Cricket South Africa has rallied strongly behind its Indian counterpart BCCI and asked the International Cricket Council for a six-week window in April-May to accommodate the Indian Premier League that opened in Bangalore two days ago.
“I believe, however, that it is vital that the ICC creates a six-week window in the international programme each year for the IPL tournament so that it does not encroach on any international tours,” Gerald Majola, CEO of CSA, said in a media release.
“In this way, there can be no conflict between national playing contracts and those of the tournament. An ideal time would be the last two weeks in April and for the month of May,” he declared after praising the launch of the IPL at Bangalore as a “very exciting new jewel in cricket’s crown”.
Majola’s views are radically different to those expressed recently in Mumbai by outgoing ICC CEO, Malcolm Speed, who feels there’s no hurry to rush things up and carve out a window in the Future Tours Programme of the ICC to slot in the IPL.
“The players know that the only reason they are approached for the Twenty20 is because they are the stars for their country. They have become good players because they have been brought up in the system within their country. IPL hasn’t started yet. Before we go carving windows in the structure that is basis of the finances of all countries including the BCCI, let’s see how good it is. There is no rush to do this,” he emphasized.
As the Indian Premier League extravaganza enters Day 3 on Sunday, it’s the big match in Mumbai which is getting all the attention and all eyes are on one man. Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar, may be unavailable for the match as he is ailing from a groin injury. So, will it be an advantage for the Bangalore Royal Challengers at Wankhede on Sunday?
If Tendulkar is deemed unfit to play, then the mantle of captaincy will fall on none other than Harbhajan Singh which will be a huge honour for the tweaker. Sachin Tendulkar’s absence due to injury could well turn out to be what the doctor ordered for a battered Royal Challengers, after being trampled by Sourav Ganguly’s Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore in the IPL opener on April 18. Another positive for Rahul Dravid’s side is the arrival of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, which will give their batting line-up a huge boost.
Dravid may be looking to bounce back in the tournament with a win against the Mumbai Indians, but punters are backing the home side in a battle that will see two big names from India Inc pitted against each other.
Tendulkar’s absence will definitely be bemoaned by the Mumbai fans, if he doesn’t take to the field but the presence of Sanath Jayasuriya and Robin Uthappa will ensure the fireworks fly at the Wankhede. It is a contest that will see the two business tycoons - Dr Vijay Mallya and Mukesh Ambani - who pitted against each other, in what promises to be a crackling match.
Pakistan’s flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi is in a hurry to join the Deccan Chargers and will leave for India shortly after the Twenty20 against Bangladesh Sunday.
Afridi confirmed he would be leaving in time to play his team’s second game against Delhi DareDevils on April 22.
“I will miss tomorrow’s (Sunday’s) match against Kolkata Knight Riders due to my commitments with Pakistan but I am keen to play in the second match,” Afridi said.
The rest of the Pakistan players signed up to play in the IPL will leave by Thursday as they want to spend a few days with their families before going to India.
Mohammad Hafeez, who is not in the Pakistan team, played for the Calcutta team in the inaugural IPL match Friday.
Vijay Mallya seems to have lost his appetite for song and dance after his Royal Challengers were humbled by Shah Rukh Khan’s Knight Riders.
The star-studded launch of the Royal Challengers’ music video, scheduled in Mumbai today, has been cancelled and no new date announced.
The official reason was the “unavailability of the players” — all the members of the Bangalore IPL team were to have attended the launch along with brand ambassador Katrina Kaif.
But a source said: “Mallya has decided to cancel the launch because he thinks a celebration at this point of time is uncalled for. He is very upset and feels that just after the dismal loss, the launch would put the players under intense scrutiny and they might have to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions from the media. He also fears that the brand, Royal Challengers, that he has pumped so much money into would suffer as a result.”
The liquor baron also owns a beer and whisky brand called Royal Challenge.
Sources said Mallya was so upset at his team’s 140-run loss that he spent most of the day cooped up in his office with the Royal Challengers discussing whether to go ahead with the launch later in the week or to scrap it altogether. In that case, the video might go on air without an official launch.
Mallya is expected to release a statement on Monday — much depends on the outcome of the Challengers’ second match tomorrow when they take on the Mumbai Indians in Mumbai.
He has spent $4 million (Rs 16 crore) on various marketing initiatives, including importing the Washington Redskins cheerleaders. In white boots, yellow spangled short shorts and bikini tops, they have invited the ire of Hindu activists and women who are planning to stage protests in places where the team plays.
Sources said the impending protests could be another reason for the cancellation of the launch.
The video, which has Katrina gyrating with 49 cheerleaders, might not go down well with the activists. It was shot by Sanjay Gupta, with music composed by Sanjay Chowta, in six hours on April 15 at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium. The director had already shot with Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis, apart from Mallya, a while ago.
But a victory tomorrow might be all the king of good times — as Mallya likes to describe himself — needs to get back in the mood for a good time, protests notwithstanding.
You are in your favorite pub, watching the IPL league match between your city and a rival city. The 3 hour match is enjoyed with friends and others, but now BCCI is keen on putting a curb on it! BCCI’s plans to monetise IPL’s public screening of its matches appear to be running into some difficulties. The IPL management seems to be unclear about who owns the exhibition rights for the Twenty20 domestic league starting Friday. As a result, hotels and pubs are likely to screen the match without paying any licence fee.
An IPL official said that the exhibition rights are held by BCCI but this was contradicted by Sony Entertainment Television CEO Kunal Daspupta. “Any kind of screening that involves a feed from Sony Max is part of our rights across all distribution platforms, including public screenings. We have come to a decision jointly with IPL that this year we will not get into commercial deals with restaurants, bars and lounges, as we want to popularise the property,” Mr Dasgupta said.
Public screening refers to showing the match on television in hotels, bars and restaurants. He added that getting into a license agreement this year would have been restrictive and hence the decision.
IPL, for its part, says it is working on selling and monetising public screening rights. If done in an organised fashion, this would be the first for the country, though monetising public screening is a big business in the West. Sources say, if monetised well, this could be a revenue spinner for IPL, since the matches are of three-hour duration similar to a three-hour movie.
But pubs and restaurants ET spoke to said they would screen the matches irrespective of whether any deals with the IPL management are inked or not. In fact, many pubs said they were not even aware that the screening of matches in their pubs required any regulatory approvals from IPL. Leading pubs in Delhi and Mumbai are screening all matches and are charging a premium for weekends and, in some places, the rates are in the range of Rs 2,000-3,000 per person. Another lounge owner in a Mumbai suburb said: “We have come up with a scheme whereby people who enter the lounge have to predict who wins a match, and if the team they predict wins, we are offering a 15% discount.”
Officials at Tendulkar’s, a famous restaurant in South Mumbai owned by the master blaster, stated that this has been a regular practice and it would be screening matches through the normal cable operator.
Said the manager of another five-star restaurant: “We are getting a lot of queries from individuals and corporates for advance bookings.”
Internationally, the law is extremely stringent on sports rights violation, and the official broadcaster would have taken serious action if public screenings took place without any license fee being paid.
