Article taken from Rediff.com
Kings XI Punjab halted Mumbai Indians' [Images] six-match winning streak with a thrilling one-run victory off the last ball in the Indian Premier League [Images] match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday evening.
In a frenzied final phase of the match, the home team, chasing the visitors' 189 for four, was dismissed for 188, their last six wickets falling in three overs.
The victory, their third in a row, virtually put Punjab XI into the semi-finals, leaving Mumbai Indians on 12 points from 11 matches, with the difficult task of winning at least two of their last three away outings to make it to the last four.
Mumbai Indians also lost their away match to the visitors in Mohali on April 25.
Cruising to victory with captain Sachin Tendulkar [Images] (64) on song, Mumbai Indians suddenly lost the plot and a clutch of wickets -- mostly to run-outs -- saw them end up on the losing side.
From 159 for three in 16.5 overs, the home team slumped to 188 all out when last man Vikrant Yeligati was run-out at the non-striker's end by a superb piece of fielding by Punjab XI skipper Yuvraj Singh [Images] when two runs were needed off the final ball.
Five batsmen were run-out in the innings, and among those the most crucial dismissal was that of Tendulkar, who got mixed up with Robin Uthappa's yes-no call and was stranded out of the crease at the non-striker's end.
Mumbai Indians lost Shaun Pollock [Images] and Uthappa quickly and the loss of three wickets in just seven balls unnerved the rest of the batsmen, who took enormous risks and failed.
Taking centre stage after the fall of swashbuckling opening partner Sanath Jayasuriya (20) in the third over, Tendulkar played the anchor role, hitting 12 fours off 46 balls, before being run-out off the last ball of the 17th over.
Mumbai Indians lost their way after his dismissal, and that of Pollock, out first ball after top-edging Yuvraj to third man.
Tendulkar, playing in only his fourth IPL tie after missing the first seven matches, cleverly batted around power-hitters Dwayne Smith (20) and Abhishek Nayar (27) but the clutch of wickets in the end undid his good work.
The Mumbai run chase got off to a flier with Jayasuriya taking full advantage of a wayward Irfan Pathan [Images] and smashing him for two sixes and a four in his opening over which yielded 24 runs.
S Sreesanth [Images] was prone to bowling wide balls at the other end and 36 was raised in only 20 balls when the Kerala-born pacer trapped Jayasuriya with a slower ball.
Tendulkar, looking sedate when Jayasuriya was at the crease, and one-down Smith, playing his first game after joining the team two days ago, added 45 runs with the West Indian all-rounder starting off the block in style with two fours and a pulled six off Sreesanth.
Tendulkar, content to play the anchoring role, also opened out but lost his partner Smith who was run out backing up too far to an attempted single.
Nayar, promoted ahead of Uthappa, did his bit as he struck two sixes and a four in his 18-ball 27 before holing out to Tanmay Srivastava when slog-sweeping leg break bowler Piyush Chawla.
Earlier, the in-form Marsh made the most of an early escape to compile a superb 81 and put on a century stand with compatriot Luke Pomersbach to help Kings XI Punjab amass 189.
Marsh, dropped by Robin Uthappa at gully off Shaun Pollock when on 6, struck seven fours and four sixes in his 56-ball half century, his fifth in seven games.
He also added 133 runs for the second wicket, off only 86 balls, with fellow left-hander Pomersbach (79 not out) to lift the visitors from 1 for 1 to a very competitive total.
The visitors, with 14 points under their belt going into their 11th match, lost an early wicket -- that of James Hopes, who poked his bat at a fine out-swinger from Pollock off the first ball he faced and nicked to stumper Pinal Shah.
But Marsh, who started slowly before accelerating, stole the show with some classical batting to dominate the rest of the bowling once Pollock, after yet another stand-out bowling stint, was off the attack after a spell of 1 for 14 in three overs.
Initially, Marsh was overshadowed by Pomersbach during their second wicket partnership, worth 133, that helped the Punjab team recover from a shaky start. The Western Australian youngster, included in the Australian ODI team to play against the West Indies [Images], had a lucky escape on six in the team score of 8, when Uthappa, who had an off-day in the field, grassed the catch at gully after diving forward when Marsh glided Pollock.
It proved a costly error for Mumbai, who made a few changes to their bowling attack, as Marsh held sway over the bowling thereafter.
Pomersbach, who played the ideal foil for his more attacking partner, was also given the benefit of doubt by third umpire Suresh Shastri after repeated viewings of TV replays when Pollock's pick-up and throw at the non-striker's end stumps seemed to have caught the batsman short of the crease.
The batsman was then on 17 in a total of 66 for one and went on to remain unbeaten after facing 50 balls and striking ten fours and three sixes.
The 100 of the Punjab innings was raised in 71 balls and Marsh continued to bat in the same attacking fashion, hitting his sixes mostly over the straight field, before he was caught in the deep by Pollock while trying to clear the ropes for the fifth time.
Young off-spinner Sidharth Chitnis, playing in the tournament after missing a few matches, also accounted for visiting team captain Yuvraj Singh to claim 2 for 40 as the home team fought back a bit and seemed poised to restrict the visitors, who were 134 for 2 after 15 overs, below 180.
But the last over by Ashish Nehra, surprisingly bowling instead of Pollock who had one more over left in his quota, proved expensive as Pomersbach smashed him for two fours and six off consecutive balls to take the total one run below 190.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Bangalore's losing streak ends
Article taken from Rediff.com
Bangalore Royal Challengers [Images] beat Chennai Super Kings by 14 runs in their Indian Premier League [Images] match in Chennai on Wednesday.
The win was only Bangalore's third in the competition in 12 matches and moved them up from the bottom of the table to seventh spot with six points.
Chennai, on the other hand, suffered their fifth defeat in 12 matches and now have to win both their matches to qualify for the last four.
This was a much improved performance from Bangalore.
Chasing a modest 127 to win, Chennai began well with Parthiv Patel (24) and Stephen Fleming [Images] (45) putting on 60 runs in nine overs.
The former New Zealand [Images] captain looked impressive in his 39-ball knock that included three hits to the fence and two huge ones over it.
Parthiv fell in the first ball of the 10th over, bowled by Kumble and then followed a Chennai collapse.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] (4), Fleming, S Badrinath (1), Albie Morkel (1) and S Vidyut (0) fell in quick succession as the home team lost five wickets for an addition of 33 runs while eating up seven overs. Chennai never recovered from that collapse and ended up with just 122 for eight in their quota of 20 overs.
Anil Kumble [Images] (three for 14) and Dale Steyn (two for 28) were the most impressive bowlers for the Bangalore team. Vinay Kumar also chipped in with two wickets.
Bangalore Royal Challengers [Images] beat Chennai Super Kings by 14 runs in their Indian Premier League [Images] match in Chennai on Wednesday.
The win was only Bangalore's third in the competition in 12 matches and moved them up from the bottom of the table to seventh spot with six points.
Chennai, on the other hand, suffered their fifth defeat in 12 matches and now have to win both their matches to qualify for the last four.
This was a much improved performance from Bangalore.
Chasing a modest 127 to win, Chennai began well with Parthiv Patel (24) and Stephen Fleming [Images] (45) putting on 60 runs in nine overs.
The former New Zealand [Images] captain looked impressive in his 39-ball knock that included three hits to the fence and two huge ones over it.
Parthiv fell in the first ball of the 10th over, bowled by Kumble and then followed a Chennai collapse.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] (4), Fleming, S Badrinath (1), Albie Morkel (1) and S Vidyut (0) fell in quick succession as the home team lost five wickets for an addition of 33 runs while eating up seven overs. Chennai never recovered from that collapse and ended up with just 122 for eight in their quota of 20 overs.
Anil Kumble [Images] (three for 14) and Dale Steyn (two for 28) were the most impressive bowlers for the Bangalore team. Vinay Kumar also chipped in with two wickets.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Shah Rukh will be allowed to cheer from dug-out
Article taken from Rediff.com
A day after Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan [Images] was denied entry to his team's dressing room, Indian Premier League authorities issued fresh guidelines, which cleared the deck for the presence of a franchise owner in the team dug-out during the Twenty20 tournament.
IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi announced that the organisers will issue an all-area accreditation badge to one member of each of the eight team franchisees, following the ejection of Shah Rukh from the dug-out by the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit officials of the International Cricket Council.
While defending the ACSU officials' decision to ask the film star to vacate the dug-out during the IPL match against Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens on Sunday, Modi said suitable measures would be taken to avoid a repeat of the incident.
"There have been reports in the media about denial of a team owner access to the dug out and dressing room. The IPL is conducted as per the rules and regulations of the ICC [Images], whose ACSU officials were just doing the job entrusted," Modi said.
"They go strictly by the colour code. A red badge issued by the ACSU, on approval of the team manager, will help the person holding it access to all areas," he said.
"This is what we intend to do by giving each of the team owners one such badge each. They do have the right to sit with the players in the dug outs and dressing rooms," Modi told a media conference in Mumbai on Monday evening.
Modi said since this is the first year of the IPL, they are still learning the ropes.
"If we make mistakes, we are willing to set them right. This is the first year of IPL.
