India's new captain

Gautam Gambhir, India's new captain for the forthcoming tour of West Indies, has set his eyes on the Indian Premier League (IPL) title to prove that he is a worthy leader and not just a replacement candidate for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who opted to rest.

Gambhir, who captains the Kolkata Knight Riders, not only top-scored with an unbeaten 54 against Pune but also took the challenge of opening the innings in place of an injured Jacques Kallis. It is this kind of readiness to shoulder responsibility and lead from the front that Team India will need from their new captain.

Speaking after the victory over Pune, Gambhir said: "Full credit to the entire team. It wasn't a helpful wicket but we wanted to play like professionals. If we win the next game too we can be second on the table and that's what we will focus on."

Gambhir also proved to be a motivational leader giving full credit to his bowlers who restricted Pune for 118 for 7 at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Mumbai.

Standing up for bowlers

"Whenever a team is bowled out for 120 or 130 everyone keeps talking about the wicket. Rather than talking about the wicket, a lot of credit should go to our bowlers," he reasoned.

"At Eden Gardens also, our bowlers have been doing a great job. There has been a hue and cry over that wicket but we have been chasing totals easily. The other teams have not been able to score, so give credit to our bowlers. This was good wicket to bat on," he said.

Inconsistent

He also hit out at comments that his team was inconsistent. "I disagree with the view that we were inconsistent. We have been the most consistent team in the tournament. We have played very well in the tournament.

"There has been hardly a game in which we have not given 100 per cent. We would like to do so in our next game [against Mumbai on May 22] too," he said.

Incidentally, the Kolkata-Pune match was an emotional one for some of the Kolkata fans who had come to cheer their team. With Sourav Ganguly playing for Pune they cheered for their hero whom they fondly address as Dada.

Interestingly, Ganguly hit the only six in Pune's innings and even pulled off a brilliant diving catch to send back man-of -the-match Yousuf Pathan. In fact, the cheers for Kolkata began only after Ganguly got out for 18 runs.

Pathan provides all-round edge

Pune Warriors: 118 for seven in 20 overs (Yuvraj Singh 24; Yousuf Pathan 2-23, Sakib Al Hassan 2-16, Lakshmipathy Balaji 2-7)

Kolkata Knight Riders: 119 for three in 16.4 overs (Manoj Tiwary 24, Yousuf Pathan 29).

IPL used to enhance India-Pakistan relationship

A former Sharjah Club opening batsman has called for the Indian Premier League to be used to revive the cricketing relationship between India and Pakistan. Mohammad Nawaz is now an Asian Cricket Council (ACC) level two coach and was a prolific scorer for Sharjah during his heyday in the 1980s. "Pakistan players should be included in the IPL as prelude to the revival of India-Pakistan cricket series," said Nawaz, who hails from Karachi and once averaged 112 in domestic cricket, his top score an unbeaten 178 against India Sports Club.

Abundance of players

"Soon many Sri Lankan players will be leaving IPL to play for their country in England. The Indian cricket board should sportingly include a few good Pakistan players in their place. "There is an abundance of good Twenty20 players in Pakistan who can lift the standard of the IPL. "If India agrees to include Pakistan players in the IPL then UAE should offer to host some of the matches next year.

"With large numbers of fans from both countries there will be packed stadiums." According to Nawaz, who coaches at Emirates Cricket Training and Desert Cubs Academy, more countries should come forward to organise IPL-type tournaments. "India has unearthed many players through IPL and so other countries too should try and stage such an event," he said.

"It will help them have good back up players for Twenty20 as well as one-day teams. If not for the IPL many players who are now knocking at the doors of the Indian team would have remained unknown. "IPL is entertainment but it has contributed to the promotion of the game. It should remain free of politics."

Bangladesh gears in to IPL with Shakib

With the series against Australia over, Bangladesh is gearing up to follow the Indian Premier League. And this time they have a huge reason to cheer for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Over the past three years, the Knights have been high on fan following in this part of the world for Sourav Ganguly. This time with Ganguly not around, the IPL hype in Bangladesh has been tepid till now but that could turn on its head if Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al-Hasan takes the field for the Knight Riders on Friday.

Both skipper Gautam Gambhir and bowling consultant Wasim Akram have said they were eagerly waiting for Shakib to join the squad, which would mean the left-arm spinner, who is a handy batsman, has a strong chance in the XI.  But Shakib himself was not too sure. “The Knight Riders have begun their campaign well. I am mentally and physically right there to take the field but I am not too sure of my role as yet. Once I join the squad and talk to people I will have a better idea,” Shakib told HT from Dhaka before leaving for Jaipur on Thursday morning.

