IPL Auction Results Part-III

IPL Season 2 has created history, as it has managed to sell a player from Bangladesh. It is recognition of the status that Bangladesh is slowly acquiring in the international cricket. This one single step could go a long way in the cause of cricket in Bangladesh. Kolkata Knight Riders made bid for him, as the hammer for the first round was to go down at the price of $50,000.

Soon Kings XI Punjab joined into the fray, and the price for Mortaza went up to $410,000, after Preity Zinta agreed to bid for him. The bid started going back and forth between Kolkata and Chandigarh Kolkata bidding $500,000, Punjab following it up with $550,000, then Kolkata raised the bid to $600,000. Punjab did not enhance the bid so Mortaza has become the new acquisition for the Kolkata Night Riders. This bid has been the longest so far, in the current season of auctioning.

The drama involved in this bid is reminiscent of the bidding involved with the bidding of Ishant Sharma as Kolkata Knight Riders had bought Ishant Sharma at the price of $950,000 last year after a series of protracted bids between Delhi and Kolkata. In terms of the percentile increase from the base price, Mortaza's bid has created history, as his appreciation is 1110% as compared to 575% for Ishant Sharma from last year.

A streak of celebrations is going to follow in the hometown of Mortaza, Narail, in Bangladesh. The news would take long time to sink as a history has been created, and the first person who is accorded a status continues to be the reference point for all times to come for his followers feels Cricket360.

Cricket360 also wonders, whether selection of Mortaza as a representative of Kolkata Knight Riders would eventually lead to exploration of possibilities for conducting the matches in Bangladesh as well, as Kolkata has now a local boy in the team. The other players whose fate has been decided in the auction include George Bailey, a Tasmanian batsman, for $50,000 who went to Chennai Super Kings, as there was no bidder for him and Kings XI Punjab bid for Jerome Taylor and got him at his base price of $150,000.

Among the noticeable left outs include Shakib from Bangladesh who did not find a bidder though he had a fantastic year with bat and bowl, England all rounder Samit Patel and Michael Hill, who was the U-19 captain for Australia in the last World Cup.
source: http://www.cricket360.com/

Pak Players Upset at missing IPL

Pak players are demanding that their contracts with the PCB (Pakistani Cricket Board) be suitably amended. The players would have been expecting a certain amount of remuneration factoring in the IPL earnings, failing which their financial circumstances now stand considerably altered. Players such as Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul will be considerably affected due to their inability to attend the IPL this year and will miss the opportunity for making quite a lot of money, so perhaps this should be a consideration when drafting their contracts with PCB.

If you have been following the cricket news coverage at Cricket360.com you will be aware that the IPL this year will be sans the Pakistani cricket players. The Pakistani players can’t have been very pleased at having been deprived on a very lucrative and prestigious forum in which to display their cricketing talents and to gain valuable international cricket experience and exposure at the same time. Now the Pak players are demanding that their contracts with the PCB (Pakistani Cricket Board) be suitably amended. The players would have been expecting a certain amount of remuneration factoring in the IPL earnings, failing which their financial circumstances now stand considerably altered. The players are keen to discuss this with PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt. One source was quoted in the cricket news as saying “Among the leading players, Shoaib Akhtar and Shoaib Malik have signed their contracts, the rest are juniors or not regular members of the national side. But 13 of them are reluctant to sign the contracts now,” one source said. Players such as Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul will be considerably affected due to their inability to attend the IPL this year and will miss the opportunity for making quite a lot of money, so perhaps this should be a consideration when drafting their contracts with PCB.Former Pak player Wasim Akram has also implied that it is the fault of the PCB that the players would not be able to attend the IPL this year; that it was the PCB’s call and not that of the Foreign ministry. So if the PCB is indeed responsible for having prevented its players from attending the IPL, then it should also reimburse them in some or other way for the same. source: http://www.cricket360.com

Pietersen could be Bangalore RC captain

Vijay Mallya, Chairman of UB Group, believes that he has got Kevin Pietersen for reasonable price. "There were some players who went for 12 times their reserve price. Kevin’s reserve price was USD 1.3 million and so USD 1.55 million was a bargain as compared to anybody else."
According to him, Kevin Pietersen would be a contender for captain's job.

Here is a verbatim transcript of the exclusive interview with Vijay Mallya on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.

Q: Congratulations on getting Kevin Pietersen but do you think he is the man for you to turn things around this season?

A: I know Kevin personally and a few of our very accomplished Indian cricketers came up and congratulated me. They said that Kevin was perhaps the best batsman in the world. There has been a lot of speculation about the composition of my team last year. I know I have a great bowling attack and we were lacking in the batting department and the addition of Kevin Pietersen is a huge boost for all of us.

Q: Do you think that USD 1.55 million price tag is richly deserved?

A: Let us look at it in the context of auction itself. There were some players who went for 12 times their reserve price. Kevin’s reserve price was USD 1.3 million and so USD 1.55 million was a bargain as compared to anybody else. Even Flintoff who went for the same amount, his reserve price was USD 900,000 and so a lot of team owners decided to build bid way over the reserve price and I think I got Kevin at a very reasonable price.

Q: Did you have to do a toss between Flintoff and Kevin because there was USD 2 million cap? Did you internally take a call that you would go for Kevin rather than Flintoff?
A: To be honest last night I had a meeting with my entire team management and we had identified five players. Number one on the list was Kevin Pietersen. Number two was Jesse Ryder – the explosive New Zealand opener. We already have Ross Taylor his partner in opening the New Zealand innings and we are fortunate we got both.

Q: It is a rich price to pay as well. Do you have any plans of unlocking any value from your team like a couple of other teams – like Rajasthan have done – just to ascribe a value to your team or to just lighten the capital load a bit?

