Amount (figures in USD)
Bangalore Royal Challengers Coach:	Rahul Dravid (icon) Anil Kumble Jacques Kallis Zaheer Khan Mark Boucher Cameron White Wasim Jaffer Dale Steyn Nathan Bracken Shivnarine Chanderpaul	15% more $5,00,000 $9,00,000 $4,50,000 $4,50,000 $5,00,000 $1,50,000 $3,25,000 $3,25,000 $2,00,000
Mumbai Coach:	Sachin Tendulkar (icon) Harbhajan Singh Sanath Jayasuriya Shaun Pollock Robin Uthappa Lasith Malinga Dilhara Fernando Loots Bosman	15% more $8,50,000 $9,75,000 $5,50,000 $8,00,000 $3,50,000 $1,50,000 $1,75,000
Kolkata Coach: John Buchanan	Sourav Ganguly (icon) Shoaib Akhtar Ricky Ponting Brendon McCullum Chris Gayle Ajit Agarkar David Hussey Ishant Sharma Murali Kartik Umar Gul Tatenda Taibu	15% more $4,25,000 $4,00,000 $7,00,000 $8,00,000 $3,30,000 $6,75,000 $9,50,000 $4,25,000 $1,50,000 $1,25,000
Delhi Daredevils Coach:	Virender Sehwag (icon) Daniel Vettori Shoaib Malik Mohammad Asif Dinesh Karthik AB de Villiers Farveez Maharoof Tillakaratne Dilshan Manoj Tiwary Gautam Gambhir Glenn McGrath	15% more $6,25,000 $5,00,000 $6,50,000 $5,25,000 $3,00,000 $2,25,000 $2,50,000 $6,75,000 $7,25,000 $3,50,000
Chennai Super Kings Coach:	M.S.Dhoni Muttiah Muralitharan Matthew Hayden Jacob Oram Stephen Fleming Parthiv Patel Joginder Sharma Albie Morkel Suresh Raina Makhaya Ntini Michael Hussey	$1.5 million $6,00,000 $3,75,000 $6,75,000 $350,000 $3,25,000 $2,25,000 $6,50,000 $6,50,000 $2,00,000 $3,50,000
Mohali Coach: Tom Moody	Yuvraj Singh (icon) Mahela Jayawardene Kumar Sangakkara Brett Lee S.Sreesanth Irfan Pathan Ramesh Powar Piyush Chawla Simon Katich Ramnaresh Sarwan	15% more $4,75,000 $7,00,000 $9,00,000 $6,25,000 $9,25,000 $1,70,000 $4,00,000 $2,00,000 $2,25,000
Jaipur Coach: Greg Chappell	Shane Warne Graeme Smith Younis Khan Kamran Akmal Yusuf Pathan Mohammad Kaif Munaf Patel Justin Langer	$4,50,000 $4,75,000 $2,25,000 $1,50,000 $4,75,000 $6,75,000 $2,75,000 $2,00,000
Hyderabad Coach:	Adam Gilchrist Andrew Symonds Herschelle Gibbs Shahid Afridi Scott Styris VVS Laxman Rohit Sharma Chamara Silva RP Singh Chaminda Vaas Nuwan Zoysa	$7,00,000 $1.35 million $5,75,000 $6,75,000 $1,75,000 $375,000 $7,50,000 $1,00,000 $8,75,000 $2,00,000 $1,10,000

Indian Players

Iconic Players:
Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai , Rahul Dravid for Bangalore, Yuvraj Singh for Mohali, Sourav Ganguly for Kolkata & Virender Sehwag for Delhi

Ajit Agarkar, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Mohammad Kaif, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, S Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Robin Uthappa, Manoj Tiwary, Ishant Sharma, Pankaj Singh, Piyush Chawla, Wasim Jaffer, Parthiv Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Joginder Sharma, Rohit Sharma

Overseas Players

West Indies:
Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul

SriLanka:
Ramnaresh Sarwan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Farveez Maharoof, Mahela Jayawardena, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Zoysa, Kumar Sangakkara, Prasanna Jayawardena

Pakistan:
Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf(legal status is currently the subject of arbitration), Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal

Australia:
Nathan Bracken, Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee, Adam Gilchrist, Cameron White, Justin Langer, Simon Katich, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Shane Warne

New Zealand:
Scott Styris, Stephen Fleming, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum

South Africa:
Shaun Pollock, Albie Morkel, Jacques Kallis, Justin Kemp, AB De Villiers, Graeme Smith, Ashwell Prince, Herschelle Gibbs, Loots Bosman, Makhaya Ntini, Mark Boucher

Bangladesh:
Mahrafe Mortaza, Mohammad Ashraful

Zimbabwe:
Tatenda Taib

Information courtesy: http://www.indianpremiercricketleague.com

Now there is no heat you will feel for an India V Pakistan match, why?

 

Oh now there is no country boundary, only money and brand rules. We can see people of Calcutta cheer for Shoaib Aktar bowling a bouncer against Sachin or when Ricky Ponting hits Harbhajan Singh for a Six. Established cricketers will soon vanish out of International cricketing arena and will be soon part of money making band of IPL.

 

More wear and tear for players

 

This just means more and more cricket matches per year (59 a year). This means that more and more injuries wear and tear of all players etc. This will prove to be fatal when we are moving to next World Cup by 2011. All the players who did opt out of IPL will perform much better naturally. All those players who are playing in IPL will choke to perform. Naturally it is Indian Cricket Team which is going to suffer. A point to be noted Mr. Kirsten.

 

More points to come…Your points are welcome in our comments section of our blog.