"We had already provided such badges to Preity Zinta [Images] (owner of Punjab King's XI) and Vijay Mallya [Images] (owner of Bangalore's Royal Challengers) as we had received such a request from them in advance," Modi explained.
"The team owners have the right to be with the team at all times. They are very much part of the team's strategies," he added.
Modi also said that each team, in addition, would get four visitor's passes with the condition that the holder of that badge, one at a time, can sit with the team members during the match for a maximum of 15 minutes.
"After the usage (of the temporary badge) it must be returned to the manager who has issued it," he said.
The IPL chairman also said that in future children of team members, including support staff, would not be allowed to enter the teams' dug-outs or dressing rooms during a match.
Earlier, the ICC expressed surprise at Shah Rukh's statement that he had been ejected by ACSU personnel.
The ICC said the IPL is a domestic tournament and the game's governing body did not have any role in formulating the rules.
"The reported incident has nothing to do with the ICC as the IPL is a domestic tournament which is being held under the Rules and Regulations of the BCCI," an ICC spokesman said from Dubai.
"Furthermore, the ICC Board in its meeting held in Dubai on 17-18 March had decided that IPL will introduce a code of conduct, an anti-corruption code and an anti-doping code that complies with ICC regulations," he said.
Shah Rukh was visibly dejected after being denied an entry in the dressing room and the actor said, "I like to hang around with the boys. I am very energetic. I am very disappointed that the ICC has stopped me," he said.
"I don't know the ICC rules. I'll tell only one thing. Nobody dare stop me from coming to Kolkata. I'll be here whenever my team plays a match at the Eden," Khan said.
Knight Riders CEO Joy Bhattacharya said ICC rules are meant to stop bookies entering the dressing room but they do not apply in a domestic tournament like IPL.
"When these rules were framed, the concept of franchisee owners' domestic tournament didn't even come, the law was not framed to stop people like Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Mukesh Ambani or Vijay Mallya from walking into the dressing room," he said.
"According to even ICC regulations, there is a system of visitor's pass, the manager and team management sign it. The person can be allowed in the dressing room as long as it is signed by. So there is no way to stop Shah Rukh from entering the dressing room," Bhattacharya added.
BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, meanwhile, asserted that Shah Rukh has to go by ICC rules, even though he felt nothing could really stop the actor from entering the dressing room.
"He should take permission from IPL's anti-corruption officer before entering into the dressing room," Shah said.
A day after Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan [Images] was denied entry to his team's dressing room, Indian Premier League authorities issued fresh guidelines, which cleared the deck for the presence of a franchise owner in the team dug-out during the Twenty20 tournament.
IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi announced that the organisers will issue an all-area accreditation badge to one member of each of the eight team franchisees, following the ejection of Shah Rukh from the dug-out by the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit officials of the International Cricket Council.
While defending the ACSU officials' decision to ask the film star to vacate the dug-out during the IPL match against Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens on Sunday, Modi said suitable measures would be taken to avoid a repeat of the incident.
"There have been reports in the media about denial of a team owner access to the dug out and dressing room. The IPL is conducted as per the rules and regulations of the ICC [Images], whose ACSU officials were just doing the job entrusted," Modi said.
"They go strictly by the colour code. A red badge issued by the ACSU, on approval of the team manager, will help the person holding it access to all areas," he said.
"This is what we intend to do by giving each of the team owners one such badge each. They do have the right to sit with the players in the dug outs and dressing rooms," Modi told a media conference in Mumbai on Monday evening.
Modi said since this is the first year of the IPL, they are still learning the ropes.
"If we make mistakes, we are willing to set them right. This is the first year of IPL.
"We had already provided such badges to Preity Zinta [Images] (owner of Punjab King's XI) and Vijay Mallya [Images] (owner of Bangalore's Royal Challengers) as we had received such a request from them in advance," Modi explained.
"The team owners have the right to be with the team at all times. They are very much part of the team's strategies," he added.
Modi also said that each team, in addition, would get four visitor's passes with the condition that the holder of that badge, one at a time, can sit with the team members during the match for a maximum of 15 minutes.
"After the usage (of the temporary badge) it must be returned to the manager who has issued it," he said.
The IPL chairman also said that in future children of team members, including support staff, would not be allowed to enter the teams' dug-outs or dressing rooms during a match.
Earlier, the ICC expressed surprise at Shah Rukh's statement that he had been ejected by ACSU personnel.
The ICC said the IPL is a domestic tournament and the game's governing body did not have any role in formulating the rules.
"The reported incident has nothing to do with the ICC as the IPL is a domestic tournament which is being held under the Rules and Regulations of the BCCI," an ICC spokesman said from Dubai.
"Furthermore, the ICC Board in its meeting held in Dubai on 17-18 March had decided that IPL will introduce a code of conduct, an anti-corruption code and an anti-doping code that complies with ICC regulations," he said.
Shah Rukh was visibly dejected after being denied an entry in the dressing room and the actor said, "I like to hang around with the boys. I am very energetic. I am very disappointed that the ICC has stopped me," he said.
"I don't know the ICC rules. I'll tell only one thing. Nobody dare stop me from coming to Kolkata. I'll be here whenever my team plays a match at the Eden," Khan said.
Knight Riders CEO Joy Bhattacharya said ICC rules are meant to stop bookies entering the dressing room but they do not apply in a domestic tournament like IPL.
"When these rules were framed, the concept of franchisee owners' domestic tournament didn't even come, the law was not framed to stop people like Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Mukesh Ambani or Vijay Mallya from walking into the dressing room," he said.
"According to even ICC regulations, there is a system of visitor's pass, the manager and team management sign it. The person can be allowed in the dressing room as long as it is signed by. So there is no way to stop Shah Rukh from entering the dressing room," Bhattacharya added.
BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, meanwhile, asserted that Shah Rukh has to go by ICC rules, even though he felt nothing could really stop the actor from entering the dressing room.
"He should take permission from IPL's anti-corruption officer before entering into the dressing room," Shah said.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Jayasuriya feasts on Chennai bowlers as Mumbai win
Sanath Jayasuriya single-handedly led Mumbai Indians to a comprehensive nine-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in their Indian Premier League clash at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
The Sri Lankan scored an aggressive 48-ball 114 not out that included nine boundaries and 11 huge sixes.
Jayasuriya and captain Sachin Tendulkar [Images] (12), playing in his first match in the IPL, put on 82 for the opening wicket in just 44 balls, Mumbai's best opening wicket stand so far in the competition, as the hosts made light work of the chase.
A packed crowd waited in eager anticipation to see Tendulkar perform but instead they witnessed Jayasuriya steal the thunder with the spectacular performance. Even Tendulkar was a mute spectator from the other end as the Sri Lankan severely punished the Chennai bowlers.
Chasing a modest 157, the home team romped home with 6.1 overs to spare.
Earlier, Subramaniam Badrinath and Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] revived Chennai Super Kings with a near-century stand after the Mumbai Indians' pace attack had taken early control of the match.
Badrinath, struggling initially before picking up pace, struck his second successive half century in the IPL and shared a 95-run fifth-wicket stand with Dhoni to take Chennai to 156 for six.
Badrinath made 53 off 32 balls with seven fours and two sixes while his skipper Dhoni made an unbeaten 43 in 35 balls with six fours and a six.
Earlier, the Mumbai Indians pace attack put them on the rack on a bouncy track to restrict them to 46 four in the ninth over before Badrinath and Dhoni led their revival with a splendid stand.
Put in to bat, Chennai began well by hitting a string of boundaries in the second over before being rocked by the Mumbai attack to be pushed on the back foot.
However, the Chennai Kings' final tally looked inadequate against Mumbai Indians' strong batting line-up that included the fit-again Sachin Tendulkar for the first time in the tournament.
In the top-order Stephen Fleming [Images] (26), dropped on one, and fellow-opener Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (16) got a start but failed to flourish to the full.
The visitors started with a flourish after a tight opening over from Pollock. Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan waded into Ashish Nehra, who had bowled well in Mumbai Indians' previous tie against Rajasthan Royals, and smacked the left arm bowler for three fours in the second over of the innings.
Fleming, after striking the young medium pacer for a four to square point, dragged the next ball on to his stumps when playing well away from his body.
Sri Lankan Kapugedara was nearly run-out off the next ball when non-striker S Badrinath did not respond to a call for a single, but Jayasuriya's throw to the striker's end was blocked by the batsman with his bat as he tried to retrieve the crease.
But Kapugedara fell off the very next ball, edging a rising ball from Kulkarni that left him off the pitch to stumper Takawale.
Pollock then came back for his fourth and final over and troubled Dhoni also bowled a maiden over.
Badrinath, who played some audacious scoop shots to fine leg, and Dhoni, who hooked Rohan Raje for the first six of the innings in the 18th over, put on a half-century stand to take the score past the 100-mark in the 16th over.
The last five overs fetched 67 runs for the visiting team as the pace bowlers, after Pollock had finished his quota, were punished at will.
The Mumbai Indians' medium pacers were so much on top of the batsmen initially that Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar, making his debut in the IPL after missing the first seven ties because of a groin injury, did not utilise Jayasuriya's left arm spin at all.
