Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Indian Premier League under way amid heavy security
The third season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the lucrative 20-20 cricket tournament, is under way in the city of Mumbai.
Eight teams are participating in the tournament which has been overshadowed by security concerns - IPL authorities have defended the arrangements.
Hyderabad, which won the second season, takes on Calcutta in the first of 60 matches in the 43-day tournament.
The tournament was opened by a laser show and dance performances.
Some of the world's top cricketers are taking part in the lucrative tournament.
BBC Sport's Alex Capstick in Mumbai (Bombay) says the brash and glitzy IPL has become a multi billion dollar industry and an established event in the cricket calendar in just two years.
Bollywood owners
The games are distinctive for introducing entertainment on the field, including Bollywood music and cheerleaders for the teams. Some tickets cost up to 50,000 rupees ($1,100), and film screens show the games.
The Calcutta team, owned by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, has won only nine of the 28 previous IPL matches, and begin as underdogs in Friday night's game.
The Hyderabad team, which finished last in the opening season, emerged as the surprise winners in the second season, which was played in South Africa because of security concerns at home.
There are eight England players in this season's IPL - Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan, who miss the first three weeks because of the Bangladesh tour, and Graham Napier, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Owais Shah, Michael Lumb and Ravi Bopara, who will be there for the duration.
Security threats
The third season of the tournament has been overshadowed by concerns over security and a controversy over the non-inclusion of Pakistani players in any of the eight teams.
A news website had published a message reported to be from the 313 Brigade, an operational arm of al-Qaeda, that threatened the IPL, Commonwealth Games and Hockey World Cup, all of which are being held in India.
This followed a threat against Australian players competing in the IPL from the right-wing Hindu group Shiv Sena.
IPL authorities have said that everything was being done to make the tournament secure, although they conceded that "nobody in the world can safeguard the safety of the players in any tournament".
IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has told BBC Sport the threat from Shiv Sena had been withdrawn and he defended security arrangements for the IPL.
Eight teams are participating in the tournament which has been overshadowed by security concerns - IPL authorities have defended the arrangements.
Hyderabad, which won the second season, takes on Calcutta in the first of 60 matches in the 43-day tournament.
The tournament was opened by a laser show and dance performances.
Some of the world's top cricketers are taking part in the lucrative tournament.
BBC Sport's Alex Capstick in Mumbai (Bombay) says the brash and glitzy IPL has become a multi billion dollar industry and an established event in the cricket calendar in just two years.
Bollywood owners
The games are distinctive for introducing entertainment on the field, including Bollywood music and cheerleaders for the teams. Some tickets cost up to 50,000 rupees ($1,100), and film screens show the games.
The Calcutta team, owned by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, has won only nine of the 28 previous IPL matches, and begin as underdogs in Friday night's game.
The Hyderabad team, which finished last in the opening season, emerged as the surprise winners in the second season, which was played in South Africa because of security concerns at home.
There are eight England players in this season's IPL - Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan, who miss the first three weeks because of the Bangladesh tour, and Graham Napier, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Owais Shah, Michael Lumb and Ravi Bopara, who will be there for the duration.
Security threats
The third season of the tournament has been overshadowed by concerns over security and a controversy over the non-inclusion of Pakistani players in any of the eight teams.
A news website had published a message reported to be from the 313 Brigade, an operational arm of al-Qaeda, that threatened the IPL, Commonwealth Games and Hockey World Cup, all of which are being held in India.
This followed a threat against Australian players competing in the IPL from the right-wing Hindu group Shiv Sena.
IPL authorities have said that everything was being done to make the tournament secure, although they conceded that "nobody in the world can safeguard the safety of the players in any tournament".
IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has told BBC Sport the threat from Shiv Sena had been withdrawn and he defended security arrangements for the IPL.
India announce probables for T20 World Cup
CHENNAI: Young Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey and his fast bowling teammate R Vinay Kumar were among the three new faces named in India's 30-member list of probables for the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in the West Indies in April-May this year.
Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha, who also had a successful domestic season, was the other new face in the list announced by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection committee.
Barring these three players who have never featured in Indian squad, there was no other surprise in the list which has a host of young players like Abhimanyu Mithun, Wriddhiman Saha, Sudeep Tyagi and Abhishek Nayar.
The squad will be pruned further before the ICC stipulated deadline for announcing the final squads for the April 30-May 16 event to be held at three venues - Guyana, Barbados and St Lucia.
Uttar Pradesh duo Rudra Pratap Singh and Piyush Chawla and paceman Munaf Patel, who have been off the selection radar in recent times, are back in the reckoning.
Twenty-year-old Pandey, who had a prolific domestic season with the bat, has been rewarded for his consistent performance. Pandey has the distinction of being the first Indian to score a century in the Indian Premier League, where he represents Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Like Pandey, his teammate Vinay Kumar has also forced his way into the list by virtue of his performance in domestic cricket this season.
Naman Ojha, a wicketkeeper who also has the reputation of being a good batsman at the top of the order, has been chosen ahead of Parthiv Patel in the list which has three wicketkeepers -- Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Wriddhiman Saha being the two other.
Twenty six-year-old Saha, who hails from Bengal, made his Test debut against South Africa in Nagpur after Rohit Sharma got injured in the morning of the match and has now got an opportunity to be in the reckoning for the Twenty20 World Cup.
Although Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Gautam Gambhir are recuperating from injury, the selectors have named them in the squad as no player can be picked in the final squad without being in the initial list of probables.
Ishant Sharma, who has not been a regular in the shorter formats of the game in recent times, has been included in the list.
Squad: M S Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, S Sreesanth, Sudeep Tyagi, Rohit Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, Piyush Chawla, Abhimanyu Mithun, Manish Pandey, R P Singh, Munaf Patel, Murali Vijay, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Virat Kohli and R Ashwin.
Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha, who also had a successful domestic season, was the other new face in the list announced by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection committee.
Barring these three players who have never featured in Indian squad, there was no other surprise in the list which has a host of young players like Abhimanyu Mithun, Wriddhiman Saha, Sudeep Tyagi and Abhishek Nayar.
The squad will be pruned further before the ICC stipulated deadline for announcing the final squads for the April 30-May 16 event to be held at three venues - Guyana, Barbados and St Lucia.
Uttar Pradesh duo Rudra Pratap Singh and Piyush Chawla and paceman Munaf Patel, who have been off the selection radar in recent times, are back in the reckoning.
Twenty-year-old Pandey, who had a prolific domestic season with the bat, has been rewarded for his consistent performance. Pandey has the distinction of being the first Indian to score a century in the Indian Premier League, where he represents Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Like Pandey, his teammate Vinay Kumar has also forced his way into the list by virtue of his performance in domestic cricket this season.
Naman Ojha, a wicketkeeper who also has the reputation of being a good batsman at the top of the order, has been chosen ahead of Parthiv Patel in the list which has three wicketkeepers -- Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Wriddhiman Saha being the two other.
Twenty six-year-old Saha, who hails from Bengal, made his Test debut against South Africa in Nagpur after Rohit Sharma got injured in the morning of the match and has now got an opportunity to be in the reckoning for the Twenty20 World Cup.
Although Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Gautam Gambhir are recuperating from injury, the selectors have named them in the squad as no player can be picked in the final squad without being in the initial list of probables.
Ishant Sharma, who has not been a regular in the shorter formats of the game in recent times, has been included in the list.
Squad: M S Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, S Sreesanth, Sudeep Tyagi, Rohit Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, Piyush Chawla, Abhimanyu Mithun, Manish Pandey, R P Singh, Munaf Patel, Murali Vijay, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Virat Kohli and R Ashwin.
