SA players are not must

Having a few southafricans in the ranks may help but it's not a must and whichever team will play best would win this years Indian Premier League. King's x1 punjab seamer said. The Mohali based side does not have a single south african in their teams but irfan does not seems as a huge disadvantage. " of course it would help if you have south african players in your team where the event is playing in south africa. South african players will know the conditions well and they can be truly helpful for the team

Apprehensions regarding the success of hosting the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on foreign soil were lifted as tickets for the do

Apprehensions regarding the success of hosting the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on foreign soil were lifted as tickets for the double-header on the opening day in Cape Town were sold out within two hours of the sale starting Friday.

'We are very happy that the tickets have been sold out in a flash. IPL II is going to be a carnival of India with lots of entertainment. We want to make sure that the stadiums are full and we are hopeful that South Africans will make it a part of their life,' said IPL commissioner and chairman Lalit Modi.


The 25,000 capacity Sahara Park, Newlands, in Cape Town, which has a strong Indian community, will be filled to its brim April 18 when the IPL champions Rajasthan Royals take on Bangalore Royal Challengers. It will be followed by the second match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.


'Cape Town has lot of Indians and that was the reason why we decided to host the first two matches there. We were hopeful that both the matches will be sold out because lot of South African players will be in action in both the matches,' a top IPL official told IANS.


The second edition of the IPL was shifted out of India after the schedule clashed with the dates of general elections in the country.


At least nine South African players, including skipper Graeme Smith, will be seen in action April 18 and will surely create local interest.


Smith, Morne Morkel and Tyron Henderson will play for Rajasthan Royals against Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Dale Steyn for Bangalore. Later in the day, Jean Paul Duminy will take the field for Mumbai Indians against Makhaya Ntini and Albie Morkel, who are in Chennai Super Kings.


The tickets for the double-header are priced between Rands 50 ($5) for students to R200/150 ($22-16) 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 R25 ($3) for students to R150 ($16) for the grand stands.


The prices are relatively cheaper in the smaller venues like East London, Port Elizabeth, Kimberley and Bloemfontein, ranging between R10 ($1) and R75 ($8).


The matches will be held at 12.30 pm (4 pm IST) and 4.30 pm (8 pm IST) local time.

Ganguly and sharukh meet at Mannat

Just two days after Kolkata Knight Riders coach John Buchanan said the team would be having multiple captain in the second season of the Indian Premier League, Sourav Ganguly and team owner Shah Rukh Khan today met here for an ad-shoot for the side.

It was last season's permanent skipper Ganguly and Shah Rukh's first meeting after Buchanan expressed his desire to have four captains in the second edition of the IPL starting April 18 in South Africa.

The Australian said he decided to have four captains this season to keep up with the changing demands of the game.

The decision, however, did not go well with Ganguly, who has already made his opposition known to Buchanan's plan.

But Buchanan denied any rift in the team and said the decision to have multiple captains has nothing to do with Ganguly's performance or fitness.

"The decision has got nothing to do with Sourav's performance. Chris Gayle (West Indies), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) and Ganguly will all captain KKR. There will be a nominated captain for each game,"

Durban to host 16 ipl Matches

The second DLF Indian Premier League will be held in eight cities in South Africa, including Cape Town and Johannesburg which are to host the opening tie and the final respectively, as per the official fixtures list released today.

The schedule of the high-profile Twenty20 League, to be held in South Africa from April 18-May 24, has been released after the organizers have fine-tuned the earlier programme sent to the franchises.

Sachin Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians would clash with last years runners-up Chennai Super Kings, led by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, to kick off the cash-rich tournament that traverses the length and breadth of the Rainbow Nation.

Durban, with its high population of people of South Asian origin, will host the maximum number of 16 matches, including five double headers (April 21, 29, May 5, 14 and 20) while Cape Town will have double headers on the first two days of the competition.

Ganguly's fans protest against captaincy rotation

Fans of Sourav Ganguly, who led Kolkata Knight Riders' in the 2008 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), burnt the effigy of coach John Buchanan against his decision to rotate captains during the Twenty20 league. Ganguly's fans said they would not accept anyone else in his place. "There will be only one captain in Knight Riders and he is Sourav Ganguly. He is the only successful captain in India. In any team where we have Ganguly, we need not have four or five captains. If there are four or five captains, we will also have five coaches," said Bablu Haldar, one of the fans. With at least three successful captains in its list, Kolkata Knight Riders have decided to go for a rotation of skippers. The decision came after the coach analysed the strength of the teams, which boasts of international players like Chris Gayle (West Indies), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) who have led their sides in the past to victory. This would eventually ease pressure on Ganguly. Ganguly on Wednesday said he accepted the decision, as he would be able to focus more on his batting and bowling skills. Earlier, organisers of the Twenty20 tournament announced the eight-team league would be staged in South Africa from April 18 due to security reasons and would return to India next season. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to stage the event overseas after failing to get government clearance for security cover as the tournament's dates clash with the general elections.

IPL huge logistical exercise, but will benefit S. Africa

Hosting the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2009 series in South Africa will be a huge logistical exercise but would bring economic advantages to the host country, the heads of the cricket bodies in both India and South Africa said here. 'We are starting from ground zero after working on this tournament in India for nine months,' Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner of the IPL, said at a press conference Tuesday evening. 'We've now got to put up probably the single largest logistic tournament in the world in any sport in a matter of 45 days at six venues. 'Teams of a few hundred people will be arriving in the next 24 hours from all over the world who will be working with us out here. We will probably have over a thousand people working on this tournament at any given point of time,' Modi said. 'We will be consuming in excess of 30,000 hotel room nights, (and) consuming over 10,000 airline tickets over the next six weeks in South Africa,' he added. Modi said these were just some of the factors that would contribute towards the South African economy getting a boost. 'The main reason for us agreeing to host the IPL 2009 was to extend a hand of friendship to India when India called us to say they had a problem and could South Africa help them, (but) we will also gain because we will be paid some money to host the game,' said Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive Gerald Majola. Modi also expressed the hope that CSA would use the opportunity to learn for its own proposed IPL-type series. 'We know that CSA is looking at a similar concept to the IPL and perhaps this will help them build on that,' said Modi.

The decision to move the India Premier (IPL) League 2009 to South Africa was 'one of the hardest decisions that the BCCI ( Board of Control for Cricket in India) has ever had to take', Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner of the IPL, told a press conference here as he jointly announced the decision with Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive Gerald Majola. 'But I am equally confident that staging it here will be a massive success for us,' Modi said Tuesday evening. 'When I came here for the ICC World Cup in 2007, I was struck by the massive passion of the fans and the great enthusiasm for the game of T20. It was actually the T20 games that took place in South Africa that led to the Indian Premiere League and its success, with India winning it at that point in time. 'This passion, combined with world class facilities and excellent administration meant that my colleagues and I at the BCCI fully believe that the 2009 IPL will be a wonderful success in South Africa,' Modi said. The series is expected to start April 18, with details of venues and other logistics, including a schedule, to be finalised within the next two days.