DURBAN: The seven-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings may have lifted some of the gloom in the Kolkata Knight Riders' beleaguered camp but is not welcome news for Rajasthan Royals, who face the Brendon McCullum-led side in their must-win last league encounter on Wednesday.

The Shane Warne-led side have stuttered in this season's Indian Premier League campaign and have rarely looked like the defending champions.

Injuries and the absence of some of last year's key players have affected Royals' progress this season. They have won six of their 13 matches with an equal number of defeats against their name.

With 13 points, they need victory against the Knight Riders to brighten their prospects of a semi-final berth, though, Rajasthan would still have to depend on other results.

Knight Riders, who have long been out of a semi-final reckoning, would love to play spoilsport and finish their campaign on a high after a disastrous run that saw them lose eight successive matches.

McCullum's good form with the bat ought to be another piece of worrying news for Warne, who himself is struggling with a hamstring injury.

Rajasthan will depend on Graeme Smith and Yusuf Pathan to put runs on the board.

South Africa skipper Smith has had an inconsistent tournament so far and would be keen to set things right.

Yusuf is not a grafter. For him to deliver, the team needs to give him a platform from where he can launch his arsenal.

The bowling would once again depend on Warne to pull the strings while Munaf Patel's performance at the start would also prove crucial.

With the monkey off their backs, a relieved Knight Riders would be looking to put in a final performance that matches their talent.

Sourav Ganguly would like to prove detractors wrong and finish on a high while McCullum and Brad Hodge would hope to maintain last night's tempo.

http://ipl.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4552496.cms

Deccan Chargers win toss and bowl firs

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Deccan Chargers win toss and bowl first

Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist won the toss and chose to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings in the 16th match of the second edition of the Indian Premier League at Kingsmead in Durban on Monday.

Deccan have included Azhar Bilakhia and Shoaib Ahmed, while for Chennai Jacob Oram comes in for Andrew Flintoff, who has gone back to England due to his knee injury.

Team Chennai, after looking like surefire winners in the first couple of games, are in a bit of a mess while Team Hyderabad, despite their poor performance last season, are going all guns blazing.

A defeat and a washout has left Dhoni's boys with no option but to go for the kill on Monday. They know if they slip-up now, things can start going downhill very soon. But there are two obstacles in the way — the Durban weather and Team Hyderabad.

Hyderbad are on a high, winning three matches in a row and have really looked a solid unit in the tournament so far, with all three departments complementing each other. If Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs have given them the starts they had been looking for, paceman Fidel Edwards and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha have led the two departments to perfection.

And for a team like Hyderabad, which has an abundance of talent, it's just a matter of things falling into place and skipper Gilchrist is happy that's exactly what is happening.

Teams:

Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist (Capt.), Herschelle Gibbs, Dwayne Smith, VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Vneugopal Rao, Azhar Bilakhia, RP Singh, Fidel Edwards, Shoaib Ahmed, Pragyan Ojha.

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Matthew Hayden, Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina, Albie Morkel, Jacob Oram, Subramaniam Badrinath, Manpreet Gony, Joginder Sharma, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Muttiah Muralitharan.

source - indiatimes.com

Flintoff returns to England, to undergo surgery

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Flintoff returns to England, to undergo surgery

Durban, Apr 24 (PTI) In a big blow to last year's Indian Premier League runners-up Chennai Super Kings, England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff today returned home from South Africa for surgery on a tear on his right knee and is unlikely to come back for the T20 event.

Flintoff, who was bought for a record USD 1.55 million by the Super Kings, felt discomfort in his right knee during yesterday's IPL match against Delhi Daredevils.

The Chennai medical staff contacted the England and Wales Cricket Board medical officer Dr Nick Peirce following which a scan was carried out at a hospital here.

The scan revealed a slight medial meniscal tear in the knee and after going through the reports, Peirce felt Flintoff should return to England.

The 31-year-old will undergo a keyhole surgery early next week and is likely to recover within three to five weeks but that will force him to miss the IPL after playing just two matches.

"Clearly this is a huge disappointment for both the player and the IPL team. This sort of degenerative injury though is one that could have happened at any time anywhere," Peirce was quoted as saying on ECB's website.

"The procedures we put in place meant that the ECB medical staff were alerted about the problem immediately and we thank Chennai for their co-operation." PTI

Mohali go into the last four with a high morale

Posted on May 29, 2008 at 22:02 Updated May 29, 2008 at 23:38

Kings XI Punjab perhaps have the perfect mix of any franchise in the league - a celebrity owner, a poster boy as captain and a team that is well equipped to handle any challenge.