 

 

 

 

Want to read more? Goto Timepass Blog - http://justfortimepazz.blogspot.com

What is Indian Premier League

FAQs: the Indian Premier League

Everything you wanted to know about the Indian Premier League

What is the Indian Premier League?

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a franchise-based Twenty20 competition organized by the BCCI, and it has official sanction since it has the backing of the ICC. It features the world's best cricketers playing - their affiliation decided by open auction - for eight city-based franchises, owned by a host of businessmen and celebrity consortiums. The inaugural edition of the tournament will run from April 18 to June 1.

What are the logistics of the IPL?

The tournament will begin on April 18, when Bangalore takes on Kolkata at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The tournament will feature 59 matches in total, the teams playing each other on a home-and-away basis.

Why is the IPL generating such a buzz?

Two main reasons why. One the football-club concept of the IPL, which is unlike anything cricket, has known. The best players from across the world are playing not according to nationality but according to market forces. Second, the sheer financial scale of the IPL is unprecedented at this level of cricket. The BCCI has already made close to US$ 1.75 billion solely from the sale of TV rights ($908 million), promotion

($108 million) and franchises (approximately $700 million). Players are expected to earn close to US$1 million for a three-year contract. It's an entire cricket economy out there.

Who are the top cricketers involved?

There are 77 names in the fray, the top current players: Dhoni, Ponting, Gilchrist, Shoaib Akhtar, Jayawardene, Jayasuriya, Yuvraj, Hayden...The notable absentees are from England, because the IPL will clash with their domestic season, and Australia's Michael Clarke, who opted to focus on his regular cricket.

Who are the franchise owners - celebrities and others?

Mukesh Ambani, the Reliance Industries chairman, acquired the Mumbai franchise for $111.9 million over a 10-year period; beer and airline baron Vijay Mallya, who also owns a Formula 1 team, won the Bangalore franchise for $111.6 million; Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment won the Kolkata franchise for $75 million; the biggest surprise was the Chandigarh franchise, which went to Preity Zinta, another Bollywood star, and Ness Wadia, together with two other industrialists, for $75 million. The winning team will get richer by $3 million if they win the first edition of the tournament.

How are the players paired with teams?

The BCCI will conduct a player auction on February 20, in which the respective franchises can bid for a maximum of eight international players from pool of 89 players who have been contracted to the board.

But Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Yuvraj Singh are not up for auction as they have been given 'iconic' status by the BCCI - which means that they have to represent the city in which they are based. Another exception to the bidding process is with regard to the Australian players - a clause in the rules of Cricket Australia has meant that each team can select a maximum of two Australians.

Whose idea is the IPL?

The IPL is the brainchild of Lalit Modi, the vice-president of the BCCI, and is modeled along the lines of club football in Europe, specifically the English Premier League. Though there is a school of thought that the idea came about in the 1990s, the announcement that such a tournament would happen, and which it would be a precursor to Twenty20 Champions League, cricket's version of the European Champions League, came only after Subhash Chandra, the owner of Zee Televison said, in April last year, that he was intending to start an unofficial league called the Indian Cricket League, fuelling speculation that is was a reactive idea rather than a proactive one.

How different are the IPL and ICL to each other?

The IPL is an official sanctioned Twenty20 tournament, and unlike the ICL, which is not recognised by any of the national boards or the ICC, it will have a better status, international reach, players, and the requisite infrastructure by default. Since the IPL is sanctioned by the ICC, players don't have the danger of bringing their international/first-class careers to a halt - as is the case with the ICL - whose players have been banned by the various boards. Another major difference is with regard to franchises - the ownership of the team rests with the individual owners and not one single entity.

IPL's starry auction stumps country clubs

The Indian Premier League (IPL) players' auction has not only caught the fancy of corporate honchos and Bollywood celebrities, it has also set the county clubs in England thinking.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) money-spinning mega event has clouded the existence of county cricket and all across the globe, cricketing bodies are now coming to terms with BCCI's clout in what is known as 'Gentleman's Game.'

With players such as M S Dhoni and Andrew Symonds being auctioned for a whooping $1.5 million and $1 million, respectively, the country clubs and cricketing bodies all across the globe are now contemplating on how to reinvent the cricketing wheel.

Says Lancashire County Club CEO Jim Coumbes, "To be honest, IPL will certainly have an impact on our tournaments. We have Stuart Law who has signed the (IPL's) rival Indian Cricket League, and the money he is drawing will not be possible for us to match." Coumbes, though, feels that IPL may not emerge as the death-bed of county cricket and International Cricket Council (ICC) would not let the game die. "The four-day game is still essential for any player. It's the training ground and it may well survive in the cradles of Lords."

With 70-80% of the game's global revenues already coming from India, IPL with its $1.8-billion kitty will only add to India's heft in the global cricket economy. No wonder, cricketing bodies are also worried over the growing clout of BCCI and the recent turn of events such as the imbroglio involving Team India and ICC over bad umpiring have done no good to the image of the game's global governing body.

According to BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla, who envisions India emerging as the cricketing world's Mecca, "IPL is already a mind-boggling success story and it will surely tempt international players to play more for our domestic games."

Others feel that this growing strength of BCCI has surely made an impact on other countries players and cricketing boards. According to Vyas Giannetti Creative Sports business head Gaurav Seth, "With the hefty packages falling into international players lap, IPL has been successful in (even) diminishing the lure of counties as well."

Says the winner of the IPL broadcast rights, World Sports Group, CEO Venu Nair, "All international players, who would be interested in playing IPL, will first have to prove themselves in domestic counties. Considering this, IPL will only compliment the other counties. Though financially it is a very viable options for established players."

News Courtesy: Indiatimes
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/IPL_Auction/IPLs_starry_auction_stumps_country_clubs/articleshow/2799883.cms