A: The team is obviously increased in value with the addition of these two very fine players but let me be very explicit, during 2008 the Royal Challengers broken even and in fact made a small marginal profit and in 2009 that’s our endeavour, so quite apart from the financial aspect, the branding aspect and branding opportunity, the benefits that accrues to USL are huge. Overall, I am very pleased.

Q: Is there going to be a bit of toss up in who is the captain of the team as well? Are you still going with Rahul Dravid?

A: I’ve been asked question before and I’ve said that the team management will discuss this amongst themselves together with the players and will take a call.

Q: But would you look at Kevin Pietersen as taking on the role of Capitan of this team?

A: He certainly could be a serious contender. Our current Captain Rahul Dravid, I believe his wife is expecting a baby and so I would expect that he needs a bit of time off because the baby is obviously more important. So we will take a call. It is too early for me to comment or indulge in any speculation but the composition of the team is far better and far more potent than last year. We are looking forward to a good season.

Q: A word on Jesse Ryder and why you went for him?

A: We lacked explosive hitting and even though we are delighted that we have Robin Uthappa now, we have Ross Taylor, Kevin Pietersen of course but in the opening pair we wanted someone to compliment Ross Taylor and who better than Jesse Ryder.

Q: Any fructification of your talks with Diageo? Are they on track and by when do you think you can arrive at some kind of conclusion there on the deal talk?

A: Let me repeat once again that talks with Diageo are going very well. There are other interested parties as well. With these transactions, it is impossible to say that what is happening week-to-week. This is a large transaction potentially – it takes time.

Q: But by the end of this quarter will have a conclusion?
A: There is so much I can say and so much I cannot say but suffice to say that things are going well.

Q: By March 31 will we know?

A: I have made a public commitment that I will deleverage USL in six-months time and I stand by my commitment. source: http://www.moneycontrol.com/

It's off to India for Ryder, Mills

Jesse Ryder's topsy turvy life took another twist last night when he was snapped up by Bangalore on a two-year Indian Premier League contract worth more than $300,000 a year for the next two years.

The richly talented but wayward Wellington cricketer had a reserve price of US$100,000 but bidding between Bangalore and Chennai resulted in him securing US$160,000 for the April 10 to May 29 Twenty20 tournament in India.

Ryder watched the IPL auction with his agent Aaron Klee and was the 10th player to be sold. New Zealand teammate Kyle Mills was bought moments later for his reserve of US$150,000 by Mumbai but the remaining Kiwi James Franklin was passed in without securing a bid at his asking price of US$50,000.

Klee described the outcome for Ryder as "a great result".

"It was nerve racking. There were nine players bought before him so there were only seven or eight to go so we were sweating a fair bit and rubbing our foreheads.

"We are really happy because Bangalore is the franchise I've been working with since Christmas. They had expressed an interest and I'd talked to Ray Jennings [South Africa] their coach and he is a real tough taskmaster and I think he will be good for Jesse."

Ryder will know at least one familiar face at Bangalore, his great schoolfriend and New Zealand teammate Ross Taylor. Ryder's was Bangalore's second buy last night, the first being Englishman Kevin Pietersen, who was sold for US$1.55 million.

Klee indicated Ryder would be encouraged to buy a house with his money.

"I look after all the finances so we'll look after it carefully." Klee said.

"We won't be buying anything extravagant, we will probably buy a house and get some of those aspects of life locked away."

Ryder was not available for comment last night but Klee said there was no wild celebration involving alcohol.

"He's been clean since that incident last month. He's keeping to the plan."

Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff set an IPL auction record when they both went for US$1.55 million, though neither player will get that sum because they are only available for three weeks and payment is on a pro-rata basis.

Flintoff was snapped up by the Stephen Fleming coached Chennai Super Kings, which last year set the previous record of US$1.5m for Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

South African JP Duminy, who starred in his nation's recent successful tour of Australia, was the night's big winner being sold for US$950,000 to Mumbai, more than three times his reserve price.

The surprise package was South African cricketer Tyron Henderson, who was sold to Rajasthan for US$650,000, more than six times his base price, while England allrounder Ravi Bopara went for US$450,000 to King's XI Punjab.

IN THE MONEY

IPL Auction list (all US dollars):

Shaun Tait (Australia) $375,000 to Rajasthan

Andrew Flintoff (England) $1.55m to Chennai

JP Duminy (South Africa) $950,000 to Mumbai

Kevin Pietersen (England) $1.55m to Bangalore

Paul Collingwood (England) $275,000 to Delhi

Owais Shah (England) $275,000 to Delhi

Fidel Edwards (West Indies) $150,000 to Deccan

Ravi Bopara (England) $450,000 to Punjab

Tyron Henderson (South Africa) $650,000 to Rajasthan

Jesse Ryder (New Zealand $160,000 to Bangalore

Kyle Mills (New Zealand) $150,000 to Mumbai

Thilan Thushara (Sri Lanka) $140,000 to Chennai

Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh) $600,000 to Kolkata

Dwayne Smith (West Indies) $100,000 to Deccan

Jerome Taylor (West Indies) $150,000 to Punjab

Mohammad Ashraful (Bangladesh) $75,000 to Mumbai

George Bailey (Australia) $50,000 to Chennai.
source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpost/4840036a6033.html

Mills hoping for IPL selection

Senior New Zealand cricket paceman Kyle Mills hopes to have double reason to crack open the bubbly on Friday night.
Mills will go under the hammer at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction with a reserve price of $US150,000 ($NZ301,390), with compatriots Jesse Ryder ($US100,000) and James Franklin ($US50,000) also among the 43 hopefuls.
While the cattle are being auctioned, Mills will be sweating it out at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the second Chappell-Hadlee Trophy one-day match against Australia.
"I guess I'll find out at the end of the game. Hopefully we have a win and something good will come of the auction and it'll be a great night," Mills said.

