IPL 2010 Preview - Kings XI Punjab

Team Owner: Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Karan Paul, Mohit Burman

Kings XI Punjab is owned and promoted by a consortium which includes leading Bollywood actress Preity Zinta and well known industrialists Ness Wadia and others. They are the self-proclaimed people’s team in the IPL with a vision of being the most significant, progressive and valuable franchise in the years to come.

Preity Zinta is a well renowned Indian film actress and as a co-owner, she is responsible for actively promoting the franchise and its team. A leader, visionary and perfectionist, Ness Wadia is the joint managing director of the Bombay Dyeing Pvt. Ltd., the flagship company of the Wadia Group. Mohit Burman, Director, Dabur India is the driving force behind the Dabur Group’s foray into several high growth and sunrise sectors of financial services like life insurance, annuities and asset management, besides agriculture and retailing. Karan Paul is the chairman of the Apeejay Surrendra Group, which is worth Rs.4500 crores, and looks after the financial planning of the franchise.

The group of businessmen together paid a total of USD 76 million to acquire the franchise in 2007.

Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (captain & wicket-keeper), Yusuf Abdulla, Love Ablish, Adrian Barath, Manvinder Bisla, Ravi Bopara, Piyush Chawla, Karan Goel, James Hopes, Mahela Jayawardene, Mohammad Kaif, Brett Lee, Vikramjeet Malik, Shaun Marsh, Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Bipul Sharma, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Amanpreet Singh, Yuvraj Singh, S. Sreesanth, Shalabh Srivastava, Tanmay Srivastava.

Coach: Tom Moody

A player of international stature, Tom Moody was instrumental in Australia’s triumph in the 1999 World Cup. Moody was a medium pace swing bowler, a hard hitting batsman, a safe slip fielder and a natural leader during his playing days. He and Steve Waugh together became the first two Australians to win the world cup twice. Moody’s greatest service has been to Worcestershire and Western Australia leading both to all kinds of success. He called time on his international career in 2000-01. Moody came close to being India’s coach in May 2005 only to be piped to the post by Greg Chappell. That same year he was appointed Sri Lanka’s coach. He then led the Lankan team to the World Cup final in April 2007.

2009 Record: Fifth
2008 Record: Semi-Finalist
Comparing the two results, it would be easy to say that 2009 was a step down for this team. But if you saw them perform both at home and in South Africa, it would be easier to tell the difference and say that both results were indeed merited by their respective performances. In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to even say that they probably over-achieved in 2008.
They had gotten off to a slow start in the tournament then, but recovered and learnt quickly from their mistakes to string together a winning combination. Shaun Marsh was the find of the season, finishing with highest runs scored (616) with an average of 68.44 and a strike rate of 139.68 in eleven innings. The other highlight was the Harbhajan Singh-Sreesanth saga, wherein the former slapped the latter for some on-field trouble and both players were duly banned. Apart from that, they made news winning nine of their last ten games but still went down by nine wickets in the semis to Chennai.
Seven wins and seven losses in 2009 meant that they couldn’t really go on a run like the first season and build up some momentum which could take them to the semis. Their star players shone for them but they missed key players, Sreesanth, Marsh and Lee at crucial junctures. In the end, it was a close run thing as they lost out on a last-four berth on run-rate.

Strengths & Weaknesses:

One of the biggest debating points for the team was the captaincy of Yuvraj Singh. Amongst the eight franchises, probably this was the only team wherein the skipper wasn’t actually in the scheme of things to lead his county. Seen from a different point of view, that is a weakness for captaincy is an art just like batting or bowling, and you need to practice that a bit as well.

This year Kumar Sangakkara takes over the reigns making it the fifth team in the fray to have a foreign player as captain. For the point discussed above, this is a very good thing. They will have some one with experience in T20 cricket as to how to lead the troops on the field when push comes to shove.

Also as compared to the last season, when they had to make do for long without their foreign players, this time quite a few of them will be available plus injury concerns seem not to be an issue either. A full squad for a competition this long is always desirable and the owners’ prayers seem to have been answered for once.

They haven’t made any big purchases in the off-season but a low key one - that of Mohammad Kaif and he alone is the reason for cheer. As a T20 player, Kaif won’t find many takers but the players who know him will tell that he is a complete player. One feels that Rajasthan Royals made a mistake letting him go in South Africa last year just as they have done this year and their loss will be Punjab’s gain. He will play the anchor role in the middle order which is fast becoming increasingly important in T20 cricket as well and will allow the batsmen around him to play shots at will. His inclusion will also mean that the combination of four foreign players to be chosen can be tinkered around with as per the requirements. Any team that affords this sort of balance is a fantastic prospect. 