The Sri Lankan scored an aggressive 48-ball 114 not out that included nine boundaries and 11 huge sixes.
Jayasuriya and captain Sachin Tendulkar [Images] (12), playing in his first match in the IPL, put on 82 for the opening wicket in just 44 balls, Mumbai's best opening wicket stand so far in the competition, as the hosts made light work of the chase.
A packed crowd waited in eager anticipation to see Tendulkar perform but instead they witnessed Jayasuriya steal the thunder with the spectacular performance. Even Tendulkar was a mute spectator from the other end as the Sri Lankan severely punished the Chennai bowlers.
Chasing a modest 157, the home team romped home with 6.1 overs to spare.
Earlier, Subramaniam Badrinath and Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] revived Chennai Super Kings with a near-century stand after the Mumbai Indians' pace attack had taken early control of the match.
Badrinath, struggling initially before picking up pace, struck his second successive half century in the IPL and shared a 95-run fifth-wicket stand with Dhoni to take Chennai to 156 for six.
Badrinath made 53 off 32 balls with seven fours and two sixes while his skipper Dhoni made an unbeaten 43 in 35 balls with six fours and a six.
Earlier, the Mumbai Indians pace attack put them on the rack on a bouncy track to restrict them to 46 four in the ninth over before Badrinath and Dhoni led their revival with a splendid stand.
Put in to bat, Chennai began well by hitting a string of boundaries in the second over before being rocked by the Mumbai attack to be pushed on the back foot.
However, the Chennai Kings' final tally looked inadequate against Mumbai Indians' strong batting line-up that included the fit-again Sachin Tendulkar for the first time in the tournament.
In the top-order Stephen Fleming [Images] (26), dropped on one, and fellow-opener Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (16) got a start but failed to flourish to the full.
The visitors started with a flourish after a tight opening over from Pollock. Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan waded into Ashish Nehra, who had bowled well in Mumbai Indians' previous tie against Rajasthan Royals, and smacked the left arm bowler for three fours in the second over of the innings.
Fleming, after striking the young medium pacer for a four to square point, dragged the next ball on to his stumps when playing well away from his body.
Sri Lankan Kapugedara was nearly run-out off the next ball when non-striker S Badrinath did not respond to a call for a single, but Jayasuriya's throw to the striker's end was blocked by the batsman with his bat as he tried to retrieve the crease.
But Kapugedara fell off the very next ball, edging a rising ball from Kulkarni that left him off the pitch to stumper Takawale.
Pollock then came back for his fourth and final over and troubled Dhoni also bowled a maiden over.
Badrinath, who played some audacious scoop shots to fine leg, and Dhoni, who hooked Rohan Raje for the first six of the innings in the 18th over, put on a half-century stand to take the score past the 100-mark in the 16th over.
The last five overs fetched 67 runs for the visiting team as the pace bowlers, after Pollock had finished his quota, were punished at will.
The Mumbai Indians' medium pacers were so much on top of the batsmen initially that Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar, making his debut in the IPL after missing the first seven ties because of a groin injury, did not utilise Jayasuriya's left arm spin at all.
Monday, May 12, 2008
I want Sachin to play against us: McGrath
Article taken Rediff.com
Missing his long time on-field rival Sachin Tendulkar [Images], retired Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath hopes to bowl at the master batsman when Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians face off again in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
"Hopefully, Sachin will be fit in the next match. I wish him best of luck," the legendary pacer told PTI.
Talking on the sidelines of a fashion event in the capital on Friday night, McGrath said the Mumbai team was dearly missing Tendulkar.
"If Sachin comes to the Mumbai side, it will add extra pressure on the rival team as the little champion has the capability to win matches on any given day, he said.
The Australian said the Delhi Daredevils was a balanced side and was one of the strong contenders for the title.
"We have a good combination of youth and experience. Losing the last match against Chennai felt bad but we played some good cricket," said McGrath.
Delhi Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag [Images] exuded confidence that his side would lift the IPL title.
"We have performed very well till now and the boys are enjoying the IPL format. We are sure that we will win the IPL," he said.
Missing his long time on-field rival Sachin Tendulkar [Images], retired Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath hopes to bowl at the master batsman when Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians face off again in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
"Hopefully, Sachin will be fit in the next match. I wish him best of luck," the legendary pacer told PTI.
Talking on the sidelines of a fashion event in the capital on Friday night, McGrath said the Mumbai team was dearly missing Tendulkar.
"If Sachin comes to the Mumbai side, it will add extra pressure on the rival team as the little champion has the capability to win matches on any given day, he said.
The Australian said the Delhi Daredevils was a balanced side and was one of the strong contenders for the title.
"We have a good combination of youth and experience. Losing the last match against Chennai felt bad but we played some good cricket," said McGrath.
Delhi Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag [Images] exuded confidence that his side would lift the IPL title.
"We have performed very well till now and the boys are enjoying the IPL format. We are sure that we will win the IPL," he said.
Tendulkar to make IPL debut against Chennai
Article taken from Rediff.com
Mumbai Indians' hopes got a big shot in the arm when their icon player and captain Sachin Tendulkar [Images] on Monday declared himself fully fit to play his first Indian Premier League match against Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede Stadium on May 14.
"Yes I will be playing the match on May 14. I feel very comfortable. It has been tough and disappointing to have missed the two Tests against South Africa and the first seven IPL ties," Tendulkar told reporters after a strenuous practice sessions under lights.
"It has been hard work and with help from the physio and masseuse," Tendulkar, who has not played a competitive match since March-end due to a groin injury, said.
Tendulkar said though ace South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock [Images] had done a commendable job as captain, resurrecting the team's fortunes after a string of defeats in the first four matches, he would take over the reins now that he is fit.
"Shaun Pollock was the makeshift captain and has done a terrific job but I will be captaining the side," Tendulkar said.
He will open the innings with Sri Lankan ace Sanath Jayasuriya for the Mumbai Indians against Chennai, Tendulkar said.
The batsman however refused to be drawn into comments over off-spinner Harbhajan Singh [Images] who has been banned from the IPL for slapping S Sreesanth [Images] after the Mumbai Indians match against Punjab Kings XI at Mohali.
"It is a past chapter. Let's put it behind and look ahead," Tendulkar said.
"It's not about who is captain but about helping each other," Tendulkar said.
Talking in detail about his rehabilitation process, the ace batsman explained that the first half was spent in taking complete rest.
"The first half of my rehabilitation was done by taking rest and I was not allowed to play. I spent time on strengthening my muscles and swimming in the pool. All these contributed to my recovering full fitness," he said.
When asked about the team's performance so far, especially the defeats, Tendulkar said the first two matches were very close and in the crunch moments went in the opposition's favour.
The third and fourth matches the team could not compete as expected, he said, adding the key for the turn around in the team's fortunes leading to its three match winning streak was the ability to take early wickets.
"We could get early wickets and that was the key," Tendulkar said.
The master batsman was also very confident that the crowd would support the home team as has always been the case at the Wankhede stadium.
"The crowd has always been a constant support for us and like Shaun has said earlier it acts as the twelfth man for us," Tendulkar said.
When asked if he would be looking to strike good form after an injury lay-off like in the past, he said, "I always try hard."
About the rivals from Chennai, Tendulkar said, "They are a tough side. There will be plenty of talking done in the team before the match, it will be a question of implementing them."
Mumbai Indians' hopes got a big shot in the arm when their icon player and captain Sachin Tendulkar [Images] on Monday declared himself fully fit to play his first Indian Premier League match against Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede Stadium on May 14.
"Yes I will be playing the match on May 14. I feel very comfortable. It has been tough and disappointing to have missed the two Tests against South Africa and the first seven IPL ties," Tendulkar told reporters after a strenuous practice sessions under lights.
"It has been hard work and with help from the physio and masseuse," Tendulkar, who has not played a competitive match since March-end due to a groin injury, said.
Tendulkar said though ace South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock [Images] had done a commendable job as captain, resurrecting the team's fortunes after a string of defeats in the first four matches, he would take over the reins now that he is fit.
"Shaun Pollock was the makeshift captain and has done a terrific job but I will be captaining the side," Tendulkar said.
He will open the innings with Sri Lankan ace Sanath Jayasuriya for the Mumbai Indians against Chennai, Tendulkar said.
The batsman however refused to be drawn into comments over off-spinner Harbhajan Singh [Images] who has been banned from the IPL for slapping S Sreesanth [Images] after the Mumbai Indians match against Punjab Kings XI at Mohali.
"It is a past chapter. Let's put it behind and look ahead," Tendulkar said.
"It's not about who is captain but about helping each other," Tendulkar said.
Talking in detail about his rehabilitation process, the ace batsman explained that the first half was spent in taking complete rest.
"The first half of my rehabilitation was done by taking rest and I was not allowed to play. I spent time on strengthening my muscles and swimming in the pool. All these contributed to my recovering full fitness," he said.
When asked about the team's performance so far, especially the defeats, Tendulkar said the first two matches were very close and in the crunch moments went in the opposition's favour.