Current teammates Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor are already contracted to IPL sides, along with injured pair Scott Styris and Jacob Oram and former captain Stephen Fleming.
The final auction list was culled from 111 to 43 this week, meaning bad news for Tim Southee, Jeetan Patel, Peter Fulton, Jamie How, Mark Gillespie and Chris Martin.
Mills was irked that only three New Zealanders made the cut compared with 15 Australians, most of them state players.
There are five from lower-ranked West Indies and four from Bangladesh.
"It is disappointing. It would be huge for New Zealand Cricket (NZC) to get as many players involved as possible," Mills said.
"Just meeting all those different players in your own changing room and playing in the conditions where the World Cup's going to be in 2011.
"Southee's not in it which is bizarre when you look at some of the players in there. You see all these Australian domestic cricketers who haven't played internationals as well.
"There seems to be an aura about Australian cricketers around the world, and a lot of domestic cricketers have already been bought.
"Some of the New Zealand cricketers are just as good, if not better players. I find that a bit frustrating that we're not rated around the world."
Mills is currently fifth on the world one-day bowling rankings and at the top of his game after a man-of-the-match four for 35 in Perth on Sunday.
He is hopeful but uncertain of his IPL chances tomorrow, after acting as cover for Brett Lee in the Mohali side last year and not getting a game.
Players and their agents set their own reserve price, with England pair Kevin Pietersen ($US1.35 million) and Andrew Flintoff ($US950,000) and Australian batsman Michael Clarke ($US1 million) leading the way.
Each franchise has a maximum of $US2 million to spend on overseas signings.
"It's one of those things. Dan (Vettori) said I should put a ridiculous price like $US1 million so people think you're good," Mills quipped.
There will be intrigue over whether big-hitting Ryder earns a contract as he nurses a shoulder injury which ruled him out of the current series.
Ryder's manager Aaron Klee this week said he had spoken to at least one franchise which intended to place a bid, and that the injury wasn't an issue.
Ryder hopes to be fit for home series against India, well before the IPL starts in early April. source: http://tvnz.co.nz/cricket-news/mills-hopeful-ipl-selection-2464560

Kevin Pietersen suited to IPL franchise owner Vijay Mallya's lavish lifestyle

By Nick Hoult in Goa Last Updated: 12:28PM GMT 06 Feb 2009

When you add cricket into the mix then the level of hype spirals quicker than the bids in Friday's Indian Premier League auction room.
The owners of the eight IPL franchises were gathered in clusters inside the Fort Aguada Ballroom to wave their flashing red bats whenever they chose to cast a bid.
Wearing a vibrant red shirt, which looked as if it was bought from one of Goa's beach hawkers, was Vijay Mallya, the owner of the Bangalore team and one of India's richest men.
Mallya has made his money from his Kingfisher brewery and airline and now has the toys all self respecting billionaire's crave - a Formula One team and India's equivalent of a Premier League football club.
Following the bidding process Mallya is now Kevin Pietersen's latest boss and certainly the most generous employer he will ever have.
Mallya's personal fortune is estimated at $1.2 billion and in 2008 he was ranked as India's seventh richest man.
With a bloodstock farm and a fleet of vintage cars, Mallya knows how to spend his money and the parties he hosts on his yacht, the Indian Empress, are legendary in India. KP should fit right in to the Mallya world.
But Mallya's wealth is dwarfed by that of Mukesh Ambani, the man who pays Sachin Tendulkar's wages at the Mumbai Indians. Ambani represents regal, old Indian money. His family own Reliance Industries, the oil drilling company rated as one of the world's most successful businesses with a turnover in the region of $35.9 billion.
Mukesh was too busy to attend the auction so sent his wife on the ultimate shopping spree instead. Nita Ambani was not shy with her husband's money. A cool $950,000 was spent on South African JP Duminy. Mukesh will not be too upset with Mrs Ambani. He has another $45 billion to fall back on.
Andrew Flintoff made a powerful new friend when he was bought by the Madras Super Kings for $1.55 million. Owned by N Srinivasan, the secretary of the BCCI and cement gazillionaire, Flintoff will be at the heart of a team many see as the best in the IPL. No pressure there then.
But boardroom billionaires are not enough to create a media stir in India. What is needed is a pretty face. That is provided by the IPL's Bollywood babes. Pretty Zinta, the actress, is part owner with her boyfriend in the Kings XI Punjab, the team based in her home city of Chandigarh.
With Yuvraj Singh as captain, Kings XI are the IPL's glamour boys and it is there that Ravi Bopara will spend a month in April. Below the fragile exterior lurks a powerful business mind and Zinta is a vociferous defender of women's rights in India.
She won a national bravery award when she testified against the Mumbai mafia gangs who hold a grip on the Bollywood industry. Cricket really must feel like a hobby.
Her position as the IPL's number one female attraction though has been challenged this week by Shilpa Shetty, a fellow Bollywood actress but better known in Britain as winner of Celebrity Big Brother.
Having been insulted by Jade Goody is perhaps one unusual way of preparing to work with Shane Warne, the captain and coach of the Rajasthan Royals, the team she bought a stake in on Monday.
Shetty was the public face of the Royals today although judging by her answers, she may have to brush up on the career of Tyron Henderson, the Middlesex journeyman her team are about to pay $650,000 a year.
However, Shetty and Zinta are dwarfed in their fame by Shah Rukh Khan, the owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders and the most recognisable face in India.
SRK had a novel way of attracting fans to Eden Gardens last year. He promised before every match to perform a dance. What prevented this show stopping moment was the fact the West Bengal government would slap the team with a hefty entertainment tax if SRK got his dancing shoes out.
He kept his feet shackled but SRK's name alone was enough to earn Kolkata millions of rupees from merchandising and shirt sales. In the end, that is what it's all about. Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Vettori Thrilled For Ryder, Mills In Ipl

