Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Editorial 

Shah Rukh has sent a SMS to his team saying that he would boycott the remaining matches of the IPL till the League clarified the code of conduct and cricketing authorities.

King Khan cannot digest the fact that ICC anti-corruption department has objected his proximity to his own players. He said that he finds it really ridiculous that he would pay his players to loose when he have already paid so heavily for building a team for winning ! His main objection is to the fact that this action somewhat labels him as a bookie.

He also pointed out to the fact that while other owners are being allowed to mix freely with their team members - he has been singled out just due to his celebrity status. Earlier he had also expressed his unhappiness about the entertainment tax levied on his team by the West Bengal Government which is not applicable in any other states.

Meanwhile IPL governing body went out of its way to bend rules and issue special red passes to team owners allowing then fifteen minutes access to dressing rooms and dugout.

Perhaps what everyone is missing out the fact which probably raised concern among the icc anti-corruption is King Khans visit to the opponents teams (Chennai Superkings) dug out during the Kolkata match. This may not have been taken well by the ICC authorities and rightly so - Cricket does not follow the rules of Bollywood where everything can be scripted conveniently.

Also, the dismal performance of Kolkata Knight Riders must be adding fuel to King Khans frustration - but rules are rules - Cricket is a game of discipline and performance - emotions do not have much place here.

True we will loose out on the cheering performance  of King Khan in the semis and the finals - but Virender Shewag, Gambhir, Sachin, Shaun Marsh, Yuvraj, MS Dhoni, Jayasiriya are no less real-life entertainers.

© IPL Cricket Forum

Tags: anti-corruption, Bollywood, Chennai Superkings, cricket, dressing room, dug out, entertainment tax, final, Kolkata, Kolkata Knight Riders, league, Shah Rukh, Virender Shewag

While we all know that Sony has purchased the television rights of Television and is currently broadcasting it on Channel Setmax, very few of us are aware about one of the greatest Cricket aficionados inside Sony - who had the vision to spearhead this deal apart from many other winning deals. Yes its none other than Kunal Dasguta the CEO of Sony Entertainment Television. Not only all matches and statistics are at the tip of his finger but also he never misses any match be it a charity cricket or an international tie.

Cricket and Movies has always been the prime driver of Indian Television and this was the reason why Setmax was born which telecasts a mix of Cricket and Bollywood movies. Though many critics described this as the craziest idea initially but time has proven that Kunal was never wrong in formulating this winning mix. Starting from the first Cricket coverage of Tri Series Aiwa Cup held in Sri Lanka the channel has broadcasted several Cricket series along with movies.

Sure the current IPL telecast is the greatest of them all and has already proved its worth shoving away the stale and staple diet of Saas Bahu type serials but also the Bollywood Movies and it has crossed all expectations and currently ruling all the sec’s plus the young, old, rich and kids alike.

While speaking to a website Kunal mentioned correctly that the true test lies in sustaining the brand IPL even after the tournament is over. He said - Ideally I would want the IPL to be a successful brand that has a long term play. After June, I will continue to do promotions to keep the team brands alive. This was one of the conditions on which we bid.

We will do shows around the IPL. You could see teams (franchises) practicing and discussing strategies for the next season.

This might happen. Apart from April-May, you cannot have another period where all the stars are available. What will happen is that once the league is built the new players who are playing will become the core. You can then have matches in different parts of the world to popularise the game there using these new players.

The trick for us is not getting ratings for the first season. This will happen as a matter of course because of the way the IPL has been hyped. The challenge is to sustain the excitement after that and it is here where we will have to take a leaf out of the book of the EPL. Teams have marketed themselves and have thus become iconic brands.

So Mallya for instance, will use the Royal Challenger brand name to go out there and create opportunities for exhibition matches. They can do charity work in Bangalore and build a fan base. Each franchise will have its own website where clips will be available. They can create merchandise.

We think that this is the correct approach in building a property somewhat similar to NFL where the hype continues for the entire near with the pitch rising above average during tournaments.

Kunal also said that Sony will pitch in through magazine shows. Otherwise it will just be a flash in the pan. As we come closer to the next season you will see transfers and there will be speculation.

New heroes will be born. It is possible that the likes of current heroes like Glenn McGrath, Kumble, and Saurav will not play beyond two seasons. Once that happens, then the brand will live outside the big names.

One of the major attractions will be the presence of big Bollywood stars. Akshay Kumar will perform for Delhi. SRK will perform for Kolkata and you will see proper Bollywood entertainment.

We have even tweaked the timings of some of the matches to accommodate our entertainment specials. One match was supposed to start at 4 pm but we have pushed it back to 5:30 pm. We will even have stand up comedy for Extraaa Innings. On air we have gone in for fresh faces. We did not want Mandira (Bedi) for this. She is more suited for ODI cricket. I want 20-year-olds in T20. We also did not want Kapil Dev, Gavaskar. We wanted anchors who represent today’s kids. With the ICC World Cup we broke the mould and brought in females. Now we are breaking the mould back with IPL.

Great going for Max and Sony - we hope the Indian Cricket fans are also enjoying every bit of this evolution of Cricket and waiting anxiously for more to come.

© IPL Cricket Forum

Tags: 20Twenty, Bollywood, ICC, Kunal, Kunal dasgupta, mallaya, max, Movies, ODI, set, Setmax, Sony, SRK, television, Test, TV, Vijay

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.

Tags: , Arshad, Bipasha, Bollywood, Hema, IPL, Nasseruddin