The third and fourth matches the team could not compete as expected, he said, adding the key for the turn around in the team's fortunes leading to its three match winning streak was the ability to take early wickets.
"We could get early wickets and that was the key," Tendulkar said.
The master batsman was also very confident that the crowd would support the home team as has always been the case at the Wankhede stadium.
"The crowd has always been a constant support for us and like Shaun has said earlier it acts as the twelfth man for us," Tendulkar said.
When asked if he would be looking to strike good form after an injury lay-off like in the past, he said, "I always try hard."
About the rivals from Chennai, Tendulkar said, "They are a tough side. There will be plenty of talking done in the team before the match, it will be a question of implementing them."
Dravid, Charu Sharma had their own plans: Mallya
The internal bickering of the Bangalore Royal Challengers is out in the open with team owner Vijay Mallya [Images] revealing that he was at loggerheads with captain Rahul Dravid [Images] and the outfit's sacked CEO Charu Sharma over players' selection for the Indian Premier League.
Mallya made it clear that he was not happy with the squad, currently languishing at the bottom of the IPL points table, which has been ridiculed as a Test team in Twenty20 jersey.
The liquor baron said he had some players in mind but Dravid and Sharma completely ignored them and went ahead with their own plan.
"I had my own list (of players) but the fact is Rahul Dravid and Charu Sharma had their own list and at the end of the day, I decided to take the back seat," Mallya told NDTV.
"I was very tempted to bid for players whom I wanted but they held me back. Obviously things have turned out differently," he said.
He said Sharma backed Dravid to the hilt and even in the second auction, where the captain was not present, the former CEO discouraged Mallya to buy players of his choice.
"When Rahul Dravid was not present in the second auction, I wanted to acquire some players but Charu Sharma was very tentative about them. I mean I bought Misbah-ul Haq because I was determined to do it. There were other players I was discouraged about," Mallya said.
On sacking Sharma and replacing him with former Test player Brijesh Patel, Mallya said, "Charu Sharma was appointed CEO because I thought he understood cricket and he would add value to the team and the entire Royal Challengers initiative."
Mallya said Patel's appointment was necessitated because he was tired of complaints that the team did not have good practice facilities in its base in Bangalore.
"When I was questioning the performance of the team, all I was told was that practice facilities are bad, then I was told there was no bonding in the team...so everything was blamed on a particular event or lack of infrastructure.
"So I said to myself things can't continue like this and I brought Brijesh Patel. He is the honorable secretary of the KSCA (Karnataka State Cricket Association) and who better a person to provide match facilities and whatever else the team needs at its base in Bangalore. He understands cricket as well," Mallya explained.
The flamboyant liquor-baron also made it clear that IPL had an unmistakable corporate face, which makes it evidently distinct from other tournaments.
"At the end of the day, people need to understand that the IPL has a corporate side to it, and a very definitive corporate side. It is not at all cricket in the traditional sense," he added.
Now that the team's semi-final hopes have gone up in smoke, Mallya expects Dravid and his teammates to win a few matches to salvage some pride.
"I want from Rahul Dravid to do the best for the team and to produce some good results for us because I don't think Rahul Dravid enjoys being at the bottom of the league tables, and certainly I don't." Mallya added
Mallya made it clear that he was not happy with the squad, currently languishing at the bottom of the IPL points table, which has been ridiculed as a Test team in Twenty20 jersey.
The liquor baron said he had some players in mind but Dravid and Sharma completely ignored them and went ahead with their own plan.
"I had my own list (of players) but the fact is Rahul Dravid and Charu Sharma had their own list and at the end of the day, I decided to take the back seat," Mallya told NDTV.
"I was very tempted to bid for players whom I wanted but they held me back. Obviously things have turned out differently," he said.
He said Sharma backed Dravid to the hilt and even in the second auction, where the captain was not present, the former CEO discouraged Mallya to buy players of his choice.
"When Rahul Dravid was not present in the second auction, I wanted to acquire some players but Charu Sharma was very tentative about them. I mean I bought Misbah-ul Haq because I was determined to do it. There were other players I was discouraged about," Mallya said.
On sacking Sharma and replacing him with former Test player Brijesh Patel, Mallya said, "Charu Sharma was appointed CEO because I thought he understood cricket and he would add value to the team and the entire Royal Challengers initiative."
Mallya said Patel's appointment was necessitated because he was tired of complaints that the team did not have good practice facilities in its base in Bangalore.
"When I was questioning the performance of the team, all I was told was that practice facilities are bad, then I was told there was no bonding in the team...so everything was blamed on a particular event or lack of infrastructure.
"So I said to myself things can't continue like this and I brought Brijesh Patel. He is the honorable secretary of the KSCA (Karnataka State Cricket Association) and who better a person to provide match facilities and whatever else the team needs at its base in Bangalore. He understands cricket as well," Mallya explained.
The flamboyant liquor-baron also made it clear that IPL had an unmistakable corporate face, which makes it evidently distinct from other tournaments.
"At the end of the day, people need to understand that the IPL has a corporate side to it, and a very definitive corporate side. It is not at all cricket in the traditional sense," he added.
Now that the team's semi-final hopes have gone up in smoke, Mallya expects Dravid and his teammates to win a few matches to salvage some pride.
"I want from Rahul Dravid to do the best for the team and to produce some good results for us because I don't think Rahul Dravid enjoys being at the bottom of the league tables, and certainly I don't." Mallya added
Friday, May 9, 2008
Which franchise owner is getting the best return on investment?
Article taken from rediff
One could answer this question even without any number crunching: Rajasthan Royals, of course. They've paid out the least and won the most, at least right now.
But it would still be nice to put down some numbers. In today's analysis (based on data after match # 27), therefore, we look at the ten most "expensive" players from each team and check what sort of contribution they are offering in return.
More specifically, we look at their average paisa vasool index (PVI). The PVI is "the amount paid so far to the player" divided by "the player's MVPI so far". Players with low PVI values offer the franchise owner a good return on investment. [The MVPI measures a player's "contribution"; see the dummy's explanation of MVPI and PVI at the end of this note.]
The chart below provides some answers, although we must point out that this analysis does have some limitations.
One could answer this question even without any number crunching: Rajasthan Royals, of course. They've paid out the least and won the most, at least right now.
But it would still be nice to put down some numbers. In today's analysis (based on data after match # 27), therefore, we look at the ten most "expensive" players from each team and check what sort of contribution they are offering in return.
More specifically, we look at their average paisa vasool index (PVI). The PVI is "the amount paid so far to the player" divided by "the player's MVPI so far". Players with low PVI values offer the franchise owner a good return on investment. [The MVPI measures a player's "contribution"; see the dummy's explanation of MVPI and PVI at the end of this note.]
The chart below provides some answers, although we must point out that this analysis does have some limitations.
Just as we guessed, Rajasthan Royals' top ten players (who receive perhaps 90% of the franchise payouts) are offering the best return. For every "run" (MVPI) contributed by a top RR player the payout is US$ 1338.
Royal Challengers Bangalore pay their top ten players about three times more for the same "run"! Perhaps that explains the recent turbulence that the team is witnessing.
The Royal Challengers (PVI: 4268) are handicapped because two of their top players, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis, have a PVI of more than 3000 due to below par performances and high acquisition costs. They have also got disappointing returns from their other two expensive players, Anil Kumble and Cameron White, because of injury and the "only-4-foreign-players" requirement respectively. The team's PVI would have dropped to 3600 even if it had dropped just one of its expensive non-performing players. But we mustn't forget that the IPL is only at the halfway mark.
Kolkata Knight Riders (PVI: 3162) have worries because their two most expensive players, Sourav Ganguly and Ishant Sharma, are not performing too well; both have PVI's of over 4000. Ricky Ponting didn't fire either (he left with a PVI of over 7000), and Chris Gayle on the bench is an extremely expensive proposition. Without Gayle, KKR's PVI would have dropped to 2624.
The Mumbai Indians (PVI: 2791) have to reckon with the injury of their most expensive player, Sachin Tendulkar , and the continued absence of Dilhara Fernando. Sanath Jayasuriya and Robin Uthappa are doing their bit, but their price tags are so high that they still have PVIs of about 2000. Shaun Pollock with a PVI of 1100 is offering very good value, and Dwayne Bravo and Ashish Nehra have been complete steals.
Delhi Daredevils (PVI: 2512) are benefitting immensely from the superlative performances of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. In spite of their price tags of about US$ 750,000 each, both the openers have a PVI of just around 1000. Delhi Daredevils have picked almost the perfect team, except for the Manoj Tiwary buy with a big price tag. Without Tiwary, DD's PVI would be 2157.
Chennai Super Kings (PVI: 2349) have very steady player performances, although they are missing Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey � two top batsmen who walked away with an incredibly low PVI of just about 500. M S Dhoni and Jacob Oram have PVI's in the range of 3000 � because Dhoni is so frightfully expensive, and Oram hardly got the opportunity to contribute with the bat.
Deccan Chargers (PVI: 2439) aren't winning much, but there have been steady individual performances. Most players have PVI's between 1000 and 1500 except R P Singh and Andrew Symonds who are closer to 2500 � Singh because he essentially offers only bowling skills, and Symonds because of his very high price � and because his dreadful bowling partly neutralized his splendid batting. The one big mistake so far � although things can change rapidly � has been the acquisition of Herschelle Gibbs. Without Gibbs, the team would have had a PVI of 1600.
King's XI Punjab (PVI: 1811) arguably boasts of the best combination. Although expensive, Yuvraj Singh has an acceptable PVI of 2136. Irfan Pathan Kumar Sangakkara, Piyush Chawla bring in enormous value with PVIs of 1500 or less. Mahela Jayawardene and S Sreesanth have PVI's above 2000 because they offer only one cricketing skill. Even Brett Lee (very expensive) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (benched because of only-4-foreign-players rule) have PVIs of about 2800. James Hopes, Simon Katich and now Shaun Marsh offer tremendous value with PVIs of 1000 or less.
Finally, Rajasthan Royals (PVI: 1338) have got things wonderfully right. They chose an inspirational and clever captain, didn't spend lavishly on foreign recruits who would have to be frequently benched, and made the absolutely brilliant purchase of Shane Watson (delivering a PVI of just 150!). Even Yusuf Pathan, with a price tag of $475,000, has a PVI of 994. The Royals have had only one disappointment: Mohammed Kaif, with a PVI of almost 6000. Take Kaif out, and the team's PVI drops to 855! Surely, there's something truly magical happening at Jaipur.
Most valuable player index (MVPI) and Paisa Vasool Index (PVI) explained
Consider a match in which Virender Sehwag scores 60 runs in 30 balls, has bowling figures of 4-0-40-2, takes one catch and effects a direct run out.
We assume that a team's average score in 20 overs is 160. This translates to 8 runs per 6 balls.
So, in his 30 balls faced, Sehwag was expected to score 40 runs. He actually scored 60, i.e., 20 runs more. So we pretend that Sehwag actually scored 60 +20 = 80 "runs".
We assume that each wicket equals 16 runs. Since Sehwag got 2 wickets, it is as if Sehwag scored 32 "runs". However, in 4 overs, Sehwag was expected to concede only 32 runs. He conceded 8 more runs. We therefore revise his 32 "runs" to 32-8 = 24 "runs".
We assume a catch equals 4 runs, and a direct run out is just like claiming a wicket, which is worth 16 "runs". So Sehwag contributed 4+16 = 20 "runs" by his fielding.
Adding up, we say that Sehwag's all-round performance (as a batsman, bowler and fielder) is equivalent to scoring 80+24+20 = 124 "runs".
Sehwag's MVPI for the match therefore equals 124. We calculate Sehwag's MVPI this way for every match and maintain his running total. Note therefore that the higher the total MVPI, the better the player is performing.
In the DLF IPL scenario we can therefore assume that the franchise owner is paying the player in return for "runs". If the franchise owner can get a lot of "runs" by paying very little he's getting a good bargain (that's good "paisa vasool"). But if a highly-paid player gives back very few "runs", the franchise owner is losing.
We have therefore defined the paisa vasool index PVI as: amount paid so far to the player / MVPI of the player. So the lower the PVI, the better the value offered by the player.
I tried to bowl keeping in mind my limitations: Ganguly
Having bagged the man of the match with his tight bowling spell that played a vital role in the Kolkata Knight Riders' victory over the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the Indian Premier League, Sourav Ganguly on Thursday night said that he had tried to bowl well keeping in mind his limitations.
"I tried to bowl well and it happened. I know my limitations," said the Knight Riders skipper after his side's thrilling five-run win over the Challengers at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
On his decision to turn his arms, Ganguly said "It had to come, because it was an important game and we had to win to keep our prospects alive in the tournament".
Ganguly returned excellent figures of 3-0-7-1 that made the asking rate steep for the Royal Challengers in the middle overs.
But he praised young pacer Ishant Sharma, who bowled the last over, when the visitors needed 19 runs to pull off a win.
"He is our best bowler. He delivered against all odds in the last over".
Ganguly said he had asked Ishant to bowl full and fast in the last over.
Asked about his success in getting Rahul Dravid's wicket, Ganguly said "Rahul is one of the greatest players India has ever produced, and if he had got set, he would have taken the game away from us."
The Knight Riders captain said that his side reaped the benefits of brilliant bowling and fielding performances.
"I tried to bowl well and it happened. I know my limitations," said the Knight Riders skipper after his side's thrilling five-run win over the Challengers at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
On his decision to turn his arms, Ganguly said "It had to come, because it was an important game and we had to win to keep our prospects alive in the tournament".
Ganguly returned excellent figures of 3-0-7-1 that made the asking rate steep for the Royal Challengers in the middle overs.
But he praised young pacer Ishant Sharma, who bowled the last over, when the visitors needed 19 runs to pull off a win.
"He is our best bowler. He delivered against all odds in the last over".
Ganguly said he had asked Ishant to bowl full and fast in the last over.
Asked about his success in getting Rahul Dravid's wicket, Ganguly said "Rahul is one of the greatest players India has ever produced, and if he had got set, he would have taken the game away from us."
The Knight Riders captain said that his side reaped the benefits of brilliant bowling and fielding performances.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Need to look beyond the TV footage
Article taken from Hindustantimes.com
It was a pleasant surprise for me when the Chennai Super Kings bowling line-up, which is not as strong as our batting, scripted an impressive win against the Kolkata Knight Riders. The latter started strongly, but Jacob Oram was able to induce false shots from the in-form Brendon McCullum and then Ricky Ponting. Once you lose wickets upfront, T20 becomes a very different ball game, and a sub-150 total was always going to be hard to defend against our in-form batting attack. I celebrated the win by learning yet another Tamil term, po laama? which means, “Shall we go?”
It’s a lot like what happened between Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi. What Zidane did was wrong, but Materazzi also was not completely in the right.While cricket has been hogging headlines all over the country, it was a little sad to see a controversy in the newspapers once again. The incident involving Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh was unfortunate because I know both of them, and they are not bad guys at all. Everybody is passing judgment based on what is reported in the newspapers, and I am too far from the scene to actually comment on it. However, before issuing any punishment, I hope the authorities check the actual sequence of events rather than just what the footage shows.
Harbhajan is a very aggressive cricketer who plays hard and is there for his teammates whenever they need him. Even Sreesanth has seen this supportive side of Harbhajan in the Indian dressing room. Sreesanth is also a very aggressive cricketer who likes to express his highs and lows very passionately on the cricket field. Off the field, you will not meet a more soft-spoken guy than Sree. I am glad to hear that whatever happens in the form of disciplinary action, both these guys have sorted things out between themselves.
As far as this incident having any effect on the Indian dressing room, it seems unlikely. Besides, there is a long time to go before we play international cricket, and I am sure things will get sorted out by then. Coming back to the IPL, we now take on the Bangalore Royal Challengers in their home game, and while they not really got off to a flying start, they are still a very fine side. They have quite a few match-winners in their midst and if any one of them gets going on Monday, it will mean trouble for us. There is no such thing as a favourite in Twenty20 cricket, and whoever will have the better form in those three hours will win. It is important for us to focus on our plans and also play to our strengths. If we do that consistently, we will continue to get the results.
All teams will be heading towards a new phase in May when some of the international players will have to leave for national duty. We will lose Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey and Oram next week, and most sides will lose a couple of key players in the side.
For the momentum to be maintained, we will need our India internationals as well as the new internationals to keep the intensity going. I know that Hayden is a tough player to replace at the top of the order, but we will have to find ways. We will be getting in Stephen Fleming, Makhaya Ntini and Albie Morkel, and a lot depends on how these guys will fare in the coming games.
Bhajji probe judge angers Board
Article taken from HindustanTimes.com
Nearly 10 days ago, Hindustan Times reported on how Harbhajan Singh had written a profusely apologetic and anguished letter to the BCCI, worried about the length and intensity of his potential punishment.
A little after he penned that letter, he was banned by the IPL for 11 to 13 games, and is awaiting the outcome of an independent BCCI inquiry into his slapping Sreesanth. On Wednesday, the letter came back to haunt him as a TV channel ran excerpts from it.
The Board chose not to react to the leak. What angered them more was the public statements of advocate Sudhir Nanavati, the man probing the incident. He told mediapersons on Tuesday he was “shocked” after watching footage of the incident. The BCCI top brass was shocked and “deeply unhappy” that he made remarks to the media “even before submitting his report”.
“How can an investigator make public statements even before submitting his report, and before completing his inquiry?” a top Board official, not willing to be named, told the HT on Wednesday. “In a way, it gives the impression that he has arrived at a conclusion even before probing the episode completely.”
Nanavati, post a teleconference with Farokh Engineer, match referee for the Mumbai-Mohali game on April 25, told the media (in the presence of IPL commissioner Lalit Modi here): “What I saw (in the footage) was shocking, but it has made my job easier.” Nanavati is slated to meet both Harbhajan and Sreesanth in Ahmedabad over Friday and Saturday before submitting his report to the BCCI president Sharad Pawar on Monday. What the Board, already split down the middle over the need for further punishment, does with his report, will be interesting.