Tendulkar rules out playing Twenty20 World Cup
NEW DELHI: Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday ruled out playing in this year's Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies, saying he sticks to his stance of not playing Twenty20 Internationals anymore.
Even though Tendulkar is not among the 30 probables already selected for the April 30-May 16 event, former captain Sunil Gavaskar led the chorus, asking Tendulkar, who is in sensational form, to change his stance and play in the Twenty20 World Cup.
Tendulkar, however, dismissed the possibility. "I will not be playing the ICC World Twenty20. I have not played Twenty20 Internationals from 2007 onwards and I don't think it should become an issue now," Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar, along with senior players Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, had opted out of the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup, which Indian won under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy.
Since then, Tendulkar has kept himself out of Twenty20 Internationals, saying he did not want to upset the team which had won the 2007 World Cup.
Even though Tendulkar is not among the 30 probables already selected for the April 30-May 16 event, former captain Sunil Gavaskar led the chorus, asking Tendulkar, who is in sensational form, to change his stance and play in the Twenty20 World Cup.
Tendulkar, however, dismissed the possibility. "I will not be playing the ICC World Twenty20. I have not played Twenty20 Internationals from 2007 onwards and I don't think it should become an issue now," Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar, along with senior players Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, had opted out of the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup, which Indian won under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy.
Since then, Tendulkar has kept himself out of Twenty20 Internationals, saying he did not want to upset the team which had won the 2007 World Cup.
IPL announces final squads for the third season
NEW DELHI: The eight franchises of the Indian Premier League announced their squads for the third season of the Twenty20 event slated to begin from March 12 in Mumbai, according to the IPL's official website on Saturday.
The tournament features 60 games over a 45 day period.
Earlier, on Friday, three domestic players, medium pacers Love Ablish, Shalab Srivatava and batsman Manvinder Bisla, joined Kings XI Punjab for IPL3.
Here is the list of final squad handed by the franchises to the IPL:
Chennai Super Kings:
MS Dhoni (Captain), Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, Shadab Jakati, Sudeep Tayagi, Manpreet Gony, Murali Vijay, R Ashwin, L Balaji, Hemang Badani, Ganpathy Chandrashekhar, Arun Karthik, Thilan Thushara, Michael Hussey, Albie Morkel, George Bailey, Justin Kemp, Thisara Perera, M Murlidaran, Matthew Hayden, Jacob Oram, Makhaya Ntini
Deccan Chargers:
Adam Gilchrist (Captain), Andrew Symonds, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Marsh, Chaminda Vaas, Herschelle, Gibbs, Dwayne Smith, Kemar Roach, VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Venugopal Rao, Arjun Yadav, Ravi Teja, T Suman, Anirudh Singh, Ashish Reddy, Harmeet Singh Bansal, Rahul Sharma, Bodapati Sumanth, Azhar Bilakhia, Monish Mishra
Delhi Daredevils:
Gautam Gambhir (Captain), Dinesh Karthik, Virender Sehwag, Ashish Nehra, Amit Mishra, Aavishkar Salvi, Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia, Kedar Jadhav, Pradeep Sangwan, Joginder Singh, Umesh Yadav, Sarandeep Singh, Shashi Ranjan, Sarabjeet Ladda, TM Dilshan, David Warner, AB de Villiers, Wayne Parnell, Dirk Nannes, Moises Henriques, Farveez Maharoof, Andrew McDonald
Kings XI Punjab:
Kumar Sangakkara (Captain), Adrian Barath, Amanpreet Singh, Bipul Sharma, Brett Lee, Irfan Pathan, James Hopes, Karan Goel, Love Ablish, Mahela Jayawardene, Manvinder Bisla, Mohammad Kaif, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Ravi Bopara, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Shalabh Srivastva, Shaun Marsh, S Sreesanth, Tanmay Srivastava, Vikramjeet Malik, Yusuf Abdulla, Yuvraj Singh
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Sourav Ganguly (Captain), Varun Aaron, Iqbal Abdulla, Ajit Agarkar, Eklakh Ahmed, Ashoke Dinda, Rohan Gavaskar, Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge, Harshad, Khadiwale, Charl, Langeveldt, Angelo Mathews, Brendon McCullum, Ajantha Mendis, Murali Kartik, Chirag Pathak, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Owais Shah, Ishant Sharma, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manoj Tiwary, Ganpathi Vignesh
Mumbai Indians:
Sachin Tendulkar (Captain), Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Abhishek Nayar, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare, Chandan Madan, R Sathish, Ishan Malhotra, K Syed Sahabuddin, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rahul Shukla, Ali Murtaza, JP Duminy, Dwayne Bravo, Ryan McLaren, Graham Napier, Sanath Jayasuriya, Keiron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando
Mumbai Indians fought a intense bidding battle to snatch away West Indian players Kieron Pollard for $750,000 after a four-way tie with Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The Mukesh Ambani-owned franchise spent more than the declared amount to break the tie and buy the hard-hitting batsman for the 2010 season.
