When veteran Australian coach John Buchanan recently floated the idea of having multiple captains in Twenty20, it became a burning issue, literally.

His effigies were burnt in Kolkata by fans of former India captain Sourav Ganguly who believed the concept was meant to dilute the powers of their popular ‘Prince of Kolkata’.

The 56-year-old Buchanan, who had a successful eight-year stint as Australia’s coach, said the new concept would be an advantage in the fast-moving shortest version of the game.

‘There will always be a nominated captain, who goes for the toss. He could look after the bowling, make the changes, take care of the strategy aspect,’ he told the Kolkata-based Telegraph newspaper.

‘We could also have a fielding captain, who sets the field keeping in mind the planning done for that particular match. The fielding captain complements the nominated/bowling captain.

‘Both will be supported by the coach, who’ll be the captain off the field. When the team is batting, the coach will be the captain.’

Buchanan, cricket manager of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, sparked a worldwide debate with his concept and led to the pro-Ganguly protests.

The controversy did not die down and it eventually required Knight Riders owner, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, to broker a truce.

‘I am not doing it for the sake of grabbing headlines,’ said Buchanan. ‘I am doing it for reasons that’ll benefit the game.

‘Having one captain to run the show in the traditional form is okay. In Twenty20, though, I don’t believe we need a single captain to be responsible for all the decisions.’

Ganguly said they would ‘wait and see’ how the idea works when the IPL opens on Saturday.

‘It’s completely new. It has never happened in sports,’ he said. ‘There are no gaurantees.’

Teams like Australia and India have had different Test and one-day captains, but not more than one skipper in a match in any form of the game.

South African coach Mickey Arthur promptly shot down the idea.

‘It has to be one leader always,’ he said. ‘I favour the one-captain situation because everybody in the team is clear about who is in charge at all times.

‘If you have more than one guy as leader, you don’t know whom to turn to. I really don’t know what he (Buchanan) is aiming at.’

Australian captain Ricky Ponting saw no problems with the concept.

‘I know Tassie (Tasmania) actually experimented with that a few years ago. One was doing the field placings and one was doing the bowling changes,’ said Ponting.

‘So it just sort of lightened the load up on the actual captain and gave him a bit more opportunity to think about different things. I don’t see there’s a lot of problems with it.’
Source – khaleejtimes.com

After suffering the ignominy of becoming the first ever doping offender of the Indian Premier League (IPL) last summer, Mohammad Asif will make a comeback to the cash-rich Twenty20 league in Johannesburg early next month – but as a spectator.

The Pakistani fast bowler is on a rehabilitation mission which takes him to London on Wednesday (today) for a couple of weeks before he leaves for South Africa to witness some of the IPL matches there next month.

Asif, 26, is hoping to make a successful return to international cricket during this year’s ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa soon after his one-year ban ends in September.

The pacer was banned by the IPL after he tested positive for banned anabolic steroid nandrolone last summer while featuring in the inaugural season of the Twenty20 spectacle for Delhi Daredevils.

Asif left for London on Tuesday for a two-week stay during which he would be working on his fitness. Later on he will fly out for Johannesburg to watch a series of IPL games. He would then return to London to resume his fitness regime and will eventually end up playing league cricket in England this summer once his work permit is ready.

His agent says that the fitness plan has been devised in a way that can help Asif ease his way back into international cricket with the eight-nation Champions Trophy.

“All the setbacks that have hit him in the last year or so have left Asif really exhausted,” said Salman Ahmed, an official of the company managing Asif. “We have prepared a fitness regime for him that will help him recover both mentally and physically,” he told ‘The News’ on Tuesday.

The plan is to make Asif work under expert trainers in England for at least four weeks and then start playing league cricket there.

“We have applied for a work permit which should be ready in about a month’s time,” said Salman. “Once it’s ready, we will work out a contract for him with some club in England.”

Several clubs based either in Cambridge and greater Manchester have shown a lot of interest in hiring Asif for this season.

“He will need a series of matches to regain full fitness,” said Salman.

After playing in England for a couple of months, Asif is supposed to return home in August for a final phase of training for the Champions Trophy.

“We are targetting the Champions Trophy as his (Asif’s) comeback event,” said his agent.

Asif, who was regarded as one of the most exciting fast bowlers in world cricket before getting entangled in a series of scandals, missed the previous edition of the Champions Trophy in India in 2006 because of a dope-related episode. Asif and fellow pacer Shoaib Akhtar failed a dope test for nandrolone and were sent back home from India.

Asif is also facing possible sanctions from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over another scandal. The Board is currently probing Asif’s misadventure in Dubai last summer when he was caught at the airport, allegedly carrying a small quantity of opium.

There are indications that the player will be let off with a fine as the PCB is seeking documents from the Dubai authorities, confirming that they have decided against pursuing the case against Asif. The Board has already received such a document but that was compiled by a law firm instead of the UAE government.
Source – thenews.com

The Indian Premier League will be missing one spicy ingredient from its heady mix in 2009 after Pakistan’s exhilarating players were exiled from the money-spinning tournament.

The Pakistan government banned its players from participating in the IPL after political relations with India deteriorated in the wake of November’s terror attacks in Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on militants based across the border.

By the time the IPL was relocated to South Africa, following the Indian government’s refusal to provide adequate security, as the event overlapped with parliamentary elections, Pakistani players’ contracts had already been either terminated or suspended.

