Sri Lankan cricketers playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) next month are looking for early clarity on when and where the lucrative tournament would be held, an official said on Sunday.

“They (players) will be looking to the final outcome (on where this would be held). Hosting in South Africa or England would not be an issue at all from the security point of view. The grand game is just three weeks away and there should be some clarity soon,” manager of most of the Sri Lankan cricketers Charlie Austin told IANS.

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

Austin conceded that unlike in India, there would be a less crowd watching the match directly and it would be “an obvious cause for much concern for the sponsors and organisers”.

“The IPL authorities would certainly be aware of the timing of the matches to ensure that they do not lose millions of viewers and fans in the Asian region, where cricket is just more than a game,” he said.

Sri Lanka’s skipper Kumar Sangakkara, his deputy Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Farveez Maharoof, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando and Ajantha Mendis are some of the key players who have signed three-year contracts with the IPL.
Source – cricketnext.in.com

The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) original production partner Multi Screen Media (MSM) Pvt Ltd-run Sony Entertainment Television (SET) has retained the telecast rights for the second edition of the lucrative Twenty20 extravaganza.

It is learnt that talks between MSM and the BCCI have resulted in a “full and final” settlement on a new deal that will run for the remainder of the nine-year term the contract has to run with principal rights holder World Sport Group. The parties entered a new agreement after the legal dispute was taken out of court but did not materialise.

The original deal Sony-WSG committed to pay $918 million for the 10 year telecast rights plus an additional $108 million towards marketing and promotion expenses. In that deal, MSM had telecast rights for five years. This has been extended for a further five years.

Sony Max was retained but with a few amendments in the original deal. This was confirmed by highly placed sources after the IPL governing council meeting at the BCCI office in Mumbai on Sunday.

Under the new agreement, MSM will pay the IPL 18 per cent more than the amount in the original agreement and have managed to extend their five-year deal to 10.

Problems first began to appear between BCCI and MSM when Reliance ADAG-owned Big TV, walked out of their Rs 137 crore sponsorship deal and MSM instead signed Airtel Digital as their on-air sponsor for DTH.
Source – cricketnirvana.com

Though fans have been disappointed with the Indian cricket board’s decision to hold second edition of the Twenty20 tournament abroad, the franchise owners have backed the move with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), calling it a “great” decision.

Mumbai Indians co-owner Nita Ambani said even though shifting the IPL was a last resort, they were assured they will not suffer any losses.

Rajasthan Royals co-owner Shilpa Shetty, though disappointed, said that given the choice between “no tournament, or the tournament in another country, then we clearly prefer the latter”.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at an emergency meeting Sunday decided to hold the Twenty20 tournament outside the country because state governments have expressed their inability to provide security to the tournament as it clashes with general elections.

“It is a great decision. We will follow what the IPL and the BCCI decide. All the franchise owners have decided to stick together and see it through,” Shah Rukh said after a meeting of the eight team owners with IPL chairman Lalit Modi Sunday.

“The elections are important for the country. It’s a bigger issue than IPL. We have tried to resolve the problem. IPL officials will have to do a lot more work. We all have been working non-stop for past three days. The picture will be clear in next five to seven days,” he said.

“However, the buzz which is in India will not be there, but the election buzz will be there,” Shah Rukh said.

The Bollywood superstar said the sponsors should not have any problem falling in line.

“The tournament is going to be televised so the sponsors will come along.”

Shah Rukh, who last year travelled extensively with the team, said he will take time out this year too. “I will try to be there for as many matches as possible.”

Mumbai Indians co-owner Nita Ambani said the IPL has assured the franchisees that they will not suffer any losses if the Twenty20 tournament is held outside the country.

“Shifting IPL out of India was the last resort for us but we did not want to stop IPL from taking place this year. IPL has assured us that there won’t be any losses,” said Nita, wife of Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani.

“We are happy as long as IPL takes place and the Indian people get to watch the matches at the Indian time,” she said.

Rajasthan Royals co-owner Shilpa Shetty was disappointed at the news, but backed the decision.

“I am in London at the moment and the news that we received at the owners conference is disappointing not just for the franchisees but also all the Indian cricket fans, given the huge anticipation and excitement that exists for the IPL in India,” she said.

“However, if the choice is no tournament, or the tournament in another country, then we clearly prefer the latter. The locations and options presented are all viable, and we are working closely with the IPL, as they formulate a decision over the next 24 hours,” she explained.

Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta, too, welcomed the decision.

“Elections are number one priority and we had to take it into consideration. We want to have this tournament to happen too, so this is a good decision as every fan will still get to see it from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.,” Preity said.

“The timings will be the same so the Indian viewers will not suffer. We will follow whatever the BCCI and IPL will ask us to do,” she added.
Source – hindustantimes.com

The England and Wales Cricket Board plans to stage the Indian Premier League in a little over two weeks without any disruption to its domestic or international schedule. The ECB is confident that it can play all 59 matches of the IPL – scheduled to run from 10 April to May 24 – on major grounds without altering any fixtures that are already in place. The number of IPL matches will not be reduced.

