Confident Rajasthan ready for Kolkata Match facts Thursday, May 1, 2008 Start time 16.00 (local), 10.30 (GMT) The Big Picture The Rajasthan Royals, after an inauspicious start, are seeking their fourth successive win. Astutely led by Shane Warne, they have moved up to the third slot in the team standings, and their frugality at the auction (they spent the least), are slowly bearing fruit. In the first of two back-to-back home games, they have to contend with the Kolkata Knight Riders who, after a rollicking start, have lost two in a row. The departure of Brendon McCullum and Ricky Ponting for their respective international commitments, coupled with Chris Gayle's unavailability for the rest of the season due to injury, will make it that much harder for Kolkata to bounce back. And there is one contest on the sidelines: The battle of the coaches. Warne and John Buchanan had no love lost for each other in their Australia days; how will they interact now? Watch out for ... ... some stand-out performances from Jaipur. Shane Watson has earned two Man-of-the-Match awards in four games, and needs to score 28 more runs to earn the right to wear the orange cap bestowed on the highest cumulative run-scorer. Graeme Smith has scores of 71 and 49 in his two innings while Yusuf Pathan, who blasted the quickest fifty of the tournament, may set the stadium alight. Meanwhile, Kolkata's batting has fizzled out after McCullum's 158 in the IPL opener and it's not surprising that none of their batsmen have recorded a half-century since. Their icon, Sourav Ganguly, has only managed 40 runs in four innings while David Hussey, after his stabilising influence in Kolkata's first home win, has made just 67 overall. But they can take heart from the fact that Brad Hodge, who was a late signing, has the game to spark a change in fortunes. Team news Dimitri Mascarenhas, the England allrounder who has earned a reputation for big-hitting (he struck Yuvraj Singh for five successive sixes in an ODI), is available for five games for Rajasthan. He is likely to replace Sohail Tanvir, the Pakistan left-arm seamer. Besides the one change, the rest of the line-up looks settled, with Mahesh Rawat set to continue with wicketkeeping duties in the place of Kamran Akmal . Rajasthan (probable) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Mahesh Rawat (wk), 3 Yusuf Pathan, 4 Shane Watson, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Dinesh Salunkhe, 9 Shane Warne (capt), 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel. The departure of Ponting and McCullum means that Kolkata may hand out IPL debuts to Salman Butt and Hodge. Hodge has an impressive domestic Twenty20 record - 1649 runs in 44 innings at 42.28 with a strike-rate of 139.20. The young Debabrata Das showed glimpses of potential during his 29 against Mumbai, and should get another opportunity. Kolkata 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Salman Butt, 3 Brad Hodge, 4 David Hussey, 5 Mohammad Hafeez, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Murali Kartik, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashok Dinda. IPL form Rajasthan Royals: LWWW Kolkata Knight Riders: WWLL Stats and trivia Smith, with 364 runs at 36.40 from 12 matches, is the highest run-getter, and the batsman who has hit the most number of fours in Twenty20 internationals Ajit Agarkar, with 11.10 balls per wicket, has the best strike-rate among all bowlers in the IPL Quotes "There's never a low for me. I can never feel low. There are times when my son (Aryan) runs a race but doesn't come first. I've myself lost races. I've made flops but that doesn't take anything away from life. It's not that I like losing, though... I don't and my team doesn't like losing either." Shah Rukh Khan, Kolkata's team-owner and Bollywood superstar, takes losing in his stride while talking to the Telegraph |
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Preview - Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata waiting for IPL stand on Shoaib
New Delhi: Despite the PCB making it clear that the ban on fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar does not stand in the way of him representing Kolkata Knight Riders, the team would rather wait for further clarification from the governing council of the IPL, Joy Bhattacharya, marketing head of the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise, told CNN-IBN on Wednesday. "Any player joining us from within our group is good news. But we haven't got any official word and we would just like to have that. But it is not the question of one franchisee but the IPL themselves. They have a rule and code of conduct and once we clear all that then only the franchisee comes into play," Bhattacharya said. He further said, "It is not the question of just us. Firstly, it would be Pakistan Cricket Board giving us the formal intimation to us and then the IPL looking into it. And only after those two hurdles are crossed, we would be more than happy to review where we can play him." Earlier, the PCB had denied Shoaib Akhtar to play in the cash-rish domestic Twenty20 competition backed by the BCCI. The IPL organising