Rajasthan Royals:
Shane Warne (Captain), Graeme Smith, Shaun Tait, Dimitri Mascarnehas, Michael Lumb, Morne Morkel, Damien Martyn, Johan Botha, Yusuf Pathan, Munaf Patel, Kamran Khan, Naman Ojha, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Siddharth Trivedi, Shrikant Wagh, Abhishek Raut, Swapnil Asnodkar, Sumit Narwal, Faiz Fazal, Syed Ahmed Quadri, Amit Paunikar, Amit Singh
Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Anil Kumble (Captain), Rahul Dravid, Rabin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Akhil Balachandra, Shreevats Goswami, KP Apanna, S Sriram, A Mithun, Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe, Mark Boucher, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith, Dillon du Preez, Eoin Morgan, Cameron White
The tournament features 60 games over a 45 day period.
Earlier, on Friday, three domestic players, medium pacers Love Ablish, Shalab Srivatava and batsman Manvinder Bisla, joined Kings XI Punjab for IPL3.
Here is the list of final squad handed by the franchises to the IPL:
Chennai Super Kings:
MS Dhoni (Captain), Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, Shadab Jakati, Sudeep Tayagi, Manpreet Gony, Murali Vijay, R Ashwin, L Balaji, Hemang Badani, Ganpathy Chandrashekhar, Arun Karthik, Thilan Thushara, Michael Hussey, Albie Morkel, George Bailey, Justin Kemp, Thisara Perera, M Murlidaran, Matthew Hayden, Jacob Oram, Makhaya Ntini
Deccan Chargers:
Adam Gilchrist (Captain), Andrew Symonds, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Marsh, Chaminda Vaas, Herschelle, Gibbs, Dwayne Smith, Kemar Roach, VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Venugopal Rao, Arjun Yadav, Ravi Teja, T Suman, Anirudh Singh, Ashish Reddy, Harmeet Singh Bansal, Rahul Sharma, Bodapati Sumanth, Azhar Bilakhia, Monish Mishra
Delhi Daredevils:
Gautam Gambhir (Captain), Dinesh Karthik, Virender Sehwag, Ashish Nehra, Amit Mishra, Aavishkar Salvi, Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia, Kedar Jadhav, Pradeep Sangwan, Joginder Singh, Umesh Yadav, Sarandeep Singh, Shashi Ranjan, Sarabjeet Ladda, TM Dilshan, David Warner, AB de Villiers, Wayne Parnell, Dirk Nannes, Moises Henriques, Farveez Maharoof, Andrew McDonald
Kings XI Punjab:
Kumar Sangakkara (Captain), Adrian Barath, Amanpreet Singh, Bipul Sharma, Brett Lee, Irfan Pathan, James Hopes, Karan Goel, Love Ablish, Mahela Jayawardene, Manvinder Bisla, Mohammad Kaif, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Ravi Bopara, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Shalabh Srivastva, Shaun Marsh, S Sreesanth, Tanmay Srivastava, Vikramjeet Malik, Yusuf Abdulla, Yuvraj Singh
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Sourav Ganguly (Captain), Varun Aaron, Iqbal Abdulla, Ajit Agarkar, Eklakh Ahmed, Ashoke Dinda, Rohan Gavaskar, Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge, Harshad, Khadiwale, Charl, Langeveldt, Angelo Mathews, Brendon McCullum, Ajantha Mendis, Murali Kartik, Chirag Pathak, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Owais Shah, Ishant Sharma, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manoj Tiwary, Ganpathi Vignesh
Mumbai Indians:
Sachin Tendulkar (Captain), Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Abhishek Nayar, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare, Chandan Madan, R Sathish, Ishan Malhotra, K Syed Sahabuddin, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rahul Shukla, Ali Murtaza, JP Duminy, Dwayne Bravo, Ryan McLaren, Graham Napier, Sanath Jayasuriya, Keiron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando
Mumbai Indians fought a intense bidding battle to snatch away West Indian players Kieron Pollard for $750,000 after a four-way tie with Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The Mukesh Ambani-owned franchise spent more than the declared amount to break the tie and buy the hard-hitting batsman for the 2010 season.
Rajasthan Royals:
Shane Warne (Captain), Graeme Smith, Shaun Tait, Dimitri Mascarnehas, Michael Lumb, Morne Morkel, Damien Martyn, Johan Botha, Yusuf Pathan, Munaf Patel, Kamran Khan, Naman Ojha, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Siddharth Trivedi, Shrikant Wagh, Abhishek Raut, Swapnil Asnodkar, Sumit Narwal, Faiz Fazal, Syed Ahmed Quadri, Amit Paunikar, Amit Singh
Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Anil Kumble (Captain), Rahul Dravid, Rabin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Akhil Balachandra, Shreevats Goswami, KP Apanna, S Sriram, A Mithun, Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe, Mark Boucher, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith, Dillon du Preez, Eoin Morgan, Cameron White
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Indians face 'racial slur' at local cricket match in Australia
MELBOURNE: Almost an entire cricket team in Victoria is under investigation for alleged on-field incidents of sustained racial abuse of players of Indian descent during a match on Saturday, a local media report said. Witnesses claimed the taunts reduced many of the victims to tears and they were considering giving up the sport.
The Geelong Cricket Association has launched a probe after receiving an official written complaint from the Waurn Ponds Cricket Club against opposition club Thomson, The Geelong Advertiser reported.
The complaint alleges six Waurn Ponds players of Indian descent were subjected to a series of racially motivated verbal attacks during Saturday's fourth-grade qualifying final at Grinter Reserve No. 2.
The comments were allegedly made when the Waurn Ponds team was batting, with requests to stop from both the umpire and several aggrieved players going unheeded, it said. Waurn Ponds, based at Deakin University, comprises a strong core of international students in its lower grades, with more than a dozen registered players of Indian descent. The complaint exempted only one Thomson player, Paul Welsh, of any wrongdoing. Thomson has denied the allegations and said it would support the GCA investigation.
GCA vice president Garry McPherson, who will chair the investigation, confirmed Waurn Ponds had lodged a complaint. "We've received a letter requesting an investigation and that process will be going forward this week," McPherson was quoted in the paper as saying.
"From that investigation hearing we will determine a course of action as to whether there's a case to be found at all, initially, and then any possible penalties or conciliation that may need to be undertaken."
"All these things will come out from the meeting on Wednesday night," he added. Waurn Ponds lost the match by 13 runs. Thomson batted first, setting Waurn Ponds 213 for victory off 40 overs. McPherson said Thomson had cooperated and would make players and officials available for the hearing. Thomson president Laurie McGovern categorically denied the accusations.