Vettori Thrilled For Ryder, Mills In Ipl
By Mark Geenty of NZPA
Melbourne, Feb 7 NZPA - New Zealand cricket captain Daniel Vettori was pleased for his team's two newest Indian Premier League signings for very different reasons.
Not only did New Zealand celebrate a six-wicket win over Australia here last night, but they also toasted senior paceman Kyle Mills and injured batsman Jesse Ryder being picked up at the second edition of the overseas player auction.
Ryder was sold for $US160,000 ($NZ318,281) to the Bangalore Royal Challengers where he'll team up with compatriot Ross Taylor, while Mills fetched $US150,000 from the Mumbai Indians. There were just 17 places up for grabs, meaning more than half the contenders -- including the third New Zealander James Franklin -- missed out last night.
There was much interest in whether Ryder, who is battling alcohol issues and also recovering from a shoulder injury, would be selected but he was clearly a valuable Twenty20 commodity. Vettori was glad he'd have a New Zealand teammate in Taylor.
"I'm pleased that it is there (Bangalore), it'll make it a lot easier and a lot more comfortable for him," Vettori said.
"He's quite a shy guy so for him to be lumped into a situation where he didn't know anyone and not sure what's expected of him, it may have been quite hard.
"Ross will be there and they've known each other for a long time so it'll make the settling in process a lot easier for him."
For Mills, it was due reward for his recent performances which lifted him to fifth on the world ODI bowling rankings and included a man of the match four for 35 in Perth on Sunday. Mills was a backup bowler for Mohali last year but didn't get a game.
"The last 18 months Kyle has been outstanding and for him to get picked up, very pleasing, and to go to Mumbai will be a real challenge for him," Vettori said.
Ryder's base price was $US100,000, and former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming's Chennai Super Kings raised the bid to $US150,000 before Bangalore upped the bid by $US10,000 to secure the big-hitting opener and medium pacer.
Mills soon followed and will join the Mumbai Indians for his base price of $US150,000. Mumbai were the only side to bid for the senior New Zealand paceman.
Among Ryder's teammates will be England star Kevin Pietersen who earlier sold for a record $US1.55 million, matching the price of his teammate Andrew Flintoff (Chennai).
The IPL reduced the new overseas player pool to 43 earlier this week, with New Zealanders Tim Southee, Jeetan Patel, Peter Fulton, Jamie How, Mark Gillespie and Chris Martin missing the cut.
Ryder and Mills will join the already-contracted Taylor, Fleming, Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram and Scott Styris as the New Zealand contingent in year two of the IPL in April.
NZPA SYD mg rq source: http://www.voxy.co.nz/sport/vettori-thrilled-ryder-mills-ipl/5/8540

South African Tyron Henderson stunned by his $650,000 IPL sale

When you are Shane Warne's number one choice and attract a bid four times higher than your own valuation, then you have a lot to live up to.

For Tyron Henderson that is what awaits after the IPL auction in Goa vindicated his decision not to retire at the end of last season to run a bar in his native South Africa. Instead the Rajasthan Royals have paid $650,000 (£445,200) for him.
"I was watching it on the internet and couldn't believe it as the price kept going up," Henderson said from his home in South Africa.
"It is a total surprise as I thought I might be lucky to get a $150,000 deal. I think Shaun Udal at Middlesex might have put a word in for me with Warney. I owe him a beer."
Rajasthan, the winners of the inaugural IPL, have built their team on stats rather than reputation and Henderson's record speaks for itself.
Known as "the Blacksmith" he has by his own admission one tactic at the crease – "If it's there I hit it," he said. His muscular presence at the crease brought match-winning innings for Middlesex in the semi-final and final of last year Twenty20 Cup.
His bowling isn't bad either. He is the highest ever wicket-taker in Twenty20 cricket with 74 wickets in 62 matches at an average of 21.
Such a record sparked the interest of the Deccan Chargers, whose bids inflated Henderson's salary beyond the $475,000 Rajasthan paid last year for Warne and Graeme Smith, two of the world's great players. source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

IPL terminates contracts of six Pakistan cricketers

Staff ReportLAHORE: The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises on Thursday terminated the contracts of their six Pakistan cricketers – Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi, Salman Butt and Mohammed Hafeez. While four other contracts – Umar Gul, (Kolkata Knightriders), Misbahul Haq (Bangalore Royal Challengers), Kamran Akmal and Sohail Tanvir (Rajasthan Royals) – have been ‘suspended’, with the affected teams allowed to sign replacements outside of the auction. The ten Pakistan players had been barred by their government from taking part in the second IPL season starting on April 10 following a deterioration in cross-border relations after the Mumbai terror strikes.According to media reports, Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, set the stage for the auction at the Fort Aguada resort, and also spoke of the possibility of games eventually being staged outside the franchise’s home city, in imitation of America’s National Football League and Major League Baseball. There were 43 names on the list, but with the Pakistan players unavailable, the franchisees got together and extended the wish-list to 51. With Michael Clarke pulling out, the number is now an even 50. Australia has the greatest representation, with 18 players, though no dates are yet available for how long the national team members – with games against South Africa and Pakistan pencilled in – will be able to play the second season. “A player can pull out only if he is injured or has an FTP, Future Tours Programme, commitment,” Modi said. “Regarding the Pakistan players, franchisees have the option of either terminating their contract or suspending it. If they terminate the contract, the player becomes a free agent and the team gets a slot in the auction,” he said. source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/

IPL WAGS happy with hot picks in Goa

IPL WAGS happy with hot picks in Goa

Roma Khanna CNN-IBN

Panaji: The Mumbai Indians were the only team other than the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL auction on Friday to pick up three players and owner Nita Ambani said her had been achieved.
"Last year we lost the first four games and then I started attending every match. I was travelling with the team and I learnt it the hard way. Hopefully by getting the three players we got today, we have a more balanced team. Also we have done trading, so we have Zaheer and Shikhar Shawan in our team," said Nita Ambani.
"We wanted to have a batsman, another middle order batsman and a bowler; so we have achieved all this and we wanted to have people who will be with us for the full season because last year we had a problem," Ambani added.
Rajasthan Royals' co-owner Shilpa Shetty candidly admitted she left all the key decisions to those who understood the business of cricket. And now that the auction is done and dusted, she is waiting for the action to get started.
"It's a learning curve and I have to learn a lot. But I learnt a lot on the whole strategy bit. We were given a certain budget and we just had two slots; so we are very happy with the players we have picked up," said Shetty.
Shetty also said she was happy with the Royals' picks on Friday and they have a balanced team even without last season's man of the series Sohail Tanveer.

