Kolkata, April 14 (IANS) Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla may have bought the Kolkata Knight Riders for the seventh lowest price at the eight-team auction, but the Sourav Ganguly-led Indian Premier League (IPL) side has variety, all-round look and bench strength to take on any team in the Twenty20 competition.
Business partners, Shah Rukh and Juhi and Jay Mehta, should be mighty pleased with the way they went about the auctions. They first bought the franchise for $75.09 million for a 10-year period and then raised a team that has some of the best batsmen and bowlers of the present era besides India's most successful Test captain.
With hard-hitting batsmen like Chris Gayle of West Indies and Australia captain Ricky Ponting and a bowling attack that has Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar and Indian pace sensation Ishant Sharma, Kolkata is capable of taking on any side in the tournament.
With some of India's most talented youngsters in the line-up, the John Buchanan-coached Kolkata has a formidable look. A glimpse of Knight Riders' firepower will be on display when they play they play the inaugural game against Bangalore Royal Challengers in Bangalore Friday.
Shah Rukh with his charismatic persona will add to the glamour and the razzmatazz. The team's website shows how much interest the super star is attaching to the glamour quotient and building a fan base of this high-profile team.
At the player auction, their strategy was to build a balanced team, and they have succeeded in their endeavour to a large extent.
Strengths: Knight Riders' USP is their strong bench strength in all departments as they have young players who are capable replacing seniors in emergency. Ganguly and Buchanan have put together an extremely balanced side by intelligently spending money at the auction. Whether it is batting, bowling or wicket-keeping -- they have bought three wicket-keepers -- the team has a perfect all-round look. Their batting with Ponting and Ganguly, Pakistan's Salman Butt and Mohammad Hafeez, Gayle, and Australia's David Hussey, looks a shade stronger than their bowling attack.
Left-handed openers Gayle and Butt are capable of smashing any attack. The middle order is formidable, too, with Ponting, Ganguly, Hussey, Hafeez, Tatenda Taibu, Brendon McCullum and Services' Yashpal Singh. If need be, the reliable Aakash Chopra though has not played a single Twenty20 match so far, can keep one end going. Then there is all-rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla, to provide the overall balance to the team.
Wicket-keepers Taibu of Zimbabwe, New Zealander McCullum and reserve stumper Wriddhiman Saha, who smashed a century on debut for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy, will be ready to chip in if needed.
Weaknesses: Bowling could get weakened if Akhtar, suspended for five years on disciplinary grounds by the Pakistan Cricket Board, cannot play. He could make a big difference, especially given the fact that he will know that he can bowl a maximum of four overs and thus could give his all in short spells.
Ishant Sharma, who continued his brilliant bowling in Australia playing against South Africa at home, Pakistan's Umar Gul, Ajit Agarkar and Bengal's own Ranadeb Bose besides off-spinner Sourashish Lahiri are the other bowlers who can create an impact along with Murali Kartik, the left-arm spinner who came into Riders' calculations after they failed to grab Harbhajan Singh.
Key players: Knight Riders' fortunes will largely depend on how well Gayle, Ponting, Ishant and Akhtar perform along with Ganguly.
Key youngsters: There are some extremely talented youngsters in peedster Siddarth Kaul and left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah, both of whom bagged 10 wickets at the under-19 World Cup. Batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, the top scorer with 349 runs at the 2006 under-19 World Cup and a consistent performer in domestic tournaments, will be another key youngster to watch.
Venue: The historical Eden Gardens is the home ground of the Knight Riders. India's biggest cricket venue with a 100,000 capacity provides can create an electrifying atmosphere what with exciting cricket and entertainment to be provided by Shah Rukh's troupe on the sidelines.
Squad: Sourav Ganguly (captain/Ind/icon/$1,093,000), Ishant Sharma (Ind/$950,000), Chris Gayle (WI, $800,000), Brendon McCullum (NZ/$700,000), David Hussey (Aus/$625,000), Shoaib Akhtar (Pak/$425,000), Ricky Ponting (Aus/$400,000), Ajit Agarkar (Ind/$350,000), Murali Kartik (Ind/$425,000), Umar Gul (Pak/$150,000), Tatenda Taibu (Zim/$50,000), Salman Butt (Pak/$100,000), Mohammad Hafeez (Pak/$50,000), Aakash Chopra (Ind), Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind), Siddarth Kaul (Ind), Yashpal Singh (Ind), Ranadeb Bose (Ind), Laxmi Ratan Shukla (Ind), Wriddhiman Prasanta Saha (Ind), Rohan Bannerjee (Ind), Debabrata Das (Ind), Sourashish Lahiri (Ind)and Iqbal Abdullah (Ind)
Support staff: John Buchanan (coach), Andrew Leipus (physiotherapist), Michael Buchanan and Adrian Le Roux (trainers)
Team jersey, mascot and logo: The mascot is a 'zany, toony' tiger named 'Hoog Lee', a take off on the famous river Hoogly that passes through Kolkata.
Jaipur, Apr 14 (ANI): As the countdown for the 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL) continues, the Rajasthan Royals team's gearing up for its first match against the Delhi Daredevils team on Saturday.
The team played a practice match on Monday morning here to allow its captain and coach Shane Warne, to assess the team's performance.
The players of the team were more than excited to get trained by Shane Warne.
"This is a warm up match. Shane Warne wants to assess the performance of the players of the team. A lot of junior players are in the team who have not played with him or even played international matches. Shane Warne wants to see who is capable of doing what," said Ananth Vyas, Media Co-ordinator, Rajasthan Royals team.
Apart from Shane Warne, the players of the team include Mohammed Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, Niraj Patel, Siddharth Trivedi, Ravindra Jadeja, Swapnil Asnodkar, Taruwar Kohli, Jaydev Shah, Sumeet Khatri, Parag More, Mahesh Rawat, Pankaj Singh and Dinesh Salunkhe.
The IPL is scheduled to kick-off on April 18 and will be played over 44 days involving 59 matches, including two semi-finals and the final at Mumbai on June 1. (ANI)
Chennai, April 13 (IANS) The Indian Premier League with its multi-million dollar deals, has changed the face of cricket, said former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, who is in the city to play for Chennai Super Kings in the multi-million dollar league.
Fleming, whom was bought by the Chennai Super Kings for $350,000, admitted that he was 'astounded' by the amount of money involved.
'Like most players, I was astounded by the moneys involved in the IPL, but I feel it is going to be incredibly exciting and the league is something that has changed the face of cricket,' Fleming said.
The sentiments were echoed by his former teammate and all-rounder Jacob Oram and Australian Michael Hussey.
While endorsing the IPL whole-heartedly, the trio felt that beneath the veneer of entertainment that Twenty-20 cricket format projected, lay a lot of cricketing skills and something that cannot be overlooked.
'Yes, T-20 is all about entertainment, but still you need cricketing skills to win matches and it is a complex game. There is also a lot of technique involved like the way you plan a chase or set a target, batting in the middle overs and such situations,' said Fleming.
When specifically queried about the attitude and approach of the players in view of the huge fees, Fleming asserted that the choice was for the individual players to make.
'Back home, questions were asked during the auction on the kind of money involved, but it for the players to decide on how they want to go about in their careers,' he said.
Hussey said much the same as he expressed surprise at the fees the players commanded, but hastened to add that IPL was a 'fantastic concept'.
Oram, who cleared a fitness test with 'flying colours' prior to departing for India, felt that a permanent slot could be provided for IPL in the international calendar.
'It is for the ICC to come up with something to ensure that the IPL dates do not clash the international commitments of the countries,' he said.
The trio felt that players from different countries being in the same team would not be a big issue.
Fleming said it was possible to work out the 'dynamics' of the team once all the players get together.
Apparently, the senior players along with physio Gregory King have already had an unofficial meeting to work out the overall team strategy.
'We have a few wise minds in our team and I am sure, we will be able to work out an appropriate strategy for the tournament,' said Hussey.
