The Kolkata Knight Riders’s first camp would be held at the Eden from April 12. According to an official of franchise owner Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd, coach John Buchanan would step in couple of days prior to that. No confirmation, however, was available on when Australia captain Ricky Ponting would land in the city.

Meanwhile, CAB president Prasun Mukherjee admitted on Monday that the organisation is lagging behind as far as ticket sales is concerned. Tickets for the other seven venues would be available online from Tuesday.“As of now, we still don’t know when the tickets would be available. We are trying to expedite the process. But it’s not in our hands,” he said.

“The agency that was supposed to handle the issue is facing a few teething problems. A high-level Red Chillies’ delegation would arrive on Wednesday. Hopefully, we will wrap it up as soon as possible.”

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik feels Indian Premier League (IPL) will be an interesting experience as cricketers from different countries share the dressing as team-mates, forgetting they had been opponents. “It (the IPL) is a great opportunity for international cricketers. Players from different countries will come together. It is great for the game and credit must go to India,”

The 26-year-old Pakistani said he and his overseas colleagues would play with the same passion and intensity for the Delhi team as they play for their countries.

“I am from Lahore, a city not very different from Delhi. I feel at home here and it’s great to be a part of this unique marriage between cricket and films. Bollywood stars are very popular in Pakistan and I am a great fan of Akshay.”

Bollywood Star Akshay Kumar is all set to be a part of The Delhi Daredevils. Virender Sehwag was full of enthusiasm when he was asked to comment on this.He said the daredevil image of Akshay will be fitting into this role and we hope that our team will learn a lot from the Daredevil image of the superstar.

Leg-spin great Shane Warne on Friday said the International Cricket Council should ensure that the world’s top players who got signed up with the Indian Premier League play in the “revolutionary” Twenty20 venture. Talking to news persons after the official launch of the Jaipur franchisee team Rajasthan Royals, Warne rubbished the notion that IPL would have negative influence in international cricket.

“It is a new and revolutionary concept and if ICC uses a little common sense it can co-exist with international cricket,” he said. “ICC should accommodate IPL in the international calendar and ensure that best players of the cricketing world play in it. It would make the IPL more colourful and competitive,” Warne, who would be the captain-cum-coach of the team said.

Yash Gandhi, a 17-year-old cricketer from Wadala, is over the moon after being picked in the Mohali team for the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) under the scholarship scheme.The class 12 student of HR college was contacted by the team’s cricket manager Sachin Bajaj and was taken on board on March 24 and has been named in the team list announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday.

“We have signed Yash under the scholarship scheme. He is a talented cricketer and we have a long-term strategy and wanted to invest at the grass route level,” Bajaj told HT.Sahil Kukreja and Wilkin Mota are two other cricketers from Mumbai who have been signed by the Mohali team.

Yash said he will join the team on April 8. “I will have to work hard now. It will be a big test for me,” said Yash, who also played for Copsewood West Indian Wanderers Second in the Boundary Warwickshire League in England last year.Yash had also scored an unbeaten 365 for Don Bosco, Matunga against St Sebastian in Harris Shield semifinal in 2006.