Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Karachi : Sohaib Akhtar has finally cleared all hurdles and now he can take part in IPL. Earlier the Pak board has enforced a ban of five years on him which prevented him from playing IPL as the rules et in by the IPL governing body states clearly that no player can take part unless he gets a NOC from his home country Cricket Board.

Earlier Shoaib lost his appeal against the ban after which he appealed to the Pak Cricket Board to allow him top play for IPL which was heard yesterday. The Pak board was lenient and has been kind enough to kept his suspension in abeyance for a period of one month - which perfectly allows him to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders the IPL team for which he has signed initially.

The news was cheered by the owner of the Kolkata Team - Shahrukh Khan as also the team mates who are currently in dire need of a miracle to push them up from the very end of the team position table in the tournament. With Ishant Sharma bowling at his peak with Knight Riders , Sohaib’s inclusion definitely adds a fire power to the team but with the top batting order failing on each of the last three instances one has a doubt if Sohaib’s inclusion will really make a major difference to the performance.

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Ricky Ponting and Kiwi wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum are set to return home for national duty after the Knight Riders’ fourth IPL match against Mumbai Indians on April 29. “Can’t help it. McCullum and I have to go. But it’s good for the team that David Hussey will be here” - said Ponting - reports PTI.

Meanwhile Ricky Ponting is enjoying every moment of his stay and sharing the dressing room with youngsters in the Kolkata Knight Riders team and passing on his cricketing knowledge to them.

“I made it a point to mingle with all the youngsters here and pass on my knowledge of the game to them,” Ponting said after offering batting tips to team-mate Laxmi Ratan Shukla here.

Shukla and Ponting were seen having a long chat at the Eden Gardens during a practice session on Thursday. “I enjoyed sharing my experience with them,” Ponting said.

Ponting expressed hope that the team would be able to find good replacements. “They’re trying to get two replacements. I’m sure it will work out well.”

On his own form, Ponting pointed out that he had been the victim of a bad decision during his side’s second match against Deccan Chargers here. “But one has to accept such things and carry on,” he said.

Ponting said he felt he had played an important role in the match against Bangalore by keeping a rampaging McCullum company in the middle. McCullum and Ponting had shared a 51-run stand.

Meanwhile, Knight Riders’ coach John Buchanan said a clear favourite for the tournament would emerge after the next three or more matches.

“By then all the teams would have adapted to the format,” said the lanky coach.

He described his side’s next opponent Chennai Super Kings as a ‘very good side.’ — added PTI

Shahrukh Khan is upbeat after the first two win by his team Kolkata Knight Riders.SRK said that winning in IPL is a priority and he was not chasing profits anymore.

“I would be happy if we win even if we don’t break even,” Khan, who has paid USD 75 million for his team, said at a function organised by a retail chain in Mumbai.

The Bollywood superstar said he did not expect any short-term profits from the Indian Premier League and after a point he had stopped looking only at the profits.

Khan, who is travelling abroad and could miss the next matches of his team, said his absence would not affect his team’s performance in the ongoing championship.

“I have belief that the Knight Riders will win with or without my presence.” In a humourous vein, the actor remarked that the only contribution he was making to the team’s players was teaching them some dance steps.

The actor said he was hopeful the IPL would bring in a sports culture to the country and the owners of teams should not expect any short-term profits.

He denied that the presence of filmstars at games was taking away the focus from cricket. “Stars don’t need the cricket field to promote themselves nor does cricket need them to popularise it…It will settle down in the coming weeks to only be about cricket.”

Despite actors like Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan turning to blogs to keep in touch with their fans, Khan said he had no immediate plans to follow that path. “I do not write since I get into enough trouble speaking.”

The actor said currently he had no plans to contribute to his team’s website since it was more about the players and the coach. “I will do it if my team wants me to.”

However, he declined to comment on the team strategy, saying he had left it entirely to coach John Buchanan and captain Sourav Ganguly. “For the first four matches Buchanan had done the planning in such a way the team gels together.”

The actor expressed hope the team’s brand would be built by its performance in the coming matches and would sustain itself in the years to come.

The next match for the Knight Riders is most vital when they face Chennai this Saturday.

Money, money, money. Wherever there is IPL there is sure to be money.
The ad world, media, sportsmen and even the glamour industry are busy speculating on the money making potential of India’s cricket T20 party.