Three other players from Bangladesh have featured in the IPL before Shakib - medium-pacer Mashrafe Mortaza (KKR), left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak (RCB) and batsman Mohammad Ashraful (MI). But none of them featured in the teams on a regular basis. With Shakib tipped to play a much bigger role this time, the country of 16 crore is right behind the Knight Riders.

Tim Southee to play in IPL

 

New Zealand pace bowler Tim Southee has signed to play for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket competition this year, assistant coach Steve Rixon said today.

Injuries have depleted the defending champions' bowling stocks so they have moved to shore them up by signing Southee, 22, who took 18 wickets at 17.33 during the one-day World Cup on the subcontinent.

Chennai are coached by former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, while Rixon, a former New Zealand coach, is the fielding coach and current New Zealand international Scott Styris is on their playing roster.

"It's good to have (Southee) on board, especially coming out of such a great recent tournament (at the World Cup)," Rixon told Radio Live today.

"It's an absolute bonus for us at the moment to be able to get our hands on such a quality player. "Tim's recent form over there (at the World Cup) indicates that he handles those conditions beautifully."

Knight Riders begin IPL training camp

 

With most of India seemingly focused on the World Cup semi final against Pakistan on Wednesday preparations for next months IPL got under way for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Eleven of the squad participated in the Knight Riders training camp at Eden Gardens on Sunday morning while World Cup fever swept the nation.

The players went through a number of fielding drills while Knight Riders coach Dav Whatmore watched on assessing the squad. Former Indian international Laxmipathy Balaji, who played a key role in helping the Chennai Super Kings win last years tournament was happy with how the players bonded.

”Of course, it’s a new experience for me, paying for a team for three seasons means you become really involved with that team,” said Balaji. “But we are professional cricketers. So, there shouldn’t be any problem for us. In fact, most of the cricketers have played for other teams earlier. This is a new season and we will start afresh,” he added.

Despite missing a number of key players including skipper Gautam Gambhir the Knight Riders will continue their preparations for the start of the IPL season. The Knight Riders will take on defending champions, the Super Kings on Friday, April 8th at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Times Internet achieves IPL media rights deal

 

Times Internet, part of The Times of India group, has won the global media rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament for four years, having bid Rs 261.6 crore. Covered are IPL mobile, radio and internet rights, along with broadcast rights for certain territories from 2011 to 2014, said N Srinivasan, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in a statement. Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd (MSML), which owns the SET and MAX channels, has IPL broadcast rights in the Indian sub-continent until 2017.

The bidding process followed after the Supreme Court had, last Friday, given a green signal to BCCI to proceed with the tenders for new global telecast rights for IPL-4, starting on April 8. In June 2010, BCCI had cancelled the media rights it had earlier awarded to World Sports Group, Mauritius, citing an allegedly improper payment of a facilitation fee worth Rs 425 crore from Multi-Screen Media (MSM).

The controversy surrounding the facilitation fee came to light when WSG India claimed to be the original buyer of the worldwide telecast rights of IPL for 10 years (2008 to 2017), in return for $1 billion (Rs 4,600 crore). MSM secured the rights to broadcast in India for five years (2008 to 2012) from WSG (India), with the option of securing rights for the remaining five years (2013-2017) by paying $25 million.

The BCCI, represented by former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, cancelled the original deal in 2009 and negotiated a new deal with WSG Mauritius. MSM then worked out an arrangement with WSG, Mauritius, guaranteeing a facilitation fee. The firm, along with WSG, had signed a deal with BCCI in 2007 for Rs 8,200 crore.

Apart from global TV rights, WSG also had some other rights including the Internet, live-streaming (with a short delay) and mobile rights. Last year, Google Inc’s YouTube platform signed a two-year deal to stream the matches. The deal was signed with Global Cricket Ventures (GCV), that acquired the rights from WSG. As part of the deal, GCV had agreed to pay BCCI Rs 25 crore yearly for the Google deal.

IPL tickets available from tomorrow

 

Tickets for the opening match of the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League, to be played between defending champion Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders here on April 8, will go on sale at the MAC Stadium, Chepauk, on March 24. Tickets can also be purchased at www.chennaisuperkings.com.

Tickets have been priced at Rs. 500 (A, B, C lower tier), Rs. 1,200 (G, H, I lower tier), Rs. 2,000 (A, B, C Upper tier), Rs. 2,500 (G, H, I upper tier), Rs. 3,000 (D lower tier and F lower tier), Rs. 4,000 (D, E, F upper tier), Rs. 5,000 (T3), Rs. 8,000 (Pavilion terrace) and Rs. 15,000 (Anna Pavilion).

Air-conditioned hospitality seats in the middle tiers of A, B, C, G, H and I will be sold at Rs.15,000 and hospitality seats for D, E and F will cost Rs. 25,000 per seat. Tickets will be sold from 9-30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.