Bollywood actor and owner of the Kings XI Punjab, Preity Zinta, introduced her team in Mumbai last evening.
When asked by the media Zinta, said that there were some new inclusions in her team.
“We have a new boy called Bird Cocklin who is an Australian. He is one of the best fast bowlers there. He bowls at over 140 kilometers an hour. I think you would know of him only when you see him play. We also have Yusaf Abdullah, who is one of the best T-20 bowlers,” she said.
Yuvraj Singh, who is the captain of the Kings XI Punjab team, said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) would be a good exposure before the T-20 World Cup to be staged in England in June.
“I think IPL has come at the right time before the World Cup. Before the World Cup, we are going to have fourteen games to get into the semifinals which will give us a lot practice,” said Yuvraj Singh.
The IPL, which involves many of the world’s leading players, was a huge success in its inaugural edition in cricket-crazy India last year, primarily because it is structured around city-based franchises with a fan base in home and away matches.The eight-team league would be staged in South Africa from April 18 due to security reasons and would return to India next season.
Source – dailyindia.com
Draconian media laws that almost resulted in a blackout of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which begins in South Africa on Saturday, could red-card major sporting events heading to the country, including the 2010 World Cup.
The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) is locked in a duel with Fifa, the world footballing authority, over restrictive media proposals. These include censorship and a ban on independent websites covering the upcoming Confederations Cup matches, as well as a proposal that prevents a new agency from supplying material to a third party.
The editors’ body is also challenging Cricket South Africa (CSA) about restrictions it intended imposing but withdrew before the current series against Australia, following protests by Sanef, as well as the CSA’s attempt to prescribe to the media how cricket captain Graeme Smith should be portrayed when wearing the Proteas uniform.Raymond Louw, a Sanef member, said cricket and rugby sporting administrators had also put in place proposals that effectively clamped down on media freedom.
Louw said the commercialisation of sport was being used by administrators to keep tighter control of the various codes, even if it meant censoring the media.
He said Sanef supported the News Media Coalition (NMC) which, acting on behalf of global media groups, had agreed to cover IPL matches after initially threatening to boycott them because of the IPL’s media demands. The contracts to gain media access stipulate that photo news material could not be distributed for use by certain cricket news websites, but Sanef argued that such a clause discriminated against news subscribers, compromised the media’s freedom to inform and set a bad precedent for other major events. This clause prevented all major international news and photo agencies attending the inaugural IPL in India last year.
Andrew Moger, the NMC spokesperson, said the media are now able to provide coverage of this cricketing spectacle. But the tension between media and sports administrators looks set to stay, with Sanef and the CSA set to clash over restrictions on coverage and an implied limitation on the use of pictures of Smith in Proteas kit.
Sanef believes the CSA’s powers relate to Smith’s appearance at match venues and on practice fields, but do not extend to pictures of him in kit taken in public places.
With the Confederations Cup and the World Cup on the horizon, Louw said Sanef was concerned that in terms of Fifa requirements, a media practitioner, when applying for accreditation, would bind his or her organisation to terms and conditions it may not be aware of; and that the regulations concerning confidentiality on the website amount to censorship if material can be published only with Fifa’s permission. “The media cannot be bound by conditions on publication imposed by any body – except a court,” he said.
The editors’ body was also upset that Fifa could terminate a journalist’s membership of the media channel without warning.
Hans Klaus, the Fifa director of communications, noted Sanef’s concerns about Fifa’s password-protected internet-based media service and said that the football body needed to have a proper accreditation procedure in place.
Klaus said the wording of the confidentiality regulation had been amended and media would be free to use information on its media channel for editorial purposes.
Source – iol.co.za
Kings XI Punjab will be sporting new colours in the second edition of the DLF Indian Premier League that commences on April 18 in South Africa.
The Punjab based team has signed a three-year multi-million dollar deal with Dubai based airline Emirates.
The new jersey was unveiled in Mumbai on Saturday with skipper Yuvraj Singh and co-owner Preity Zinta sporting the new look. The team‘s jersey has been conceptualized by the team’s co owner Zinta and their partner – Reebok.