committee, too, had clarified that Shoaib won't be able to play as his board had banned him from plying his trade not just in Pakistan, but elsewhere too. "Now, there is a need to a formal intervention from the PCB to the IPL and then it would be from the IPL to the individual franchises and from there on we will taking it forward," Bhattacharya said. Referring to the recent controversy and the subsequent ban on Mumbai Indians player Harbhajan Singh, Bhattacharya said Kolkata would be cautious before taking any decision. "We have to be very careful in observing all the codes and the guidelines of the IPL. If we have bid for him, we want him on our team but as you must have seen the IPL till now, they are very strict as far as the code of conduct is concerned. "Shoaib wants to be a part of the team. We will have to look at his physical fitness and then we will take a decision to play him. But whatever we want or we would like, everything depends on what the IPL decides and we would be abide by the IPL laws," he concluded. |
Gambhir, McGrath star in Delhi win
Bangalore Royal Challengers v/s Delhi Daredevils Toss Bangalore Royal Challengers, who chose to field first Result Delhi Daredevils won by 10 runs Player of the match GD McGrath (Delhi Daredevils) Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan laid out the carpet and Glenn McGrath, returning the best figures in the IPL's brief history, walked over it as the Delhi Daredevils got themselves back on track after a blip in their last game. It wasn't a comfortable win, as the Bangalore Royal Challengers kept them to 191 for 5 when 205 seemed an easy total and later when Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid threatened to chase it down, but another choke from the visiting side - who for the third game running left Misbah-ul-Haq on the bench - put Delhi at second in the points table. The Feroz Shah Kotla track wasn't known for any major assistance to seam or swing and Dravid's decision to field on a sluggish surface with variable bounce ultimately turned out to be a mistake. After a quiet first over, Gambhir waded into the Bangalore attack in stunning fashion. First he took Zaheer Khan for three fours, a delectable square cut tucked between two shots off the pads, and then hit Dale Steyn for a couple more. Virender Sehwag hit a few lusty shots before he was run out for a 12-ball 24, but Gambhir applied himself excellently. Scoring wasn't easy given the low bounce but shuffling and waiting for the ball to come onto him - there were certain shots that had to be checked as the ball stopped on him - he slashed boundaries backward of point and pulled through the infield. With Dhawan very solid at one end, and consciously playing the ball along the ground, Gambhir backed his judgment of the track to slash boundaries backward of square both sides. Bangalore pulled back the scoring for a couple overs but Sunil Joshi, replacing Anil Kumble, had a torrid first over that went for 19 as both batsmen picked up sixes. Dhawan, upright and packing his drvies with power, scored at a very healthy clip. A massive slog off Kallis took him to 49, and he looked set to press on after his fifty but a stunning catch from Dravid at midwicket cut him short. Steyn and Kallis rattled the stumps to check Delhi's middle order and, having lost strike for a brief while, Gambhir slogged Zaheer to midwicket for 86 from 54 balls. Delhi were on target for over 200 but those strikes left them short. They may have been a tad disappointed by not going further but with McGrath leading a tidy pace they backed themselves. The maestro, bowling as metronimically as he did in his pomp, needed five deliveries to remove Praveen Kumar, flicking to midwicket, but his double-wicket third over was massive: Ross Taylor's gung-ho approached ended in a top-edge to deep midwicket and Wasim Jaffer did the same to mid-on. From 48 for 3 after five overs Dravid and Kallis, with near 20,000 Test runs between them, added 87 in 10.3 overs. Yo Mahesh and Rajat Bhatia went for 26 in two overs through classy, low-risk shots before pumped sixes lowered the asking rate further. Kallis went past his previous IPL best, mostly with shuffled flicks, and Bangalore needed 58 with seven wickets and 30 balls remaining. That's when Sehwag tossed the ball back to McGrath. Three balls later Dravid was walking back for 38, his slog into the starry night setting into Sehwag's palms at mid-on. McGrath finished with 4 for 29, a special and memorable effort. Kallis thumped himself past fifty but a fourth miserly over from another one-day international master, Daniel Vettori, effectively killed all hopes. Vettori allowed just five singles and cleaned up Kallis with a quick arm ball off the sixth. That left Bangalore with 30 to win from six balls and it proved too much for Mark Boucher, who still hit two sixes and a four. Eleven out of 16 matches have been won by sides chasing but Bangalore failed to master two crafty bowlers when it mattered most. Delhi, despite the departure of Vettori, remain one of the better sides in the tournament. |
Is Harbhajan Singh a liability to Indian cricket?
