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Posts Tagged ‘IPL’
Wed, August 27, 2008 11:37 am By James Coolridge  Printer friendly version
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 Colombo, Sep 7: Sri Lanka has decided to act tough with national players who are refusing to go ahead with the England tour. The Sri Lankan Cricket Committee have decided to go ahead with strict actions if any player fails to obey the diktats of the board. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Interim Committee Chairman Arjuna Ranatunga stressed that he would not budge from his stand in honouring Sri Lanka’s tour obligation with England next year.
“As far as SLC is concerned we will not change our decision to send the Sri Lanka team to play in England. We have signed an MoU with England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and we have to honour that,” the State-run Sunday Observer quoted Ranatunga, well-known as “Captain Cool” as saying.
The former World Cup winning Sri Lankan captain Ranatunga, who was well-known for backing players on and off the field during his playing days, has clarified his stand saying that his duty was to look after Sri Lanka cricket even if the players went ahead and retired from the national team to partake in the IPL tournament.
Claiming that SLC had “never signed” a contract with the IPL contracted Lankan players permitting them to play in the IPL whenever they wanted to, Ranatunga has said that the players were given “the green light to pad only in the inaugural IPL tournament”.
“They need to sign a two-year contract with the ICC and SLC even if they are to retire and go to the IPL,” Ranatunga clarified the stand.
Sri Lanka is supposed to play two Tests and three one-dayers in May next year in England and the time table is clashing with the 2009 IPL tournament, which was ironically approved by SLC for the national players to play.
The players argue that the IPL contracts had been signed long before the idea of a tour to England was mooted. They want to go ahead with their initial commitments.
Skipper Mahela Jayawardane, Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Pervez Mahroof, Thilakaratne Dishan, Dilhara Fernando and Ajantha Mendis are some of the key players who have signed three-year contracts with the IPL.
As per some unconfirmed reports, some players are even considering of retiring from the national team in order to honour the IPL contracts which they have already signed.
Tags : World Cup, IPL, Arjuna Ranatunga, SLC, Sanath Jayasuriya, Srilanka, ECB, Wales, Skipper Mahela Jayawardane, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Pervez Mahroof, Thilakaratne Dishan, Dilhara Fernando,
Fri, August 22, 2008 10:41 am By James Coolridge
 Colombo, Sep 6: Sri Lanka cricket’s crisis over the timing of the England tour is clashing with the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) next year. This has deepened Saturday with the interim administration and several key players in the team refusing to budge an inch from their positions.
Despite reports that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) wanted to go ahead with the England tour with the best players, several key players in the team have stood their grounds on their commitments to play the IPL tournament. This has led to the intervention from sports minister Gamini Lokuge.
According to a top SLC official, the initiatives by the minister to hold “compromise talks” with the administrators and the players “are yet to provide a breakthrough”.
“Efforts are being made to this crisis over the past two months. The players have completed two series after the crisis (Asia Cup tournament and the tour by India). But a solution is yet to be brought out,” the SLC official cleared on Friday.
The sports minister has appointed SLC CEO Duleep Mendis to solve out the crisis. .
When contacted, Mendis expressed his confidence and said he was hoping to meet the players next week to find a compromise. He also stressed that there was no way that Sri Lanka could send a second-level team for the proposed England tour.
“We have to send the best team for the England tour. I will have to come out with suggestions on how best we could solve this problem,” said Mendis.
Sri Lanka is due to play two Tests and three one-dayers in England next May. The time table is clashing with the 2009 IPL tournament.
The players argue that the IPL contracts had been signed long before the idea of a tour to England was mooted and want to go ahead with their initial commitments.
Skipper Mahela Jayawardane, Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Pervez Mahroof, Thilakaratne Dishan and Dilhara Fernando are some among the key players who have signed three-year contracts with the IPL. The 38-year-old left-handed Sanath Jayasuriya is the third highest paid player of the IPL.
Sri Lanka’s new 23-year old spin sensation, Ajantha Mendis, also has signed up with the Kolkata Knight Riders for a period of three years.
Tags : Cricket, IPL, England, Sri Lanka, Duleep Mendis, SLC, Sanath Jayasuriya
Wed, August 20, 2008 10:10 am By James Coolridge
 Hyderabad, Sep 6: Deccan Chargers will be looking into the media remarks made by Shahid Afridi and V.V.S. Laxman’s response over the captaincy of the Indian Premier League (IPL) team.
Afridi had recently blamed Laxman’s leadership abilities for the team’s poor performance during IPL league in June. He had even suggested that former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist should take over the reins of the side in the next IPL series.
Laxman had taken exception to Afridi’s outburst saying it was a collective failure and not the captain’s alone. The Test star from Hyderabad accused Afridi of violating team ethics by speaking out to media.
‘It is probably time someone told Afridi that a captain can only be as good as the team. Afridi is an experienced cricketer and should not be questioning the way the team functions. Speaking negatively about the team, let alone the captain, is just not on,’ had reacted Laxman.
Stung by Laxman’s reaction, Afridi had said that he was misunderstood, though he maintained that the Hyderabadi was not aggressive enough.
‘Perhaps, what I said about the Chargers on a television show may have come out a bit strong, but my only point was that Laxman needs to be more aggressive on the field.’
‘It was not my intention to demean Laxman’s stature or contribution as a player and captain. I was asked a simple question and I answered it honestly,’ the dashing Pakistani player said.
After the war of words between the two cricket stars, the Chargers team management has decided to hold an enquiry to establish the facts.
