Chennai Super Kings left for Johannesburg on Wednesday morning without their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The Super Kings left for Johannesburg via Dubai at 9.45 this morning on the auspicious day of Lord Aiyappa’s birthday by an Emirates Airlines flight.

Apart from Dhoni, medium pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji and opening batsman Murali Vijay, who will return from New Zealand today and some overseas players, including coach-cum-player Stephen Fleming, Mathew Hayden and George Bailey will join the squad later.

From Johannesburg, the Super Kings will travel to Durban tomorrow where they will set up their training camp.

Kasi Viswanathan, Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and Head of Operations of the Super Kings told PTI minutes before boarding the flight that the team is geared up to return with the trophy this time.’We are ready for the big occasion”

“We are ready for the big occasion. We want to come back with the trophy this time. We have set our preparations in place with the aim of making the semifinals as a goal and then go full throttle in the final for the trophy that we missed by hair breath last time to Rajasthan Royals,” he said.

The Super Kings would be having a six-day training camp in Durban from April 10-15, which includes a few practice matches against local teams before leaving for Cape Town to play Mumbai Indians in the second match on the opening day of the high-profile Twenty20 tournament. Vishwanathan also informed that alongwith Dhoni, star England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and Kiwi Jacob Oram will be joining the team in Cape Town on April 15.

Dhoni to join on April 15

“Dhoni will be returning to India along with the team today from New Zealand. Of course, he requires some rest. He, alongwith Flintoff and others, will join the team in Cape Town on April 15.

“The Indians as well as overseas players have been involved in international matches for their respective countries and have the experience to straight away go for the matches,” he said.

Viswanathan noted that all the eight teams have made some changes in their squads this time around after first edition’s experience.

“No team could be taken for granted and there could even be high scoring matches as some of the venues have small grounds but the Super Kings will approach every match with caution. We have depth in our bench strength.”
Source – espnstar.com

IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi has backed ‘strategy breaks’ in the IPL, saying it is actually aimed at expediting the matches.
Modi denied views that the breaks were meant to boost advertising revenues.

In yet another deviation from tradition, the second edition of the Twenty20 extravaganza would see teams getting a five-minute ‘strategy break’ after 10 overs apparently to get their acts right.

Even though many feel the move was aimed at increasing advertisement revenue, Modi insisted it was just to speed up proceedings.

“I absolutely disagree with that,” Modi said.

“We did a calculation last year and 100 per cent matches went over an hour beyond their schedule time. It was just delays and delays. We had enforced extremely high penalties but majority of the time teams were ready to pay the money because they were back and forth talking to the players, strategising.

“So we have given them a time-out after every 10 overs and enforced high penalty like USD 3000-4000 in case of delay. The objective here is to fasten the game in fact and not slow down the game and at the same time, giving time and opportunity to the managers and teams to regroup and discuss their strategy,” Modi told a news channel.

Asked for his reaction to the war of words between Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, also an IPL Governing Council member, on KKR coach John Buchanan’s controversial multiple-captain theory, Modi said it was completely the team’s prerogative to do whatever it deems fit.

“Whoever owns a team has a right to do whatever he thinks. I think Sunil is right in his way and Shah Rukh is also right.

“I think Shah Rukh has thought out his strategy. It’s actually a prerogative of the team,” Modi said.

The IPL chief conceded it would not be the same after the event was shifted out of India but was confident that the razzmatazz would prove a success.

“It’s Indian Premier League and we should be having it in India. But circumstances forced us to move out.

“But I’m looking at the positives. The tickets were exhausted within a couple of hours of opening and people told me this is the fastest selling event in South Africa’s history,” Modi added.
Source – espnstar.com

SOUTH Africa captain Graeme Smith says the return of Andrew Symonds to international cricket has to be managed carefully because it has the potential to be “disruptive”.

Symonds, who clashed with Smith at a Cape Town nightclub during Australia’s 2006 tour, has a long history of alcohol-related incidents and has been recalled to Australia’s one-day side following a troubled summer and a knee operation.