Yuvraj Singh and his boys wrapped up their league campaign by table toppers Rajasthan Royals handily in the final game of the league phase.

If the tournament was about discovering exciting new talent, then Shaun Marsh has definitely lived up to those expectations. The fresh faced son of former Aussie opener Geoff Marsh, Shaun had already made 5 half-centuries. He added a hundred to that impressive tally and also took over the orange cap for the tournament's highest run getter and was man of the match.

"I am really enjoying playing here and getting the opportunities. It is a fantastic experience for me. So, doing well is great and now we have games coming up in Mumbai, and hopefully, we will continue to do well," said Shaun Marsh.

The Kings derive their strength from a top order that should now instill fear in the opposition in the knockout stage. James Hopes has played an ideal foil to Marsh as opener. Kumar Sangakkara has made four half-centuries and their talismanic captain has returned to destructive form with a 16-ball 49. Even their high profile owner knows her batsmen hold the key.

"In the first game at the home ground we scored 207 runs and now in the last league match at home, we scored our highest 222 runs, so this is just going great," said Preity Zinta.

But with the ball too the trio of Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth and Piyush Chawla have picked up 50 wickets between them to give the Kings the perfect mix. Can that translate into two more match-winning performances?

Source: http://www.cricketnext.com/news/mohali-go-into-last-four-with-a-high-morale/31891-13.html

Chennai Super Kings seal semi-final spot

The Bulletin by Mathew Varghese
May 27, 2008

Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost the toss but everything else went right for his team, beginning with some tight bowling, as the Chennai Super Kings won the match against the Deccan Chargers and a spot in the semi-finals at the expense of the Mumbai Indians. Chennai will face Kings XI Punjab, whom they have defeated twice, in one semi-final, while Rajasthan Royals take on Delhi Daredevils in the other.

Chennai had conceded 211 against Rajasthan in their previous game but the bowlers were up to the task this time as Deccan's final attempt to win at home win went awry. Chennai's opening bowlers were on the mark from the start: Makhaya Ntini bowled with pace and got good bounce and carry, while Manpreet Gony, the team's leading wicket-taker, stuck to an impeccable length on off stump and bowled through his four overs for 21. And they reaped the rewards soon, as both Herschelle Gibbs and Adam Gilchrist found the fielder at third man - Gibbs with a slash, Gilchrist with a thick outside-edge.

Deccan's early runs came mainly in singles and Scott Styris, who's had a terrible tournament, looked to be getting into rhythm with boundaries in the arc between midwicket and mid-on till he was bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan while trying to hit one across. At 57 for 3 after 10.1 overs, Deccan needed a partnership and Venugopal Rao and Ravi Teja came up with a 76-run stand that lent respectability to the eventual total. Muralitharan was hard to get away but the two went after Balaji in the 14th over, which cost 14.

They managed to up the run-rate with a boundary every over, and Rao, often at the centre of Deccan's rearguard actions, hit one to bring up the 100 in the 16th over. There was a flurry of runs, Teja slashing one high into the stands off Ntini in an over where he was taken for 15 runs. That he ended with figures of 1 for 24 off his four told the full story.

That burst was followed by a flurry of wickets, including three - one of them a run-out - in three balls in the 19th over. The crowd had chanted Shahid Afridi's name but he lasted two balls as Deccan limped to 147.

Deccan, and Mumbai, needed a wicket early and RP Singh nearly got the breakthrough as Stephen Fleming fended at one that swung away, but both Gilchrist and Styris were late to react. Fleming and his fellow left-hand opener Parthiv Patel cashed in when the bowlers erred: short and wide deliveries were dispatched for fours. P Vijaykumar then decided to go round the wicket, and it worked, as Fleming got a thick outside-edge while trying to force a drive through the covers.

Deccan Chargers were always playing catch-up after an abysmal start. In their first ten overs, they had managed only 57 .

In came Suresh Raina and he soon found his rhythm, slapping one riskily in the air through the covers, before punching one through the same region. Afridi was brought into the attack as early as the fifth over, and he put a brake on the scoring. At the other end, Raina got consecutive boundaries in Sarvesh Kumar's first over, but the pressure applied from Afridi worked as Parthiv played straight to cover in Sarvesh's next, Afridi taking the catch.

