After Shah Rukh & Preity’s IPL deal Bollywood’s alliance with Cricket now seems final. Indiatarget.com from New York conducted a survey and came out with interesting reactions… here they are….

Bipasha Basu:
“It’s fantastic that Preity and Shah Rukh now own a part of the team.
If you have the money and the interest in the game, why not?

I think it’s great for our country because now ample infrastructure can
be invested into strengthening of the teams and the players. And
Bollywood into cricket means more fun for viewers when the league
matches happen.

Shekhar Kapoor: “If I knew about the IPL I’d have bid for it too. It’s perfect!!”

Javed Akhtar:
“When I first heard about it my instant reaction was, ‘Wow!’. I’m very
proud of Preity Zinta and Shah Rukh Khan particularly of SRK. He has
done it on his own.”

Hema Malini: “It’s
wonderful to see our film industry extending its wings into other
territories. It just shows that entertainment is no longer restricted
to the cinema.”

Irrfan Khan: “To me it just shows that there’s lots and lots of money in cricket.”

Arshad Warsi: “With all this going on I feel I’m in Hollywood. It’s superb”

Mahesh Bhatt:
“Mixing two colours to create the third is always exciting. This is the
age of entertainment. This alliance of cricket and movies ushers in a
new brave world.It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Simi Garewal:
“I’m very pleased that stars are coming out in support of sports. I do
feel cricketers are at the top and financially well-rewarded.

I’d be happier if they’d also support the less popular games like
chess, hockey, football and tennis. It would make India an all-round
sports force to reckon with. In this context, it’s wonderful to know
Akshay kumar is supporting wrestling.

Zayed Khan:
“I think it’s great investment, and an indication of forward thinking.
And Rs 300 crores sounds like a something we’d all like to make.

Sameera Reddy:
“I think it’s a fantastic alliance. It’s important to invest wisely and
this is definitely a sound business move for both Bollywood and cricket.

Madhavan:
“Well, when the two biggest passions of the country come together it
has to be a super-alliance.I want to see where cricket goes from here.

Nandana Sen:
“This is more about the business of business than entertainment. And I
don’t understand business. But I’m always happy to see more cricket on
tv. That’s what this alliance will lead to.

Neil Mathur: “I guess talent has found talent. Only good can come out of this alliance.”

Tanushree Dutta:
“With Shah Rukh and Preity coming into cricket the game just got hotter
and Bollywood just became sassier. It’s a very blow-hot-blow-cold
combination.

Aftab Shivdasani:
“Personally I think it was quite expected. There has always been some
sort of link between Bollywood and cricket. This alliance can only take
the two industries further.

Minissha Lamba: “I think it’s wonderful how today the leading movie actors have diversified into other business enterprises.

It shouldn’t be looked upon as just an alliance between Bollywood and
cricket, but proof that today actors have a sound business sense. I
find the entire concept of IPL cricket to be realy interesting.

It’s a big step towards making sports in this country as professional as it is abroad.

Vashu Bhagnani:
“It’s a great business opportunity. Bollywood and cricket provoke the
most passion in India. Their coming together has to be lethal”

Nikhil Dwivedi:
‘I can speak for Shah Rukh since I know him well. He’s an extremely
intelligent and sensible man and has a genuine passion for every sport.

He won’t treat cricket as a business venture and will invest everything
he has into making the game a force to reckon with. You can rest
assured about one thing. With Shah Rukh around, spectators will get
their money’s worth.

You take it from me. Shah Rukh will rule even in the world of cricket.

Aryan Vaid:
“It sounds like a good idea. The money involved seems huge. But who
knows! Not too long ago Mr Bachchan tried his hand at business and
didn’t make headway. Shah Rukh and Preity have so much going for them
in films. Why focus on a field that isn’t theirs?

Victor Banerjee:
“Gulli-danda was a plebian pastime that the British elevated with the
willow into Lords. Cricket in India is largely played by the sportingly
incompetent. There’s a just a handful of tough exceptions.

Don’t give me a bellyache by stating that we are a ’sporting’ nation of
’sportsmen’.We’re a nation of businessmen who have destroyed the game
with its worldwide corruption centred in India, a nation where
politicians fight like animals to be on cricketing and Olympic boards.

The reason we love cricket is because it’s dependent on the bettable
vagaries of fiddling with the ball, rain that determines decisions,
ground conditions that can be tweaked and the odd upwardly-mobile
player willing to accept a bundle under the table and even on a flight.

We were wonderful in hockey and even winners of the gold medal in
football in the 1st Asian Games when my father who couldn’t play for
the team because of his commitment to the Indian army was a selector.

It’s hilarious that we take the Australian Kerry Packer’s resurrection of an idiotic colonial game so seriously.

Naseeruddin Shah: “I couldn’t care less.”

Its good to know how others feel about IPl and how each one might be thinking to grab a role in this Billion Dollar Game.

Shoaib Malik thinks that Indian Premier League (IPL) will be an good for Cricket as cricketers from different countries share the dressing as team-mates, forgetting they had been opponents. “It (the IPL) is a great opportunity for international cricketers. Players from different countries will come together. It is great for the game and credit must go to India,” Malik said here during his IPL side Delhi Daredevils’ launch of its brand-partner Akshay Kumar.

The 26-year-old Pakistani said he and his overseas colleagues would play with the same passion and intensity for the Delhi team as they play for their countries.

“I am from Lahore, a city not very different from Delhi. I feel at home here and it’s great to be a part of this unique marriage between cricket and films. Bollywood stars are very popular in Pakistan and I am a great fan of Akshay.

Asked about the association of film stars with IPL. Malik said: “I am sure that Bollywoods involvement with the IPL will lead to greater fan following for the league,” said Malik.

The cash-rich IPL has attracted many celebrities from the tinsel town and Akshay is the latest to join the list after Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, owners of Kolkata Knight Riders and Priety Zinta, who bought a stake in the Mohali team along with Ness Wadia.

Chief executive of Daredevils’ franchise owners GMR Sports Yogesh Shetty said many entertainment packages had been conceptualised in consultation with Akshay for the 44-day tournament.

The official name of IPL Team Mohali – Kings Xi Punjab and their anthem is ‘Live Punjabi, Play Punjabi, Punjabi being state of mind…’ Priety Zinta, Monday unveiled the name and anthem of her Team at PCA, Mohali.

She is quite excited about the team as she said, “Ours is the youngest team with the youngest players in it. And Punjabi being the leader we will definitely enter the finals”.

“I would like all the Punjabi in whichever part of the country they live to enjoy the match and cheers for the team as it is people’s team and I want that they should feel connected to it ,” she avers.

Priety said that she has more then 300 reasons for selecting Mohali as her team. Herself hailing from Shimla she now feels back home.

This is the first main reason for her selecting Mohali, then comes the best stadium, Yuvraj Singh and so on…she also not forgot to mention that while doing her homework she came to know that Punjab is one of the place where cricket was born.

On being asked whether she know something about cricket, Priety added, “I am just like a baby who first learns to crawl, walk and then run, right now I’m just crawling and it will take a bit time for me to have the experience.”

On the inagural occasion Bindra announced that they are soon going to launch a stadium like PCA in Bathinda which will be a treat to sports lover and then the bit for the same will be organised – Pinjab Newsline Reports.

The team also met Sukhbir Badal, SAD President, in the evening at his office and offered him to be the part of their team and was formally announced as the Chairman of the Organising Committee, who said,”I’m happy to take the responsibility of the team and will provide them complete support and infrastructure on behalf of the government.”

Mumbai – Bollywood Actor Akshay Kumar signed on as the brand ambassador for Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Delhi Daredevils team here on Monday.

Akshay said that he belongs to Delhi and this my team. He also mentioned that he always liked cricket and that he is a firm believer in sportsman spirit – adds Economic Times.

With Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag hitting tons in the recnet test with South Africa – the team will sure go Mast Mast. Players Gautam Gambhir, Mohammed Asif and Shoaib Malik were present at the glittering ceremony.

The Delhi Daredevils website is finally live. Really cool website with
info on merchandise, locker room, DD tube which will have the videos,
news & events, ticket info and downloads section. A website worth
exploring… Their DD a.k.a Dare Devil mascot is also cute and wicked. DD
also gives some funda… check out DD’s funda in the download section.

Some cool stuff:
DD (D2) se panga nahi lene ka

The spirit of Delhi Daredevils…

The jerseys are pretty impressive with the Black and Red combination.

Check more on http://www.delhidaredevils.com/ and become a Dare
devil. The tickets for Delhi Daredevils matches would be available on

http://www.kyazoonga.com/

COOL AND IMPRESSIVE!

The DC’s are charging up… Team DC have put up some real cool
wallpapers on their website. A glimpse of the wallpapers below. You can
download the wallpapers from the DC website
http://www.deccanchargers.com/wallpaper_download

Halla Bol – Promo video of the Rajasthan Royals

The Rajasthan Royals have launched their promo video! Be the first one to see it here on IPL Forum!

New Zealand player, Kyle Mills has been set a deadline of May 1 to
arrive for the Black Caps upcoming tour of England, coming from his
duties with the Indian Premier League (IPL) reports Times Online.
NZ Cricket CEO Justin
Vaughan announced last Thursday that all New Zealand players who are
involved in the IPL will be expected to join the tour on this date.

