Ravi Bopara has said he hopes the Indian Premier League comes to England rather than South Africa in three weeks’ time. The England batsman, who has been signed by Kings XI Punjab for the coming season, at a cost of $450,000, was looking forward to playing in India, in the region from which his parents originate. But if the security issues in India preclude the 59-match tournament taking place in that country, then he would favour England rather than the other potential host country South Africa.

On Sunday the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive, David Collier, said that, if required, it was ready to stage the tournament which could be fully accommodated in the desired time frame and on major grounds in England without recourse to altering fixtures. “I would welcome it being in England,” Bopara said in Guyana on Monday prior to catching the team charter to Barbados. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with it as long as the county schedule and the West Indies tour does not change.”

But like Andrew Flintoff before him Bopara has mixed feelings about the prospect of not playing in India. “I think it is disappointing,” he said. “What I was looking forward to was the crowds, the hype, the whole IPL thing. I was excited by it. But if we are playing in England, then I’ll just get on with it.”

However, he sounds a warning to those who might be expecting April and May in England to be conducive to the sort of pyrotechnics seen in the tournament’s inaugural season. “Conditions in India lend themselves to explosive cricket,” he said. “I don’t think it will affect the spectacle but it will be harder to get big scores. The seven English players involved, though, will be used to the conditions so that might help us and it should also help us for the World Twenty20 a month or so later. So I think it can be a good thing for us if it happens.”

Since the IPL player auction Bopara’s stock has risen. He replaced Ian Bell in the Test side and made his maiden Test century in the fourth Test in Barbados. For the Twenty20 match in Trinidad and the one-day internationals that followed in Guyana he was given the responsibility of opening, in an endeavour to find a combination that would be able to take advantage of the powerplays in place at the start of the innings. If his success has been muted so far, he has hopes that he can grow into a role he relishes.

“I would like to see myself opening long term,” he admitted. “I’ve always wanted to do it and I’m so happy I’ve got my opportunity with England. I want to make the most of it because I do want to open for the next so many years and I want to be known as England’s opener. I’m excited about it and I want to do it for however long I play international cricket. It can be difficult at the top of the order but it has its benefits as well. You can pierce the ring and it goes for four. But there are advantages and disadvantages.

“You are up against the new ball and you can always get a good delivery with that. Hopefully I won’t need a long run to prove myself. I want to do that over the next three games and the one-day series coming up in England and the Twenty20 matches I’ll be playing. I want to go to Barbados, score some big runs and win and that will prove myself.”
Source – guardian.co.uk

It has now been now decided that IPL venue will be shifted to international grounds – most likely to England and South Africa. It’s not something that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bosses were expecting, but given the circumstances, they will take it.

They know that they will incur losses in revenue, but it was important for them to have the business module of the Indian Premier League (IPL) flowing.

According to a top CSK official, they had earned Rs 12.5 crore only from gate sales last season.

“We’re going to miss out on a chunk of that money,” the source said, but “there’s not much we can do about it. For us, it is important that the IPL happens, come what may.”

They are not yet sure what their ‘home ground’ will be, but they’re already looking to create a fan base wherever they’re asked to play.

“The one good thing about South Africa and England is that there’s a big Indian population there. And given the success of the last season, we’ll probably be able to form a decent enough fan base,” the official said, adding that it’s a disappointment that the fans in Chennai will miss out on the live action.

“We understand their sentiments. But at the same time, it’s also true that 98 per cent of the IPL viewership comprises TV audience.” the official said.

The production costs will shoot up substantially for hosting the matches outside India, but the CSK top-brass is hoping that those will be shared by the IPL authorities.

“We will be having discussions over the next few days. We hope to keep the expenses to manageable proportions,” he added.

It’s obvious that there won’t be more than 16-18 players with the squad. “We have to treat it like a tour, some players will have to miss out, but then again, we’ve to live with it,” the source added.

CSK is likely to host a camp wherever their home is and will decide on the composition of the team. Luckily for CSK, all their 10 foreigners won’t be available right through the tournament and they’ll be able to rotate most of them.

“Freddie Flintoff is available for three weeks, at that time, Albie Morkel and Makhaya Ntini have international commitments. Then Mike Hussey, too, will play only a few matches. So, we can rotate our foreigners quite effectively,” he added.

Meanwhile, S. Badrinath, who is one of the certainties in the CSK team, will miss the Chepauk atmosphere, but he also believes this will be a good exposure for him.

“Playing in South Africa or England will be interesting. And we really have a very balanced team that can do well anywhere,” Badrinath said, adding that he’ll be surprised that if the team doesn’t make the semifinals.
Source – .televisionpoint.com

f IPL takes place outside India, it will hardly give 24 hours to the India team players after arriving from New Zealand.

The third and final Test match is scheduled to be over in Wellington on April 7 and then the team will fly out of Auckland the next day and return home in the wee hours of April 9, en route Hong Kong.

So, the players will hardly get time to even catch a nap before catching a flight to either South African or England for a 45-day event.

Meanwhile, the Indian team have left for Auckland on Monday on road for a much needed break from cricket. Fortunately, the team will have a day off tommorow as well.

Buty the Kiwis, after been outplayed in the first Test got down to business, with the coach taking the boys to Seddon park for an extended training session where the team discussed about the ways to come back strongly in the Test series with a win in Napier.

The Kiwis are due to fly to Napier on Tuesday for the second Test.

The Indian players were given a break by their coach after the thumping win on Saturday.

The coach along with Paddy Upton with their families stayed back in Hamilton.

Most of the Indian players were busy shopping in Auckland. Sehwag, who was joined by his wife and son before the first Test, is enjoying the form of his life in this series. While, stand in wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik too is accompanied by his wife.

The Indians will travel to Napier on March 24 .
Source – espnstar.com

IPL is known as the billionaire dollar baby because there is big money involved. Some estimates even put the figure at close to Rs 10,000 crore, mainly in TV rights and sponsorships.

“It’s on prime time TV at exactly the same time. So no one is going to suffer from it,” Kings XI Punjab owner Preity Zinta said.

On the face of it, the team owners stand to lose because no match will be played on their home grounds. But the IPL has promised franchises won’t lose out.

“The BCCI will see to it that franchises don’t lose out,” IPL chairman Lalit Modi said.

For example, the franchises will make up the Rs 10 crore loss that they may see in ticket sales abroad.

But in India cricket is not always about the money. A league that was all about cities and their teams is now faced with an identity crisis.

Emotions aside, the big ticket event has prevailed even if the IPL becomes the International Premier League at least for 2009.
Source – ndtv.com

International Cricket Council (ICC) president David Morgan said he is surprised at the news of the Indian Premier League being held overseas, and added it would be difficult for any nation to host the event at such short notice.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday announced that the hugely popular Twenty20 tournament will be played outside India because state governments have expressed their inability to provide security to the tournament as it clashes with general elections in the country.

“That is a quite surprising news, they have had real difficulties with the elections on in India,” Mr. Morgan was quoted as saying in the Telegraph. “I honestly don’t know (where it will be staged) but the rumours here in Australia were that South Africa was a likely relocation destination but there has been nothing official.”

“It’s the beginning of the season in England and Wales and there is a lot of Twenty20 cricket being played, including the ICC World Twenty20.”

“I do think there will be great difficulties in relocating it,” he said.
Source – hindu.com