What Bhajji wrote: “I did apologise to Sreesanth after the incident and I would do so again in public if needed… Along with accepting my most sincere and heartfelt apologies over this incident, I’d like to appeal to the board's sense of fair play and ask for one final chance before taking any disciplinary action against me over this incident.”
Nanavati to a news channel on Tuesday: “So far the documents I have received do not indicate to that extent (that there was any provocation)...”
Nearly 10 days ago, Hindustan Times reported on how Harbhajan Singh had written a profusely apologetic and anguished letter to the BCCI, worried about the length and intensity of his potential punishment.
A little after he penned that letter, he was banned by the IPL for 11 to 13 games, and is awaiting the outcome of an independent BCCI inquiry into his slapping Sreesanth. On Wednesday, the letter came back to haunt him as a TV channel ran excerpts from it.
The Board chose not to react to the leak. What angered them more was the public statements of advocate Sudhir Nanavati, the man probing the incident. He told mediapersons on Tuesday he was “shocked” after watching footage of the incident. The BCCI top brass was shocked and “deeply unhappy” that he made remarks to the media “even before submitting his report”.
“How can an investigator make public statements even before submitting his report, and before completing his inquiry?” a top Board official, not willing to be named, told the HT on Wednesday. “In a way, it gives the impression that he has arrived at a conclusion even before probing the episode completely.”
Nanavati, post a teleconference with Farokh Engineer, match referee for the Mumbai-Mohali game on April 25, told the media (in the presence of IPL commissioner Lalit Modi here): “What I saw (in the footage) was shocking, but it has made my job easier.” Nanavati is slated to meet both Harbhajan and Sreesanth in Ahmedabad over Friday and Saturday before submitting his report to the BCCI president Sharad Pawar on Monday. What the Board, already split down the middle over the need for further punishment, does with his report, will be interesting.
What Bhajji wrote: “I did apologise to Sreesanth after the incident and I would do so again in public if needed… Along with accepting my most sincere and heartfelt apologies over this incident, I’d like to appeal to the board's sense of fair play and ask for one final chance before taking any disciplinary action against me over this incident.”
Nanavati to a news channel on Tuesday: “So far the documents I have received do not indicate to that extent (that there was any provocation)...”
Saturday, May 3, 2008
IPL Team Profiles
Article taken from Yahoo.co.in
Team Profiles
Mumbai Profile
Team Mumbai will be led by Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the Twenty20 Championship. Sachin also happens to be the Icon Player of the team.
Lalchand Rajput, the former Manager of the Indian Cricket Team will coach this star-studded side. The rights for the Mumbai franchise were purchased by the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited through its subsidiary Reliance Retail Ltd. It was purchased for a whopping $111.9 million during the auction on January 24, 2008. This consequently made the Mumbai the most expensive franchise in Championship. The team logo is the Sudharshan Chakra and team colour is blue.
Through the player auction, Mumbai fruitfully bid for 7 players. This includes two of the heroes of Indian Twenty20 World Cup side in Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa. Sanath Jayasuriya was also another high-quality catch, alongside South African veteran Shaun Pollock. Flamboyant Sri Lankan speedster Lasith Malinga was also added to the team. Outside of the player auction, the franchise has also signed up Ajinkya Rahane and Abhishek Nayar (both from Mumbai), Yogesh Takawale (wicketkeeper-batsman from Maharashtra) and Pinal Shah (wicketkeeper-batsman from Baroda). Delhi's Ashish Nehra and Western Australia's striking wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi are two priceless assets added to the Mumbai outfit. Saurabh Tiwary and Manish Pandey, the stars of the ICC Under-19 World Cup winning team were the chance picks drafted in through the second auction.
There will be high expectations from the Mumbai setup as it is also the home-team of Sachin Tendulkar who will play the role of skipper. Being the costliest franchise, the Mumbai team will look to prove their worth and mettle.
Chennai Profile
Team Chennai will be led by Indian cricket star Mahendra Singh Dhoni,the highest paid player in the championship. The outfit will be coached by Kepler Wessels. However, the team has no Icon Player. Chennai are one of the three franchises with no icon player. The lack of an icon player benefited the team during the bidding as they managed to bid profitably on two of the six A-listed players - Dhoni and Muttiah Muralidharan. In addition the list of players already attained, the team will pick the lingering members from the three catchment areas - Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Railways - that have been assigned to it. The team has decided to have twenty three players on its roster.
The name was picked to pay tribute to the rulers of the golden era of Tamil culture, the team logo has a lion to reflect the King of the Jungle. In addition, the word "Super" is informally used in the state of Tamil Nadu to reflect all things exhilarating and thrilling and is a word on the lips of almost everyone there. The name is also from Coromandel Super King cement, a brand of cement promoted by the India Cements group, of which N. Srinivasan (Treasurer, BCCI) is the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director. The crown in the logo is also borrowed from the cement brand. Incidentally the Chennai team playing in the ICL (the rebel league) is named as "Chennai Superstars". The franchise is owned by India Cements, who paid a spectacular $91 million to get hold of the rights of the franchise for the next decade.
Former India Test player Kris Srikkanth is the brand ambassador for the franchise, and another former Indian opener VB Chandrasekhar will be the chief selector. The brand ambassadors for the team will be South Indian actor, Vijay and actress, Nayantara. The MA Chidambaram stadium (often referred to as Chepauk, the place where the stadium is located) will be the home ground of the team. The theme song of Chennai, penned by Vairamuthu, is composed by Mani Sharma and directed by Rajeev Menon. Being MS Dhoni's team, the Chennai will have a huge fan following and they will be keen to not let down their fans
The Pink City will be embodied by Team Jaipur. The team will be led as well as coached by Aussie spin legend Shane Warne. The team has no icon player. It is the only IPL team to have a foreign captain and playing coach. The team's mascot is a lion named Moochu Singh. The team anthem is 'Halla Bol', and has been sung by Ila Arun. The Jaipur franchise is owned by Emerging Media Group. The group acquired the franchise for $67 million. Jaipur was the least active franchise during the player auction. The team does not have a designated icon player, which saved a lot of cap space for the franchise.
However, the franchise was startlingly low-key during the auction, and in the end got reprimanded by the organizing committee for failing to meet the minimum bidding criteria of $3.3 million. The highest bid by Jaipur was for the Indian middle order batsman Mohammad Kaif, who came off the board at $675,000. The Royals are only one of its kind in the Twenty20 tournament as they are the only side to have an English cricketer in their squad, Hampshire's all rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas. Despite being the most low-profile team in the auction, they will look to capitalize on their strengths and emerge victorious.
Team Profiles
Mumbai Profile
Team Mumbai will be led by Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the Twenty20 Championship. Sachin also happens to be the Icon Player of the team.
Lalchand Rajput, the former Manager of the Indian Cricket Team will coach this star-studded side. The rights for the Mumbai franchise were purchased by the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited through its subsidiary Reliance Retail Ltd. It was purchased for a whopping $111.9 million during the auction on January 24, 2008. This consequently made the Mumbai the most expensive franchise in Championship. The team logo is the Sudharshan Chakra and team colour is blue.
Through the player auction, Mumbai fruitfully bid for 7 players. This includes two of the heroes of Indian Twenty20 World Cup side in Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa. Sanath Jayasuriya was also another high-quality catch, alongside South African veteran Shaun Pollock. Flamboyant Sri Lankan speedster Lasith Malinga was also added to the team. Outside of the player auction, the franchise has also signed up Ajinkya Rahane and Abhishek Nayar (both from Mumbai), Yogesh Takawale (wicketkeeper-batsman from Maharashtra) and Pinal Shah (wicketkeeper-batsman from Baroda). Delhi's Ashish Nehra and Western Australia's striking wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi are two priceless assets added to the Mumbai outfit. Saurabh Tiwary and Manish Pandey, the stars of the ICC Under-19 World Cup winning team were the chance picks drafted in through the second auction.
There will be high expectations from the Mumbai setup as it is also the home-team of Sachin Tendulkar who will play the role of skipper. Being the costliest franchise, the Mumbai team will look to prove their worth and mettle.
Chennai Profile
Team Chennai will be led by Indian cricket star Mahendra Singh Dhoni,the highest paid player in the championship. The outfit will be coached by Kepler Wessels. However, the team has no Icon Player. Chennai are one of the three franchises with no icon player. The lack of an icon player benefited the team during the bidding as they managed to bid profitably on two of the six A-listed players - Dhoni and Muttiah Muralidharan. In addition the list of players already attained, the team will pick the lingering members from the three catchment areas - Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Railways - that have been assigned to it. The team has decided to have twenty three players on its roster.
The name was picked to pay tribute to the rulers of the golden era of Tamil culture, the team logo has a lion to reflect the King of the Jungle. In addition, the word "Super" is informally used in the state of Tamil Nadu to reflect all things exhilarating and thrilling and is a word on the lips of almost everyone there. The name is also from Coromandel Super King cement, a brand of cement promoted by the India Cements group, of which N. Srinivasan (Treasurer, BCCI) is the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director. The crown in the logo is also borrowed from the cement brand. Incidentally the Chennai team playing in the ICL (the rebel league) is named as "Chennai Superstars". The franchise is owned by India Cements, who paid a spectacular $91 million to get hold of the rights of the franchise for the next decade.