"There has been a complaint from Waurn Ponds written by (Waurn Ponds president and Advertiser sports reporter) Daniel Breen and it is a letter that is strenuously denied by Thomson Cricket Club and we will support any GCA investigation," McGovern said.
QnA: Is the Australian government doing enough to curb the attacks on Indians?
The Geelong Cricket Association has launched a probe after receiving an official written complaint from the Waurn Ponds Cricket Club against opposition club Thomson, The Geelong Advertiser reported.
The complaint alleges six Waurn Ponds players of Indian descent were subjected to a series of racially motivated verbal attacks during Saturday's fourth-grade qualifying final at Grinter Reserve No. 2.
The comments were allegedly made when the Waurn Ponds team was batting, with requests to stop from both the umpire and several aggrieved players going unheeded, it said. Waurn Ponds, based at Deakin University, comprises a strong core of international students in its lower grades, with more than a dozen registered players of Indian descent. The complaint exempted only one Thomson player, Paul Welsh, of any wrongdoing. Thomson has denied the allegations and said it would support the GCA investigation.
GCA vice president Garry McPherson, who will chair the investigation, confirmed Waurn Ponds had lodged a complaint. "We've received a letter requesting an investigation and that process will be going forward this week," McPherson was quoted in the paper as saying.
"From that investigation hearing we will determine a course of action as to whether there's a case to be found at all, initially, and then any possible penalties or conciliation that may need to be undertaken."
"All these things will come out from the meeting on Wednesday night," he added. Waurn Ponds lost the match by 13 runs. Thomson batted first, setting Waurn Ponds 213 for victory off 40 overs. McPherson said Thomson had cooperated and would make players and officials available for the hearing. Thomson president Laurie McGovern categorically denied the accusations.
"There has been a complaint from Waurn Ponds written by (Waurn Ponds president and Advertiser sports reporter) Daniel Breen and it is a letter that is strenuously denied by Thomson Cricket Club and we will support any GCA investigation," McGovern said.
QnA: Is the Australian government doing enough to curb the attacks on Indians?
Cricket fever catches up
It's that time of the year again! Cricket fever, slapping frenzies and unknown spies. The Indian Premier League.
When the British came up with cricket, it was a living room game played with a three legged stool. Over-arm bowling was invented because women's voluminous skirts interfered with the underarm action originally selected.
Of course, by the time the sport arrived in India, it had changed by miles and it continues to change. There is no doubt any longer about how much India influences the game all over the world. We are a super-power - finally; albeit a very sporty one.
And nothing pumps the adrenaline like the shortest form of the game viz. Twenty20. Do you remember how the IPL came into being? It was an answer to the Indian Cricket League started by Zee Telefilms. Zee had lost lucrative cricket content rights several times in spite of being the highest bidders and they responded by coming up with a 'rebel' league about which people were really excited.
It didn't take long for the Indian cricket establishment to recognise the threat and respond by first banning players who agreed to play in the ICL and then by adopting the idea on a much larger scale. But hey, who cares? It's more cricket for everyone, right?
Part and parcel of the IPL season are the controversies that inevitably arise during the matches and around the event. Last year's most delicious controversy was the elusive fake IPL player who seemed to know the innermost secrets of what was happening behind the scenes inside the changing rooms and in fact in nightclubs late into the night.
Yet to be 'caught', the fake IPL player is going to release his first book shortly. Year before last year's controversy was the infamous slapgate when the incorrigible Sreesanth picked the wrong guy for his on the field irritating antics - the hot-blooded Harbhajan Singh and was rewarded with a resounding slap for his trouble. Believe me there were noises about inappropriate behavior but the over-arching emotion was of glee. Mr Appam so and so, everyone felt, had got his just desserts.
And this year, we've already seen concerted efforts by all Indian franchises to keep Pakistani players out. Naturally, where you talk of Pakistan, can Shiv Sena be far behind? And the little drama soon morphed into a big show as 'King' Khan (where is he king of, by the way?) got embroiled in his own controversy by saying Pakistani players should not have been left out.
