Call the IPL by any other name but Indian Premier League. How about ‘Invisible Premier League’? The Twenty20 tourney is high on the ‘invisible’ quotient what with small ad agencies and designers, caterers, security companies, ticketing and other logistics firms being the most visible faces on the field, without a mention off it. Instead, big-ticket brands like DLF, Pepsi, Vodafone, Hero Honda have ensured the halo of visibility by pumping in millions of dollars. It’s time for a paean to the unsung heroes of IPL.

Meet the Delhi-based Brilliant Entertainment, which is handling the entertainment and celebrity acts of Deccan Chargers, or Team Hyderabad. Or, for that matter, the Hyderabad-based Rachnoutsav Events Private Limited, which designs and distributes tickets for the Deccan Chargers. The Rs 8-crore firm also manages the in-stadium swelling crowds, besides providing VIP cover.

“It is challenging and interesting to work for an event that organised seven cricket matches in less than 40 days. It was also challenging to manage around 40,000 people in the stadium. This has added to our portfolio for the future,” points out Sanjay Kankaria, manager special events at Rachnoutsav.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Hyderabad: Deccan Chargers have finally given up hope of qualifying for the semi-finals and will now try and salvage some points in the remaining matches to end up a bit higher in the points table.

“We are pretty much out of the semi-finals and we’re at a stage where we can’t change anything.

“We will try and salvage something out of this tournament,” Gilchrist said after their loss to Kolkata Knight Riders.

The stand-in captain, however, was all praise for Yalaka Venugopal Rao.

“There have been some positives. The way Venugopal batted was brilliant,” Gilchrist said.

He felt they gave away too many runs in the closing stages of the Knight Riders’ innings and that made the difference.

“We gave away 100 runs in the last six overs. But I am not singling out any individual. We have to take collective responsibility for the defeat,” he said.

He felt the team was “doing only 75 per cent of the basics right,” and that has contributed to the defeat.

“We have to sit down and analyse the drawbacks and move forward.

“We have gelled well as a team but it’s unfortunate that only one player has been able to click every time.

“We will address this issue and change things around. It’s all about learning, and tough situations are best for learning,” he said.
Source:telegraphindia.com

Mumbai, May 11 (PTI) Sachin Tendulkar, who is yet to play his first ball in the Indian Premier League, could feature in the crucial next tie against Chennai, Mumbai Indians coach Lalchand Rajput said today.
“Sachin has been batting for the last two days during practice and we are hoping that he will be playing the next match,” Rajput said.

A groin injury has kept Tendulkar out of the IPL so far but the batsman has been practising with the team during the last two practice sessions.

Rajput said the presence of Tendulkar in the team would lift the morale of the side ahead of crucial game.

“It has been good for morale to be winning before he (Tendulkar) was in the team and him coming back will further boost our players and put pressure on the other teams,” Rajput said.

Tendulkar, if fit ahead of the match on May 14 is also likely to take over as captain, with South African Shaun Pollock stepping aside.

“Pollock’s contribution to the team has been immense but when Sachin comes everyone will revolve around him,” Rajput said.

Tendulkar is likely to open the innings with Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya.

Mumbai have won three matches out of seven so far and are placed in the bottom half of the team standings with seven games to go.
Source:ptinews.com

In a match which swung like a see saw in favor of one team to another, it was Shane Watson who single handedly pulled a thrilling win for Rajasthan Royals. Chasing a target of 157,Rajasthan Royals had a poor start and Yousaf Pathan and Kaif were run out and it looked that Delhi Daredevils had a fair chance to win.But then Smith and Watson played some good shots and it again looked that Rajasthan Royals are back in the game. Mishra got the wicket of Smith through a splendid catch. Soon Jadeja was also bowled and it looked that Delhi Daredevils have a chance. But Watson was in no mood no let the game slip from Rajasthan Royals hand. He scored 74 from just 40 balls and thus helped the Rajasthan Royals win the match by 3 wickets.

Today – Match 33 – Scorecard – Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils

Today is a match between Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils played at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. This is the 33 match of the DLF Indian Premier League. Rajasthan Royals won the toss and decided to field. Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag opened the batting for Dehli Daredevils and took the score to 47 before Virender Sehwag was catch out by Kaif. Gambhir continued to score runs and once he was out, all the other batsmen also felt cheaply and the Delhi Devils were limited to 100/6 in 16 overs. But after the 16 th over, some lusty hitting by Farveez Maharoof took them to some respectable total. He was the top scorer for Delhi Daredevils and got 27 runs from 1 over of Shane Warne. The last 4 overs were some what better for the Delhi Daredevils and thus they managed 156/7 runs in 20 overs.

Today – Match 33 – Scorecard – Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils