Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

The World Cup winning captain, Kapil Dev who
has been bann-ed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
for joining the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), castigated the
Indian cricket board’s officials and called them “traitors”.

“Are the Indian players who have been banned by the BCCI, not Indians?
Can BCCI answer this? If BCCI officials feel proud to represent the
country in international level, why the board is banning same Indian
players? BCCI has no authority do that and it should be ashamed for
doing so. The way it has reacted and stopped cricketers to play for the
country, I call them Deshdrohi,” an infuriated Kapil told the media
persons at a city hotel this evening.

“I’m extremely sorry for being so emotional, but I guess every
sportsman is emotional like me,” he added. The Haryana Hurricane
bravely challenged the Indian Premier League (IPL) teams to play
against ICL’s teams in order to prove their capability.

“I challenge them to play against our boys. Let us have a few matches
against each other and see who are the champions,” the chairman of the
ICL said.

All speculations have been over as the actor Mithun Chakraborty, who
bought a huge stake in Kolkata Tigers team, said: “Now everything is
clear to you all. I have invested money in the ICL, but I can’t
disclose the amount at this point. I will hold a meeting with the ICL
officials after 7 April and then can say more about this venture.”

The veteran actor, immediately after taking over the responsibility,
requested ICL officials to change the team’s name to Royal Bengal
Tigers. Kapil Dev, today revealed that, he had got their nod after
having a detailed discussion with the ICL officials. The team Kolkata
Tigers will be renamed soon, he said.

West Bengal sports minister Mr Subhas Chakraborty promised his full
support to the ICL and said that there were more than 30 stadiums in
the state which had been used only for the football matches. He said he
would make arrangements for hosting matches at these venues.

“From Siliguri to Kontai there are many grounds where only football is
being played. I’ll offer all these stadiums to the ICL, with a view of
spreading the game all over the state,” Mr Subhas Chakraborty announced.

On rivalry between IPL and ICL Kapil said: “IPL is like ICL’s elder
brother. They must guide us if we commit any mistake. But that has been
not the case so far. We started the first phase of the League with six
teams and only one venue (Chandigarh), but now we’ve eight teams and
three venues ~ Gurgaon and Hyderabad. We’ve got huge support from
everybody including the media. We’re thankful to you all and hope to
get more success in near future.”

“Players can only play the IPL when they are not required for national commitments which take preference over everything else.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Thursday reiterated that it would not
soften its stance on the players who have aligned themselves with the
rebel Indian Cricket League. It also dismissed reports that it had
issued no objection certificates to some of the ICL players to appear
in English county cricket this season.

“The factual position is that some counties had asked us to issue
NOCs for some players. But we told them that since the ICL players are
not eligible to play in Pakistan nor are contracted with us, we dont
come anywhere in this issue,” Shafqat Naghmi, the chief operating
officer of the board told

Now it will be SRK versus Mithun for Kolkata Cricket lovers ! after the gala launch of King Khan’s [

Kolkata Knight Riders team for the multimillon dollar Indian Premier League, rival Zee-promoted Indian Cricket League has roped in ‘Mithun Dada’ to be the franchisee owner of one of its sides ‘Kolkata Tigers’ which Mithun plans to change to ‘Royal Bengal Tigers’

Cricketing circles feel the rebel league bosses opted for Mithun, who rose from the ranks in Kolkata to make it big in Mumbai films and still holds a huge fan following in the City of Joy, to counter the massive propaganda mileage the IPL got in the city and across the country after Shah Rukh’s Red Chillies Entertainment won the franchisee rights for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Mithun’s presence will sure help the brand image of the Craig Mcmillan-led team, which has attracted very little attention so far from the media or sports afficionados ever since it came into being last year.

Mithun wishes to encash his popular image while attracting rural talents and promoting the sports in all parts of Bengal.