“I
have met with individual players, the coach, the Black Caps team as a
whole and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association (NZCPA) to
discuss the arrival options for the IPL players and have reached a
decision which I believe is fair and is also consistent with the best
cricketing outcome,” says Vaughan.

“The 1 May deadline date will
give the players time to acclimatise to playing in English conditions
as they will be available for two first flass matches, prior to the
test series beginning.”

Mills is one of seven Black Caps who
will be playing in the wealthy inaugural IPL. There has been a bit of a
debate as to when they would initially join up with the rest of the
touring party.

By leaving with the rest of the Black Caps, the
IPL players stand to lose a lot of money, since they will not be able
to play in all of their IPL matches. But according to Vaughan the matter has been resolved and the players involved are happy with the decision.“I am very happy with the attitude shown by the affected players,” he says.

“They have shown loyalty and commitment to the Black Caps and were willing to abide by whatever decision NZC reached ” – Times added.

We do not have any immediate comments from the IPL but will keep you updated once we get a feedback.

Shane Warnes exit from Hanpshire last week after his long asscoiation of eight years last week, and warnings from the Professional Cricketers’ Association,
the IPL are now seen as a major threat to the future of the sport in
this country. Inder Singh Bindra, who sits on the IPL’s governing
committee, told the Daily Telegraph that it was in their interests to
maintain the stability of world cricket.

“We cannot live in isolation,” Bindra added. “There is
always apprehension when you start something new, but we have put in
safeguards to protect the game. Players cannot appear without the
permission of their own national board, and even if they retire, there
is still a two-year cooling-off period before they become eligible.

“If
there is a threat to the game,” Bindra added, “it comes from the unauthorized tournaments, because they are operating without
constraints. In fact, if we had not started the IPL, there would have
been many more players going to the rebel leagues. Some of the smaller
international teams would have been wiped out, because their boards
would not have been able to resist.”

After the success of the IPL – who have already earned more than a
billion dollars before the first ball has even been bowled – other
boards around the world have begun investigating their own ways of
benefiting from the 20-over boom – Daily Telegraph reported.

On April 9, the England and Wales Cricket Board will
consider radical plans to split the Twenty20 Cup into two different
competitions from 2010 onwards. More immediately, ECB chairman Giles
Clarke hopes that the cup’s rules will be changed to allow counties to
field three overseas players as early as this summer.

The
men running the IPL might be expected to resent these attempts to
muscle in on their territory. Bindra, in fact, says he welcomes the
expansion of the IPL concept. “We want to work together with other
boards to make the official structure of domestic and international
cricket as strong as possible,” he said. “The ECB is a good example,
because the rebels are already looking to expand into grounds in
England.

“They will need billions of dollars to
compete with our infrastructure in India, but they could probably buy
up a countryside venue over there for a couple of million.”

Clearly,
Bindra was referring to the threat from the Indian Cricket League.
Bankrolled by the broadcasting network Zee TV, ICL are on the verge of
finishing their second 20-over competition in India. Their
representatives are known to have met the owners of private grounds in
England.

The ECB have refused to register five of
the ICL players, including the South Africans Justin Kemp, Andrew Hall
and Johannes van der Wath. The cases are now under appeal, but if the
ECB stick to their hard-line stance, they are likely to face a
“restraint of trade” suit.

A lawyer for the ICL
players said yesterday: “The Warne case is significant because the ECB
claim one of the reasons they are opposed to the ICL is because it has
the potential to clash with the English county season. Now they will
have to show a good reason why the IPL is not subject to the same
objection.”

Ip[l is truly not a threat to English or any Cricket – its the format or rather the future of cricket.

Bangalore’s Royal Challengers expect to end
the inaugural year of the Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL) with a deficit of
about Rs 25-30 crore, its chief executive said. The sharing of tickets between
the stakeholders has emerged as a bone of contention ahead of the first match on
April 18. The UB Group, which won the franchise with a $111.6 million bid, sees
Royal Challengers breaking even in six years, team’s chief executive Charu
Sharma told ET.

“It’s not as bright as many other people
would like it to be. We will probably make a $6-7-million loss in the first
year. That’s about Rs 25-30 crore. The difference between earnings and
expenditure is significant,” he said. “If merchandising and support
to the team picks up and if a lot of other activities pick up then it may be
four to six years to break even if not more. That’s OK, it’s an
expensive league.”

Its really a tough financial call for all franchisees and lets see who survives till the end. Cricket loving people are sure in for many more treats given that people like SRK, Ness Wadia and Vijay Mallaya are involved in the fray.