The IPL’s Reigning Team Captain Warne Talks Strategy

Pitched By Cricket360 Observer
Friday, 06 February 2009

Going in to this year’s second edition of the IPL tournament as defending champions, Shane Warne, the defending team captain is already thinking and talking strategy reports Cricket360.com via this editorial. In this special review we bring you the tactics that Warne will be looking to employ this season so that his team can replicate last year’s success.

When asked about the auctions in Goa today and what his team would be looking to get out of it, Warne said, “We had long ago decided that there would be very few changes. Now that the Pakistan players are missing, there might be a couple more than we had initially hoped for. As I said, we have a strategy in place and we’ll try not to move too far away from that. We’re looking at a couple of players but at the same time, not sure about anybody. A bowler is what we require (with) Sohail Tanvir gone but I don’t really see the auction helping us on that front.”While a lot of the other teams will be looking to do what the Rajasthan Royals did, Warne is looking beyond this and thinking a few steps ahead to employ wholly different tactics. So while other franchises may be looking to do what Rajasthan Royals did last year; look for lesser known players rather than invest in big names, Warne is looking beyond this.It is not as if Warne is saying the big names don’t matter; it is his suggestion to the franchises for this auction is, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Think about value added players. The players they choose to represent their team should not just have potential but the willingness to go out and prove something. This is not just about throwing money, not at least in Indian conditions. There are a lot more things to consider, like what kind of a person the player is, does he have the ability to gel with the team and not just individual skills.”

Recession? IPL II jumpstarts with multimillion dollar auction

Panaji: All talk of economic slowdown and austerity was thrown out of the window Friday as India's obsession cricket put on yet another grandiose display at the 'Players' Bazaar' aka the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction ahead of the second edition of cricket's latest innovation.
There were plenty of Bollywood stars in attendance -- Shilpa Shetty, the investor in Rajasthan Royals; Preity Zinta, co-owner of Kings XI Punjab, and Juhi Chawla, co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders with Shah Rukh Khan -- at the Fort Aguada resort here.
Pietersen and Flintoff fetch record prices IPL 2009 auction: The complete lowdown IPL 2009
Then there were flamboyant industrialists like Vijay Mallya, Ness Wadia, Raj Kundra and N. Srinivasan, who wears many hats ranging from ownership of Chennai Super Kings to being an official on Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and IPL committees to running India Cements. Yes, not to be missed was Nita Ambani for Mumbai Indians!
A total of 17 players were auctioned from among the 43 available players.
As somebody commented, there was less of cricketing quotient and more of glamour, but many of the players who came under the hammer were not complaining.
While a few pre-auction underdogs like Mashrafe Mortaza and Tyron Henderson were laughing their way to the bank, many others were left wondering if any cricketing yardsticks were applied when it came to some bids.
England's superstars, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, who at best will be available for half the season, were 'sold' for $1.55 million each, a handy $50,000 more expensive than India's Captain Hero Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Ironically, Flintoff will play for Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings.
The flamboyant Pietersen, who recently was relieved of his English captaincy following his 'me-or-the-coach' controversy, was expectedly picked by the even-more flamboyant owner, Vijay Mallya.
Gambhir, Dhoni set up easy win for India More cricket news
Mallya then declared that the captaincy of his team, Bangalore Royal Challengers, was not a closed issue. That may not go down well with former India captain Rahul Dravid, who led the Bangalore side with little success last season.
Not escaping the attention of many cricket watchers will be the fact that Mallya also picked Jesse Ryder, the controversial Kiwi player who has time and again run foul of authorities for alcohol related problems. Pietersen-Mallya and Ryder with the strong and silent Dravid could provide the main side act for IPL II.
A little while after Mallya sought the man he had come for - he later declared he was willing to go right up to $2 million for Pietersen - bubbly Bollywood star Preity Zinta went head-to-head with Juhi Chawla, on the table for Kolkata Knight Riders which she co-owns with Shah Rukh Khan. The big beneficiary of this bidding war was little-known Mortaza, a Bangladeshi fast bowler, who went for $600,000 after being brought in at a base price of $50,000.
J.P. Duminy, who three months ago was not even on the West Indian horizon, went for $950,000 and he was picked by Mumbai Indians, represented at the table by tycoon Mukesh Ambani's wife Nita.
Another surprise buy was Tyron Henderson, a 34-year-old South African, whose experience is mainly with Middlesex - he helped win the T20 Cup last year in England. After starting at a reserve price of $100,000, he came under the hammer for $650,000 and went to Rajasthan Royals.
Two other English stars, Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood, went to Delhi Daredevils at $275,000 each.
The teams have been allowed 10 overseas players this season, up from eight in the league's first edition. A team could spend as much as $2 million for 2009, in addition to the $5 million they had last year.
A day before the auction when Australia's Michael Clarke, one of the three with a reserved price in six figures, pulled out citing a busy schedule there was some talk of the auction being low-key, but when the gates opened, the horses were ready to bolt.
With the heady mix of cricket, Bollywood glamour and big money in full display, failure and low-key were the last words that came to mind.
The English will be here for the first time - Dmitri Mascarenhas did play last year though - and the Australians will be here only for the last stages. The South Africans will be away for a short period in between and the Pakistanis will stay at home to watch the show on TV and rue the miss in terms of big money.
IPL chairman Lalit Modi, as is his style had the last laugh, at least today, when he said: "Looking at the crowd today and the interest when Shilpa Shetty bought the stake in Rajasthan Royals, it is apparent that these games will attract crowds and will be a success."
"The IPL," he declared, "has defied the recession."
The IPL runs from April 10 to May 29, with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals. SOURCE: http://sify.com/sports/fullstory.php?id=14852867