However, no franchise would have a home base. The ECB is confident that it can measure up to one of its biggest challenges and pip its only realistic rivals, South Africa, to host the six-week Twenty20 tournament.

The ECB does not yet know how much it will be paid following India’s decision not to host the tournament because of security fees, and staging fees have yet to be agreed.

In the middle of this week it will meet IPL and Indian board officials to thrash out details and broadcasting rights will be at or near the top of the agenda. David Collier, the ECB’s chief executive, said last night: “We have had discussions in the last 36 hours. We shall be meeting the representatives of the Indian Premier League and the BCCI and shall be reporting back to the board at the back end of the week.

“An early decision has to be made as the tournament would be starting on April 10. We have already had discussions with Sky about our broadcasting contract with them and will be continuing those.”

English cricket officials reacted with scepticism last night, one leading domestic cricket official last night described the challenge bluntly as: “A logistical ­nightmare and unlikely to happen.”

The IPL would have to be shoe-horned into an already crowded season, which includes Test series against Australia and West Indies, a full programme of one-day internationals and the hosting of the ICC World Twenty20.

The competition would clash with the county programme as well as the two Test matches and the three ODIs against West Indies. It would also end just a few days before the launch of the ICC Twenty20 event in June.

There is also the prospect of upsetting Sky television, with whom the England and Wales Cricket Board have signed a four-year contract worth £300m.

Under the terms of the contract, Sky has the rights to any new competition – sanctioned by the ECB in either the domestic or international arenas. But the status of a competition organised by an overseas board and taking place in this country with the co-operation of the ECB is not clear. Sky’s pay TV rival Setanta holds the live rights to all 59 matches in the IPL under a five-year deal agreed last year.

Whatever, the contractual situation, the ECB would be reluctant to risk upsetting the rights partner with which it has forged a close partnership in response to criticism about the lack of terrestrial live coverage. It is Sky’s money that has ­enabled it to fund new investment in grass-roots cricket.

If the competition were to take place in the UK it would represent a coup for Setanta, the embattled broadcaster which is battling to restructure its business after it misjudged the recent auction for rights to live football in the English Premier League.

It is believed to have paid just £5m for the IPL rights and would benefit from the huge boost in profile the event would enjoy if it were held in England. The ­situation is further complicated because the second half of the IPL coincides with the series against the West Indies – ­broadcast by Sky.

Nigel Hilliard, the Essex chairman and an ECB board member, was another to take a downbeat approach to the series.

“The most important issue is security. Would an Indian operation be a target? We would have to talk to the government and the police.

“I don’t think the games would get a great following in England. Cricket is not a winter sport and April is winter as far as I’m concerned. But staging cricket matches would not be a problem – we do it all the time,” said Hilliard.
Source – guardian.co.uk

Organisers of the Indian Premier League scrambled on Monday to find an emergency venue for the lucrative cricket tournament after security fears forced them to abandon the event’s home nation.

England and South Africa are regarded as the front-runners to host the IPL’s glitzy Twenty20 games from April 10 to May 24, although the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka are also being considered.

A decision is expected late Monday or Tuesday after hectic round-the-clock talks between IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and cricket authorities in the prospective countries.

With the 59-match extravaganza less than three weeks away, Modi and his team face a race against time to finalise the schedule and arrangements, described by one team official as a “logistical nightmare.”

The IPL, which was only founded last year, features Indian cricketers and the world’s top players in eight teams owned by Bollywood film stars and the country’s wealthiest businessmen.

But the Indian cricket board, which owns the IPL, moved the tournament abroad on Sunday after the government said it could not provide security at the same time as protecting general elections.

Modi said shifting the tournament was a “painful decision”, but that he was determined to secure a suitable alternative.

All four prospective host nations will not have a problem adjusting to the IPL’s diktat that matches start at 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm Indian time to suit the country’s huge cricket-mad television population.

But slotting in all 59 matches before May 24 to allow international teams to prepare for the World Twenty20 championships in England from June 5 will not be so easy.

Australia’s tour of South Africa does not end until April 17 — a week after the IPL’s scheduled April 10 opening — and the UAE is hosting a one-day series between Australia and Pakistan from April 22 to May 7.

In England, the IPL will clash with the domestic county programme as well as two Tests and three one-dayers against the West Indies, ending just a few days before the World Twenty20.

Sri Lanka, which has three international venues in Colombo alone, is a nearer alternative but also has security worries because of the ongoing conflict against Tamil Tiger rebels.

“It’s a logistical nightmare, but the IPL will find a way. They always do,” Delhi Daredevils’ Amrit Mathur, who runs the franchise, told AFP.

Mathur admitted however that the tournament’s aim to develop club loyalties among fans would be affected.

“Only for a year though,” he said. “The IPL will be back in India next year. These are exceptional circumstances, but I am sure it will be a great tournament wherever it is played.”

“The show must go on,” said liquor and airline tycoon Vijay Mallya, owner of Bangalore Royal Challengers. “I can’t wait for the IPL to start.”
Source – google.com