Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee said on Saturday that he was looking forward to sharing the new ball with Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Praising the Indian bowlers as “world class,” Lee said: “It would be great to share the new ball with them.”
The Australian quick also rubbished suggestion that the Indian Premier League (IPL) would lure players away from national duty, saying both could co-exist without being detrimental to each other.
“I don’t think we should compare or match the IPL with Australian team as both have their own place,” said Lee, who would be playing for Kings XI Punjab.
On being quizzed about a recent survey conducted by Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) which says nearly half of the Aussie players were willing to give up their central contracts to play in the cash-awash IPL, Lee said: “I don’t think there is any reason why we can’t do both (play for Australia and the IPL simultaneously).”
“My heart is for Australian team and wearing baggy green is a great honour,” he added.
Coach Tom Moody said there wouldn’t be any lack of motivation because of the presence of players from different countries.
“They are all professionals and have played in different conditions at different times…A lot of pride is at stake,” Moody said.
Preity Zinta, co-promoter of the team, Lee and Moody kick-started ticket sales with the first two selling and autographing tickets.
“It is great to see so many people turning up to buy tickets and joining us to support and cheer Kings XI Punjab,” Zinta said.
Australia skipper Ricky Ponting on Saturday said though the ‘Knight Riders’ would badly miss Pakistan speedstar Shoaib Akhtar, they were however, looking forward to playing great cricket under Sourav Ganguly in the IPL Premier League beginning on April 18 at the Eden Gardens.
Addressing newspersons along with ‘Knight Riders’ coach John Buchanon after a day’s workout in sweltering heat as mercury almost touched 40 degree Celsius, Ponting said the IPL would provide good brand of cricket and at the end young players would learn a lot from their seniors.
“I am feeling excited and the tourney will provide me a great opportunity to acquaint myself with other players of the IPL,” Ponting opined. Talking about Team India’s recent Australia tour, Ponting said initially they had some problem with the Indian side but as play went on things became better and now that chapter was over.
“Now we have forgotten that chapter, and are looking forward to play together,”Ponting said.
On the absence of Shoaib Akhtar after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) slammed a five-year ban on the Rawalpindi Express, the Australian cricket captain said, ”We will definitely miss him badly but we have to go on with our present side. ”Arriving midnight last night and had
good workout this noon, Ponting said he was bit relaxed as Sourav would lead their ‘Knight Riders’ in the first T-twenty IPL premier league against ‘Deccan Charger’ at the Eden Gardens on April 18.
Ponting said since he was not the skipper, he would try to give the best in the IPL. On all black costume for ‘Knight Riders’, Ponting said they were good and looking smart with black caps, black T-Shirt and black trousers.
To another question, Ponting said he was keen to meet Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan owning the ‘Knight Riders’. On Ishant Sharma, Ponting said he has good future and he would bowl for many years for India.
Coach Buchanan said, ” My players have good experience in T-twenty cricket and we are expecting to perform well in the days. ” Ponting, David Hussey, Tateya Taibu, Yaspal Singh, Iqbal Abdullah, Murli Kartick, Akash Chopra, Sourashish Lahiri, Ranadeb Bose, Brand Macculum had physical training under the watchful eyes of John Buchanan. His son Michael also arrived here as strength trainer.
Four camera units and a star-studded panel of 14 cricketer-turned-commentators, split into three teams, will cover the Indian Premier league (IPL) starting Friday in Bangalore. The commentators include Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Greg Chappell. According to an IPL source, Gavaskar and Shastri, who are employed by ESPN-STAR Sports, have been given special permission by the broadcasters to commentate during the lucrative Twenty20 tournament. Incidentally, both are also on the IPL governing council.
Greg Chappell, who was India coach for two years starting 2005 and has also worked as a commentator for Channel Nine in Australia, has also been allowed by the Rajasthan Cricket Academy to commentate. Chappell, a former Australia captain, is currently the head coach of the academy housed in Jaipur’s Sawai Man Singh Stadium.
TransWorld International is producing the live telecast of the tournament and it has formed four camera units to cover the 59 matches in 45 days. The two semi-finals as well as the final will be played in Mumbai.
IPL commentators’ list:
Group 1: Rameez Raja (Pakistan), Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (India), Robin Jackman (South Africa) and Ravi Shastri (India)
Group 2: Greg Chappell (Australia), Ranjit Fernando (Sri Lanka), Aamer Sohail (Pakistan), Ian Bishop (West Indies, until May 17) and Damien Fleming (Australia, from May 17)
Group 3: Sunil Gavaskar (India), Arun Lal (India), Pommie Mbangwa (Zimbabwe), Tony Cozier (West Indies, until May 17) and Danny Morrison (New Zealand, from May 17)
Now, this is good news as the experience of the commentators would surely blend well with the IPL matches and T20 pace!