IPL 2010 Preview - Rajasthan Royals

Team Owner: Emerging Media, Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra

Emerging Media is a media group focused on sports development in the Indian sub-continent. The company began as Investors in Cricket (IIC), founded in 2005, to create and commercialize sports that have relevance in the Indian sub-continent. Through this subsidiary, Emerging Media launched India’s first cricket talent hunt and reality show (Cricket Star), after developing a partnership with Leicestershire county cricket club, and staging the first international club T20 championship. Emerging Media has been a significant and long-standing investor in Indian cricket, and they paid USD 67 million to own the Jaipur franchise in the IPL which has only enhanced their reputation.

Shilpa Shetty, the famous Bollywood actress, bought a twelve percent stake in the 2008 champions in partnership with her husband, industrialist and producer Raj Kundra. They paid an estimated 16 million USD for the same. Shilpa gained cult status after she won the UK reality show, Celebrity Big Brother. Her career and her personal life have only rocketed skywards after that and she spices up the media campaign for her team, presenting stiff competition to other Bollywood owners in the IPL.

Squad: Shane Warne (captain), Swapnil Asnodkar, Johan Botha, Faiz Fazal, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Kamran Khan, Michael Lumb, Damien Martyn, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Morne Morkel, Sumit Narwal, Naman Ojha, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Paunikar, Syed Ahmed Quadri, Abhishek Raut, Amit Singh, Graeme Smith, Shaun Tait, Siddharth Trivedi, Shrikant Wagh

Coach: Shane Warne

A living legend, the greatest spinner ever, Shane Warne is captain and coach of this IPL franchise. The second highest wicket taker in Test cricket brings in vast experience and is a master strategist as seen in the first season of the tournament, when he was single handedly credited with the team’s success by players and onlookers alike. Given that he is a committed to the core player, one can see the Australian flair in his play and the work ethics he brings to the table with him. He knows the game in and out and there can be no greater inspiration for this team. He has never really lead Australia and the first season was his first coaching stint, and it paid out in a marvelous way.

2009 Record: Sixth
2008 Record: Champions
Prior to the start of the inaugural IPL season, many considered the Royals as possibly the weakest team in the IPL giving them little chance of competing well in the tournament. However the Royals built up an impressive 11-3 record in the league, which included a consecutive 5-game and 6-game winning streak and an undefeated record on their home ground resulting in a spot at the top of the points table. They made good this run of momentum and eventually were crowned inaugural champions brushing aside two most favored teams of the competition in the finals, Delhi Dare Devils and Chennai Super Kings.

It was widely believed that playing in India suited the eventual champions a bit too much for even their lesser players shone brightly. This notion was proved to be true when the IPL went to South Africa in 2009 and the conditions became a bit too hot to handle for the inexperienced youngsters in the side. The pressure increased on the foreign players and they were found short as wrecker in chiefs in 2008 Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson were missing for most of the action. End result was a poor finish for the champions as they even failed to make the knock-out stages finishing a lowly sixth.

Strengths & Weaknesses: 

The return to home conditions this third season of the IPL will surely play to their strengths once again. Shane Warne is a shrewd man and he will know that the confidence he inspired in his team two seasons ago was mostly down to the same reason. Now that they are back, all he needs to do is revise his pep talks from 2008 and get the adrenaline pumping again. Only this time he can add to it by saying that the title that was theirs has been taken away.

It is a side that has a lot riding on its foreign players. But that is true for any side in the IPL. What stands them apart is the fact that they need their young guns to fire if they are to do well. And that is a heavy ask if they cannot find any form. But that shouldn’t really be a problem for they have endured a hard domestic season and are more or less aware of where they stand. T20 should help them feed off their learning and it could be an event to watch out for the youngsters from Rajasthan.

The other highlight would be two Australian players in the side apart from Warne. Damien Martyn and Shaun Tait will return to high profile action after considerable time. Martyn is indeed a good purchase for the side for they let go off Mohammad Kaif. The former Australia middle order batsman can pace the innings and at the same time attack the bowling with flair. The only question remains is whether he will be able to bring it to the table?

We know Shaun Tait will. He has been in stupendous from this past season, especially in the KFC T20 Bash, and has even managed to return back to the national fold thanks to that. In 2008, Shane Watson benefited from playing under Warne and his international career just shot from there. This could be Tait’s year. 

