Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Indian Premier League co-founder IS Bindra has warned England players not to reject their central contracts to take part in next year’s competition.

England’s centrally-contracted players are prohibited from taking part in the IPL, but Bindra does not want them to take matters into their own hands.

“That solution is not acceptable to us,” he told BBC Sport.

“We will not have any player revolting against their establishment and becoming part of the IPL.”

Giles Clarke, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has made it clear that no centrally contracted players will be allowed to take part in the IPL.

England star Kevin Pietersen has described the stance as “ridiculous” and there has been speculation that England players could refuse to sign their contracts when they come up for renewal in September.

English players are currently the only international stars not allowed to compete in the competition.

But Bindra, a former head of Indian cricket and the principal adviser to the ICC, is adamant that the IPL will work with the ECB to find a solution.

He is planning to meet Clarke when the ECB chief arrives in India for the IPL inauguration ceremony in Bangalore on Thursday.

“We don’t want to be a rebel league, we want to be part of the system with the support of the ECB,” Bindra said.

“We are looking forward to meeting Giles Clarke and other members of the ECB during the inauguration in Bangalore.

“We can make adjustments, we can postpone our league by a couple of weeks.

“If we can find a solution, it will be in the interests of everyone involved, including the players.

“I am a born optimist and am sure every problem has a solution. I had a chat with Giles Clarke in Dubai. We are looking forward to having him over and continuing our informal discussions during the inauguration.

“The ICC have said they will try and find if they can find a permanent slot for the IPL. That will make it a lot easier for the players to know what the calendar is, what the options are. It will facilitate everyone going forward.”

Dimitri Mascarenhas is the only English player who will be taking part in this season’s IPL, although Surrey’s Alistair Brown has revealed he turned down an offer from the Mumbai Indians.

Bindra admits he would love to see the likes of Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff in the IPL.

“People in India love icon players, and they are certainly among the best eight or 10 players in the world,” he said.

“We would love to see them as part of the league. Other than the English players, we have all 70 to 80 of the top ICC-ranked players.”

The first match of the IPL will be between the Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday.

The eight franchises will play each other in a round-robin format, with the top four sides qualifying for semi-finals on 30 and 31 May.
The final will take place on 1 June in Mumbai.

Bindra said he was delighted with the “global stir” that the competition had created, but admitted he would wait to see how many spectators attended the matches before getting too carried away.

“At the end of the day, it depends how many bums are on seats and how many people are in the grounds,” he said.

“That is where the major success of the tournament will lie. These are early days and the real sales pick up in India a few days before the match.

“In terms of marketing it’s been a great success and we’re looking forward to a wonderful tournament.

“I hope it’s the beginning of a new milestone in the cricketing history of the world. In the long run, we will do a lot of good to cricket and make it truly a global sport, in terms of monetary rewards and monetary compensation.

“It’s the first season and there will be a few hiccups, a few aberrations, but I’m sure it will settle down in a couple of years to a very smooth and very significant league that will become a prominent part of world cricket.”

Andrew Symonds feels Test and one-day cricket will reap the benefits of the Indian Premier League.

The Indian Premier League gets underway on Friday and anticipation is growing for a tournament which has attracted a raft of world stars to play in the Twenty20 spectacular.

The non-stop action of Twenty20 cricket has raised cricket’s profile and Symonds, who is keen to lead Deccan Chargers to glory, feels the effects will filter down to the benefit of all forms of the game.

“I don’t think Test cricket or the one-day version will take a back-seat because of this,” Symonds said in the Hindu Times. “It will only see a change in the pace of the game in all forms of cricket.”

Symonds will be joined in India by a number of his Australia team-mates and he feels it will be a culture shock to face his trusted colleagues in the heat of battle.

“The most difficult aspect of the IPL will be when you play against your own team-mates — particularly those whom you have played with for perhaps a decade or more,” he added. “When you know them so well, it will be a huge task to face them on the field as rivals.”

Setting out his goals, he added: “I have never chased records in any form of game. But, I must admit that it would be a special feeling to win the first edition of any championship.”

A lot has been said about the impact the IPL will have on the cricket schedule and Symonds feels the ICC must strike a balance.

He added: “This is something that should never happen. I think the cricket boards and the ICC should see to it that there is a window for IPL.”

After the just concluded series against India, SA players focusing on IPL.
South African stars Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Ashwell Prince will stay back to play in the lucrative Indian Premier League from the beginning of the tournament itself. The three did not make it to the Cape Cobras team for the domestic Pro 20 semifinals.

However, captain Graeme Smith figured in the Cobras team announced on Monday and he will not play in the BCCI-backed Twenty20 league for Rajasthan Royals till his domestic commitments are over.

Six South Africans in the Test squad for the just concluded series against India - Smith, J P Duminy, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Ashwell Prince and Monde Zondeki – were available for selection but Cobras team management decided to include only Smith and Duminy.

