Chennai Super Kings (probables): 1 Parthiv Patel, 2 Stephen Fleming, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 S Vidyut, 5 Albie Morkel, 6 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 7 S Badrinath, 8 Joginder Sharma, 9 Manpreet Gony, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Makhaya Ntini

Deccan Chargers (probables): 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 VVS Laxman (capt), 3 Scott Styris, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Shahid Afridi, 6 Chamara Silva, 7 Arjun Yadav, 8 Sanjay Bangar, 9 RP Singh, 10 P Vijaykumar, 11 Pragyan Ojha

VVS says: “We have lost a few very close matches after being in winning situations. Super Kings have lost two games no doubt, but we have lost five. So, that makes us even more determined than them to win tomorrow,” Laxman told reporters in a pre-match press conference.

Match Details :

Date – May 6, 2008 26th Match
Venue – M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
20:00 India time.
Keep checking iplcricketlive .com for more information about the match, match videos, match score cards and an analysis of each team’s performance.

Ahmedabad: Just about everyone’s getting on to the Rs150-300 crore a day betting market in the Indian Premier League (IPL).”They play the share markets in the morning and the cricket market in the evenings. The Twenty20 phataphat (quick) cricket has made it possible,” a small-time bookie based in Ahmedabad said, on condition that he would not be named because sports betting in India is not legal.
While British betting houses such as Ladbrokes Plc. can only express interest in entering the cricket market in India if betting is legalized, anyone who can win the confidence of the punters—housewives, grocery shop owners or stock brokers—have been placing huge bets on IPL matches.“About Rs10,000-12,000 crore will be bet during the entire tournament,” said another Ahmedabad-based bookie with active links in Mumbai. “The major centres are Mumbai, Gujarat, Jaipur, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai.”
Another small-time operator from the eastern part of Ahmedabad said, “We bet on everything—toss, team formation, opening bowler, if runs will be scored on the first ball. Anything you can think of.”Such bookies don’t get to play the larger pie; they have to operate within areas demarcated for them. A bookie in Shah-e-Alam or Raipur in the eastern part of Ahmedabad, for instance, cannot take bets from the western part of the city. “It is the big fish in Mumbai and Jaipur who are in direct touch with their bosses abroad,” the bookie said.But with police in Kolkata and Punjab making some arrests for betting on IPL matches, the operators are not taking many chances. They now demand recommendations for a person to be allowed into the betting ring. “Unless you come with a reference, we will not even talk to you, forget allow you to place a bet,” said a bookie from Mumbai.The bookies hire small-time operators to function as brokers and collecting agents. They collect money from those who want to place bets, allowing credit facility for only an exclusive few. “It (credit facility) depends on your track record and the money you bet,” a bookie said.
As on Saturday night, the top three bookie favourites were Chennai Super Kings, led by India Twenty20 and one-day captain M.S. Dhoni, followed by Virender Sehwag’s Delhi Daredevils and Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals.“Things could change over time. Some foreign players have gone back home. Chennai’s Mathew Hayden and Mike Hussey have gone back to play for Australia, so Delhi Daredevils have become the hot favourite,” said another Ahmedabad-based bookie.It is not just the local players who offer odds. “Some of the foreign (betting) players even provide online odds and accept betting as if it is legal there. The betting rates in India is mostly in sync with those abroad,” he said.
Source: livemint.com

Two of Mumbai’s home IPL matches – on May 14 and 16 – are likely to be shifted from the DY Patil Stadium to the Wankhede Stadium, following speculation that the Mumbai Indians were unhappy with the commute from the team hotel to the venue in addition to the practice pitches at the new ground.The DY Patil Stadium, located in Navi Mumbai, involves a commute of roughly 40 km from the team hotel. The venue, allotted five of the seven home matches, hosted its first match on April 27. However, the franchise owners, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), fell short of confirming the move.

“We cannot confirm or deny the move at the moment,” Kaushik Roy, president, branding, at RIL, told Cricinfo. The decision will be jointly made by the franchise and the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).A Mumbai team official has also pointed out that the standard of the practice wicket at DY Patil ground was not similar to the actual wicket, something that the team was not happy with. It could’ve been one of the reasons why the team chose to practise at the Bandra Kurla Grounds on Saturday, instead of the actual venue.The DY Patil Stadium will, however, host the clash against Delhi Daredevils tommorow and the forthcoming match against Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday.

This could be the second instance of a venue change in Mumbai, after the Cricket Club of India (CCI) backed out as hosts. The CCI, which houses the Brabourne Stadium, were apparently unhappy with an agreement between the IPL authorities and franchise owners that meant the franchise would acquire 80% of all seats, including those in the clubhouse. A bulk of the matches then had to be shifted to the DY Patil Stadium, with the Wankhede Stadium hosted the opening match. Since the Wankhede is currently under renovation for 2011 World Cup, the MCA said the stadium was not in a position to host ten matches along with the two semi-finals and the final.

Source: content-usa.cricinfo.com

Kolkata: The controversy over allotment of tickets for Kolkata Knight Riders’ home matches doesn’t seem to end: West Bengal Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty Monday said his department was not satisfied with the ticket distribution.

As a mark of protest, the sports ministry has returned all tickets for the Twenty20 match to be held at Eden Gardens Thursday to the IPL franchise Red Chillies Entertainment of film star Shah Rukh Khan.”We have been deprived of our share of tickets. Red Chillies Entertainment, which is in charge of the ticket distribution of Kolkata Knight Riders matches, has given us a lesser share of tickets this time. So we have returned all the tickets for the Knight Riders match versus Bangalore Royal Challengers,” Chakraborty told reporters.

“Unless we have adequate tickets how will we meet public demand? And if the Kolkatans don’t get enough tickets they will accuse us and say that we have sold all tickets to Red Chillies for our profit,” he added.”This is the first time in my tenure that a private company is deciding how many tickets should be given to the sports department for sale. So far I had been keeping away from IPL but now I will make sure that nobody demeans us in any way,” he said.

Source: sify.com

New Delhi, May 5: Minutes after landing in the country, controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said he was looking forward to a fruitful stint in the Indian Premier League and thanked Bollywood actor ShahRukh Khan for his support.“I am happy to be in India. I am looking forward to play in the IPL and play my role for my team,” said Akhtar, who landed at around 1600 hrs at the Indira Gandhi International Airport from Lahore and was mobbed by reporters and shutterbugs to cause a melee of sorts.

“I am grateful to the people of India for embracing me, especially (team owner) Shah Rukh Khan who supported me. Eden Gardens is like my home ground. I am looking ahead to be there soon,” added Akhtar.The speedster is free to play for ShahRukh-owned Kolkata Knight Riders after the Pakistan Cricket Board temporarily suspended his five-year ban.Akhtar, who leaves for Kolkata by an Indian domestic flight in the evening, admitted he would have to train hard and acclimatise with the conditions though he had visited the country late last year.“I have not played cricket for four months. I have to acclimatise with the conditions and train hard. I want to do my bit for my team,” he said.While refusing to talk about his appeal pending before an Appeallate Tribunal in Pakistan.

“I don’t want to talk about the case, it is pending before a tribunal,” he said.
Source:expressindia.com