Chennai Super Kings also signed up Mahendra Singh Dhoni for a whopping $1.5 million, Muttiah Muralitharan ($600,000), Matthew Hayden ($375,000), Parthiv Patel ($325,000), Joginder Sharma ($225,000), Albie Morkel ($675,000), Suresh Raina ($650,000) and Makhaya Ntini ($200,000).
Dharti Mars ke paas hai," is one of the few sentences this Chennai youngster comes up with when asked frame a sentence with dharti by the radio jockey. Dinesh Karthik isn't really good at it, especially with genders, but he's making an effort to better his Hindi.
Of course, he's a Delhiite now. Smart in his Delhi IPL team outfit and a pair of feathery slippers, he feels lucky to be a part of such an event.
"Not every player gets to visit his fans' home," Karthik feels. As the convoy of the red SUVs enter the apartment in Mayur Vihar, the 23-year old is a bit apprehensive.
"Oh my goodness, now we'll have the entire apartment here?," he follows the bhangra troupe nervously to hand over IPL tickets to the school boy, Vinam Suri. Karthik is a complete Hindi-movie buff and loves the soundtrack Pehli nazar from Race.
"But I'm not a die hard fan of anyone particular, I like the actors for that particular movie," he says. His recent favourites are Chak De and Taare Zameen Par.
And what more, we find BBA student Dhruv Agarwal, the second winner, playing exactly that song when Karthik arrives at his Sunder Nagar residence.
Disturbed by the lukewarm response, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has taken on the responsibility to sell the tickets of his Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders.
The King Khan is pinning high hopes for his Kolkata Knight Riders and with a desire to make the matches widely viewed by the spectators from the ground, he is selling tickets at a cheaper rate.
SRK wants more cricket buffs present at the Eden Garden to cheer for his team and so he has kept the price reachable to the Aam Admi.
SRK is not only selling the tickets as cheap as Rs. 100, but he will also be present at all the places wherever the Knight Riders will play to boost up the confidence of his team.
The inaugural ceremony will be held in Bangalore where Vijay Mallya's Bangalore Royal Challengers will take on SRK's Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
SRK had also invited some of his close friends like Farah Khan , Karan Johar , Juhi Chawla , Arjun Rampal and many others to watch the IPL match which will start on April 18.
The spectators will surely get to see the glamour and glitz of Bollywood along with cricket stars and that entertainment quotient will make IPL more exciting
The Team dress was launched at a glittering function at Hotel Taj Krishna. The team have also announced their sponsoror, Jaypee Group. Jaypee Group company is into construction, power, cement and hospitality industries. The infrastructure conglomerate has also expanded into real estate and express ways.
DLF Indian Premier League announces second season from April 10 to May 29, 2009
on Sunday, April 13, 2008Friday, April 4th, 2008: Lalit Modi, Chairman & League Commissioner, DLF Indian Premier League, today announced that the tentative dates for the second season of the DLF Indian Premier League will be from April 10th, 2009 to May 29th, 2009. The League Chairman and Commissioner also announced that the format of the tournament will remain the same as that of the inaugural season.
The eight franchises will first play against one another in a league on home and away basis. The top four teams will then figure in the two semi-finals and the winners of the semi-finals will clash in the final.
Lalit Modi, Chairman and Commissioner, DLF Indian Premier League said, "The dates of the second season of the DLF Indian Premier League were decided at a meeting of the Governing Council of the DLF Indian Premier League held in Mumbai. I am confident of the inaugural season becoming a huge success and the second season will be even a bigger success."
The inaugural season of the DLF Indian Premier League is ready to kick off on April 18th, 2008, with some high voltage action expected between Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders and Dr. Vijay Mallya's Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore.
For further information contact:
Percy Dubash / Javed AkhtarAdfactors Public RelationsTEL: + 91-98202 21792 / +91-99879 14792
Tickets are available at all ICICI bank counters.
