Melbourne (PTI): Australian Cricketers’ Association President Darren Lehmann, who came out of retirement to play in the cash-rich Indian Premier League, believes the Twenty20 venture would be “bigger and better” in its second season in next April and May.”They have another 12 months to get it right and there will be even greater interest,” said Lehmann, who had replaced South African captain Graeme Smith in the first two games of Rajasthan Royals in the cricket extravaganza.

The 38-year-old former Australian player also suggested expansion of international quota in the playing XI of IPL teams and said the competition should be played as a “boutique” tournament.
“They could add another overseas player to rosters and open up the window for all international team including England to play,” Lehmann was quoted as saying by ‘The Advertiser’.

“We need the best possible outcome so this can happen. I feel a bit sorry for the English boys but think we can work around it to help get things across the line. The IPL should be played as a boutique tournament for international players.”

The charged IPL atmosphere and the chance to work with young Indian players has made Lehmann ambitious to coach.”I am really looking forward to getting into the coaching side of things now,” said Lehmann.”The Royals were keen for me to stay on but I had attend to some things at home. It may happen next IPL season,” Lehmann said.He claimed IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi told him the owners of the eight franchises were happy with the inaugural version of the competition.”I have had good discussions with Lalit Modi and they can’t believe the success of the IPL,” Lehmann said.

However, Cricket Australia Chief executive James Sutherland has questioned the long-term prospects of the IPL and its impact on the game.”It’s nice to pay the players well and get big money from television rights and sponsorships, but ultimately you’ve got to provide a return for the owners or in this case the franchises,” Sutherland said.”As I understand it, the franchisees are starting to ask questions already.”

Source:hindu.com

NEW DELHI: Rival skippers Sourav Ganguly and Shane Warne were on Friday fined 10 per cent of their match fee and reprimanded for their conduct as the Indian Premier League continued to crack the whip on on-field indiscipline.

A day after the two veteran cricketers engaged in a public spat following the IPL match between their respective sides, the IPL was quick to punish the two captains and said it would not tolerate any indiscipline.

While Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Ganguly was penalized for forcing the on-field umpire to refer a contentious catch to the third umpire, Rajasthan Royals’ captain Warne was punished for lambasting Ganguly’s conduct in the post-match press conference.The IPL also decided to suspend the on-field umpire in question, G Pratap Kumar, for a match.

“It has been informed by Farokh Engineer, the Referee in the IPL game between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on May 1, that he has issued an official reprimand to Sourav Ganguly, and fined him 10 per cent of his match-fee for showing dissent on the field,” IPL commissioner and chairman Lalit Modi said in a statement today.

“The Referee has also suspended Pratap Kumar for one match, on the grounds that there was no reason for him to accede to Ganguly’s request to consult the TV umpire,” Modi added.

Source:newindpress.com

Softening their stand, Rajasthan Royals on Friday decided not to lodge an official complaint against Sourav Ganguly for resorting to time-wasting tactics but left it to the Indian Premier League authorities to deal with the issue.

“In a meeting of the officials of the Rajasthan Royals, it was decided that the matter should not be taken too far and no official complaint should be lodged. It was there for everybody to see what has happened on the field,” Rajasthan Royals’ media manager Anant Vyas told PTI.

“The officials of the IPL and the Match Referee were also there and they should decide what action should be taken against Kolkata Knight Riders and their captain Sourav Gnguly,” he said.

Warne had said he would lodge a complaint against Ganguly for resorting to time-wasting tactics during their IPL match on Thursday night and refusing to accept the fielder’s word on a “clean catch”.

Ganguly, in turn, dismissed the Warne’s claims, saying “Look who’s talking. If you look at his career and the incidents he got in, it will give you the answer”.

Source: hindustantimes.com

The New Zealand cricket captain Daniel Vettori ‘s made a quick transition from the heat and noise of Delhi to rural England in less than 24 hours with the first Test at Lords now only a fortnight away.On Wednesday evening,Vettori was playing in the Indian Premier League for the Delhi Daredevils who beat the Bangalore Royal Challengers by 10 runs.And he says he and the other New Zealanders involved are keen to go back once a definite time slot’s decided for the IPL.The Blacks Caps start a four day match with Essex at Chelmsford tonight.

Source: radionz.co.nz

Delhi DareDevils shattered the dreams of Chennai Super Kings and halted the winning streak by defeating them convincingly by 8 wickets. Chasing a modest target of 170 they had a flighing start with Virender Sehwag at is usual destructive best. Sehwag and Gambhir opened the innings and got the first wicket partnership of 115 runs. This partnership was the one which took the match away from Chennai Super Kings and they also tasted the defeat for the first time in the Indian Premier League. Sehwag smashed the ball to all corners and got on to score 71 runs in just 41 balls which included 7 fours and 4 sixes.Gambhir also scored fifty and scored 50 of 37 balls.The remaining work was done by AB de Villiers and Shikhar Dhawan who took Delhi Daredevils to a superb win over the so called undefeatable Super Kings.

Today’s Scorecard – Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils – 20th Match