Kolkata: The selection of the coach for Kolkata Knight Riders seems to be hotting up with more and more candidates entering the fray, Pakistan cricket legend Wasim Akram being the latest addition.

Just a day after his name was thrown in for the post of KKR coach, Wasim Akram has said that he is keen to give it a shot.

The former Pakistan captain said he was scheduled to meet Shah Rukh Khan on Sunday to discuss the assignment.

“It requires a lot of patience and that is something I have acquired over a period of time. I have played alongside Sourav Ganguly and Chris Gayle. I will be able to pass on some skills and techniques with the on-field experience I have,” Akram told ESPN.

The man in the centre of it all, Sourav Ganguly spoke of his rapport with some of the men shortlisted for the job and his other roles on the sidelines.

Sourav Ganguly: “The KKR people have taken interview of lot of coaches. We have got some more to go on the next Sunday after which Shah Rukh and Joy will decide who the new coach is. There are definitely some big names and hopefully, we will get the right person.”

CNN-IBN: Wasim Akram has also joined the race apart from John Wright and Pravin Amre. Are you looking for a blend of foreign and Indian coaches?

Sourav Ganguly: “I am not too worried about the coaches. I am really worried about the team, what team we put on the park. I am spending a lot of time trying to get that right.”

CNN-IBN: John Wright and you had a very good time when he was the coach and you were the captain of the Indian team. So now, how are you looking forward to it?

Sourav Ganguly: “Well, let him get first selected. Let us not jump the gun. Obviously, I had a great relationship with John. He is a great man. He’s worked superbly with me as India’s coach.”

CNN-IBN: Did you suggest Wasim Akram’s name?

Sourav Ganguly: “I have a good relationship with Wasim and, with other people as well. Shah Rukh and Wasim had a chat. Wasim is a great bowler. I know him very well. So, he will be fine.”

CNN-IBN: You have been selected as the chairman of the Cricket Development Committee of the CAB. What sort of developments are you looking forward to?

Sourav Ganguly: “I have made a plan and hopefully, I will get them implemented. Implementation is more important. You can develop a whole lot of things but as long as you don’t implement them, it gets nothing. So once I get the official confirmation, I will try and implement them.”

CNN-IBN: How are you looking forward to IPL-III?

Sourav Ganguly: “We will just go and play. Past has got nothing to do.”
Source: cricketnext.in.com

It is not just Salman Khan more Bollywood stars are interested in owning Indian Premier League (IPL) teams including Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgan. IPL Chairman Lalit Modi had confirmed to TIMES NOW just a while ago that other stars too are interested in buying IPL teams.

IPL is set to introduce two new teams in the 2011 season and the franchise may “cost over $200-300 million”. At present, Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla (Kolkata Knight Riders), Preity Zinta (King’s XI Punjab) and Shilpa Shetty (Rajasthan Royals) are associated with the high-profile Twenty20 cricket tournament.

Source:timesnow.tv

Justin Vaughan, the New Zealand Cricket chief executive, has said the IPL should be careful about the amount of calendar space it consumes in a year since a majority of players are willing to miss international matches to play in the league.

“IPL has come a long way and benefited cricketers worldwide,” Vaughan was quoted as saying to PTI. “But in the process, a lot of players tend to play in all the matches due to obvious reasons.”

Last week former Australian opener Matthew Hayden, who plays for the Chennai Super Kings, suggested a three-month window for the IPL where no international cricket would be played. In May last year Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, had proposed the tournament be spread over two seasons from 2011. But the idea did not receive widespread support.

With the permanent addition of the IPL to the calendar, and the compulsory Twenty20 fixture per tour, there have been calls to cut down on or even eliminate ODIs. But Vaughan, who was in Chennai with the New Zealand A squad, said the solution to a jam-packed calendar lay in maintaining balance and not in discarding ODIs. “Cricket is lucky to have these many formats. Each and every formula has an essence of its own. Taking out ODI’s altogether is not a solution.”

Vaughan was also against tinkering with the Test format. “Why would anybody want it to be a four-day affair? There would be more drawn matches than results. After all, it’s Test cricket we are talking about where a player’s endurance is pushed to the limits in the course of five days.”
Source: cricinfo.com

Date – 22 April 2009

Deccan Chargers are now at Number 1 position in IPL Standings by registering a 24 runs win over Banglore Royal Challengers. Skipper Gilchrist won the toss and elected to bat first. Former Australian wicket-keeper explosive batsman Gilchrist entertain the crowd with his superb performance. He scored 71 runs from 45 balls including 4 fours and 5 huge sixes. Praveen Kumar provide first breakthrough by dismissing opener Gibbs. After that it was a wonderful performance from Rohit Sharma. He hit three huge sixes in Kumble’s over. Rohit Sharma manage to complete his half century and was out for a score of 52 runs in 30 balls. Deccan Chargers put a total of 184/6 in 20 overs. In reply, RC opener was cleaned bowled from pacer F.Edwards on first ball of the match. Only Dravid (48) and V.Kohli (50) score runs Royal Challengers Banglore manage to score 160/8 in 20 overs

Man Of The Match – Adam Gilchrist

Playing XI –

DC – Adam Gilchrist (C) (W), Herschelle Gibbs, VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Scott Styris, Venugopal Rao, Dwaraka Ravi Teja, Pragyan Ojha, Harmeet Singh, RP Singh, Fidel Edwards

RCB – Robin Uthappa (W), Jesse Ryder, Jacques Kallis, Kevin Pietersen (C), Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Rajesh Bishnoi, Karan Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble

Date – 21 April 2009

Clash Between two giants of cricket world Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne called off due to heavy rain. Both teams Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals got 1 point each. Before this Rajasthan Royals lost their opening match to Banglore Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians were victorious over Chennai Super Kings.