Just as the BCCI is trying to improve the standing of Indian cricket, along comes the spin master to deliver a slap in the face of decency on the field. Players like Harbhajan and Sri Sreesanth need to be dealt with severely. 'If cricket wants to take on football through the success of the IPL, it needs to sort out players like Harbhajan and Sreesanth' Let’s do a quick recap on the behaviour model in modern-day cricket. There is a fiery young player who does a lot more than play cricket. His behaviour is erratic, he comments on the personal lives of opposition players. And, at times, he has the ability to bowl out a team. And if things do not go his way, he can slap - yes you heard it right - slap. It was a great sight to see how the Indian touring squad in Australia backed this player against various accusations. But the same player showed more of his uncultured side this week. We are talking about Harbhajan Singh. The spinner should be made to face the Indian nation which stood by him in Australia, after his dramatic slapping of Sri Sreesanth. What kind of precedent has he set for Indian cricket? The 11-match ban does not not fix the problem, a more severe ban would hardly have been questioned. The BCCI is supposed to be anti-sledging and against bad behaviour on the field. So let them stand up and make a statement confirming this line. Sreesanth is another undisciplined player who uses the cricket field like a stage for showmanship and acts of bizarre behaviour, rather than concentrating on bowling. If cricket wants to take on football through the success of the IPL, it needs to sort out players like Harbhajan and Sreesanth. The BCCI and Harbhajan are at the crossroads of image enhancement. It will be interesting to see how BCCI tries to make Indian cricket a gentleman’s game. They have talked the talk about improving the game's image. Now it is time for actions to speak louder than words. As for Harbhajan - this is not the first time he has had to face disciplinary action. He needs to think carefully about his future behaviour. If he does not improve his image, he will be remembered in the future more for issues around his behaviour rather than for his cricketing skills. |
Delhi Daredevils v Bangalore Royal Challengers-Preview
Match facts Wednesday April 30, 2008 Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT) The Big Picture Both teams are coming off defeats in their previous games, which makes Wednesday's encounter at the Feroz Shah Kotla all the more interesting. Bangalore Royal Challengers missed a golden opportunity to score a win in front of their home crowd on Monday, choking in the face of some disciplined bowling by the Chennai Super Kings. That defeat, their third in four games, leaves them at the bottom of the points table but they are a much better team than their form suggests. Delhi, on the other hand, came apart against an inspired Kings XI Punjab in Mohali, where their middle order was tested for the first time and Mohammad Asif and Glenn McGrath were unusually subdued. Back on home ground, Delhi should start as favourites. Watch out for ... ... Virender Sehwag taking on Dale Steyn. Sehwag took him apart during the first Test against South Africa in Chennai recently, where his early onslaught set the tone for his record-breaking 319. Ross Taylor, if he plays, facing Daniel Vettori should also make for an interesting battle of New Zealanders, as both would like to sign off their IPL campaigns in style. Team news Vettori plays his final game of the IPL before heading to England and his selection seems a certainty. He could replace Farveez Maharoof, who had a rare bad day in Mohali, leaking 31 off three overs. Delhi would also welcome AB de Villiers' arrival from South Africa and his inclusion could see Shoaib Malik making way. Delhi Daredevils (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Manoj Tiwary, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Rajat Bhatia, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Vijaykumar Yomahesh, 10 Mohammad Asif, 11 Glenn McGrath. Bangalore will check on the fitness of Anil Kumble, who missed the previous game. Misbah-ul-Haq, a reputed Twenty20 player, would be raring to get a game and could come in place of Jacques Kallis, whose appeared uncharacteristically flat in all four games. B Akhil pulled up with an injury against Chennai which leaves the slot open for another seamer, or a spinner in KP Appanna. Bangalore Royal Challengers (probable) 1 Wasim Jaffer, 2 Rahul Dravid (capt), 3 Ross Taylor 4 Bharath Chipli, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Virat Kohli, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 KP Appanna. Stats and trivia The biggest margin of victory in terms of wickets is nine, and Delhi have figured in two of them. Clearly, they are a dangerous side when set a target. Misbah-ul-Haq is the second highest run-getter in Twenty20 internationals with 338 runs. Daniel Vettori has an impressive economy rate of 5.50 in Twenty20 internationals. Quotes "This is a long tournament and I think the defeat actually helped us identify certain grey areas and address those issues." Rajat Bhatia, the Delhi allrounder, thinks the defeat against Punjab could be a blessing in disguise. "We are lagging behind in the tournament and every match from now on is important for us. At this stage, we just cannot afford to make a mistake." Rahul Dravid, the Bangalore captain, demands improvement |
