Former Protea Jonty Rhodes is “very impressed” by the work ethic the Mumbai Indians’ rookies displayed at a training camp in Durban last week.

Rhodes a member of the Indian Premier League franchise’s management, spent the last few days honing the fielding skills of the younger players in the Mumbai team. He worked closely with fellow former Protea Shaun Pollock, who too is a consultant to the Indians.

“The majority of the players we worked with will fit around the four overseas professionals and four Indian internationals so they are quite young and their skills are very Indian specific,” Rhodes said.“But they showed great enthusiasm and were very keen to throw themselves about. They watch a lot of international cricket and do not subscribe to old theory that India does not have a fielding culture. I was very impressed by how much they wanted to learn and absorb.”

There is a growing belief among the IPL franchises that teams with a strong South African influence will have the edge in this year’s tournament because of it being relocated to the Republic.

So with the two Proteas legends on the payroll of the Mumbai Indians, does Rhodes believe his team will start with an advantage over the seven other franchises?

“Shaun is going to be invaluable to the team. There’s no doubt about that. He just has such a calm demeanour in the dressing room.

“Even when it was thought that the tournament was going to be held in India, and Shaun was still considering whether to come back for another year, the Mumbai management made it very clear they wanted him back,” Rhodes said.Although appreciating Pollock’s involvement, Rhodes was, however, quick to dismiss the assumption that South African players will automatically be the stars of the second IPL season because of their knowledge of the conditions.

The leading South African player in the Mumbai Indians team is JP Duminy, who was signed for $950 000 while Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya also played domestic cricket in Durban for the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins in 2009.

“International players adjust very quickly today. Most of the guys in all the teams are experienced international cricketers. They play all over the world and have learnt to adapt very quickly,” Rhodes said.

“Take a guy like Dwayne Bravo. He plays for the West Indies in the Caribbean, where each island has different conditions, and he has learnt a lot on how to adapt all over. His experience will be very valuable.”

The Mumbai Indians will kickstart the IPL against last year’s finalists, the Chennai Super Kings, on Saturday, April 18 at Newlands

Source – iol.co.za

The induction of England batsman Kevin Pietersen and New Zealand’s Jesse Ryder, besides Bangalore lad Robin Uthappa, has helped Indian Premier League franchise Bangalore Royal Challengers shed its tag of ‘Test outfit’ in Twenty20 cricket, says team owner Vijay Mallya.”Last year our team was called a Test team, but with players such as (Kevin) Pietersen, (Robin) Uthappa and (Jesse) Ryder in the squad now, no one calls it a Test team anymore,” Mallya said in Mumbai on Thursday.Mallya’s team was criticised by experts last year for lacking the firepower required for Twenty20 cricket, as it ended up seventh in the eight-team contest.

Pietersen will lead the team till he returns for England duty, after which star South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis will take over the mantle.

The liquor baron said his team has five home-grown players and their familiarity with conditions in South Africa, where the second edition of IPL is to be held from April 18, will stand his team in good stead.

“We have five South African players in our team, apart from former South Africa coach Ray Jennings. They are well aware of the conditions in that country and this advantage should work in our favour,” he said.The quintet of South African players — Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Roelof Van der Merwe and Dillion du Preez are among the RCB’s ten foreign recruits.While admitting that shifting of the IPL to South Africa would cause some financial losses to the franchise, Mallya said he is confident that Board of Control for Cricket in India would make up for it.

“The event is sure to cost us but I am sure that the BCCI will do something about it. Holding the tournament in such a short time was a challenge in itself, the hisaab-kitaab [accounting] can be done once the tournament is over,” he said.

Mallya expressed hope that viewership of the tournament would not be affected because of the shift in venue.

“About 95 per cent viewership of the IPL is TV audience. It is unlikely to suffer as the BCCI has adjusted the timings of the matches as per the convenience of Indian audience.

“IPL going overseas is a lot better than missing it altogether,” he said.

On Force India’s performance in the Australian Grand Prix, Mallya, who is also co-owner of the Formula One team, said he was happy with performance of the drivers.”I’m happy with the ninth and 11th place finishes that Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella achieved. Both of them completed their races in the first event of the season which was a big satisfaction in itself.”
Source – cricket.rediff.com

Essex all-rounder Graham Napier is relishing the prospect of playing under champion batsman Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians in the upcoming IPL 2 and feels it will be a lifetime’s experience for him.

“Millions of cricketers — amateur or professional would love to get the chance to play alongside Sachin Tendulkar. I have that opportunity so am looking forward to it immensely. He is cricket in India. Just to have the chance to speak to him and understand his way of thinking is a great life experience”, he said on his personal website.

Napier, who is set to fly out of England for Durban this Sunday to link up with his MI teammates ahead of the IPL opener on April 18, was also full of praise about the skills of two other Indian performers – off spinner Harbhajan Singh and speedster Zaheer Khan.

“His experience and ability to spin the ball both ways will be brilliant for us in the middle overs of the innings to peg an innings back,” he said about Harbhajan Singh.

Describing Zaheer as the world’s best left-armer and one of the cleverest bowlers in the game, Napier felt that the Indian pace sprearhead’s ability to bowl swing, reverse swing and his changes of pace “will make him invaluable to the Mumbai Indians.”

“I’ll make sure I get the chance to speak to him to try to add something to my own game.” he added.
Source – cricket.expressindia.com

Five Pakistan players including skipper Younus Khan have threatened to take the Indian Premier League to court over the termination of their contracts with the Twenty20 league.

The Pakistan government had refused to sanction permission for players to travel to India for the IPL due to diplomatic and political tensions between the two countries arising from the Mumbai terror attacks.

And Younus said: “It is their right to seek legal redress for their dues if they are not allowed to play.”

IPL organisers told franchises they could either terminate contracts with Pakistan players making them free agents or suspend their contracts, allowing players to remain with clubs.

With the IPL being shifted to South Africa, Pakistan’s players had demanded they be allowed to play. That demand was turned down by the IPL as franchises had already finalised their teams.

Apart from Younus, Shoaib Akhtar, Salman Butt (Kolkata Knight Riders), Shahid Afridi (Deccan Chargers) and Shoaib Malik (Delhi Daredevils), who’s contracts were terminated, are now exploring the possibility of taking legal action against the IPL.

Players are demanding they be paid for the entire duration of their three year contract although they only served one year.

Younus said although his contract with the Rajasthan Royals was terminated on his request, he fully backed the move of the other players.

“The Royals wanted to transfer me to another team which I didn’t want,” Younus said. “So I asked to be released well in advance for the second season.

“But I think the way the contracts of the others was terminated was unfair.”
Source – google.com

The Indian Premier League has announced the sale of online tickets for the second season in South Africa starting April 18.

The tickets for the double-header in Cape Town on April 18 are priced between R 50 for students to R 200/150 for the grand stands and are inclusive of the opening ceremony. Kingsmead in Durban hosts 16 games, the most for a single venue, and the tickets are priced between R 25 for students to R 150 for the grand stands.

The organisers have focused on making the tickets affordable, in order to attract youngsters to the event. The tournament had to be moved out of India due to the general elections in the country.

The prices are relatively cheaper in the smaller venues like East London, Port Elizabeth, Kimberley and Bloemfontein, ranging between R 10 and R 75.

“We had promised our fans in the Rainbow Nation of a non-stop cricket carnival and the attractive ticket pricing,” Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said. “I think should be a huge impetus for fans to come and see some of the best cricketing talent in the world, display their prowess on the field.” Fans can avail tickets at the official website www.computicket.com.
Source – content.cricinfo.com