But it’s the bookies and their clients who are sure to reap a windfall with the Indian Premier League (IPL). In fact, the format is a gambler’s paradise. After the first match of IPL, it seemed that SRK may do a Chak De on the cricket field too.

Kolkata emerged as favourite team for bookmakers and satorias after their great performance on Friday. However, things changed after the second match between Chennai Super Kings and Mohali Kings XI Punjab. The odds have now tilted towards Chennai Super Kings taking their stake to 100:145.

The odds were heavily loaded in the favour of SRK’s Kolkata Knight Riders specially after their sensational 140-run victory over Bangalore’s Royal Challengers, riding on Brendon McCullum’s blistering strokeplay.

But before going to the press, the betting odds shifted in favour of Chennai Super Kings when they scored 240 for 5 which was much more than 222 for 3 by Kolkata Knight Riders in the first IPL match. Chennai is now at the top of the chart with odds of 1:145.
So if you bet Rs 100 on them, you will get back Rs 145. The stakes on the Kolkata team are 1:155, if you bet Rs 100 on Knight Riders you will be richer by Rs 155.

The bookmakers and satorias in Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Agra, which are major centres for betting, are looking at this as a mega event and it is estimated that Rs 200-400 cr was up for grabs on Friday. The satta bazaar estimates that at least Rs 20,000 cr will be wagered on the IPL’s 59 matches over a period of 44 days.

A leading bookie said, “This is a new form of cricket where players from many other countries are playing together in one team so initially the interest of people betting was not so much. But after the second half of Friday’s match there has been a great response to betting.”

However, initially the bookies found it hard to decide the favorites for the IPL and early betting had Hyderabad as the 4:1 favorites. That’s a profit of four rupees for every rupee wagered. Chennai came next, followed by Mohali at 13:2 and Mumbai at 7:1. Kolkata is at 15:2, Delhi and Bangalore are both at 8:1 and Jaipur is the outsider at 12:1.

A Delhi-based bookie said, “We very hopeful of the IPL. The money that’s been spent on players have seen many bettors coming to us with inquiries on the event. Even last year’s Cricket World Cup and World T20 Cricket Cup did not generate so much interest. After the first match, the interest has increased in betting.”

Rates for some of the teams that have opened have Delhi at 100/210, Mumbai at 100/175, Bangalore at 100/225 and Kolkata at 100/155 and Mohali Kings XI Punjab at 100:230.

Among individual players from India, Yuvraj Singh of King’s XI Punjab, M S Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings, R P Singh of Deccan Chargers and Virender Sehwag of Delhi Daredevils are the favorites of the bookies.

Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi of Deccan Chargers, followed by Australian Bret Lee of Kings XI Punjab, Matthew Hayden of Chennai Super Kings and Adam Gilchrist of Deccan Charges are the other favourites. New Zealand’s McCullum of Kolkata Knight Riders and Craig McMillian are also hot.

Well, be sure to put in your bets on your favorite stars and team!

The Kolkata Police has demanded Rs 25 to 30 lakhs for providing additional security to the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches to be played at the Eden Gardens, though the amount, six times the standard fee, is negotiable.

Seven matches would be played at the Eden starting from April 20 and for every match 5,500 men in uniform and 1,500 men in plain clothes would be deployed, DC (headquarters) Vineet Goyal said on wednesday.

The policemen deployed will be in addition to regular personnel on duty. They will look after security at the playing arena, manage traffic around the venue, take care of VIPs and set up cordons around hotels where the players and the VIPs will put up.

Goyal said calculating the rate of payment at Rs 389 for a constable, Rs 457 for an ASI, Rs 671 for a SI and Rs 822 for an inspector for six-hour duty as also a food allowance of Rs 900 per day the total amount would be around Rs 25 to 30 lakh.

He explained that they were demanding six times the normal fee taking into consideration the commercial nature of the tournament as well as some entertainment events being lined up inside the venue.

Cricket Association of Bengal authorities said the amount asked by the police has to be paid by the organisers, Red Chillies Entertainment, only. A spokesman for the Red Chilies Entertainment said they have received the payment proposal by the Kolkata Police.

I feel the demand is rightly put and justified too!