SOUTH Africa has been given an awesome opportunity to host the IPL, and I believe we can do a professional job hosting the tournament. — Ross Douthwaite, Margate
However, international players have indicated that their only reservation is the lack of crowd support they will receive, compared to what they would get in India.
We obviously can’t imitate the thrill of a T20 game with 80,000 loyal spectators, but we still need to generate interest in the teams playing to build up tension and support prior to each game played.
I suggest that you create a column dedicated to the IPL tournament, which in the weeks prior to the start of the first game will educate the general population about the inner workings of each side. It may also be an idea for a province or local team (Titans, Pirates, etc) to “adopt” a side.
This will hopefully help generate friendly rivalry that can be found at a local level.
Source – thetimes.co.za
Yuvraj Singh batting again at Durban’s Kingsmead will revive memories of the sixes he slapped around that venue on September 19, 2007. It will not though, revive any happy recollections for the England seamer Stuart Broad who suffered most from that thrashing.
A steamy Durban night – India are 155/3 in the seventeenth over and looking for a miracle to get a match winning total on the board. Yuvraj arrives and changes the scene. Five successive sixes off Broad in the over; the last of the sixes was off the famed Fredalo Flintoff, as the score fairly scooted along from 177/3 at the start of the assault on Broad to the long-off six off Flintoff and 207/3.
It became the talking point of the first ICC World T20 event and won over many adherents to the game, so much so, they even watch Tests because of it.
However, times have seriously changed. Two serious security breaches along with the Indian general elections has combined with a rushed decision by the BCCI mandarins, led by Lalit Modi, to remove the second edition of the Indian Premier League to South Africa. There is a major danger here as well.
What with Mumbai 26/11 and Lahore 3/3, security became a major factor for Modi as the Indian politicians squabbled, as usual over dates. But there was always a danger here. With money the overriding factor, Modi, when could not get his own way, resorted to hijacking another country’s infrastructure, and thumb his nose at the general elections as an effort to twist the arm of the government.
There are other ponderable issues as well. It means that unless there are special arrangements those Indian players involved may not get the chance to vote in the elections. Legally, it could become a violation of individual rights, but as the Indian chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami points out, the players would need special permission, through the BCCI and the sports ministry. Proxy voting is not permissible.
As television shots of the media conference showed Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola becoming very pally with Modi, there were other concerns. Both men dispensed with ties, and the bonhomie exuded, gave the impression that South Africa’s decision to host the IPL is more to do with the money, which is going to be made out of the deal than the actual staging of the event over five weeks from April 18.
It recalled the arrival of that ace fraudster, Allen Stanford at Lord’s, last year with a plastic case packed with millions of dollars. On this occasion, though, Modi was not able to pull that conjuring trick. Currency regulations are much tighter in South Africa, or so they would have you believe.
Yet the way they smiled and the metaphorical backslapping hid other areas in the arrangement that will emerge at some stage. Newspaper reporters were throwing around figures of 70-million to 90-million in South African currency, some even ventured at 100-million rands and not the US$25-million that a CSA source has now revealed is the final figure.
Source – cricketnext.in.com
The Indian Premier League is set to start with a bang at Newlands, with four games on the first two days of the series.
The final programme will be finalised on Thursday, but it has been learned that the series will start at Newlands on April 18 with an opening ceremony and two games.
Provincial cricket bosses were scurrying on Wednesday to make arrangements for the series, which starts in 23 days’ time.
It was originally decided that the 59 games will be played in Johannesburg, Centurion, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London but Bloemfontein has also been added to the list.
It is believed the Free State capital will host at least four games.
Cape Cobras chief executive André Odendaal said: “It’s another opportunity for Cape supporters to see world class cricket. Spectators flooded to games in the local Pro20 Series and the recent test against Australia.”
Newlands had serious problems with the outfield and two SuperSport games were moved to Paarl.
The problems have now been solved and the field is ready to be an important venue for the IPL series.
Source – cricketnext.in.com
The country’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero Honda, said on Thursday that it will not withdraw the sponsorship of the Delhi IPL team though the tournament is shifted out of the country.
“We will not withdraw the sponsorship of Delhi IPL team. We will have to see in what manner and shape the sponsorship have to take place, we are in discussion with the team owner GMR,” Hero Honda Motors MD and CEO Pawan Munjal told reporters on the sidelines of CII annual session in New Delhi.
Speaking on the issue of shifting of IPL out of the country he said, “Shifting the venue of the tournament, is not a great thing for the tournament. It is a domestic tournament and it is meant for creating interest among fan club here in the country, he said.
However, he expressed happiness that the tournament is taking place this year.
Speaking about his company Munjal said, Hero Honda would continue to focus on the rural market.
Source – cricket.expressindia.com
Lakshmi Rai who was the unofficial ‘Cheer Leader’ for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during last year’s IPL was in Chennai for the photo shoot of her upcoming film Naan Avanillai – part 2.
Lakshmi Rai, a big lover of cricket seems to be disappointed a lot due to the IPL’s decision of shifting the matches to South Africa. But she is planning to attend at least a few matches during her forthcoming shooting trip to Europe.
Is there any special invite for Lakshmi from her close boy friend M.S.Dhoni?
“Oh… please stop this. We are still good friends only. We have never crossed our limits at any stage. But the media has created so much controversy between me and Dhoni that it is high time that I clear it. I have always been interested in sports but I started liking cricket only after IPL began.
I had never been to a stadium to watch a match until the IPL began. The organisers Wanted me to attend matches regularly, provided the time is there. The media, of course, kept highlighting my presence” she confesses.
Answering to a question about her life partner, the actress said that she believes in destiny and dossn’t know who is going to be her life partner.
Currently, Lakshmi is busy with four films in Tamil including Simbhu Devan’s Erunbu Kottayil Murattu Singham where she plays the role of a cowboy and two Malayalam films.
Source – entertainment.oneindia.in