A spokesman for the Chargers added in a statement: ‘In the interest of fairness and of thoroughness, both players have been asked to appear before the probe panel.
‘When we have established the facts we will take take the required action that we feel is necessary and appropriate in accordance with the provisions of the IPL contracts between the players and the Chargers.’
Tags : Cricket, IPL, Deccan Chargers, VVS Laxman, Hyderabad, Shahid Afridi, Adam Gilchrist
Thu, April 24, 2008 12:34 pm By James Coolridge
 Captain of Bangalore Royal Challengers team Rahul Dravid on Sunday said the win over Mumbai Indians would help his team do well further in the Twenty20 matches of the Indian Premier League.
“This win would be very beneficial for the team (in the tournament). We had full confidence in the team, which has been proved in this game,” Dravid said at the postmatch press conference after securing the victory.
The fifth match of IPL was played between Mumbai Indians and Bangalore Royal Challengers and ended up being a very close contest in which Banglalore Royal Challengers beat Mumbai Indians by five wickets.
The skipper added that the partnership between Jaques Kallis and Mark Boucher in Sunday’s victory reminded him of the Proteas victory against India, achieved in 2000 while playing at the same venue.
“I told Boucher that it was your partnership with Kallis that took away the match from us that time as well,” he said.
Dravid also said that the five-day rest till the next match would be beneficial for his team. “We were a bit rushed this week and virtually had games back to back. This gives us time to go back home and prepare for the next match,” he said.
The former India skipper also said that youngsters would have to play bigger role as the tournament progresses.
“As the tournament goes on, I expect that less experienced players will have a greater role to play. Most of them have not played in such an atmosphere before and once they get used to it, they will do better,” he said.
Tags : IPL, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Rahul Dravid, Mumbai Indians
Mon, April 21, 2008 7:05 am By Matt Davis
 M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore was literally electrified during the opening match of DLF Indian Premier League, when Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Bangalore Royal Challengers by whopping 140 runs in the Twenty20 match. McCullum of Kolkata team was declared Man of the Match for his outstanding performance. He smashed 10 boundaries and 13 sixes in front of the crowd which was fully animated throughout the match.
Team owners Vijay Mallya of the United Breweries group for the home team and Bollywood Superstar Shah Rukh Khan made their appearance and cheered their respective teams throughout the match.
Here is the match summary:
Bangalore captain Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to field first. Kolkata Knight Riders put 222 runs on the board for the fall of three wickets in 20 overs and bowled out the Royal Challengers for 82 in just 15.1 overs.
It was the thunderstorm performance by McCullum which was the major part of the entertainment. The right-hander batsman opened the innings with Ganguly and put 61 runs partnership on the board. Then he joined Ricky Ponting to add 51 for the second wicket and 60 fro the third with David Hussey. The unbeaten 50 partnership was done with Mohammed Hafeez.
And when it was the turn of the host team to bat, they were literally smacked down by the sharp bowling and fielding by their counterpart.
Praveen Kumar was the sole performer to reach double figures among the Royal Challengers. He remained in the crease till 15 balls were delivered to him and scored 18 runs (one four and two sixes).
The Indian Premier League brought into action some of the finest and ferocious players from the world.
The first match of DLF IPL was welcomed by a fascinating opening ceremony with fabulous fireworks.
Tags : IPL, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Kolkata Knight Riders
Sat, March 22, 2008 7:33 pm By James Coolridge
 The International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially recognized the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) to be played in the Twenty20 format, saying it is being organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The ICC executive board has officially agreed that the IPL is a good concept and could bring possible benefits to the game.
According to the ICC, the IPL would have to have its own anti-corruption policy, code of conduct and anti-doping policy, which would comply with the world body’s regulations.
Each ICC member will have an unfettered right in its absolute discretion to lodge an objection to a player from its country playing in the IPL, and this objection can be lodged up to two years after that player’s retirement. ICC’s future tours program was unlikely to be affected by the IPL. No request has been received from either the ICC or BCCI to adjust ICC futures matches and the ICC would closely monitor the ICC tournament.
Asked as to the reason why the ICC was not giving similar recognition to the Indian Cricket League promoted by Zee TV’s Shubhash Chandra, he said, “The answer to that is simple. The IPL is an official domestic tournament recognized by the BCCI, similar to county cricket in England.”
Tags : IPL, ICC, 20-20 Cricket
Sat, March 22, 2008 6:42 pm By James Coolridge
 The DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday announced “Kingfisher Airlines” as the official umpire partner for the Twenty20 cricket. The company has signed the deal worth Rs 106 crores for a five-year period.
Under the agreement, Kingfisher Airlines will receive branding on the umpires’ uniform including their shirts and hats during the tournament along with countless other advertising opportunities. Further, Kingfisher Airlines will also sponsor all third umpire decisions during the 59 matches staring April 18. In a separate release, DLF-IPL has chosen Pepsi Co India as the official beverage supplier for IPL in a deal worth $12.5 million for a five-year period. Earlier, leading sports broadcaster Sony Max and World Sport Group had bagged IPL’s global media and production rights for US $ 1.026 billion. The IPL tournament will feature eight competing teams, which includes Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mohali, Kolkata and Jaipur.
Under the tournament, each franchise will play others on a home and away basis with seven matches at home. The top four franchises in the league will contest the semi-finals and the victorious semi-finalists will meet in the final all over one weekend, to be played on June 1 in Mumbai. The tournament will run for 44 days and all matches will be telecast live on SET Max.
Tags : Cricket, IPL, Kingfisher Airlines
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