Also
Teams & Players
Name | Nationality | Playing Role | Batting Style |
---|---|---|---|
Abdur Razzak | Bangladesh | All rounder | LHB |
Anil Kumble | India | Bowler | RHB |
B. Arun Kumar | India | RHB | |
Balachandra Akhil | India | RHB | |
Bharat Chipli | India | RHB | |
Cameron White | Australia | Bowler | RHB |
Dale Steyn | South Africa | Bowler | RHB |
Devraj Patil | India | RHB | |
Jacques Kallis | South Africa | All rounder | RHB |
K. P. Appanna | India | RHB | |
Mark Boucher | South Africa | Wicket keeper/Batsman | RHB |
Misbah-Ul-Haq | Pakistan | Batsman | RHB |
Nathan Bracken | Australia | Bowler | RHB |
Praveen Kumar | India | RHB | |
Rahul Dravid | India | Batsman | RHB |
Ross Taylor | New Zealand | Batsman | RHB |
Shivnarine Chanderpaul | West Indies | Batsman | LHB |
Sreevats Goswami | India | LHB | |
Sunil Joshi | India | All rounder | LHB |
Vinay Kumar | India | RHB | |
Virat Kohli | India | RHB | |
Wasim Jaffer | India | Batsman | RHB |
Zaheer Khan | India | Bowler | RHB |
Name | Nationality | Playing Role | Batting Style |
---|---|---|---|
Abhinav Mukund | India | LHB | |
Albie Morkel | South Africa | All rounder | LHB |
Anirudha Srikkanth | India | RHB | |
Arun Karthik | India | RHB | |
Jacob Oram | New Zealand | All rounder | LHB |
Jaydev Shah | India | LHB | |
Joginder Sharma | India | All rounder | RHB |
Lakshmipathy Balaji | India | Bowler | RHB |
Makhaya Ntini | South Africa | Bowler | RHB |
Matthew Hayden | Australia | Batsman | LHB |
Michael Hussey | Australia | Batsman | LHB |
MS Dhoni | India | Wicket keeper/Batsman | RHB |
Muttiah Muralitharan | Sri Lanka | Bowler | RHB |
Napoleon Einstein | India | RHB | |
P. Amarnath | India | ||
Parthiv Patel | India | Wicket keeper/Batsman | LHB |
Ravichandran Ashwin | India | RHB | |
S Suresh Kumar | India | RHB | |
S. Vidyut | India | LHB | |
Shadab Jakati | India | LHB | |
Stephen Fleming | New Zealand | Batsman | LHB |
Subramaniam Badrinath | India | RHB | |
Sudeep Tyagi | India | RHB | |
Suresh Raina | India | Batsman | LHB |
Viraj Kadbe | India | RHB |
Name | Nationality | Playing Role | Batting Style |
---|---|---|---|
AB De Villiers | South Africa | Wicket keeper/Batsman | RHB |
Amit Mishra | India | RHB | |
Brett Geeves | Australia | RHB | |
Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | Bowler | LHB |
Dinesh Karthik | India | Wicket keeper/Batsman | RHB |
Farveez Maharoof | Sri Lanka | All rounder | RHB |
Gautam Gambhir | India | Batsman | LHB |
Glenn McGrath | Australia | Bowler | RHB |
Manoj Tiwary | India | Batsman | RHB |
Mayank Tehlan | India | RHB | |
Mithun Manhas | India | RHB | |
Mohammad Asif | Pakistan | Bowler | LHB |
Pradeep Sangwan | India | RHB | |
Rajat Bhatia | India | RHB | |
Shikhar Dhawan | India | LHB | |
Shoaib Malik | Pakistan | All rounder | RHB |
Tejeswi Yadav | India | ||
Tillakeratne Dilshan | Sri Lanka | All rounder | RHB |
Virender Sehwag | India | Batsman | RHB |
Yo Mahesh | India | RHB | |
Yogesh Nagar | India | RHB |
Name | Nationality | Playing Role | Batting Style |
---|---|---|---|
Adam Gilchrist | Australia | Wicket keeper/Batsman | LHB |
Andrew Symonds | Australia | All rounder | RHB |
Arjun Yadav | India | RHB | |
Chaminda Vaas | Sri Lanka | Bowler | LHB |
Haldar Das | India | RHB | |
Herschelle Gibbs | South Africa | Batsman | RHB |
Kalyan Krishna | India | RHB | |
Nuwan Zoysa | Sri Lanka | Bowler | LHB |
Pragyan Ojha | India | LHB | |
Ravi Teja | India | RHB | |
Rohit Sharma | India | Batsman | RHB |
RP Singh | India | Bowler | RHB |