The two-time World Cup winner has been named in Australia’s 14-man squad for the one-day series against Pakistan starting in Dubai on April 22.

“He has a lot of experience, he has played a lot of key knocks for them at five,” Smith said.

“He does provide them with a little bit more balance I guess, he gives them a few bowling options. He’s a great fielder.

“In terms of a cricketer, I think they’d love to have him back. I don’t really know how he’ll impact the team in his personality and what has gone on, how that’s going to affect the team environment. It can be disruptive if he still has issues and it can disrupt other players. So I guess how they manage it is going to be the key.”

Smith said he was nervous about how Herschelle Gibbs would fit back into the team environment after completing a month-long alcohol rehabilitation course in early January.

“You always have apprehension when Herschelle is coming back into the team environment,” Smith said. “But I think the key is Herschelle has taken responsibility for himself. He has really fitted back into the (team) environment, he has handled himself extremely well since he has come back.

“He has really moved into a new phase of life and made an effort in terms of improving his lifestyle. That really made it a lot easier for us and I guess that onus is going to be on Andrew Symonds when he joins the squad.”

Symonds and Brett Lee are set to miss out on about $1.75 million by missing the Indian Premier League and playing for the national team in the upcoming limited-overs series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

A full IPL season would have landed the embattled Symonds some $1.91 million on current exchange rates.

But if he plays all six matches of Australia’s tour to Dubai and Abu Dhabi before heading to the back-end of the IPL in South Africa, he will earn around $842,000.

Lee’s situation is slightly different as he might not even play in the early matches against Pakistan as he recovers from ankle and foot surgery.
Source – theage.com.au

Recently retired ICC’s Elite Panel umpire Steve Bucknor wants to officiate in the forthcoming IPL matches in South Africa. “I am not yet being informed about it but yes, if invited, I shall certainly accept the invitation. I am keen to officiate in IPL”, he said from Jamaica.

Widely respected and instantly recognisable (with his characteristic of nodding gently before raising the dreaded finger), the 62 year old West Indian Bucknor has no ill-feelings now. He was removed by the ICC from officiating in the third Test between Australia and India in Perth after several contentious decisions contributed to India’s defeat in the second Test in Sydney in January last year. “That is history now and I don’t want to recall it now”, he said.

Umpire Steve Bucknor’s recent parting shot however launched a scathing attack on the Indian cricket board, claiming that it used its financial might to sack him from the Perth Test. “There is no ill-feeling”, he continued.

Former Test umpire Steve Bucknor also revealed he was the victim of racist abuse earlier in his career. “Nobody made me feel black on the field but I did get a letter in London saying ‘you black b******’ or ‘you n*****'”. The letter writer did not mention his name and therefore there was no point for me to complain to the ICC”. “You don’t want to talk about it but people write these things. You have to let these things lie. I grew up tough. I want to forget it now” ‘, he signed off.
Source – cricdb.com

Led by the charismatic Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings will be hoping to go one better after finishing as IPL runners-up last year after signing up Andrew Flintoff.

The Super Kings began the last edition with four straight wins, with much of that initial success due to solid batting performances from Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey.

The Australians were available for only the first four matches – and once they returned home for national duty, the team’s performance fell drastically.

However, Dhoni’s Midas touch as captain never deserted him. Lusty batting from Suresh Raina and Parthiv Patel helped the Super Kings romp into the final, where they proved second-best against the Rajasthan Royals.

The Chennai team’s preference for all-rounders saw them snare Andrew Flintoff at the auction in Goa.

The Super Kings will be without the services of Hussey, and New Zealand’s Jacob Oram has declared himself a doubtful starter.

But with the now-retired Hayden available for the entire duration and South Africans Albie Morkel and Makhaya Ntini in prime form, the team cannot be written off.

Sri Lankan fast bowler Thilan Thushara was roped in to shore up an attack which would revolve around Morkel, Ntini and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Stephen Fleming, the Super Kings’ coach and player, complements the team.
Source – cricket365.com