Shoaib's five-year ban upheld
Shoaib Akhtar's international future was left dangling in limbo after the appellate tribunal set up to hear his appeal against a five-year ban upheld the ban, but only temporarily, deciding instead to revisit the appeal in June. The decision is given an even stranger hue because it allows Shoaib to play outside Pakistan - the Indian Premier League (IPL) for example - even though the league maintains that he will only be allowed to play if his ban on playing for Pakistan is removed. Justice (retd) Aftab Farrukh, the head of the three-man tribunal, said the main hearing into Shoaib's appeal against the ban would now take place in June and that the ban on playing in or for Pakistan would stay in place until then. "We have seen Shoaib's track record and believe that he has not learnt any lesson. He flouted discipline of the board, he harmed the chairman of the board and fellow cricketers and above all sentiments of the nation," Farrukh said. "We considered every aspect of the decision of the disciplinary committee and think that they banned Akhtar on grounds of indiscipline and there was no victimisation." There had been concerns from day one of the appeals process, particularly because Farrukh had expressed great reluctance in heading the tribunal. Soon after he was appointed, Farrukh told a local TV channel that he didn't have the time to take up this case, a situation seemingly borne out by today's verdict. Meanwhile, Shoaib's position with the IPL remains unclear. While the PCB clarified that he is free to play in the IPL, a league spokesperson told Cricinfo that their position of not allowing him to take part in the tournament "remains the same" as of now. The IPL had decided to bar Shoaib from the tournament in "the interests of international discipline" after the PCB's initial decision to hand him a ban. Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Kolkata Knight Riders, the team that bought Shoaib for US$425,000, said they will abide by the IPL stand. To further muddy matters, Shoaib's lawyers have said they will push for a hearing date earlier than June if the IPL doesn't let him play. "After this interim order we hope that the IPL will allow Akhtar to play in the IPL but if they don't we will press for an early hearing of the appeal than the set date of June," Abid Hasan Minto told reporters. With both international cricket and the IPL ruled out, one option for Shoaib would have been the Indian Cricket League. The unofficial league does not fall under the Indian board - and has an all- Pakistan team in its Twenty20 tournament. However, its business head, Himanshu Mody, confirmed to Cricinfo that the ICL was not in talks with Shoaib. The tribunal's decision comes just a day after Shoaib apologised to the PCB chairman, Nasim Ashraf, in the second of three hearings. On April 1 the board banned Shoaib from playing cricket, for and in Pakistan, for violating the players' code of conduct by publicly criticising the PCB and various policies. Shoaib filed an appeal against the ban claiming that he was being "victimised" and then went on a media rampgage in which he accused the board chairman of various financial wrongdoings. Shoaib's ban took into account that he was already on two years' probation for hitting Mohammad Asif with a bat before the start of the World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007. That offence saw him fined 3.4 million rupees ($52,000 dollars) and banned for 13 matches. |
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Teamwork earns Mumbai first win
Inspired by Sanath Jayasuriya's 3 for 14, the best figures of the tournament, the Mumbai Indians put their off-field troubles aside and pulled off their first win. On a slow Eden Gardens pitch, though not the minefield of the previous game, Mumbai had a nervy start and were 25 for 3 before Dwayne Bravo and Robin Uthappa put on a century stand to see them home. After Kolkata Knight Riders chose to bat, Mumbai's stand-in captain Shaun Pollock stunned the huge crowd, removing local hero Sourav Ganguly and the dangerous Brendon McCullum in the first over. Ganguly chased at a wide delivery and only managed a thick edge that was smartly held by Jayasuriya at wide slip. McCullum was trapped lbw for 1 two balls later, leaving Kolkata at 6 for 2. The early momentum was provided by Twenty20 debutant Debabrata Das. Pollock was hit over midwicket for a big six and three leg-side fours followed in the