Former India Test player Kris Srikkanth is the brand ambassador for the franchise, and another former Indian opener VB Chandrasekhar will be the chief selector. The brand ambassadors for the team will be South Indian actor, Vijay and actress, Nayantara. The MA Chidambaram stadium (often referred to as Chepauk, the place where the stadium is located) will be the home ground of the team. The theme song of Chennai, penned by Vairamuthu, is composed by Mani Sharma and directed by Rajeev Menon. Being MS Dhoni's team, the Chennai will have a huge fan following and they will be keen to not let down their fans
Delhi Profile
Team Delhi is owned by the GMR Group. The group is in to energy and infrastructure sectors and is based in Hyderabad. Grandhi Mallikarjun Rao is the Chairman and Managing director of GMR group. The team will be under the captaincy of Virender 'Triple Centurion' Sehwag. He is also designated as the Icon Player for the franchise. During the franchise auction for the Indian Premier League teams, GMR Group acquired the rights for the Delhi franchise for $84 million.
Along with Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Tillakratne Dilshan, Manoj Tiwary and Shikhar Dhawan will be the specialist batsmen in the team. Veteran New Zealander Daniel Vettori was a prize catch along with wicketkeeper-batsman AB de Villiers of South Africa. Dinesh Karthik is the other keeper option.
Pakistani all-rounder Shoaib Malik is also a part of the team. The pace bowling department of the outfit looks strong as it houses legend Glenn McGrath and Pakistani speedster Mohammad Asif. The others who constitute the team are Sri Lankan all-rounder Farveez Maharoof, Ranji Trophy players - Rajat Bhatia and Mithun Manhas and under-22 all-rounder Mayank Tehlan. Yo Mahesh, Pradeep Sangwan and Australian Brett Geeves are also a part of the outfit.
Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar has been signed as the brand ambassador. The team looks a formidable opposition with the likes of Sehwag and McGrath, and will look to make most of the challenge and give it their maximum.
Mohali Profile
Team Mohali is the one of the sports franchises in the Twenty20 Championship. They are based in Mohali. The team will be captained by Yuvraj Singh. He is also the Icon Player of the franchise. The team will be coached by Australian Tom Moody. The CEO will be Neil Maxwell who has been a part of the Australian domestic circuit. The owners of the franchise include Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia - Joint Managing Director of Bombay Dyeing, Karan Paul of the Apeejay Surendra Group and Mohit Burman of Dabur.
The group paid a total of $76 million to acquire the franchise. In addition to Yuvraj, the team also contains the promising Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan, Aussie speedster Brett Lee and the Sri Lankan duo of Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara in its ranks. Indian speedsters S Sreesanth, spinner Piyush Chawla, and VRV Singh also constitute the team. The team will be looking to put up a good show and give some tough competition to all their rivals.
Kolkata Profile
Team Kolkata will be captained by former captain Sourav Ganguly who is also the Icon Player for the team. John Buchanan will coach the team. The name of the team was revealed on March 10, 2008 with an official team unveiling ceremony on March 11, 2008. The official theme of the team is "Korbo, Lorbo, Jitbo Re" (We will do it, Fight for it, Win it) and has been created by Bollywood's Vishal-Shekhar duo. Since Black stands for the valor of Indian goddess Maa Kali and gold stands for the spirit of winning, the official colors are black and gold. The jersey was created by Bollywood fashion designer Manish Malhotra. The franchise was bought on January 24, 2008 by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment in a joint venture with actress Juhi Chawla and her husband, Jai Mehta.
The emblem of the team consists of a scorching golden Viking helmet against a black background with the name of the team Kolkata written in gold. The tag line of the team is 'All the King's Men.' The team also has a mascot named Hoog Lee, who is a lazy Royal Bengal Tiger and loves to eat burgers. The name of the team was chosen after a lot of research. The name Knight Riders has been chosen keeping in mind the appeal to kids and youth. The squad consists of Windies all-rounder Chris Gayle and Kiwi wicketkeeper batsman Brendon McCullum. Also, the most successful captain in world cricket Ricky Ponting follows suit with a bowling attack including India's latest pace sensation Ishant Sharma and Pakistani Umar Gul. Others include Ajit Agarkar, Murali Karthik and David Hussey. The team looks a very balanced one and will be looking forward to battle it out with any team that comes between them and victory.
The Pink City will be embodied by Team Jaipur. The team will be led as well as coached by Aussie spin legend Shane Warne. The team has no icon player. It is the only IPL team to have a foreign captain and playing coach. The team's mascot is a lion named Moochu Singh. The team anthem is 'Halla Bol', and has been sung by Ila Arun. The Jaipur franchise is owned by Emerging Media Group. The group acquired the franchise for $67 million. Jaipur was the least active franchise during the player auction. The team does not have a designated icon player, which saved a lot of cap space for the franchise.
However, the franchise was startlingly low-key during the auction, and in the end got reprimanded by the organizing committee for failing to meet the minimum bidding criteria of $3.3 million. The highest bid by Jaipur was for the Indian middle order batsman Mohammad Kaif, who came off the board at $675,000. The Royals are only one of its kind in the Twenty20 tournament as they are the only side to have an English cricketer in their squad, Hampshire's all rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas. Despite being the most low-profile team in the auction, they will look to capitalize on their strengths and emerge victorious.
Bangalore Profile
Team Bangalore is owned by liquor tycoon Dr. Vijay Mallya, the chairman of UB Group. Charu Sharma will fulfill the role of the team's CEO and Rahul Dravid, the captain is also its Icon Player. Martin Crowe, the former New Zealand captain, has also been signed as a member of the team management. Venkatesh Prasad, the former Indian fast bowler and the current bowling coach of India has been affirmed as the coach for the team.
The Bangalore team was won by Dr. Vijay Mallya, who paid US$111.6 million for it. This was the second highest bid for a team, next only to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries' bid of $111.9 million for the Mumbai team. The team has quite a few big names associated with them as they have signed Indian film stars Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Upendra and Ramya as the brand ambassadors.
Dr.Vijay Mallya wished to correlate one of his top-selling liquor brands, either "No. 1 McDowell's" or "Royal Challenge" with the team.. The jersey colours of the team are red and golden yellow, and the insignia consists of the RC crest with 'Bangalore' in standard format. The players in the team, except for Rahul Dravid who was the Icon Player, were chosen in an auction carried out by BCCI on 20 February 2008. South Africa's Jacques Kallis at $900,000 became the priciest player to be selected to play for the Royal Challengers. This meant that Rahul Dravid, being the Icon Player would be paid $1,035,000 (15% more than the highest bid player in the team). Other players incorporated are the Indian Test cricket captain Anil Kumble along with his team-mates Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Khan. West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Aussies Nathan Bracken and Cameron White, South Africa's Mark Boucher (wicketkeeper) and Dale Steyn all form a part of the team.
It is widely known that the franchise owner Dr. Vijay Mallya plays to win and he would wish the team to do the same. Since the line-up includes stars like Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid, expectations will be running high.
Hyderabad Profile
VVS Laxman has been appointed captain of Team Hyderabad and the outfit will be coached by Robin Singh who presently is also the fielding coach of the Indian cricket team. There is no Icon Player for the team. The Hyderabad franchise is owned by Deccan Chronicle. The media group obtained the franchise for $107 million on January 24, 2008. Group M shortly picked a 20% stake. The Chargers were amongst the most aggressive bidders during the first player auction. The franchise added a lot of fiery power in batting by attaining some notorious big hitters like Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Shahid Afridi, Scott Styris and Herschelle Gibbs. In totaling to all these players, the franchise also includes the Indian test player VVS Laxman, who is a Hyderabad local. They are also utilizing the services of well-known pacers RP Singh, Nuwan Zoysa and Chaminda Vaas. It's been declared by the franchise that Laxman will captain the side during the tournament.
VVS Laxman was supposed to be the Icon Player for the Hyderabad, but this meant that the players mentioned above could not be bought as Icon Players earn 15% more than the highest earner in the team. However, VVS Laxman renounced his Icon Player Status, and instead of earning $1 million like other Icon players he earns $375,000, which allowed the team to buy the big names and still remain under the salary cap. The team appears strong on all fronts and will hopefully provide riveting action throughout the tournament.