Sanjay Bangar | India | RHB | |
Sarvesh Kumar | India | RHB | |
Scott Styris | New Zealand | All rounder | RHB |
Shahid Afridi | Pakistan | All rounder | RHB |
Venugopal Rao | India | RHB | |
Vijay Kumar | India | RHB | |
VVS Laxman | India | Batsman | RHB |
Name | Nationality | Playing Role | Batting Style |
---|---|---|---|
Aakash Chopra | India | Batsman | RHB |
Ajit Agarkar | India | All rounder | RHB |
Brendon McCullum | New Zealand | Wicket keeper/Batsman | RHB |
Cheteshwar Pujara | India | RHB | |
Chris Gayle | West Indies | All rounder | LHB |
David Hussey | Australia | All rounder | RHB |
Debabrata Das | India | RHB | |
Iqbal Abdullah | India | LHB | |
Ishant Sharma | India | Bowler | RHB |
Laxmi Ratan Shukla | India | RHB | |
Mohammad Hafeez | Pakistan | All rounder | RHB |
Murali Kartik | India | Bowler | LHB |
Ricky Ponting | Australia | Batsman | RHB |
Rohan Banerjee | India | LHB | |
Salman Butt | Pakistan | Batsman | LHB |
Shoaib Akhtar | Pakistan | Bowler | RHB |
Siddarth Kaul | India | RHB | |
Sourasish Lahiri | India | RHB | |
Sourav Ganguly | India | Batsman | LHB |
Tatenda Taibu | Zimbabwe | Wicket keeper/Batsman | RHB |
Umar Gul | Pakistan | Bowler | RHB |
W. P. Saha | India | RHB | |
Yashpal Singh | India | RHB |
Name | Nationality | Playing Role | Batting Style |
---|---|---|---|
Ajitesh Argal | India | RHB | |
Brett Lee | Australia | Bowler | RHB |
Irfan Pathan | India | All rounder | LHB |
James Hopes | Australia | All rounder | RHB |
Karan Goel | India | LHB | |
Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | Wicket keeper/Batsman | LHB |
Kyle Mills | New Zealand | Bowler | RHB |
Luke Pomersbach | Australia | Batsman | RHB |
Mahela Jayawardene | Sri Lanka | Batsman | RHB |
Mohammed Mudasir | India | ||
Nitin Saini | India | RHB | |
Pankaj Dharmani | India | Batsman | RHB |
Piyush Chawla | India | Bowler | LHB |
Ramesh Powar | India | Bowler | RHB |
Ramnaresh Sarwan | West Indies | Batsman | RHB |
Rishi Dhawan | India | RHB | |
S Sreesanth | India | Bowler | RHB |
Sahil Kukreja | India | ||
Simon Katich | Australia | Batsman | LHB |
Sunny Sohal | India | RHB | |
Tanmay Srivastava | India | LHB | |
Uday Kaul | India | LHB | |
VRV Singh | India | Bowler | RHB |
Wilkin Mota | India | RHB | |
Yash Gandhi | India | ||
Yuvraj Singh | India | Batsman | LHB |
Name | Nationality | Playing Role | Batting Style |
---|---|---|---|
Abhishek Nayar | India | LHB | |
Ajinkya Rahane | India | RHB | |
Ankeet Chavan | India | RHB | |
Ashish Nehra | India | Bowler | RHB |
Ashwell Prince | South Africa | Batsman | LHB |
Dhaval Kulkarni | India | RHB | |
Dilhara Fernando | Sri Lanka | Bowler | RHB |
Gaurav Dhiman | India | RHB | |
Harbhajan Singh | India | Bowler | RHB |
Lasith Malinga | Sri Lanka | Bowler | RHB |
Loots Bosman | South Africa | Batsman | RHB |
Luke Ronchi | Australia | RHB | |
Manish Pandey | India | RHB | |
Musavir Khote | India | RHB | |
Pinal Shah | India | RHB | |
Robin Uthappa | India | Batsman | RHB |
Rohan Raje | India | RHB | |
Sachin Tendulkar | India | Batsman | RHB |
Sanath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | All rounder | LHB |
Saurabh Tiwary | India | LHB | |
Shaun Pollock | South Africa | All rounder | RHB |
Siddharth Chitnis | India | RHB | |
Swapnil Singh | India | RHB | |
Vikrant Yelligeti | India | RHB | |
Yogesh Takawale | India | RHB |
Name | Nationality | Playing Role | Batting Style |
---|---|---|---|
Anup Revandkar | India | RHB | |
Dimitri Mascarenhas | England | All rounder | RHB |