IPL 2010 Preview - Kolkata Knight Riders

Team Owner: Shah Rukh Khan, Red Chillies Entertainment

Red Chillies Entertainment is a film production company owned by none other than Bollywood’s leading personality Shah Rukh Khan in partnership with good friends, actress Juhi Chawla and industrialist Jay Mehta. The prestigious banner has some of today’s biggest hits under its belts, including Paheli, Main Hoon Na, Om Shanti Om and Billu Barber. Apart from production, the company also boasts of a state-of-the-art visual effects studio known as Red Chillies VFX.

Shah Rukh Khan is a household name in India and a brand in himself. He is an exceptional actor, one who is guaranteed success at the box-office. He is also an ardent sports lover, who didn’t intend to be an actor always. In fact, he always wanted to be a cricketer or a footballer and acting came to him by default. In 2007, he bought the IPL franchise for the city of Kolkata.

Squad: Sourav Ganguly Sourav (captain), Varun Aaron, Iqbal Abdulla, Ajit Agarkar, Eklakh Ahmed, Ashoke Dinda, Chris Gayle, Rohan Gavaskar, Brad Hodge, Harshad Khadiwale, Murali Kartik, Charles Langeveldt, Angelo Mathews, Brendon McCullum, Ajantha Mendis, Chirag Pathak, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Owais Shah, Ishant Sharma, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manoj Tiwary, Ganapathi Vignesh.

2009 Record: Eighth
2008 Record: Sixth
They started off as the self-proclaimed contenders for the title in the first season, all the more made elaborate with that belligerent Brendon McCullum ton in the very first IPL match. But after a whirlwind start to their campaign, they fell flat on their face losing consecutive games because of lack of quality replacements for Chris Gayle and McCullum who left for international duty. Even the arrival of Shoaib Akhtar couldn’t rejuvenate the side.

If the going was poor in 2008, it got desperate in the 2009 season. They might just accept that some one had to finish eighth and they deservedly did because of the mess that had been created. Former coach John Buchanan floated ridiculous ideas, ranging from removing Sourav Ganguly from captaincy to passing it to McCullum, to even proposing a three captains theory. Thankfully enough we didn’t see that for the shambles on field didn’t allow them much respite. It wouldn’t be unfair to say that last season was a bad joke for them.

Coach: Dav Whatmore

Davenell Frederick Whatmore is a former international cricketer who represented Australia. He had a very short international career playing just seven Test matches and a single ODI. At first-class level, he scored over 6,000 runs for Victoria. But it was in the coaching arena that he found his true calling.

After retiring from professional cricket in 1989, he coached Sri Lanka in two separate spells during the first of which he won the 1996 ODI World Cup. In between those spells, he also coached Lancashire where he won the National League in 1998 and 1999, and the NatWest Trophy in 1998. From 2003 to 2007, he had been coaching Bangladesh. Under his coaching, Bangladesh enjoyed relative success, most memorably beating India in the 2007 World Cup and then qualifying for the Super Eight stage.

His coaching record is quite a distinguished one and for that reason, he is in high demand. India and Pakistan have both lined for his services but somehow things didn’t work out with either on the international stage. The BCCI still hired him in the capacity of the director of their National Cricket Academy and then led the under-19 Indian team to a memorable World Cup win in 2008. It is little wonder that he is the chosen man to replace John Buchanan.

Strengths & Weaknesses:

With the return of Sourav Ganguly to the helm of affairs, Kolkata Knight Riders have one of the best captains in modern day cricket and his presence alone makes sure that a great thinking process is behind each and every move of the franchise.  With him in the side they are not only assured of an amazing leader of men but also a brilliant batsman and a crowd puller, all in one.  But he has his limitations too, especially since he retired from international cricket some time back and has been trying to stay in shape for the IPL games. It is his last year contracted to the franchise and he ought to have sets his sights on winning the IPL crown, to re-affirm that he is still the best when it comes to donning the captaincy hat.

Along with Rajasthan Royals, they were the worst hit in terms of losing their Pakistani players. Umar Gul and Shoaib Akhtar could have been very useful with the new ball and this year they have parted ways with Ricky Ponting as well. But in come Shane Bond and Owais Shah (through a transfer) and the two can prove to be good assets if given a longer run in the scheme of things. 