Remember Parthiv Patel? Yes, the young wicket-keeper of Indian team who just vanished after the WC03 from the Indian International team, is planning to find a sort of comeback into the Indian Cricket team through the IPL.
Parthiv Patel, aiming to stage a comeback into the Indian cricket team, underlined his determination by getting straight to work for Chennai Super Kings on arrival here to prepare for the Indian Premier League starting April 18.
‘Of course, it is great to get such an opportunity as I am sure there will be a lot of people watching your performance. I hope to do well in this tournament (Indian Premier League),’ said Parthiv as he wiped the perspiration off his forehead.
Parthiv, who turned 23 last month, is also aware of the fact that he needs to work that much harder now than at any time in the past to regain his spot in the Indian team.
The Ahmedabad-based player made his debut for India in 2002 at Trent Bridge against England as a late replacement for an injured Ajay Ratra to become the youngest wicketkeeper ever in Test history.
He went on to play 19 Tests and 14 ODIs, but failed to retain his spot and it was not long before he was omitted from the Indian team. The arrival of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik further affected Parthiv’s chances of staging a comeback.
Looking back, Parthiv said: ‘It is always tough when you get dropped from the Indian team. However, I took this in my stride and worked harder on my technique, both batting and wicket-keeping besides my overall fitness. Hopefully, I will get an opportunity to get back into the Indian team.’
On the hard work he did in the past four years, Parthiv said: ‘Basically, it was my concentration that I need to work on and also my overall fitness.’ He admitted that the two years with the national team was but a ‘learning curve’ for him.
In his debut Test, Parthiv kept wickets for 145 overs as England made 617 in their first innings replying to India’s 357. Parthiv failed with the bat, lasting all of 10 deliveries before getting out for a duck. However, in the second essay, the teenager came up with a rearguard action in making an unbeaten 19 that helped India to force a draw.
‘When I look back, I feel it was a matter of keeping your concentration over a long period of time that matters most in wicket-keeping. And to do that, fitness is the key. Like I said, I have since put in a lot of effort to improve in these areas,’ he stated.
Parthiv did well in 2007, when he scored five consecutive centuries, including against South Africa ‘A’ team and in the Irani Trophy, playing for Rest of India.
‘Yes, the five centuries have boosted my confidence and I look to the IPL to further prove my fitness and form,’ he said.
The ECB is all set to give IPL a run for it’s money from next year onwards. Unconfirmed reports suggests that ECB may be setting up it’s own league in same lines as that of IPL. Wow! just imagine, IPL vs EPL. We can expect a formal announcement within the next 2-3 days.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is about to unveil plans for a 20:20 cricket tournament to rival the much-publicised Indian Premier League (IPL), whose inaugural event gets underway next week. An informed source within the ECB disclosed that an announcement on the matter could come “within the next 72 hours”.
The “English Premier League” will in all probability involve all 18 first-class counties in England plus three to six overseas teams, including one from India, which could be the winners of the IPL or another 20:20 tournament held under the auspices of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The blueprint for the “EPL” is to launch this definitely by 2010, but given the provocation provided by the IPL, efforts are bound to be made to bring this forward to 2009 or even strengthen the existing T20 competition in England, whose next edition is scheduled for July this year.
The proposed “EPL” will permit counties to include up to three overseas players in their sides in addition to “Kolpak” players or those who by virtue of their countries’ agreements with the European Union have a right to work as cricketers in the United Kingdom.
Provisionally, an “EPL” is expected to be slotted into a three week period in June and/or July, when there is normally little or no top level cricket in any other part of the world.
The live television rights for cricket in England, currently held by SKY SPORTS, extend up to and include the summer of 2009, when Australia are the tourists for the Ashes Test series. The ECB had already invited bids for the next four year period for such a licence commencing 2010.
However, following the surfacing of the IPL, the ECB are likely to revise their proposal and even, perhaps, permit interested parties to bid for specific tournaments (such as an “EPL”) in the calendar rather than the entire package of test, first-class and limited overs events.
It is understood that if an “EPL” extravaganza occupies the attractive June-July window, then the existing 20:20 tournament between counties may be advanced to May. In other words, the ECB could stage two 20:20 tournaments in a season instead of one.
The source revealed that the ECB’s commercial director recently made a presentation to board members about the potential of financial partners and sponsorship for an “EPL”. Interestingly, the concerned matches will occur at prime television time in India. This, given the fact that an Indian franchise, or state or zonal team, not to mention the likely presence of leading Indian players in English county squads, will take part in such a championship, could fetch significant revenues from Indian TV companies as well as advertisers and sponsors.