IPL Teams
IPL Teams
- Team: Bangalore Royal Challengers
Owner’s Name: Vijay Mallya
Players - Bid Amount (figures in USD):
Rahul Dravid (icon) - 15% more
Anil Kumble - $5,00,000
Jacques Kallis - $9,00,000
Zaheer Khan - $4,50,000
Mark Boucher - $4,50,000
Cameron White - $5,00,000
Wasim Jaffer - $1,50,000
Dale Steyn - $3,25,000
Nathan Bracken - $3,25,000
Shivnarine Chanderpaul - $2,00,000 - Team: Mumbai
Owner’s Name: Mukesh Ambani
Players - Bid Amount (figures in USD):
Sachin Tendulkar (icon) - 15% more
Harbhajan Singh - $8,50,000
Sanath Jayasuriya - $9,75,000
Shaun Pollock - $5,50,000
Robin Uthappa - $8,00,000
Lasith Malinga - $3,50,000
Dilhara Fernando - $1,50,000
Loots Bosman - $1,75,000 - Team: Kolkata
Owner’s Name: Shah Rukh Khan
Players - Bid Amount (figures in USD):
Sourav Ganguly (icon) - 15% more
Shoaib Akhtar - $4,25,000
Ricky Ponting - $4,00,000
Brendon McCullum - $7,00,000
Chris Gayle - $8,00,000
Ajit Agarkar - $3,30,000
David Hussey - $6,75,000
Ishant Sharma - $9,50,000
Murali Kartik - $4,25,000
Umar Gul - $1,50,000
Tatenda Taibu - $1,25,000 - Team: Delhi Daredevils
Owner’s Name: GMR Holdings
Players - Bid Amount (figures in USD):
Virender Sehwag (icon) - 15% more
Daniel Vettori - $6,25,000
Shoaib Malik - $5,00,000
Mohammad Asif - $6,50,000
Dinesh Karthik - $5,25,000
AB de Villiers - $3,00,000
Farveez Maharoof - $2,25,000
Tillakaratne Dilshan - $2,50,000
Manoj Tiwary - $6,75,000
Gautam Gambhir - $7,25,000
Glenn McGrath - $3,50,000 - Team: Chennai Super Kings
Owner’s Name: India Cement
Players - Bid Amount (figures in USD):
M.S.Dhoni - $1.5 million
Muttiah Muralitharan - $6,00,000
Matthew Hayden - $3,75,000
Jacob Oram - $6,75,000
Stephen Fleming - $350,000
Parthiv Patel - $3,25,000
Joginder Sharma - $2,25,000
Albie Morkel - $6,50,000
Suresh Raina - $6,50,000
Makhaya Ntini - $2,00,000
Michael Hussey - $3,50,000 - Team: Mohali
Owner’s Name: Preity Zinta & Ness. Wadia
Players - Bid Amount (figures in USD):
Yuvraj Singh (icon) - 15% more
Mahela Jayawardene - $4,75,000
Kumar Sangakkara - $7,00,000
Brett Lee - $9,00,000
S.Sreesanth - $6,25,000
Irfan Pathan - $9,25,000
Ramesh Powar - $1,70,000
Piyush Chawla - $4,00,000
Simon Katich - $2,00,000
Ramnaresh Sarwan - $2,25,000 - Team: Jaipur
Owner’s Name: Emerging Media
Players - Bid Amount (figures in USD):
Shane Warne - $4,50,000
Graeme Smith - $4,75,000
Younis Khan - $2,25,000
Kamran Akmal - $1,50,000
Yusuf Pathan - $4,75,000
Mohammad Kaif - $6,75,000
Munaf Patel - $2,75,000
Justin Langer - $2,00,000 - Team: Hyderabad
Owner’s Name: Deccan Chronicle
Players - Bid Amount (figures in USD):
V. V. S. Laxman (Captain) - $375,000
Andrew Symonds - $1,350,000
R. P. Singh - $875,000
Rohit Sharma - $750,000
Adam Gilchrist - $700,000
Shahid Afridi - $675,000
Herschelle Gibbs - $575,000
Chaminda Vaas - $200,000
Scott Styris - $175,000
Nuwan Zoysa - $110,000
Chamara Silva - $100,000
IPL Game Schedule
IPL Game Schedule
April 19 : Delhi v Jaipur at Delhi
April 20: Mumbai v Bangalore at Mumbai;Kolkata v Hyderabad at Kolkata
April 21: Jaipur v Mohali at Jaipur
April 22: Hyderabad v Delhi at Hyderabad
April 23: Chennai v Mumbai at Chennai
April 24: Hyderabad v Jaipur at Hyderabad
April 25: Mohali v Mumbai at Mohali
April 26: Bangalore v Jaipur at Bangalore; Chennai v Kolkata at Chennai
April 27: Mumbai v Hyderabad at Mumbai;Mohali v Delhi at Mohali
April 28: Bangalore v Chennai at Bangalore
April 29: Kolkata v Mumbai at Kolkata
April 30: Delhi v Bangalore at Delhi.
May 1: Hyderabad v Mohali at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Kolkata at Jaipur
May 2: Chennai v Delhi at Chennai.
May 3: Hyderabad at Bangalore at Hyderabad; Mohali v Kolkata at Mohali
May 4: Mumbai v Delhi at Mumbai; Jaipur v Chennai at Jaipur
May 5: Bangalore v Mohali at Bangalore
May 6: Chennai v Hyderabad at Chennai
May 7: Mumbai v Jaipur at Mumbai
May 8: Delhi v Chennai at Delhi; Kolkata v Bangalore at Kolkata
May 9: Jaipur v Hyderabad at Jaipur
May 10: Bangalore v Mumbai at Bangalore; Chennai v Mohali at Chennai
May 11: Hyderabad v Kolkata at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Delhi at Jaipur
May 12: Mohali v Bangalore at Mohali
May 13: Kolkata v Delhi at Kolkata
May 14: Mumbai v Chennai at Mumbai;Mohali v Jaipur at Mohali
May 15: Delhi v Hyderabad at Delhi
May 16: Mumbai v Kolkata at Mumbai
May 17: Delhi v Mohali at Delhi; Jaipur v Bangalore at Jaipur
May 18: Hyderabad v Mumbai at Hyderabad; Kolkata v Chenna at Kolkata
May 19: Bangalore v Delhi at Bangalore
May 20: Kolkata v Jaipur at Kolkata
May 21: Mumbai v Mohali at Mumbai; Chennai v Bangalore at Chennai
May 22: Delhi v Kolkata at Delhi
May 23: Mohali v Hyderabad at Mohali.
May 24: Delhi v Mumbai at Delhi; Chennai v Jaipur at Chennai
May 25: Bangalore v Hyderabad at Bangalore; Kolkata v Mohali at Kolkata
May 26: Jaipur v Mumbai at Jaipur
May 27: Hyderabad v Chennai at Hyderabad
May 28 and 29: Rest days
May 30: First semi-final at Mumbai
May 31: Second semi-final at Mumbai
June 1: Final at Mumbai
April 19 : Delhi v Jaipur at Delhi
April 20: Mumbai v Bangalore at Mumbai;Kolkata v Hyderabad at Kolkata
April 21: Jaipur v Mohali at Jaipur
April 22: Hyderabad v Delhi at Hyderabad
April 23: Chennai v Mumbai at Chennai
April 24: Hyderabad v Jaipur at Hyderabad
April 25: Mohali v Mumbai at Mohali
April 26: Bangalore v Jaipur at Bangalore; Chennai v Kolkata at Chennai
April 27: Mumbai v Hyderabad at Mumbai;Mohali v Delhi at Mohali
April 28: Bangalore v Chennai at Bangalore
April 29: Kolkata v Mumbai at Kolkata
April 30: Delhi v Bangalore at Delhi.
May 1: Hyderabad v Mohali at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Kolkata at Jaipur
May 2: Chennai v Delhi at Chennai.
May 3: Hyderabad at Bangalore at Hyderabad; Mohali v Kolkata at Mohali
May 4: Mumbai v Delhi at Mumbai; Jaipur v Chennai at Jaipur
May 5: Bangalore v Mohali at Bangalore
May 6: Chennai v Hyderabad at Chennai
May 7: Mumbai v Jaipur at Mumbai
May 8: Delhi v Chennai at Delhi; Kolkata v Bangalore at Kolkata
May 9: Jaipur v Hyderabad at Jaipur
May 10: Bangalore v Mumbai at Bangalore; Chennai v Mohali at Chennai
May 11: Hyderabad v Kolkata at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Delhi at Jaipur
May 12: Mohali v Bangalore at Mohali
May 13: Kolkata v Delhi at Kolkata
May 14: Mumbai v Chennai at Mumbai;Mohali v Jaipur at Mohali
May 15: Delhi v Hyderabad at Delhi
May 16: Mumbai v Kolkata at Mumbai
May 17: Delhi v Mohali at Delhi; Jaipur v Bangalore at Jaipur
May 18: Hyderabad v Mumbai at Hyderabad; Kolkata v Chenna at Kolkata
May 19: Bangalore v Delhi at Bangalore
May 20: Kolkata v Jaipur at Kolkata
May 21: Mumbai v Mohali at Mumbai; Chennai v Bangalore at Chennai
May 22: Delhi v Kolkata at Delhi
May 23: Mohali v Hyderabad at Mohali.
May 24: Delhi v Mumbai at Delhi; Chennai v Jaipur at Chennai
May 25: Bangalore v Hyderabad at Bangalore; Kolkata v Mohali at Kolkata
May 26: Jaipur v Mumbai at Jaipur
May 27: Hyderabad v Chennai at Hyderabad
May 28 and 29: Rest days
May 30: First semi-final at Mumbai
May 31: Second semi-final at Mumbai
June 1: Final at Mumbai
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