They have pretty heavy firepower in the likes of Brendon McCullum and Chris Gayle but the downside is that the duo won’t be available for much of the first few weeks. That time is enough to dislodge their challenge but Ganguly and Brad Hodge being propped up the order seems to be an ideal pairing. Their Sri Lankan players Angelo Mathews and Ajantha Mendis will be key to their fortunes and just like this duo, it can be said that the Knight Riders are indeed the dark horses of the tournament. 

IPL 2010 Preview - Mumbai Indians

Team Owner: Reliance Industries Limited


The Reliance Group is India’s largest private sector enterprise, with businesses in energy and materials value chain. The Group’s annual revenues are in excess of USD 27 billion. The flagship company, Reliance Industries Limited, is a Fortune-500 company and is the largest private sector company in India. It is headed by a charismatic persona Mukesh Ambani.

He is a chemical engineer from the University of Bombay and pursued MBA from Stanford University, USA. He directed and led the creation of the world’s largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar. He also set up the largest and most complex information and communications technology initiative in the world in the form of Reliance Infocomm Limited. He is ranked 42nd amongst the World’s Most Respected Business Leaders and is the richest Indian in the world.

The Reliance Group bought the Mumbai franchise of the IPL with a record highest bid of USD 111.9 million.

Squad: Sachin Tendulkar (captain), Dwayne Bravo, JP Duminy, Shikhar Dhawan, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya, Zaheer Khan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Chandan Madan, Lasith Malinga, Ishan Malhotra, Ryan McLaren, Ali Murtaza, Graham Napier, Abhishek Nayar, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Rajagopal Sathish, Syed Sahabuddin, Rahul Shukla, Harbhajan Singh, Aditya Tare, Saurabh Tiwary.

Coach: Robin Singh

Although he was born in Trinidad and Tobago, Robin Singh spent most of his cricketing career in India, making his debut in one day internationals against West Indies on March 11, 1989. However he had to wait another seven years to secure a regular place in the Indian team. Singh was known for his middle-lower order batting and medium-pace bowling as well as his ground fielding skills. He was noted for his quick batting in the closing stages which made him an integral part of the side that competed in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. During his playing days, he was regarded as one of the best fielders of the Indian cricket team. Robin Singh was the fielding coach for the Indian team until October 2009 after which he took up this role with Mumbai Indians. 

Source : 

Bradman is the greatest, Sachin comes only second: Waugh

Sachin Tendulkar can come only second behind legendary Don Bradman in the list of all-time greatest cricketers, feels former Australia captain Steve Waugh.

"Don Bradman is the greatest, there is no debate. Don is the number one and then come the rest. And among the rest, Tendulkar probably is as good as anyone. So legitimately he may be the second best cricketer to have played the game," Waugh said.

"But then people will say the same for Gary Sobers and W G Grace too. So its difficult to say," added Waugh, who is here as a member of the Laureus Sports Academy.

Waugh also said it was dangerous to see Test cricket losing out quality fast bowlers to Twenty20 format.

"It is dangerous for Test cricket that we are losing the quicks. It is a Twenty20 influence.

IPL: Sachin Tendulkar signs first IPL theatre tickets costs 11 lakhs

Just 1 more day to go before the third edition of IPL kick starts in Mumbai that will be see the holders Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders locking horns for the season opener.

This season will saw an addition in the broadcasting system with UFO Moviez set to broadcast matches in theatres and multiplexes and guess what today the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has signed the first theatre ticket which has been auctioned for Rs. 11 Lakhs!!

The ticket was auctioned today in Mumbai with a base price of 5 lakhs rupees and was hammered down with an big price for 11 lakhs rupees to a single person who can catch all the IPL matches live and exclusive this season.

The amount raised from this auction will go to Sachin’s charity foundation “Apnalaya” that takes care of underprivileged childrens.

Talking to DNA, Sachin was quoted saying: “This is a brilliant initiative especially for interior regions of our country where cricket fans can not experience the stadium energy. I am happy to give away this first theatre ticket and wish all my fans a wonderful experience in theatres.”

As an IPL fan I am really excited to see the tournament going into the theatres and news comes in that UFO Moviez has inked a deal with all the well-known multiplexes that includes the likes of Cinemax, INOX, Fame and PVR.

PCB bans Younis Khan, Mohd Yousuf for life

In an unprecedented move, the Pakistan Cricket Board handed out life bans to top players Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf following an inquiry into the team's disastrous tour of Australia. The PCB also banned Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved for one year,