Raina was joined by Dhoni, and the 55-run stand between the two put Chennai on course for victory. Dhoni started with two streaky boundaries - he hit one straight to Sarvesh first-up, who fluffed a chance, and a thick outside-edge flew to the third-man boundary. With left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and Styris managing to curb the runs, Dhoni decided to take a few risks. He stepped out to deposit Ojha over long-on, and after a miscued pull nearly landed in Gibbs' hands at midwicket, he cut Styris for four. Afridi came back with 52 needed off 42 balls, and Dhoni hit one dead-straight for four, before Raina powered a shorter delivery over midwicket for six.
Chennai were cruising towards the target, but had a brief wobble after Dhoni found Gibbs at long-on. That Ojha over, the 16th, went just for three, and when Styris conceded the same in the next, Chennai were left needing 28 off 18. Another tight over and Deccan could have still been in the hunt, but Raina found the gap at midwicket as Ojha bowled a full toss. He was dropped by RP in the 19th over, and hit the winning six - which brought up his fifty - as Chennai reached their target with four balls to spare.

While Dhoni and Co were relieved and celebrated the win, Gilchrist looked ahead after a disastrous first season, in which last-placed Deccan won just two of their 14 games. "I do not have any excuses. It depends which way you look it.," he said. "It's not end of the world. We should settle down, make a self-assessment and think over where we went wrong and plan for the future."

Mathew Varghese is an editorial assistant at Cricinfo

Source: http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ipl/content/current/story/352691.html

BCCI may probe cheergirls' racist claims

May 22, 2008 15:18 IST
Surprised at two London-based cheergirls' allegations of racial abuse a month after they claimed the incident took place, a senior Board of Control for Cricket in India official on Thursday said the Board is ready to probe if a formal complaint is lodged with the Indian Premier League .

"I am surprised why these cheergirls have taken over a month to speak out and that too in the media. As far as I know, there has been no complaint from them lodged with the IPL," BCCI Joint Secretary and IPL committee member M P Pandove said in Chandigarh.

He said IPL will "definitely look into the matter if it is brought to the notice of the IPL commissioner by the alleged victims officially".

Two London-based dark-skinned cheergirls, who were hired by the Kings XI Punjab team, through event management company Wizcraft International Entertainment, had kicked up a storm by alleging that they were asked to sit out just before the April 19 match in Mohali because they were not white (skinned).

Source: http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/may/22cheer.htm

Teams have to think on their feet

Kris Srikkanth Saturday, May 10, 2008

Teams have to think on their feetThe IPL schedule leaves no time for thought. Teams have to rework strategies quickly as otherwise their approach will become so well known that opponents will be better prepared with counter-strategies. Chennai Super Kings were forced to rethink their tactics after three successive losses and they came up with a winning formula in New Delhi in a thriller. It is pretty obvious that a flying start is a necessity in the format. But teams hitting from both ends have found themselves in a hole because they have lost too many wickets in too short a space. S. Vidyut, who has shaped a fantastic limited-overs career for himself, was the fire starter while Fleming played the foil superbly against the Daredevils. Vidyut gave Chennai the confidence that the chase was on after Gautam Gambhir had given the Daredevils a better than average total. Full credit to Dhoni for taking some hard decisions in what was a crunch match for Chennai by winning which they have returned to the top of the table. The skipper was not afraid to put people on the bench. The tactic of chasing also worked because you can expect a Kotla pitch to play the same way in the entire duration of a match. Two or three hitters in the top five or six are sufficient. If they are kept apart in the order, they seem to exert more pressure as Albie Morkel took over Vidyut's role when Dhoni himself was struggling to get the ball away. One great over of Morkel's hitting was enough to close the gap after which Dhoni played smart cricket by ensuring his side would have batsmen left to fight to the end. Morkel's assault put so much pressure on Sehwag that he seemed to stop thinking and so messed up his end overs strategy. He had to virtually toss a coin to decide whether he would bowl the last over or ask Shoaib Malik to handle it. Actually, neither of them should have been bowling that over which should have gone to a seamer. Saturday's clash between the Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings XI becomes crucial for both teams. The winners can expect to get away from the bunch towards a semi-final slot. The key to Chennai's strategy would be to take on Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan without losing too many wickets in looking for a flying start. Not to charge at both bowlers would be the best way to go about it. The key to Chennai staying at the top is the team does not push the panic button. This confidence seems to flow from the skipper who is never hassled. With the race for the semi-finals hotting up now after the halfway mark, the table leaders will know that their being at the top will put pressure on the others. Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings XI have the early mover advantage.

