Australia skipper Ricky Ponting says there is “some merit” in Kolkata Knight Riders coach John Buchanan’s proposal to have multiple captains within the team in this month’s Indian Premier League (IPL).

Buchanan, one of cricket’s most lateral-thinking and controversial coaches, stepped down as Australia’s mentor after helping guide Ponting’s team to a successful one-day international World Cup defence in the West Indies in 2007.

Ponting had been due to play for Kolkata in the five-week IPL season, which starts on April 18. But the Australian batsman, who would be available to play in the last two weeks of the tournament, has opted to spend time at home with his family.

Australia’s busy year continues in June with the Twenty20 World Cup followed by the Ashes series in July, both in England.

Ponting will miss out on the chance to share the captaincy/”strategist” roles of the Kolkata side with other big names such as India’s Saurav Ganguly, West Indian Chris Gayle, New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum and Australia’s Brad Hodge and David Hussey.

Ganguly, who was Kolkata’s IPL captain in 2008, has spoken out against the idea and claims he wasn’t consulted, although Buchanan denies this.

“I heard the other day he was actually talking about having a couple of captains on the ground at once. I don’t know how that’s going to work,” Ponting told AAP this week.

“But I know Tassie actually experimented with that a few years ago.

“They had Dan Marsh and George Bailey. One was doing the field placings and one was doing the bowling changes.

“So it just sort of lightened the load up I guess on the actual captain on the field and gave him a bit more opportunity to think about different things.

“I don’t see there’s a lot of problems with it.

“The more experience you can get into a lot of guys as far as leadership goes can only benefit your group.

“But it seems like it’s a bit more of a sensitive situation at the moment with Sourav (Ganguly) being captain and maybe not wanting to give up that actual role, which you can understand as well.

“I think there is some merit in it. We’ll see how it works at the end of this IPL.”

After announcing his plan last month for multiple captains, Buchanan has since fine-tuned his proposal and says he wants one captain and “four to five core experts” who will act as “strategists”.

“These coaches or strategists will assist the one captain on field with their viewpoints on the game plan set earlier or shoot from the hip as the case maybe,” a Kolkata team statement said.

“The captain for the team is one and only one as in the case of most sports. Just the roles which are there in the regular format of the game as the fielding expert, batting coaches, are being better defined to be able to give quick suggestions …

“All internal decisions are taken collectively by the core cricketing team which comprises John, Sourav, Matthew Mott (assistant coach) and a few others.”
Source – news.theage.com.au

The Kolkata Knight Riders’ coach, Mr John Buchanan’s idea of multiple captaincy is a mockery of the game, Dilip Vengsarkar (in photo) said here today. Vengsarkar said he would be glad to see Sourav Ganguly back at the helm of the KKR.
“Suppose there is one ball to go and six runs to be scored and then four guys come to advise you. I want Ganguly to go to (Mr) Buchanan and ask him what to do. This is a mockery of the game with four captains telling the captain what to do,” said Vengsarkar, who was here for a product promotion programme.

‘A sell-out show’
Filling stadiums in South Africa will be one of the biggest challenges facing the Indian Premier League but its publicist, Mr Percy Dubash, has expressed confidence that a large number of fans from India and other countries will flock to the country to witness the tournament which starts in Cape Town on 18 April.
“The rainbow nation is a very popular tourist destination and we are certain that a large number of Indians and non-resident Indians will visit the country for the IPL,” Mr Dubash said. “The league is immensely popular with a huge global fan base. The fact that the league also coincides with summer holidays in India also bodes well,” he told SuperSport.
Speaking about the IPL’s success in grabbing worldwide attention, Mr Dubash said: “It is attributable to several factors, including the fact that the on-the-field action in it was truly world class. In most developed economies of the world, live sports play a very integral part of the family experience, be it a National Basketball Association game or an English Premier League game on weekdays or at weekends.
“In a similar vein, I think a void in terms of live entertainment was more than adequately filled by the IPL as it combined some of the best cricket talents in the world with the next generation of Indian talent – everything packaged into a highly entertaining three-hour roller-coaster of fun, excitement, and adrenalin-packed cricket action. That is exactly the reason why the IPL managed to capture the imagination of an entire nation, and more importantly the world.”
Mr Dubash claimed that the IPL had brought in a whole lot of financial benefits. “The IPL’s success has provided monetary rewards – apart from honour and pride – not only to the players but to the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the cricketing fraternity as a whole. At modest estimates, the IPL involves around a total of $ 2.5 billion in terms of overall revenue. But the BCCI has stressed from the very beginning that money earned through the IPL will be ploughed back into the game,” he said.
The IPL publicist also informed the Press that an elite team of 15 former players would be the commentators for the event.
Heading the list will be Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Ramiz Raja and assisting them will be Arun Lall, Simon Doull, Pommie Mbangwa, Kepler Wessels, L Sivaramkrishnan, Robin Jackman, Danny Morrison, Ranjit Fernando, Alastair Campbell, Abbas Ali Baig, Greg Blewett and Jeremey Coney.
Source – thestatesman.net