Dinesh Salunkhe | India | RHB | |
Graeme Smith | South Africa | Batsman | LHB |
Justin Langer | Australia | Batsman | LHB |
Kamran Akmal | Pakistan | Wicket keeper/Batsman | RHB |
Mahesh Rawat | India | RHB | |
Mohammad Kaif | India | Batsman | RHB |
Morne Morkel | South Africa | Bowler | LHB |
Munaf Patel | India | Bowler | RHB |
Neeraj Patel | India | LHB | |
Pankaj Singh | India | Bowler | RHB |
Ravindra Jadeja | India | LHB | |
Shane Warne | Australia | Bowler | RHB |
Shane Watson | Australia | All rounder | LHB |
Siddharth Trivedi | India | RHB | |
Sohail Tanvir | Pakistan | All rounder | LHB |
Sumeet Khatri | India | LHB | |
Swapnil Asnodkar | India | RHB | |
Taruwar Kohli | India | RHB | |
Younis Khan | Pakistan | Batsman | RHB |
Yusuf Pathan | India | All rounder | RHB |
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Indian Premier Cricket League?
The race between the Indian Cricket League (their website finally loads up) and the BCCI's Indian Premier League has just started getting more interesting.
The BCCI's league boasts of the "Who's who" of international cricket (primarily current players, with a couple of former stars thrown in). Zee's Indian Cricket League boasts of the "Who was who" and "Who's that" of international and Indian domestic cricket.
The ICL has no access to most of the good cricket grounds in India since the BCCI has leases on/ownership of all of them. So it has to make do with unknown grounds. Ditto with the player roster. The ICL's major problem remains that they do not have a single star Indian player signed up. When Dinesh Mongia has the most internationals in your lineup of Indian players, you do have a serious problem!
The main problem both leagues are going to face is how to squeeze in the tournaments in between the various international commitments. I don't really know if the BCCI has some clue about how the IPL will shape up given that the star players will hardly be available over the next 1.5 years or so. The team owners, rights owners, sponsors, spectators, audiences, etc. will undoubtedly demand that the star players turn up for the IPL when they are not playing for India. The BCCI has just confirmed a triangular one-day series in Bangladesh next May to fill in the gaps.
Some pride will have to be swallowed, but I really don't see any scope for the two leagues co-existing and functioning according to the current hype. The ICL is meant to showcase former stars and wannabes. The IPL is meant to showcase the stars. The ICL doesn't have the sponsors, grounds and audiences, but they have the players who have the time to play. The IPL has the sponsors, grounds and audiences, but they don't have players who can spare the time.
Under these circumstances, perhaps the best option is to merge the two leagues and call it the "Indian Premier Cricket League" and have all games played at the IPCL ground with a lot of sponsorship by Reliance Industries Ltd.
Stop press! Reliable BCCI sources inform me that the BCCI, continuing with its theme of creating ODI series out of thin air, will be arranging for a Twenty20 international at the end of each day of the test matches against Pakistan. The BCCI's reasoning is apparently that since each Twenty20 game only takes up 3 hours and test match days end by 5 pm, there is enough time for a Twenty20 game before the cricketers eat & sleep. Rumours about the BCCI jettisoning the warm-up games in Australia and replacing them with Twenty20 internationals are yet to be confirmed.