Source: http://in.sports.yahoo.com/cricket/ipl/columns/columns_20080510_2.html

Duckworth-Lewis in T20 leads to bizarre results

R Mohan Thursday, May 22, 2008

The two ‘rain’ games at the IPL created huge suspense before the results were out, courtesy Messrs Duckworth & Lewis. The games were a total lottery. The very nature of limited-overs cricket is in its unpredictability. But when the weather intervenes to reduce the overs further from the already severely limited 20, the results cane be quite bizarre.

While the match at the Kotla could have easily gone the other way had there been no interruption to the flow of the Sehwag innings, the Delhi Daredevils captain did not show sufficient understanding of the complex D&L laws to help his team’s cause. He was too naive tactically to give his side the best chance of sealing a semi-final slot.

While Twenty-20 cricket is relatively new, the variables that captains have to take into account in D&L situations are old. For a player who has been around the national team for more than seven years and who has led the country in ODIs and in a Test match, the Delhiite did not reveal the tactical nous needed to crack the situation. The first principle is the D&L favours the teams that lose less wickets, or ‘resources’ as the scientists call them.

When the Delhi Dardevils’ innings resumed after the rain delay, it was important that wickets be preserved in which event the D&L target would rise even further. The Delhi team threw away wickets in looking to hit the cover off the ball. The skipper alone was not guilty on this count. Sehwag kept his wicket intact but it did not appear he had shaped any strategy for his colleagues to help tackle complex D&L mathematics.

The greater tragedy was the one over he bowled at quite the wrong time in the Punjab Kings XI chase. A minimum of five overs were needed for a result, which demanded a fielding team strategy for those five overs by which the opposition would be pushed behind the target score. By bowling the fourth over, when the fielding restrictions were very much in place, that too with a hard ball, Sehwag simply gave the game away. He was profligate to the extent of helping his opponents past the target score by the end of the ‘result’ over, which meant the chasers had to keep pace with the asking rate rather than go hell for leather. It is nice to put up your hand as skipper to bowl one of the more crucial overs but somewhat foolhardy to do it when your team is on top after taking out three top order batsmen and the opponents are on the run. By pushing the new ball through flat, Sehwag simply set it up nicely for the batsmen.

Of course, had Jayawardene not hit what became the last ball of the match for six, Punjab would still have lost. Once D&L applies, there can be no tie since the total of the team batting first will be reduced to a number plus a fraction and the chasers would have to score the target score plus one run to win. The South Africans were not aware of this part of the rule, which is why they lost a match in the 2003 World Cup to Sri Lanka and stood eliminated from the knockout when Mark Boucher defended the last ball and declined a single. It seemed amazing then that an international team with a dozen or so manning the support team could goof up like that. A dot ball instead of six would have given the match to Delhi but the way they had played in the last few overs to the finish, they had given themselves every chance to lose. When arguing with the umpires, the Delhi skipper took out the large D&L sheets. He may have caught up with the mathematics there but he had had no plan to exploit the match situation to his team’s advantage.

The Chennai Super Kings were rally fortunate that they were ahead of the target score plus a few when the interruption came in the match at the Eden Gardens. Ganguly would probably be cursing his fielders for allowing the match to slip from the grasp while also affecting the team’s chances of taking one of the four slots. It was quite by chance that the Super Kings came away winners. But at least they showed some understanding of the complexities involved when Duckworth & Lewis come into the picture.

Source: http://in.sports.yahoo.com/cricket/ipl/columns/columns_20080522_6.html

Shah Rukh upset by ICC directive

May 19, 2008 10:09 IST
Bollywood superstar and Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan on Sunday expressed disappointment at the ICC Anti Corruption Unit barring him from going to the team dug out and dressing room in the remaining matches of the Indian Premier League.

"I like to hang around with the boys. I am very energetic. I am very disappointed that the ICC has stopped me. I don't know the ICC rules. I will tell only one thing. Nobody dare stop me from coming to Kolkata. I will be here whenever my team plays a match at the Eden," Khan said on Sunday night.

Earlier in the day, the Anti Corruption Unit officials had cautioned the actor about going into the dressing room and the team dug out during the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings.

