Indian Premier League (IPL)

[jai_in_canada]

BTW, last week when I was in India, the headlines were all about Shoaib Akhtar being banned by PCB for 5 years.  And then IPL chairman Lalit Modi says that Shoaib could not play in the IPL because of the ban.  This although PCB had said that Shoaib could play in the IPL.  I think Modi is a whacko to say that Shoaib could not play because PCB has banned him.  PCB banned Shoaib from playing for Pakistan in international matches.  Shoaib is not playing for Pakistan in the IPL.  It is not Modi's call on whether or not Shoaib can play in the IPL especially when he is contracted to do so.  Then Modi tries to back track and dance around the issue saying that it was not he but the IPL committee that made the decision, and that Shoaib's contract was still valid, but he could not play in the IPL as long as the PCB ban stood.  To me Modi looks like a bumbling idiot.  Shah Rukh Khan, whose Calcutta team Shoaib was to play for, is upset that his star player is not able to play.  Imran Khan and other former Pakistan players took PCB to task for the harsh ban.  Shoaib meanwhile went to the media with wild claims that he was approached by some shadowy characters to throw matches in South Africa and India, and that PCB wanted money from him.  It was turning into a three ring circus.  And if Shoaib sued IPL, he probably has a good case. 

[puneets]

jai - IPL's ban for Shoaib is nothing but a way to appease PCB. BCCI has pressured all the boards to ban players who have signed up for ICL, and Pak has towed the BCCI line like a true minion. In order to reward this subservient attitude, BCCI has now banned Shoaib, and thereby granted more weight to PCB's decision, making them look potent.
PCB couldn't have banned Shoaib for IPL (without first getting the go-ahead from BCCI), and so they banned him for domestic and intl cricket in Pakistan.

BCCI has very little to lose if Shoaib doesn't participate in IPL, but the stakes are pretty high if they rub PCB the wrong way. With Lahore Badshahs gaining popularity in Pakistan, it won't be prudent for BCCI to effectively make a mockery of PCB's ban.

As far as Lalit Modi is concerned, I feel that he has a very keen business sense, coupled with a big ego (typical of all BCCI administrators). He has single-handedly "sold" Indian cricket and filled up BCCI's coffers.

[akmohanty]

anyone knows who's showing these matches in the USA?

[S_K_S]

Willow TV, Inc. has acquired the broadcasting rights to distribute on television, radio, broadband and Internet, for the IPL in North America

[jaydeep]

Express photo -
[img width=600 height=376]http://static.expressindia.com/pic/uplo ... _23997.jpg[/img]
Actor and owner of IPL's Kolkata Knight Riders Shah Rukh Khan unveils an 18-carat gold-plated helmet and a diamond studded helmet, to be presented to Man of the Match at the end of each match played in Kolkata.

[suresh]

I saw a NYT report on the Washington cheerleaders being hired by the Bangalore team to coach/train the cheerleaders for the Bangalore team. The cheerleading bit is something I don't like about Twenty20 matches. It appears that IPL will take the entertainment bit to another level. I just hope that cricket doesn't end up taking the backseat.

Suresh

[gbelday]

I think a bit of entertainment is good.  NFL has a lot of entertainment and that doesn't seem to subdue the level of the game!  Bring on bollywood BTW, I hope Kolkota waives the entertainment tax (if they haven't already done that).  In my view, we have something unique here (IPL/ICL) and we should showcase it in the best way possible (cricket + entertainment).

[nballa]

if only the teams didn't sound like popular whiskey/cigarette brands i would have considered giving a damn about this farce...
"royal challengers"
"royals"
"super kings"... what tools

[S_K_S]

Have you guys seen the team songs? Can't wait. Soooooo exciting.

[Kumar]

I am  not able to muster much interest ...

[wrestlinglife]

if anyone wants to join my cricinfo IPL PICK EM league...

----------------
To join the IPL PICK EM league:


To join the league,

Step 1: Go to Cricinfo Fantasy Cricket

Step 2: Login with your Cricinfo ID (you will need to register if you do not have one)

Step 3: Create a entry for yourself (this step is optional if you already have one)

Step 4: Click on 'Join a League' on the Left Hand Navigation

Step 5: On the page which appears, select your entry, copy and paste the unique invitation code(LPIN) generated for you as shown below

Step 6: You are now a member of the league - all set to play Cricinfo Fantasy Cricket

Your Unique Invitation Code:

--------------------------------

45939-2d1e0e6402284372

[Sandeep]

We are just 20 hours away from the first IPL match. I am very excited. Where is PKB? His team is going to take on royal challengers tomorrow

[prasen9]

BTW, I hope Kolkota waives the entertainment tax (if they haven't already done that).

Why should the city/state subsidize the cost of attending this event and not others?  They should tax the event and redistribute the money to the other sports or build infrastructure for other sports, etc.

Cheerleading is a farce anyway.  Serious sportsfans don't really care about these side-nonsense.  I appreciate pretty girls but I do not think they fit on the sports-field especially during a tense match.

[PKBasu]

We are just 20 hours away from the first IPL match. I am very excited. Where is PKB? His team is going to take on royal challengers tomorrow

I can't get too excited by the IPL. What the hell is Knight Riders anyway? One of my younger colleagues tells me he grew up with them (they are some sort of toy, it seems). Perhaps Shahrukh's son suggested the name to him.

If the ICC recognises the ICL, I would be a bit more interested in this tamasha. I do plan to watch one game at the Eden Gardens, simply because cricket is probably going to change thoroughly as a result of the ICL/IPL influence and I don't want to miss the historic turning point completely!

But I remain primarily a genuine cricket fan, i.e., a true-blue fan of test cricket. After the series we just had with South Africa (or the previous one with Australia), the side-show tamasha is nothing in cricketing terms.

[puneets]

IPL launched its website today, and as expected, it is one of the worst professionally designed websites that I have ever seen (:D). Half-cooked, typos galore and factually incorrect entries.
Here's points table:



Apparently some teams have won matches without playing any.

Most of the links are not working, and the ones that do work, have no useful information.
The only thing that seems to work on this website are the banner ads and the sponsor's logos. This is exactly what I expected from those BCCI nincompoops.