In yet another news coming from the Chennai Super Kings team, the former fast bowler who was out from international cricket due to an injury, L Balaji was included in the team

“I’m happy with the progress, but it’s an ongoing process,” Balaji told the Hindu. “I still need to play more competitive cricket. I’m taking it step by step.” He last played an international in August 2005 against Sri Lanka in Dambulla. Balaji said he was happy to have been picked by the Super Kings but he wasn’t sure how much he would get to play in this edition of the tournament.

“It works both ways,” said VB Chandrasekhar, the head of cricketing matters for the Super Kings, of Balaji’s inclusion in the squad. “When he’s fit and bowling well, it’s good for us, while the IPL is a platform to continue his comeback.”

In one of the latest news from the Indian Premier League arena, Dr. Vijay Mallaya’s Kingfisher bagged the rights to sponsor all the third umpire decisions and has become an official umpire partner for all the 59 matches to be  player.Kingfisher bagged these rights by paying Rs 106 crore.

“Kingfisher Airlines has had a long association with a variety of sports at both the domestic and international levels including Tennis, Formula 1, Polo and now cricket. Their decision bears testimony to the fact that the DLF Indian Premier League is here to stay, and is set to carve out a distinct niche for itself in the international cricket calendar,” said Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner, DLF Indian Premier League.

As per the agreement, Kingfisher Airlines will receive branding on the umpires’ uniform including their shirts and hats during the tournament along with several other activation opportunities around the property.

Vijay Mallya, chairman & CEO, Kingfisher Airlines, said: We are delighted to extend our partnership with the DLF Indian Premier League with Kingfisher Airlines coming in as the official umpire partner. Our five-year association with the DLF Indian Premier League is further testimony to our commitment to building the Kingfisher Airlines brand through sports. The DLF Indian Premier League is a highly innovative concept and the Twenty20 format will undoubtedly take cricket’s popularity to a new high. Kingfisher Airlines will present the DLF IPL umpires in a completely new and modern style while retaining their critical role in the sport.”

The first match will be played between Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders and Vijay Mallya’s Royal Challengers of Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Icon player concept is introduced in the Indian Premier League.Explaining this, an icon player is a player who can only play for his home city in the competition.These icon players don’t have to go through bidding.These icon players have an advantage that they are guaranteed to get paid at least 15% more than the next top earner in their team.

List of icon players * Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians
* Rahul Dravid for Bangalore Royal Challengers
* Sourav Ganguly for Kolkata Knight Riders
* Yuvraj Singh for Mohali
* Virender Sehwag for Delhi DareDevils

V.V.S Laxman was also offered the icon player status but he declined it.

Following were the words by the highy paid superstar Shahrukh Khan when he was asked about the sponsors of Indian Premier League

 “Belmont, Nokia, HDIL and Tag Heur are already with me. To be very honest, I think we are the only team that needs sponsors. Reliance, Kingfisher and GMR have lots of money. They are public limited companies. We are the only private limited company trying to make a foray into this. It’s not that sponsors will come on board (on their own), I am begging them to come on board so we can live this dream.”

“I think we got 80 to 90 per cent of what we wanted. I am very happy with it. I personally didn’t enjoy the auction, I am very odd with these kind of things. It was fun to go there but was a little embarrassing to sit and raise hands and all, so I didn’t do it.”

Said by Shahrukh Khan alias King Khan on the occasion of bidding