So it isn't a big surprise that every cricket fan around the world is awaiting this season with excitement. Let the games begin!
Michael Clarke focuses on cricket for Australia Test with New Zealand
The 28-year-old returned to the nets yesterday and, while refusing to comment on any aspect of his personal life, he was keen to thank those who have offered support during the past two weeks, particularly the former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne.
"I have spoken to Warney," Clarke said. "He's been a wonderful friend of mine for a long time and he was excited to see me back in New Zealand and wished me all the best for Friday's Test match."
He added: "Being a professional athlete it's not just about what you do on the field it's about what you do off the field as well," he said. "Yesterday it was important to get back into the nets and have a good bat and see that red ball," he said.
"I've seen a lot of the white ball in the Twenty20 and one-day versions of the game of late so it's good to have some practice yesterday and today, and again tomorrow before the Test."
Clarke said he was also prepared for whatever the crowd threw at him on Friday: "I'm sure I will get a little bit of stick but I don't mind that," he said. "I think no matter where you go around the world every country wants their team to do well and win. We'll wait and see what happens on Friday but I don't think that will affect me too much."
Neither, he claims, would sledging from his opponents, if it occurs. "I've copped a fair bit of sledging in my time, whether it be about stuff on the field or off the field," he said.
"I have the utmost respect for the New Zealand guys and I'm sure they are the same. We'll play it by ear but I don't think it will affect me."
The fast bowler Ryan Harris, meanwhile, remains a doubt for the first Test, with the Australian selectors calling Peter George across the Tasman as cover.
Harris complained of soreness in his left side after the fourth match of the recent Chappell-Hadlee Trophy that the tourists won 3-2, forcing him to sit out the final game, and with poor weather in New Zealand preventing Australia from training outdoors the former Redback may not be selected.
Kolkata miss a trick in team selection today
Dhoni: Feels great to end up on the winning side but I still feel a few bowlers kept bowling on the shorter side. Even though we have won this game, we still have to keep improving constantly. Murali and Ashwin bowled really well for us. The discussions in the dressing room is always healthy and the atmosphere is really good.
Dhoni is the Man of the Match for a match winning half century
Ganguly: We didn't play well tonight but hope to bounce back in the next game. Dhoni batted really well in the last few overs and that put them in the driver's seat. We kept losing wickets at regular intervals as we played too many shots upfront.
They Knight Riders would be disappointed with their batting display as they have surrendered without a fight. They never really got off to a start as they lost wickets at regular interval thanks to some good bowling from Balaji and Morkel. Once Ganguly fell it was always an uphill task for the inexperienced middle order and in the end the Chennai Superkings register an emphatic win to bounce back after the mauling they received at the hands of the Deccan Chargers a couple of nights ago. The crucial partnership between Dhoni and Badrinath in the middle order was the turning point in the match and it shouldn't be too difficult to guess who the Man of the match is. Stay connected for the presentation.....
Dhoni is the Man of the Match for a match winning half century
Ganguly: We didn't play well tonight but hope to bounce back in the next game. Dhoni batted really well in the last few overs and that put them in the driver's seat. We kept losing wickets at regular intervals as we played too many shots upfront.
They Knight Riders would be disappointed with their batting display as they have surrendered without a fight. They never really got off to a start as they lost wickets at regular interval thanks to some good bowling from Balaji and Morkel. Once Ganguly fell it was always an uphill task for the inexperienced middle order and in the end the Chennai Superkings register an emphatic win to bounce back after the mauling they received at the hands of the Deccan Chargers a couple of nights ago. The crucial partnership between Dhoni and Badrinath in the middle order was the turning point in the match and it shouldn't be too difficult to guess who the Man of the match is. Stay connected for the presentation.....
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
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