The IPL refused to include Pakistan players even after the relocation, claiming new stars had been bought by franchises as replacements.

Pakistani players were outraged and claimed the IPL had not bothered to inform them about the contract cancellations. They even staged a protest under the banner ‘Include us or pay us’ in Lahore last week.

They have also threatened legal action.

Former international captain Ramiz Raja believes a consequence will be plummeting interest in the IPL in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s two world class umpires, Aleem Dar and Asad Rauf, were left out in the cold.

Pakistan’s limited overs series against Australia from April 22-May 7 in the United Arab Emirates, which clashes with the first half of the IPL, will also divert the attention of television viewers away from events in South Africa.

But Raja feels there will be a change in attitudes for the second half of the competition which stretches over five weeks and ends on May 24.

“With hardly any international cricket in mid-May the fans will turn towards the IPL and the GEO super sports channel showing the matches is also drumming up the event,” said Raja.

Pakistan captain Younus Khan said the IPL will suffer due to the absence of players from his country.

“Pakistani players are hugely popular in India, so even after the shift, the fans will miss them,” said Younus who withdrew from IPL champions Rajasthan Royals squad this year even before the government’s banning order.

All-rounder Sohail Tanveer played a leading role in Royals’ title triumph, taking 22 wickets to finish as player of the tournament.

Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who despite playing only four games for Kolkata Knight Riders was a huge attraction, still hopes for a return.

“Without Pakistani players the event has lost its charm. I still hope if the franchises want us we would be included,” said Akhtar.
Source – geosuper.tv

Bringing the Indian Premier League (IPL) to South Africa is a means of saying “thank you” to South Africa for its hospitality and warmth over the years, says Kolkatta Knight Riders co-owner and Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan.

Fondly known as the Tom Cruise of Bollywood, Khan lands in Cape Town on Tuesday in time for the league at the weekend. His team has already been training in Bloemfontein for two weeks.

The Kolkatta Knight Riders, owned by Khan, Indian businessman Jai Mehta, and his Bollywood actress wife, Juhi Chawla, is one of the eight teams participating in the IPL this year. Khan, 43, has made several trips to Namibia and South Africa, visiting Joburg, Durban, Cape Town and, more recently, Sun City, but this trip will be special because it will be his first visit “with the kids”. He is expected to arrive with his wife, Gauri Khan, son Aryan and daughter Suhana.

The family would stay for a few weeks, mostly in Cape Town, he said.

He said he was really looking forward to the tournament.

“South Africans are such warm people, very welcoming, very open and friendly.”

He said the tournament was significant for his team because the whole team would be in town, unlike last year when some players did not take part.

“We’re hoping to see some of the wildlife and we’re really looking forward to meeting some of the people again… and drink some good South African wine,” he said.

He was expecting some competition, but the team were aiming to make the top six and hoping to secure a position in the top four teams of the tournament.

“But South Africans won’t need to worry – as an actor and as a film-maker I can assure you we will put on a good show.”

Despite his claim to fame as a Bollywood legend Khan has always had deep roots in sport, particularly cricket. He recalls a stint as a “good” wicketkeeper when he was 19.

Khan said he had been working on many projects, mostly to do with sport, because as a teenager he was involved in many sporting codes, including hockey and cricket, which took priority.

“Many youngsters never really had access to these sports. In our country you can’t really make a career of it. So I wanted to create something that my son could be involved in one day. When I was young playing cricket wasn’t really considered a profession, so I really wanted to create a platform for young people to develop their skills and talents. I look at it as a part of my social responsibility.”

Given that his name Shahrukh means “face of the king”, it is not surprising the star is currently the top actor in India, according to Internet critics.

Khan has won several awards for his outstanding performances in Darr, in 1993, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, in 1995, Dil To Pagal, in 1997 and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, in 1998. He owns three production houses in India, Red Chillies Entertainment and Idiot Box, and runs the Dreamz Unlimited production company with co-star Juhi Chawla and director Aziz Mirza.

So what about Slumdog Millionaire?

Khan, who turned down a role in the movie, said he personally wanted to make the movie.

“I’ve said it’s not an Indian film, it’s a foreign film, and how India is portrayed in the movie is not the point of the film. The film is not about the country. But it was very well done. I think it turned out far better than if I had done it.”
Source – iol.co.za

What’s common between musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Mandira Bedi. They’re a part of a show on the Indian premiere league.

Singer and music composer Shankar Mahadevan belted out a bit of the brand new track Ek desh ek Junoon for Max’s popular cricket show ‘Extra Innings’ during the DLF IPL series. Composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, the song attempts to capture the mood of the nation and it’s love for cricket.

“It’s the kind of a song, even if it plays for 30 seconds on Television, it has to catch you,” said Shankar Mahadevan.

That’s not all as cricket’s first lady Mandira Bedi returns to Max on popular demand as a host on the show and this time with a new look.

“I had flaming red hair till this morning. So this new look is for the IPL. I look at cricket as a turning pioint in my life and back in 2003 when I stood on stage for a press conference, people knew me as Shanti and other characters I had played uptill then. It was after cricket that people started knowing me as Mandira,” said Bedi.

Mandira provided the eye-candy on Max’s earlier editions of Extra Innings, but this time round the lady with have tough competition from IPL’s cheerleaders as well.
Source – cricketnext.in.com