Dubai-based Emirates airline will be the team’s title sponsors with eight other brands- Gulf Oil, Nimbooz, Netlinkblue, Reebok, Springbok Intl, Royal Challenge, Dabur Glucose-D and Orbit.
Mohit Burman, co-owner of Kings XI Punjab, said: “We will create the same buzz in South Africa as we would have created in India”.
Kings XI Punjab started the first season of DLF Indian Premier League on a disastrous note losing its first opening two matches ,but then recovered its lost ground and went on to play the semi finals against Chennai Super Kings.
Source – khabrein.info
Indian Premier League (IPL) organizers have been hit by a steep increase in premium payments to insure against terror attacks. A fivefold increase in the cost of insurance against terror strikes may have caused the organisers to alter plans for a Rs400 crore insurance cover, saving IPL Rs5 crore in premiums, people familiar with the development said on condition of anonymity.
The organizers have taken an alternative route. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd will cover every match for Rs7 crore; this will include broadcasting interests, sponsorship losses and budgeted expenses of the match. Terror cover would be a part of the comprehensive cover, which will cost the organizers less than Rs1 crore in premium.
“As the sum insured of Rs7 crore includes the terror cover, we are not approaching reinsurers,” said Reena Bhatnagar, deputy general manager of Oriental Insurance. “So the overall cost of the comprehensive insurance coverage has not increased much.” Reinsurers protect insurance firms against the risk of losses.
Oriental Insurance will also be insuring the eight IPL franchisees for the players they bought in auction, under what London’s reinsurers call Death and Services. This includes death and accident cover. The front provided by Oriental Insurance will also include cover against loss of baggage and medical expenses.
Under insurance regulations, insurance cover for Indian entities such as the IPL franchisees will have to be provided by an Indian insurer, and backed by a reinsurer. Bhatnagar says, “We have already received cheques from four franchisees. The other franchisees are in the process of sending in their premium cheques.”
Franchisees are looking for insurance cover against abandonment of matches because of multiple perils such as weather, riots and terror attacks, people familiar with the situation said on condition of anonymity. Talks are under way, but the franchisees are yet to finalize the details of such coverage.
Source – livemint.com
If one thought the Indian Premier League (IPL) was the only ace up Lalit Modi’s sleeve, you might have to think again. For, the man who’s
made Twenty20 a million-dollar enterprise is now planning dedicated IPL cricket awards on the lines of the ICC awards.
The proposed awards will be unveiled before the tournament gets underway in South Africa and will be held after the event.
It is reliably learnt that the proposed venue for the awards will be in London as celebrity owners think the destination offers a good marketing proposition as compared to any other location.
If things work according to plan, one could see Brendon McCullum shaking a leg with Shahrukh Khan, or Yuvraj doing the bhangra with Preity Zinta, on stage as cricket and Bollywood would come together to offer a new dose of masala entertainment.
The league, it is learnt, will be selling the media rights for this event separately. The broadcasting rights for the IPL are currently with Multi Screen Media (MSM), formerly Sony Entertainment Television.
When contacted, IPL chief executive Sundar Raman told ET that many ideas were being discussed. “Nothing has been frozen as the awards are just one of the ideas on the cards,” he said. On whether the event will be held in London, Mr Raman said: “We will reach that stage if we decide to do the awards.”
The rationale for London is that the city has a huge Indian diaspora. The awards are expected to have 40 categories that will include the best bowler, batsman and fielder.
It is believed that celebrity owners want the event to be held in London. “The owners want to make the awards an event that will have performances by cricketers as well as Bollywood stars. And given the huge Indian diaspora there, they think London is a good marketing proposition,” sources said.
Even as the blueprint for the awards is being outlined, sources familiar with the development said IPL is looking at separate sponsors for the event. The media rights of the event will not go to MSM. “They are keeping quiet about it now and the management has not gone out to find sponsors,” sources said.
The reason for this is believed to be on the lines of waiting till the venue is finalised and getting commitments from cricketers to attend the event. “The event will have the star cricketers attending it. Also, the T20 world cup begins after the IPL and the players will be needed for national duty. So, the management and the respective team owners are trying to get a commitment from them.”
Source – economictimes.indiatimes.com
