The coach for the Kings XI Punjab IPL team, Tom Moody is facing the prospect of going into the tournament with a much depleted side, but he believes that the second edition of the IPL will be more competitive than the inaugural edition. He thinks the teams are evenly matched and that as of now there can be no clear favourite. Captain of the team Yuvraj Singh, though confident did express concerns about a possible deficit in the fast bowling department.

The IPL, due to begin on the 18 will be shorn of as many 7 Aussie players that have been picked for the upcoming international cricket series to be played in the UAE between Australia and Pakistan. The Kings XI Punjab team is probably the worst hit by the exodus of Aussie players and will sorely miss James Hopes and Shaun Marsh. The coach however did express the hope in the cricket news that pacer Brett Lee may yet be available for IPL2.

It isn’t just the Australian players the Punjab team will be missing; it is also West Indian Jerome Taylor who will be absent due injury in a car accident and Sreesanth who will be absent from the squad owing to a back injury that has put him out of action for quite a while now. Coach Moody made light of his troubles by saying it made his job easier not to have to deal with six international cricket players if they were not playing well.
The Punjab team does have consolation in the likes of recently acquired English player Ravi Bopara, Simon Katich who is reportedly in great form currently, and the Sri Lankan duo of Kumara Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Another ray of hope for the team would be Yusuf Abdullah from South Africa who just debuted against the Aussies and made a very positive impact.

Though concerned for the pace department of his team, skipper Yuvraj Singh was upbeat about the rest of the team rising to the occasion. He was also happy about the large expat community of Indians in South Africa, particularly the Punjabi community settled there; who he was sure would come out to support his team. He was further hopeful that large numbers of fans would travel from India to South Africa to enjoy the spectacle of the IPL as well as to offer support to their respective teams.

Irfan Pathan, whose forte seems to be the T20 format in recent times is being seen as a key player due to his all round abilities. Having visited the country a couple of times before, he will be in a position to help out his teammates by offering tips and pointers about conditions there.
Source – cricket360.com

THE Kings XI Punjab lost to the Chennai Super Kings in last year’s second semifinal of the Indian Premier League by a massive nine wickets, after scoring a below-par 112/8 in their 20 overs.

They had an impressive 10 wins from their 14 pool games, the second best record in the tournament behind eventual winners the Rajasthan Royals with 11 from 14.

The team will be led by Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh, who will want to improve on his record in the tournament after scoring 299 runs in 14 innings at an average of just 23.

One of the finds of the tournament was left-handed Australian batsman Shaun Marsh, who scored 616 runs in his 11 innings — the top scorer in the competition — at an average of 68.44. He was also one of just six players to score a century in the inaugural IPL (115) .

The batting line- up also offers a host of experience and fire power in Sri Lankans Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene and Ramnaresh Sarwan from the West Indies.

In the bowling department, Indian fast bowlers Sree Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan will spearhead the attack with Kyle Mills of New Zealand and returning Australian paceman Brett Lee.

Australian Tom Moody will coach the side, which is owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta and renowned businessmen Ness Wadia, Mohit Burman and Karan Paul.
Source – thetimes.co.za

The IPL, with instant millionaires and lashings of Bollywood stardust, begins its second season on Saturday, thousands of kilometres from home and with controversy raging in its slipstream.

Fans and critics would expect nothing else from this revolutionary form of Twenty20 cricket; it’s either wake-up call or death knock.

With security unable to be guaranteed in India for a sport which is now a frontline terror target, organisers were forced to shift the five-week, eight-team, 59-match tournament to South Africa.

For Eden Gardens and Wankhede, now read Wanderers and Centurion.

Befitting a competition conceived in one of the world’s more volatile sporting regions, the IPL splashes the cash and shrugs off the consequences.

The tournament will not feature any Pakistan players, banned by their own government in the aftermath of November’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai which sparked a deterioration in relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Meanwhile, IPL chairman Lalit Modi, under fire for shifting the event to a different continent, will require his own beefed-up security after reports his life was under threat from India’s underworld.

The IPL’s riches have not been entirely successful in their seduction techniques.

Much to the delight of the traditionalists, the likes of Australians Nathan Bracken, Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds will miss the first three weeks because of the ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Mitchell Johnson have opted out of the IPL entirely, preferring to concentrate on the forthcoming Ashes.

Others have no such reservations, however, seeing their talents auctioned off to the highest bidders.

England stars Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff were sold for $US1.5 million ($A2.08 million) dollars each, bankrolled by the new rich of India’s staggering financial transformation.

Pietersen was bought by liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s Bangalore Royal Challengers while Flintoff went for the same price to Chennai Super Kings.

However, both men are required for England’s home series against the West Indies, so will play IPL just for the first two weeks.

Amongst other stars to command huge auction fees were highly-rated South African Jean-Paul Duminy, bought for $US950,000 ($A1.32 million) dollars by industrialist Mukesh Ambani for his Mumbai Indians team to play alongside Sachin Tendulkar.

Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals, the 2008 champions, who are partly owned by Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, created a stir when they picked up 34-year-old South African Tyron Henderson for $US650,000 ($A900,000) dollars.

Bangladesh seamer Mashrafe Mortaza, whose base price was $US50,000 ($A69,000) dollars, went to Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders for $US600,000 ($A834,000) dollars.

There will be some intriguing line-ups. Warne can call upon old adversary Graeme Smith, the South Africa skipper.

Pietersen, who turned his back on his native South Africa to play in England, has Proteas wicket-keeper Mark Boucher alongside him at Bangalore along with Indian stalwarts Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was purchased by the Chennai franchise for $US1.50 million ($A2.08 million) in 2008, has Flintoff, Muttiah Muralitharan and Makyaha Ntini.

Delhi Daredevils will be led by Virender Sehwag with a squad which includes the 40-year-old Glenn McGrath.

So far, South African fans seem to be sold on the concept.

The IPL claim tickets for Saturday’s opening double-header in Cape Town between the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, and Rajasthan Royals versus Royal Challengers Bangalore, were sold out within hours of going on sale.
Source – news.brisbanetimes.com.au

Eight teams of DLF Indian Premier League Teams. Click on image to enlarge

Kevin Pieterson is the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore for 2009 IPL season. Click on image to enlarge