Flintoff, Pietersen join IPL at record prices

GOA, India (AFP) — England's Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff joined the Indian Premier League on Friday as its most expensive players after being auctioned for 1.55 million dollars each.
Pietersen was bought by liquor baron Vijay Mallya's Bangalore Royal Challengers at a televised auction in this popular holiday resort, while Flintoff went for the same price to Chennai Super Kings.
Both players broke the existing record of India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was purchased by the Chennai franchise for 1.50 million dollars last year.
Pietersen and Flintoff will, however, receive only half their money as England players are available for just the first three weeks of the lucrative six-week Twenty20 tournament.
Tournament rules stipulate that payments are made on a pro-rata basis for matches played. This year's contracts are for a two-year period.
"A player like Kevin is a great buy for us," said a beaming Mallya, whose team finished seventh out of eight teams in the inaugural edition of the tournament last year.
"He is one of the most explosive batsmen in the world and will bring a lot of class to our team."
Indian cricket board secretary N. Srinivasan, who owns the Chennai Super Kings, said he was delighted to have all-rounder Flintoff on board.
"Twenty20 cricket is a game for all-rounders and Flintoff is one of the best in the business," said Srinivasan, whose team entered last year's final where they lost to the Shane Warne-led Rajasthan Royals.
As many as 50 players threw their hat in the ring for the 17 slots available to franchises, but the unlucky ones could still make the grade at a later date to replace the absent Pakistan cricketers.
IPL franchises terminated the contracts of six Pakistanis and put on hold four others after the Pakistan government refused them permission to play in India for security reasons.
Young South African Jean-Paul Duminy confirmed his rising stature in the sport when Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians, owned by industrialist Mukesh Ambani, bought him for 950,000 dollars.
Rajasthan Royals, partly owned by Bollywood actress and British reality TV star Shilpa Shetty, created a stir when they picked up ageing South African Tyron Henderson for a whopping 650,000 dollars.
All-rounder Henderson, 34, has played just one international match -- a Twenty20 game against India in 2006 -- but has turned out consistent performances for his English county Middlesex.
Bangladesh seamer Mashrafe Mortaza, whose base price was 50,000 dollars, went to Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders for 600,000 dollars despite a strong challenge from Kings XI Punjab.
No Indian player featured in the auction since they were already snapped up last year.
The second edition of the tournament, featuring the eight teams owned by tycoons, film stars and leading business houses, will be played across India in April-May.

IPL second season auction on February 6

Mumbai: The auction of new players for the Indian Premier League's second edition will be held on February 6 without a ceiling on the number of "uncapped" cricketers a franchise can acquire, the cash-rich Twenty20 League's governing body said today.

"A player auction will be held on February 6, 2009 for new players that did not feature in the IPL 2008 season. All overseas players will, however, require an NOC to play in the IPL," the IPL governing body said in a statement.

"Outside the auction process but subject to the squad composition rules with respect to overseas players, each franchise will have the option to purchase any number of uncapped new players by a direct agreement," it added.

Uncapped players will be the ones who have never played senior international cricket nor have a central contract with their National Association.

Each franchise will have a sum of USD two million to spend on player fees in 2009 for cricketers acquired either in the auction, through signing uncapped new players or re-signing any 2008 temporary replacements.

The decisions were made at a meeting of the franchises here yesterday to apprise them about the player trading regulations for the 2009 season. The IPL trading window opens on December 22.

"Franchises shall have opportunities during the trading window to trade players -- either by offering to sell a player via trade or expressing an interest to acquire a player -- prior to any trading discussions the player's consent must be obtained," the statement read.

"Negotiations between two franchises should be only with regard to the player fee payable. The other terms of the Player Contract (for example the period of the contract) may not be varied," the statement added. "This meeting on the Player Trading Regulations is an important step in helping franchises redress the integral balance of their playing squads to make them more competitive," IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said in a statement.

"I am certain that the trading window set to open on Monday will see some active trading, which will only result in significantly improving the competitiveness of the franchises, making for an even more exhilarating and action packed season for the IPL fans in 2009," he added.

Apart from finalising the date of auction, it was decided that the number of international players in the playing XI of the participating teams will remain four. The IPL also decided not to allow temporary replacements by teams during the season.

"The maximum number of international players in each squad will be 10. However, the number of international players in the playing eleven would remain constant at four," the IPL said.

"Squads will not be allowed temporary replacements from 2009 onwards to cover partial unavailability of a player during the season. The only temporary replacements allowed will be in the situation where a player is completely unavailable for a whole IPL season," the statement read.

On the players' salary cap, the IPL said, "The 2008 salary cap will cease to have effect and no unused amount of the 2008 purse can be used in 2009." "There will be no cap on player fees payable to players acquired by the franchises during the trading window. The trading window is only for players who were part of the IPL in 2008."

During the trading of players on December 22, if more than one franchise is interested in buying a player, the selling franchise will negotiate with all interested.

"The selling franchise shall have the discretion as to which offer to accept. Each Franchise is restricted to purchasing a maximum aggregate of a total of four overseas and Team India players during the trading window subject always to the IPL squad composition rules. There is no limit on the number of players that a franchise can sell," the IPL said.

© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved.

IPL bats its way into business school syllabi

MUMBAI: From stadiums to classrooms, IPL fever is raging. After the success of the Indian Premier League— known as much for its marketing glitz as for its cricketing antics—popular B-schools in Mumbai and outside have sought to include the IPL phenomenon in their syllabi. Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Vile Parle, plans to rope in financial and marketing experts associated with IPL to train its faculty at a workshop on 'teaching sports management', slated to be held after the IPL tamasha ends.

"We plan to offer an elective in sports management. We want the IPL team to help us design the course," said Ramesh Bhat, dean, school of business management at NMIMS. According to him, there's a lot to learn from the IPL's contract arrangements, with remuneration being based on performance. "IPL has huge implications for the country," said Bhat.

The authorities at Mudra Institute of Communications-Ahmedabad (MICA), and S P Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) in Andheri also echo his views. Students enrolled in the executive post-graduate programme in communication management (PGPCMX) course at MICA were recently given an assignment on the economic implications of IPL in the context of the Indian market.

"Besides the business aspect, there's also a lot to be learnt in terms of organisational behaviour and leadership skills. While there are a number of team captains who are relatively new, some of the established players have not been able to find their place in the sun," said Hemant Trivedi, chairperson of the PGPCMX course.

He plans to introduce a component on IPL in an elective on media and entertainment as well. For B-schoolers, the IPL's success has underlined just how big a career in sports management could turn out to be. Raghu Chaitanya, a student at MICA, sees immense opportunity in the league. "After all, it's a mix of the two most popular things in the country—cricket and Bollywood," he said.

At the S P Jain Institute, students recently asked their marketing professor to discuss the IPL phenomenon with them. The issue was taken up at a faculty meeting where the dean, M L Shrikant, suggested that IPL could be an integral case study for a business model. Students have been asked to read 'What is Management?' by Joan Margretta and co-relate parts of the book with the IPL success story.

"IPL will help students understand the concept of a business model where there are a number of stakeholders whose interests have to be met," said Shrikant. According to Bhat, IPL also presents a great career opportunity for management students in the years to come. After all, the GMR group, the infrastructure giant which owns the Delhi team, hired Colonel Vinod Bisht, who was a student of IIM-Ahmedabad's postgraduate programme in public policy and management, as its assistant vice president (operations).

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Jaipur/File_IPL_bats_its_way_into_business_school_syllabi/articleshow/3075145.cms

Triumph of the underdog

June 2, 2008
Despite its share of controversies and the heady mix of glamour and cricket, the Indian Premier League's first edition would be best remembered for the triumph of the underdog wherein a retired spin legend inspired the cheapest franchisee of the event to an unexpected title win.

Shane Warne, considered by many as the best captain never to lead Australia, led a pack of unheralded players to a Rs 4.8 crore prize cheque, thus rounding off 44 days of a soap opera that had everything -- from drama to emotion -- for prime-time viewers.



An idea that many said was born out of the BCCI's need to counter the rebel Indian Cricket League, IPL was a success story even before a ball was bowled when sponsors and TV channels queued up to get a stake in what was to become one of the richest domestic leagues in any sport.
And when it actually took off, Lalit Modi's brain child only grew bigger with fans readily lapping up the idea of city-based rivalries even if that meant cheering the dismissal of perhaps their most revered icon Sachin Tendulkar.

The cricket dished out was equally exciting and the foreign recruits along with some exciting new Indian faces enthralled the packed stadias of the eight cities where the franchises were based. Source: http://specials.rediff.com/cricket/2008/jun/02sld2.htm

Dhoni confident of semi-final berth

IANS Thursday, May 22, 2008 2:26:30 PM
Dhoni confident of semi-final berthIANS Thursday, May 22, 2008 2:26:30 PM Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his team still had a chance of making it to the Indian Premier League (IPL) semi-finals despite a shock defeat to Bangalore Royal Challengers here Wednesday night.

'I don't want to leave anything for our last game against the Deccan Chargers, but we would like to beat Rajasthan Royals here on Saturday and qualify for the semi-finals,' he said. Dhoni said a couple of partnerships would have helped Super Kings to pull through after Stephen Fleming and Parthiv Patel had provided them a solid start.Sharing his thoughts on the dramatic collapse, the skipper admitted that poor shot selection led to loss of wickets.'It was a gettable total.

We changed the batting order according to the situation. If the players thought in the middle as much as they thought in the dressing room, we would have won,' he said.Challangers captain Rahul Dravid gave full credit to his bowlers, particularly Anil Kumble, while admitting that his batsmen did not perform.

'We played well in our first match against Chennai in Bangalore but could not finish and the same thing happened to the Chennai team today. Anil (Kumble) was brilliant and turned the tide in our favour,' he said.

'Even in the last two overs, one could not say as to who will win. When we got Fleming, we had a chance but Suresh Raina is known for big hitting. It is good to have won a match after five straight losses,' he said.'It has not been a good season, but we have to show some responsibility. Hopefully, the same team will do well in the next season,' he said.

Source: http://in.sports.yahoo.com/cricket/ipl/news/news_20080522_459.html

Pak batsman Md Yousuf sad at missing out on both ICL, IPL

ANI Thursday, May 22, 2008 4:08:47 PM

Pakistan's star batsman Mohammad Yousuf has once again expressed his disappointment at missing out on an opportunity to play in both the Indian cricket leagues - ICL and IPL, and urged the PCB last evening to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

Last year Yousuf had signed up for the ICL, but on PCB's insistence he reneged on the contract, with the IPL being one of the incentives.The ICL insisted that as Yousuf had signed a contract he should not be allowed to play in any other league including the IPL. The matter went to a court of arbitration in Mumbai, which passed an interim order earlier this month barring Yousuf from playing in the IPL. Yousuf, who is slated to fly to London to play for Lancashire, last evening reminded PCB Chief Nasim Ashraf of his promise to resolve the matter so that he could play in IPL."It's very sad missing out on the IPL. I left the ICL on the insistence of the chairman and I did that for the country. I ended up playing for neither.