next couple of overs. Das favoured the cut and got his innings going with two of them off Ashish Nehra in the second over, but another one off Dwayne Bravo flew straight to Robin Uthappa at point. Bravo kept it just short of a length and outside off, giving away only four runs in two overs. Ponting and David Hussey consolidated for a couple of overs with singles and the odd boundary. Ponting was unable to get his timing right or middle the ball, and Hussey tried to up the tempo slamming Pollock for two fours. Jayasuriya, tossing it up instead of firing it in as he usually does, broke the partnership by luring Hussey into swiping one to mid-on in the 11th over for 17. His next over, a maiden, saw two wickets fall as well. A run-out put Ponting out of his misery and two balls later Mohammad Hafeez nicked one to the wicketkeeper Pinal Shah as Kolkata slid to 77 for 6. Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who revived Kolkata batting with a quick 42 against the Chennai Super Kings, was called on to rescue his team yet again. He smashed two fours and a six each off Bravo and Dilhara Fernando as 44 runs were scored in the last four overs. Despite the below-par score, Kolkata refused to surrender and their new-ball bowlers gave them an excellent start. Ajit Agarkar had Ajinkya Rahane chipping to midwicket in the third over and, at the other end, Jayasuriya was in a fascinating battle with Ishant Sharma. After several swings-and-misses and powerful hits to the boundary, Ishant sent Jayasuriya's off stump cartwheeling. Manish Pandey then fell for a duck to the impressive Ashok Dinda and, at 25 for 3, Mumbai were in danger of squandering their advantage. Uthappa and Bravo, though, carried them to victory with a century stand for the fourth wicket as the spinners were unable to carry on the good work of the fast bowlers. Uthappa had a chancy start - Das grassed a sharp chance at point, and there were several close shouts for lbw - before he unfurled some horizontal-bat shots and his favourite paddle. Bravo played a stylish knock in which two shots early on stood out - an audacious back-foot square-drive off Ishant and a cracking lofted on-drive off Hafeez. They were some lovely straight hits as well in his unbeaten 64 - the highest score by a Mumbai batsman in the tournament. The win, and news that their icon Sachin Tendulkar is likely to be fit for the next game, is a relief for Mumbai, who lost their first four games and will miss the services of US$850,000 signing Harbhajan Singh for the rest of the tournament after his row with Sreesanth during the match against the Kings XI Punjab. After a thumping start, Kolkata's magic looks to be wearing out. None of their batsmen, besides McCullum, have made a half-century and, to make matters worse, they will be missing much of their batting firepower after this game - McCullum and Ricky Ponting leave to fulfil international commitments while a groin injury has forced Chris Gayle out of the tournament. |
Harbhajan Singh banned for 11 IPL matches
In the just concluded IPL hearing at the ITC Maurya hotel in Delhi on Monday, Team India’s off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has been banned for 11 Indian Premeir League (IPL) matches by the IPL governing council, according to reports by news channel Times Now . Accordng to the channel, IPL Chairman Lalit Modi said that Harbhajan has been fined 100 per cent of the match fee. Mumbai Indians coach Lalchand Rajput, who accompanied Bhajji in the hearing, was charged under level 2 of ICC Code of Conduct. The team coach was also fined 50 per cent of his match fee for not stopping Harbhajan. Modi said, “It was an unprovoked attack by Harbhajan, and he can appeal against the ban imposed on him.” Meanwhile, S Sreesanth was also warned of his behaviour by the IPL governing council. During the course of the hearing, Harbhajan pleaded guilty and regretted his actions for hurting Sreesanth’s sentiments. According to the sources, Bhajji carried a letter in reply to BCCI’s show cause notice in the hearing. In letter to the BCCI, Bhajji said he slapped S Sreesanth post the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab on April 25. Reacting to the ban slapped on Harbhajan, BCCI Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty said, “Bhajji has accepted guilt and is apologetic.” “Players won’t get away if they behave like this. Bhajji assaulted a fellow player, which was shocking. BCCI can also take action against him,” added Shetty. Meanwhile, the BCCI appointed advocate Sudhir Nanavati as Commissioner to make preliminary inquiry into Harbhajan’s slapping incident. Advocate Nanavati will inquire into the case of Bhajji flouting BCCI guidelines. Nanavati will submit report to BCCI president Sharad Pawar within 15 days. If found guilty, Bhajji may face 10-IPL matches ban. BCCI’s disciplinary committee will look into Nanavati’s report before giving the final verdict. |
Why was Sreesanth crying?