THE IPL going overseas to South Africa has its own advantages. Shah Rukh Khan has finally selected two beauties to join his cheerleader’s team in South Africa. The cricket lovers back home would be disappointed that they would not be able to cheer for their teams in the field and that the hype would be at a lesser degree, but the organisers of IPL-2 have plenty of reasons to be happy about. One of these happiness factors pertains to the cheerleaders and their dress code which will be free from the shackles that weighed them down in the inaugural session.

Last time around, there were plenty of controversies and the beauties were not allowed to be free with their actions. Maharashtra had banned the glamour quotient. The girls had to curtail their activities and appeared to be disinterested in the whole affair. They had to keep their vital assets properly covered and be subdued. They must have wondered – why such double standards? Bollywood movies grant permission to actresses to show their all without any questions asked. Switch to any music channel and the music videos appear to be interested only in such numbers that exhibit revealing dresses. Some of the videos have foreigners to make up the crowds and they also dance to the tunes. Why then the discrimination against the cheerleaders of cricket?

Anyway, the famous adage goes — out of sight, out of mind. IPL2 players enjoy the freedom in South Africa, away from the eyes of the moral police. Your city folks might not be there to applaud your heroics but the cheerleaders will certainly be there to cheer your 4s and 6s – and there will not be any objections to the girls baring the maximum.

Welcoming Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shahrukh Khan’s decision to have just one captain during the second IPL season in South Africa, former Indian skipper and coach Ajit Wadekar said better sense has prevailed in KKR camp at last.

“I am happy that better sense has prevailed in KKR camp and the owner of the team and film star Shahrukh Khan’s decision to have just one captain and Kiwi stumper Brendon McCullum as his deputy for the second IPL is a welcome sign,” Wadekar told Cricketnext.com here on Wednesday.

“I admire the way the Aussies play any sport. They just don’t like to lose and posses the best killer’s instinct. They are also the best finishers of a cricket match and that is the reason they are still at the top of the heap.

“They have produced some high quality cricketers and continue to do. But some times there coaching tactics are beyond anybodies’ imagination and may not work to the best interest of the team,” he added.

“I should say that Khan’s timely intervention has saved the team from a real disaster. Like in the Bollywood movies, he (Shahrukh Khan) has arrived at the right time to save the team from a certain disaster. John Buchanan’s multiple-captains theory would certainly not have worked for KKR,” Wadekar pointed out.

“Not just in cricket, but in any sport this theory would not have worked. I also strongly feel that Sourav Ganguly is the right choice to lead the team at least for this season. Sourav, Rahul (Dravid) and V V S Laxman have a lot to offer even in the shortest version of the game and it will be a mistake to dismantle them at this point of time,” he added.

Source – cricketnext.in.com

As owner of the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders Shahrukh Khan has moved heaven and earth to promote the team. And it stands to reason; with the Second season of the Indian Premier League moved out of the country, the teams could use all the extra publicity they can get.

But according to Shahrukh his purpose behind appointing cheerleaders is not only to publicise his team. He firmly believes that with some consideration and planning, cheerleading can be developed as a sport in itself; cheerleading has all the characteristics of a good sport: it demands immense physical fitness, flexibility and concentration, and the levels of competition can get intense too. He believes that there is no reason to undermine this activity. It is well known that in America, a game is never complete without a cheerleading routine. Cheerleading there is a full-fledged sport and comes with a huge fan following. It’s more than just a routine; it’s a competition in itself. Moreover cheerleaders are instrumental in grabbing the audience’s attention to the game and inciting participation. In a short, action packed sport like Twenty20 cricket the cheerleaders will be perfect to keep the adrenalin levels up.
In the first season of the Indian Premier League, cheerleaders served to bring colour, opulence and glitz to the games. But the concept faced flak from most traditionalists who labelled it as vulgar, indecent and as going against the sentiments of the nation. Then how is it that it will be any different this time? But Shahrukh Khan insists that if developed ethically sensibly and tastefully cheerleading can open up whole new avenues and opportunities for the youth.

The King Khan will personally choose the cheerleading team through a television show called ‘Knights and Angels’. Produced by Shahrukh’s Red Chillies Entertainment, it is India’s first ever reality talent hunt show for cheerleaders. From the proceeds of the show he will select six cheerleaders who will travel to South Africa for the upcoming matches. He believes that his show will bring propriety to cheerleading as a profession.
Source – cricket360.com