Sources said later they directed the matinee idol to stay away from these areas in the remaining matches of his team.
Asked about the Knight Riders' defeat against the Chennai side, he said, "You play the game to win. We feel sad when the boys lose. But such things happen.

"I work hard. I want them to work harder. I would have liked the Kolkata Knight Riders to reach the final," he said.

On the Knight Riders's success as a brand, SRK said "With the help of colleagues we have done something for this. Still there is a long way to go before it becomes the number one sporting brand".
Khan said he is overwhelmed by the response of the Kolkata public and conceded the gate sales had fetched him twice the amount he had expected. Source: http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/may/19srk.htm

Chennai Kings down Kolkata Knights

May 18, 2008 21:44 ISTLast Updated: May 18, 2008 22:00 ISTA floodlight disruption and a norwester ruled as Chennai Super Kings inched closer to a semi-final berth with a two-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders via the Duckworth-Lewis method in an Indian Premier League match in Kolkata on Sunday.

Paceman Makhaya Ntini picked up a hat-trick as Knight Riders were reduced to a modest total of 149 for five.Chennai team were 55 without loss after eight overs, when a sudden burst of wind resulted in some of the bulbs in each of the four light towers conking off at the Eden Gardens.Play was immediately stopped and the situation turned worse as a norwester with high wind velocity raged accompanied by rains, tossing into the air the tarpaulin sheets, covering the wicket and the outfield.The Duckworth-Lewis rain rule was called into play and the authorities declared Chennai Super Kings the winner by two runs after waiting in vain for 90 minutes for the situation to improve.The Knight Riders were 46 for 2 after eight overs, but Chennai needed to make 53 without losing a wicket for a victory.In the end, a boundary by Stephen Fleming (32 not out, 20b, 6x4) with a fine leg glide on the penultimate delivery off Ajit Agarkar proved crucial for Chennai, who now have 12 points from 11 matches and look well poised to make it to the last four.
A ball earlier, Ashok Dinda had failed to latch on to a catch offered by Parthiv Patel (19 not out, 28 b, 2x4) at long off.The Knight Riders are now staring down at the wrong end of the barrel, and their hopes of making the cut for the semis look dim.
Earlier, South Africa's Ntini came up with a fine hat-trick to restrict the Kolkata.The 30-year-old got rid of Knight Riders skipper Sourav Ganguly with the last ball of his third over, before he was taken off the attack by Stephen Fleming, standing-in for MS Dhoni who retired with an injured finger.
Ntini came back in the 17th over and immediately struck a double blow, by showing the door to Debabrata Das (27) and David Hussey (0) with his first two balls, to complete the third hat-trick of the tourney after pacer L Balaji and leg spinner Amit Mishra.He finished with impressive figures of 4-0-21-4.
For the Knight Riders, Pakistani left hander Salman Butt (73; 84b, 10x4, 1x6) deftly anchored the innings after the hosts lost two early wickets and steadied the ship by putting on 86 runs for the third wicket alongside the young Debabrata Das.

'We are more determined than Chennai'

'We are more determined than Chennai'

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers captain VVS Laxman insisted that his team was determined to win against Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 match on Tuesday.

"We have lost a few very close matches after being in winning situations. Super Kings have lost two games no doubt, but we have lost five. So, that makes us even more determined than them to win tomorrow," Laxman told reporters in a pre-match press conference.

On leading a side in the IPL, Laxman said "It is a great experience to lead players from different countries. They are all professionals and I do not need to tell them individually because they know their responsibilities".

Laxman denied that the loss of Andrew Symonds who left for Australia to join his National team had affected his side's batting.

"There are other big-hitters in the team like Adam Gilchrist and Scott Styris, besides Shahid Afridi. So, in that respect, I am quite happy with the combination that we have," he said.

Laxman said the batting slots were flexible would depend on the situation on a given day.

"I am doing well opening the innings, but if the situation requires, then we will certainly change the order. Perhaps, even Afridi will open the innings if necessary. It all depends on the situation on a given day," he said.

Source: http://www.cricketnext.com/news/we-are-more-determined-than-chennai-laxman/31353-13.html

ABOUT Indian Premier League (IPL) IPL 20:20

The BCCI launched the Indian Premier League (IPL) on the lines of football’s English Premier League and the National Basketball League (NBA) of the US.

The IPL is a professional Twenty20 cricket league created and promoted by the BCCI and backed by the ICC. The Twenty20 league is set to debut in April 2008, with eight teams comprising a minimum of 16 players each. The league will last for 44 days and will involve 59 matches.