Cape Cobras play Titans in the first semifinal on April 18 at Newlands in Cape Town while Diamond Eagles play Dolphins in the second semifinal on April 20.

Dale Steyn, brothers Albie and Morne Morkel and A B de Villiers play for the Titans and are likely to miss the initial IPL action. The same will be the case for Loots Bosman of the Diamond Eagles.

The final of the domestic Pro20 tournament is slated for April 25.

Earlier, the Titans said they were offered a hefty sum to release their players so that they could play in the IPL from the beginning but turned it down.

An offer of more than USD 100,000 was reportedly made to the Cape Cobras as well.

Kallis and Boucher will play for Rahul Dravid-led Royal Challengers while Prince will don Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians’ colours.

Herschelle Gibbs will also miss the initial IPL action for Deccan Chargers as he was also named in the Cobras squad.

Cricket South Africa has instructed the players to return home after the Test series for the Pro 20 before going back for the IPL. But today’s decision leaves Kallis, Boucher and Prince free to stay on in India if CSA gives them the go ahead.

“The Cobras selectors have now made their call and our three players can now participate in the launch of the IPL with the full blessing of Western cape Cobras. Indeed, the team was selected early so that they knew where they stood and were not unnecessarily inconvenienced,” Cobra CEO Andre Odendaal said.

Wasim Akram, former Pakistan bowling great, has warned that the Indian Premier League (IPL) could seriously damage international cricket if the game’s governing body fails to intervene.

The lucrative IPL, which starts from Thursday, has already stirred controversy with high profile players willing to retire to feature in the multi-million dollar tournament.

“I fear the IPL can be a serious distraction and destruction if the International Cricket Council (ICC) doesn’t intervene because it involves huge money and players are ready to abandon international cricket,” Akram told AFP.

“The new ICC chief executive seems a level-headed man and I hope he finds a solution.”

The Twenty20 competition, promoted by the Indian cricket board and featuring stars from around the world, features eight teams bought by franchises which selected their players via auction last month.

The tournament marks the first time that international cricketers will put aside national allegiances to play for privately-owned and city-based teams.

“The ICC should have foreseen the danger 10 years ago because the ICC and cricket boards of countries earn billions of dollars with players getting a small percentage, so such a thing was bound to happen,” Akram said.

“Had players been paid properly by the ICC and the boards they would not have joined such leagues. Now there has come a stage where players are willing to opt out of international cricket, which is dangerous.”

One-dayers in danger

Akram, who played 104 Tests and 356 one-day matches during an illustrious career for Pakistan, said he hoped Haroon Lorgat, new ICC chief who will replace Malcolm Speed in June, would handle the problem.

“The new ICC chief executive seems a level-headed man and I hope he finds a solution,” Akram said.

The Pakistani great also said that huge interest in Twenty20 was a potential danger for 50-over one-day cricket.

“Test cricket will stay on as it is but I think the ICC will have to find some ways to keep the 50-over interest alive,” said Akram who holds the world record of most one-day wickets with 502.

“Overs 20 to 40 are starting to prove boring for fans - even I would not watch the middle overs if players like Adam Gilchrist, Sanath Jayasuriya and Shahid Afridi aren’t batting,” he said.

Akram further criticised the IPL authorities for their strict media guidelines, which have forced international agencies to boycott the event.

“In a culture like ours no event can get off without media coverage,” Akram said.

“I see these restrictions as odd, unwise and hope they relent because people want to see pictures and coverage in print.”

Too much of playing and not resting enough leads to exhaustion! The cricketers are facing this situation currently. One series after another, hectic schedules, etc are leading to their energy being drained.

Former Indian team physio John Gloster feels players are being pushed dangerously close to mental and physical exhaustion by a grueling international schedule, which requires an urgent trimming to prevent breakdowns.

Gloster, who is here as the physio of Rajasthan Royals team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), said cricket has become very demanding and it was necessary to draw a line on the number of games.

“They are playing close to 11 months now. It is taxing physically and mentally too. There may be some who can cope well but they are being pushed too hard and might be close to their limits,” Gloster said on the sidelines of the Royals’ practice session.

Gloster said the administrators need to analyse the current schedule, which was causing fatigue.

“The scheduling part lies with the administrators. The mental fatigue is also very alarming and players need recovery time,” he said.

To top it all, Gloster said Asian players were not as physically fit as their counterparts in Africa and Australia but felt they more than made up for it with their hard work and determination.

“The Asians may not have the physical strength of the Australians or Europeans but they make it up with their skill and hard work,” he observed.

Looking back at his tenure as Team Indian physio, Gloster said he shared a good equation with the entire squad.

“In the subcontinent cricketers are big stars but I had very good relations with all players,” he said.

“It was a wonderful experience. Working with players like Sachin (Tendulkar) was wonderful. My wife is also an Indian,” he added.