The sensational Indian star, Virat Kohli was named as the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain for the upcoming sixth season of the Indian Premier League 2013.

“We are delighted to announce Virat as our captain,” said Vijay Mallya, the owner of the franchise. “His hunger to learn, lead, motivate and set an example is unquestionable.”

“(I am) glad to be appointed captain of RCB ! It’s a great feeling… Being drafted as an U-19 in 2008 and now to be considered to lead the side of great players, is a big honour,” Kohli said. “I thank the owners for reposing their faith and I am looking forward to the challenge and the responsibility to carry the team to greater heights.”

Delhi Daredevils have appointed Former England cricketer Jeremy Snape as the performance coach for the sixth edition of Indian Premier League 2013.

“We are happy to welcome Jeremy as Performance Coach,” said GMR Sports’ Head (Cricket) TA Sekar. “We believe he has the right credentials to help the Delhi Daredevils achieve its goals. We are sure he will bring in fresh ideas and help the coaching staff bring the best out of the players in a high performance environment.” he added.

Legendary Pakistan Test leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed has signed a deal with Delhi Daredevils to be the bowling coach for the sixth edition of IPL 2013.

The deal has been finalized but no public statement has yet been made to prevent unnecessary media coverage due to strained India Pakistan relations.

Mushtaq Ahemed who retired in 2008 has been the spin-bowling coach of England team.

Delhi Daredevils will be hoping that the presence of a spinner as coach will help the bowlers in bowling a good line and length on turning Indian pitches. More over they will be hoping that left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, Johan Botha and Jeevan Mendis will learn a lot from the legendary Pakistani bowler

India’s biggest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp, who inked a record sponsorship deal of $15 million with Mumbai Indians in 2011 pulled out of it with one year still left on the contract.

Hero who had signed the biggest deal in IPL in 2011 did this so that they can focus more on the upcoming Hockey tournaments. But Hero Motocorp management denied this and in a statement to Times of India they said, “We have been associated with cricket for over two decades, and it is not correct to say that we are now moving away from cricket. We at Hero MotoCorp are engaged in the promotion of several sports including golf, hockey, soccer etc. Our decision not to renew our central contract with IPL and with IPL team Mumbai Indians does not in any way dilute our commitment to cricket as a sport.”

Earlier Airtel withdrew from the Champions League T20 in 2011, DLF also did not renew its title sponsorship with IPL and now Hero also pulling out. This has raised some serious concerns about the future of the T20 format and its decreasing viewership. Brand IPL needs to rethink its sponsorship strategy once again so that the golden days of IPL shall come back soon.

Indian Pacer Ashish Nehra who played for Delhi in 2009 and 2010 will join Delhi Daredevils squad for the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League 2013 as the team management decided to swap him for Ross Taylor.

T A Sekar, Head (Cricket), GMR Sports, said, “Ashish Nehra will constitute an integral part of our bowling attack in the 2013 season. We were the best team at the league stage in 2012, and with a player like him around, we are confident that we will go the distance.”