Breaking News! India’s ace spinner Harbhajan Singh, who has been in the news for all wrong reasons, yet again did it. Harbhajan allegedly slapped Sreesanth after the IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians at Mohali. Sreesanth was seen crying after the match. He was consoled by the teammates. Kings XI skipper Yuvraj Singh and coach Tom Moody confirmed the news. Moody went to the extent of saying that Harbhajan’s behavior is intolerable. Latest reports suggest that Harbhajan later went to the dressing room and apologised to Sreesanth. But Harbhajan is unlikely to escape the BCCI hammer. It would be interesting to see the consequences of this deplorable incident. Kings XI have launched a formal complaint against Harbhajan to IPL match referee. |
Mumbai Indians rope in Hrithik Roshan as brand ambassador
The Sachin Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians have roped in Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan as their brand ambassador to drum up support for the team in the Indian Premeir League starting on April 18.”Hrithik symbolises the spirit of the team,” said R Balachandran, director of the newly formed Indiawin Sports — a subsidiary of Reliance Industries which owns the franchise outfit, at a media conference to outline the team’s marketing campaign. The actor is figuring in a promotional video campaign to muster support for the team through a Hindi song “Duniya Hila Denge Hum (Let’s rock the world)”. The franchisee also announced the ticket prices for the first two matches that the team plays at the Wankhede Stadium here and D Y Patil Stadium in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, on April 20 and 27 respectively. “The ticket price ranges from Rs 250-500 to the upper end Rs 3000-5000 for the first match while for the second match it ranges from Rs 200-400 to Rs 1000,” he added. |
Stage set for IPL opening
Even the official communication from the organisers speaks of April 18 as D-Day, and you can rest assured that it has nothing to do with the Normandy beaches and the heroes of June 6, 1944. After months of hype, auctions, billion-dollar TV-rights deals and the threat of a media boycott, the Indian Premeir League (IPL) is poised to emerge from the chrysalis. One of the first things you see going into the Chinnaswamy Stadium just after 4pm on Thursday is a svelte figure gliding across the outfield in balletic fashion, waving a white scarf as she moves from long-off to deep extra-cover. One of her compatriots tiptoes across the grass in the opposite direction, a white parasol in her hand. A third is wearing long black gloves more appropriate for The Age of Innocence than a Bangalore summer. All of them will be part of an elaborate opening ceremony on Friday evening, along with the most unusual sight. More than a decade after Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins sang to us of a Bullet with Butterfly Wings, the IPL’s first venue will witness stilt-walkers striding round the ground flapping flowing capes that feature the home team colours, red and yellow. Under lights, they’re likely to look like gigantic butterflies straight out of a scene from Pan’s Labyrinth. There are huge cables connecting the stadium roof to the playing square, with a giant bubble and acrobats also part of an opening ceremony that’s leaving nothing to entertainment chance. For the first time in their lives, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, former India captains and now rival skippers in the IPL, will walk out for the toss in a stadium plunged into darkness. Minutes after a “short, sharp and sweet” opening ceremony to launch the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 tournament, the organisers are planning to switch off the floodlights before the first match between Dravid’s Bangalore Royal Challengers, the hosts, and Ganguly’s Kolkata Knight Riders, the visitors, which begins at 2000 local time. “Then, the spotlights will come on, and focus on the two skippers as they walk out for the toss,” Charu Sharma, the Royal Challengers’ chief executive, told Cricinfo. “We are pushing to have the toss under spotlights and are waiting for permission from local authorities, considering the number of people who will be there at the stadium when the lights will be switched off. This is something that has not really been tried before,” he said. After the toss, a couple of players from the fielding side will be “miked up” to chat directly with the TV commentators during the match. “Another attraction for the TV audience, but this has been done before, I guess,” Sharma said. However, the “most poignant moment” of the 45-minute opening ceremony starting at 1830, Sharma said, would be when all the captains gather mid-pitch to jointly read out a pledge reaffirming the IPL’s faith in the spirit of cricket. “There will also be speeches by Ray Mali, the ICC president, Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, and Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman.” The rest of the ceremony will