The list of commentators for season two of IPL is as follows: Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, L Sivaramakrishnan, Arun Lal, Ramiz Raja, Pommie Mbangwa, Kepler Wessels, Robin Jackman, Danny Morrison, Ranjit Fernando, Alastair Campbell, Simon Doull, Abbas Ali Baig, Greg Blewett, Jeremey Coney .

Asked his expectations for Indian fans to travel to South Africa, Percy Dubash who handles IPL publicity said: “The Rainbow Nation is a very popular tourism destination and we are certain that a large number of Indians and non-resident Indians would also visit the country for IPL. The league is immensely popular with a huge global fan-base. The fact that the league also coincides with summer holidays in India, given the end of the academic year, also bodes well for an influx of Indian tourists.”

Talking about the challenge of hosting IPL out of its natural home, Dubash said that filling the stadia with South African and Indian fans will be one of the biggest challenges. “However, the success of the Indian Premier League has been attributable to an amalgam of multiple factors but most importantly it was due to the fact that the on-field action was truly world class,” he remarked. “That is the main catalyst behind the unprecedented success of the Indian Premier League. In most developed economies of the world, live sports play a very integral part of the family experience, be it an NBA game or an English Premier League game on weekdays or over weekends.

“In a similar vein, I think the void of live entertainment was more than adequately filled by the Indian Premier League as it combined some of the best cricket talent in the world, together with the next generation of Indian talent all packaged into a highly entertaining three-hour roller-coaster of fun, excitement, and adrenalin-packed cricket action. That is exactly the reason the Indian Premier League managed to capture the imagination of an entire nation, and more importantly the world.”

Season two will also have the added attraction of seeing some prodigious talent the likes of Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen and J P Duminy. That aside, the new venues will further enhance the fan base for the league.

“We are satisfied that we have created a global cricketing entertainment product, which is generating its strength from the millions of fans and sponsors alike and that is the success of the DLF Indian Premier League,” added Dubash.“IPL’s success has provided monetary rewards apart from honour and pride, not only for the players, the BCCI and the cricketing fraternity. At modest estimates, the IPL involves around a total of US $ 2.5-billion in terms of overall revenue. But the BCCI has stressed from the very beginning that the monies earned through the IPL will be ploughed back into the game. The money will be used to build infrastructure for cricket and will be utilised to help the game progress and develop at the grass roots level.”
Source – newsonline.co.za