The IPL works on a franchise-system based on the American style of hiring players and transfers. These franchises were put for auction, where the highest bidder won the rights to own the team, representing each city.

The auction for the same took place on January 24, 2008 and the total base price for the auction was $400 million. The auction went on to fetch $723.59 million.

The Mumbai franchise owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was the most expensive franchise - fetching $111.9 million closely followed by Vijay Mallya’s United Breweries which paid $111.6 million for the Bangalore franchise .

Media house Deccan Chronicle won the Hyderabad chapter of the IPL for $107 million, while India Cements’ Chennai franchise cost $91 million.

Bollywood also made its presence felt with two of its leading stars bagging the ownership of their respective teams - Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla’s Red Chillies Entertainment buying out Kolkata for $75.09, while Preity Zinta and her beau Ness Wadia bought the Mohali team for $76 million.

GMR , the infrastructure development group which who are involved in a project for revamping the Delhi airport, bagged the ownership of the Delhi team for $84 million and the Emerging Media , consisting of its CEO Fraser Castellino, Manoj Badale and Lachlan Murdoch and other investors won the rights for the Jaipur franczhise for $67 million.

IPL Teams:

1) Bangalore Royal Challengers: The Bangalore team was bought by Vijay Mallya’s UB Group for $111.6 million to own the team for 10 years. ‘Icon player’ Rahul Dravid is the captain of Bangalore Royal Challengers. Team India’s bowling coach, Venkatesh Prasad is the coach of the team.

2) Kings XI Punjab: The Mohali team was bought by Bollywood diva Preity Zinta, her industrialist beau Ness Wadia, along with renowned industrialists Karan Paul and Mohit Burman for $76 million for a period of 10 years. ‘Icon player’ Yuvraj Singh is the captain of Kings XI Punjab. Australia’s Tom Moddy is the coach of the team.

3) Chennai Super Kings: The Chennai team was bought by India Cements for $91 million to own the team for 10 years. Team India ODI and T20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the captain of Chennai Super Kings. Former South Africa cricket team captain Kepler Wessels is the coach of the team.

4) Kolkata Knight Riders: The Kolkata team is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta for $75.09 million for a 10-year period. ‘Icon player’ Sourav Ganguly is the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders. Australia’s John Buchanan is the coach of the team.

5) Deccan Chargers: The Hyderabad team was bought by Deccan Chronicle, a media house, for $107 million for a 10-year period. Team India’s Test player VVS Laxman is the captain of Deccan Chargers. India’s fielding coach, Robin Singh is the coach of the team.

6) Mumbai Indians: The Mumbai team is owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited for $111.9 million for a period of 10 years. ‘Icon player’ Sachin Tendulkar is the captain of Mumbai Indians. Former Team India manager, Lalchand Rajput is the coach of the team.

7) Delhi Daredevils: The Delhi team is owned by GMR Holdings for $84 million for a period of 10 years. ‘Icon player’ Virender Sehwag is the captain of Delhi Daredevils. Australia’s Greg Shipperd is the coach of the team.
Rajasthan Royals: The Jaipur team was bought by UK-based company Emerging Media for $67 million to own the team for a period of 10 years. Former Australian spin bowler Shane Warne is both the captain and coach of Rajasthan Royals.

More on IPL:

* Title Sponsorship Rights: On February 13 2008, Indian real estate developer DLF Universal secured exclusive rights to the IPL title sponsorship worth Rs 200 crore (over $50 million) for five years.

* Television Rights: On January 14 2008, it was announced that a consortium consisting of India’s Sony Television network and Singapore-based World Sports Group secured the rights of the IPL. The record deal has a duration of ten years at a cost of $1.026 billion.

* On February 20 2008 , the auction of 77 players took place in Mumbai. Team India ODI and Twenty20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds emerged the costliest Indian and overseas players respectively.

* Each team will play the other seven teams home and away, the top four teams at the end of the group stages will proceed through to the semi-finals. The first match is slated for April 18 between Team Bangalore and Team Kolkata.

* Team Composition: All teams must have at least four players from their respective Catchment Areas and four Under-22 players. The players from Catchment Areas could be an iconic player, a Ranji player or an U-22 player.

Each team can buy a maximum of eight overseas players but only four would be able to take the field in a match.

Source: http://premierleaguecricket.in/about/