be a “slick” blend of fireworks, the stilt walkers, aerial gymnasts, performers in the bubble suspended over the ground and some Bollywood glitter with the presence of Shah Rukh Khan, also the co-owner of the Kolkata team, and Preity Zinta, co-owner of the Mohali franchise. “Shankar-Ehsan-Loy (the Bollywood music directors) will be the central performers who will keep the crowd enthralled throughout the ceremony even as the other performers go through their acts,” Sharma said. Bangalore is also banking on 12 cheerleaders from the Washington Redksins, the ‘First Ladies of American Football’, to draw more fans to the stadium. “The entire exercise is to have the right balance of glamour and cricket,” said Sharma. “Usually, cricket is not associated with such ceremonies, and this will be a novelty. At the same time, we would not want the genuine cricket fan to get frustrated waiting for the game to start. Our aim is to present a spectacle that’s short, sharp and sweet, which reflects the spirit of the IPL.” The Bangalore franchise, owned by business tycoon Vijay Mallya, is playing a key role in organising the opening ceremony on their home ground in association with the Karnataka State Cricket Association and the IPL. On the eve of the game though, the players - “There are no players, only warriors” says one of the official posters - were almost peripheral, with the home team practising at the B Ground next to the National Cricket Academy. The team logo and posters featuring the stars - Dravid, Anil Kumble, Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan and Mark Boucher - are ubiquitous though. Even the steps leading up to the pavilion have been painted in the team colours, with the crest staring down at you from all corners of the ground. There is even a red-painted tunnel leading from the dressing rooms to the ground, a la Anfield or Old Trafford. Even Kolkata have made their presence felt, a couple of thousand kilometres away from their Eden Gardens stomping ground. “Be scared, be sh*t scared,” says a poster on nearby MG Road. Ganguly and Ishant Sharma stare at you, sporting Reservoir Dogs faces. The last time one saw a similar spectacle unfold before a sporting event was in the build-up to one of sport’s greatest events, the UEFA Champions League final. For most of the fans that congregated at the Ataturk Stadium that night though, the music, lights and dance were a mere distraction from the waves of nausea and anticipation that assail you before the main event. Having won Test matches against Australia and played in a World Cup final, it seems unlikely that Dravid and Ganguly will walk out thinking of it as the game of their lives…blackout or not. |
I am excited to play with Sachin : Jayasuria
Former Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya is looking forward to play with Sachin Tendulkar in the upcoming Indian Premier League Twenty20, starting here on Sunday. “I am very happy I will play with Sachin Tendulkar. Besides I will get an opportunity to start the innings with him,” said Sri Lanka’s former skipper with a chuckle to the media persons here on Wednesday. After a long pratice session at Bandra Kurla Complex facility, he said, “I got the first opportunity to play with Sachin during a charity match in England. Now IPL has given another opportunity to play with him.” When asked about how he felt playing with youngsters at the age of 38, Jayasuriya shot back,” I do not think so. I am still a young player both on and off the field.” The Lankan hero said his team Mumbai Indians was all prepared for the IPL. “We know our strengths and weaknesses. We are also preparing to counter the opponents in every match. We will try to keep Mumbai flag high,” he said |
Indian Premier League Teams
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Deccan Chargers
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Rajasthan Royals
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Bangalore Royal Challengers
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Kings XI Punjab
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Delhi Daredevils
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Chennai Super Kings
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Kolkata Knight Riders
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Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians Owner: Reliance Industries Ltd Franchise fee: $111.9 million Most expensive player: Sachin Tendulkar - $1,121,250 Captain: Sachin Tendulkar Coach: Lalchand Rajput Players : Sachin Tendulkar Sanath Jayasuriya Robin Uthappa Lasith Malinga Abhishek Nayar Dilhara Fernando Harbhajan Singh Ashish Nehra Dominic Thornely Musavir Khote, Dhawal Kulkarni Manish Pandey Rajesh Pawar Shaun Pollock Saurabh Tiwary Ashwell Prince, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohan Raje, Luke Ronchi(wk) Pinal Shah (wk) Swapnil Singh Y Vijay Takawale Vikrant Yeligati Loots Bosman Ankeet Chavan Siddharth Chitnis Gaurav Dhiman |
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