This matter should be resolved because the chairman promised me he would do it and it should be done quickly," the Daily Times quoted Yousuf as saying while speaking to reporters.The PCB is planning to file an appeal against the interim order in the Mumbai High Court.

"We have appointed a senior Mumbai advocate, Iqbal Chagla, to represent us in this case in the Mumbai High Court," a PCB spokesman said, and added: "In the next few days we will discuss the issue amongst ourselves and then direct our representative in Mumbai to file the appeal."

Source: http://in.sports.yahoo.com/cricket/ipl/news/news_20080522_461.html

IPL - the new blockbuster in Kolkata

Source: http://sify.com/sports/fullstory.php?id=14677240

Monday, 19 May , 2008

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has undoubtedly become the latest and hottest blockbuster in the city - leaving the usually teeming city multiplexes and single screen cinema halls virtually empty throughout the Twenty20 series.

With Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan promising that he would give his audience the "multiplex experience" with three hours of action-packed entertainment live on the fields every match night, theatre owners are reporting an alarming drop in earnings.

"Kolkatans are getting the chance to catch Shah Rukh Khan live in action and are not at all bothered about visiting theatre halls during the IPL," Arijit Dutta, owner of Priya Cinemas and Star theatre, told IANS. "As a result, we hardly have a handful of people for our matinee and evening shows; the night shows literally run empty."

"Our collection has come down to 20 percent of the normal days. We can hardly manage six percent revenue per show," Dutta said.

Shravan Shroff of Shringer Cinemas that runs the Fame plexes echoed the complaint. "Our business is affected by about 20 percent. We hardly have audience for films like the Akshay Kumar-Kareena Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan starrer 'Tashan' and Amitabh Bachchan-starrer 'Bhootnath' that were released during the IPL."

"Thankfully there are no big Bollywood releases till June 6 (when the Amitabh-Abhishek-Aishwarya starrer 'Sarkar Raj' releases). The final of the IPL is scheduled for June 1. So we hope our business will be restored with 'Sarkar Raj'," Shroff said hopefully.

The IPL has all that it takes to keep the crowd on edge.

There is action like the hits and misses of players, Shoaib Akhtar's scintillating bowling, drama like the Eden blackout on KKR's first home match, emotion like SRK garlanding world bard Rabindranath Tagore's portrait on his birth anniversary before starting the match, music and dance by the cheerleaders and Shah Rukh Khan assuring that every KKR home match has new celebrity guests with him.

"Is there any reason to go to the plexes and waste time when we can catch all the action live and for half the cost. Besides, there is a chance to meet stars like SRK, Juhi Chawla, Arjun Rampal and Malaika Arora Khan and take their autographs," said 23-year-old Rusha Sen, a regular at all KKR matches at Eden Gardens.

The craze of the IPL has spilled among the television-watchers as well. The Television Audience Measurement (TAM) rating on April 18 - the first match of the IPL played between KKR and Bangalore Royal Challengers - was 8.21. The rating has maintained an average of seven for every KKR match since then.

How to buy IPL cricket match ticket?

Looking for IPL cricket match tickets?

Kya Zoonga is the place to get tickets for IPL matches.You could even buy it online. Kya Zoonga, Indian website has some details on getting Indian Premier League cricket match tickets. visit: http://www.kyazoonga.com/

KyaZoonga? Jump The Q!

KyaZoonga's mission is to make movie-going an effortless, fun and exciting experience for the Indian consumer. We provide moviegoers with a seamless ticket buying experience by allowing them to quickly review movie synopsis, select a movie, plan when and where to see it and buy tickets upto 15 days in advance; in other words: Jump the Q! We bring together all the major multiplex ticketing under one interactive roof to give consumers the ease of a virtual box office in their homes, and offices in a seamless transaction experience. We consolidate information related to all the multiplexes in one user-friendly place and enable users to search, find and transact in a central location.KyaZoonga's partners include India's leading Multiplex Operators with operations in all major Indian cities with over 250 screens. Our partners together represent the majority of the Indian multiplexes. KyaZoonga is backed by a $10 billion New York based hedge fund that has multiple investments in cutting edge e-media companies.

The Team:
Neetu Bhatia is Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of KyaZoonga. An investment banker turned entrepreneur, Neetu is credited with creating the Web 2.0 movie-ticket aggregator market in India. Prior to co-founding KyaZoonga, she was a senior media & telecom investment banker on Wall Street. Most recently, she led Bank of Montreal’s U.S. Internet Media practice as a Director in its Media, Communications & Technology Investment Banking Group. She has over nine years of experience originating and executing several strategic advisory and financing transactions in these sectors. Neetu's transactions include over $40 billion of executed deals for Time Warner, Google, Comcast, Cablevision, Verizon, Cingular, AT&T and others. Prior to Bank of Montreal, Neetu worked at Lehman Brothers in New York, originating and executing several lead-managed media and telecom advisory, capital raising and restructuring transactions. Before joining Lehman Brothers, Neetu also worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Company, advising senior management of Fortune 500 companies on strategic and operational issues. Neetu has an M.S. in Management and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from the Government College of Engineering, Pune, where she graduated as the Best Outgoing Student. A former national cricket player, Neetu serves on the Boards of several not-for-profit organizations in New York City and India, including her Godmother, Dr. Kiran Bedi’s India Vision Foundation in New Delhi. She is also a regular columnist for several leading financial publications in India. Her story was featured in a book to motivate young students that was released in 2005 by President, Dr. Abdul Kalam.