IPL confirms South Africa स्वित्च

The 2009 Indian Premier League will now take place in South Africa.

Security concerns in India forced organisers to seek an alternative host, with England a possible destination.

But IPL boss Lalit Modi opted for South Africa following talks with Cricket South Africa (CSA), ultimately because of the favourable weather conditions.

The tournament, which will feature 59 matches across six venues, will start a week later than planned, running from 18 April to 24 May.

The opening match will be played in Cape Town, while Johannesburg will stage the final, with Pretoria, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London also venues for matches.

"We are very happy to confirm that South Africa will host the 2009 Indian Premier League tournament," said Modi.

If the choice is between no tournament and a tournament in another country, then we clearly prefer the latter

Ranjit Borthakur, vice chairman of the Rajasthan Royals

"The South African public loves Twenty20 cricket and CSA successfully hosted the inaugural ICC World Twenty20. Both these factors weighed heavily in South Africa's favour."

CSA chief executive Gerald Majola expressed his delight, saying: "This is a great compliment to both CSA and our nation to be shown this confidence in our ability to hold one of the world's top sporting events at short notice.

"This event will strengthen the ties even further between South African and Indian cricket, as well as binding our nations even closer together.

"We are looking forward to hosting some of the world's best cricketers, and we can assure them they will be provided with the very best facilities to show their skills. We will do the IPL proud."

The unpredictable April weather was one of the reasons the IPL decided not to pursue its interest in moving the tournament to England.

"To be honest I'm not desperately surprised," England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"We all know what the weather's like in April in England. When I got my first telephone call (from the IPL) I said I can't give you any guarantees about the British weather - nobody can."

But despite missing out on the potential financial benefits that hosting the tournament could have brought to the English game, Clarke said he was pleased for the sport as a whole that the IPL had found a new home in South Africa.

"It's very important this tournament is played," he added. "The IPL is understandably in a hurry to get things organised. I'm just very pleased it's going to be played."

The decision is a major coup for South Africa, who will enjoy the financial benefits of hosting such a high-profile tournament as well as underline their readiness to host the football World Cup in 2010.

The tournament will feature the biggest and best names in the sport, including England's Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Owais Shah, Ravi Bopara and Paul Collingwood.

"I'm a bit sad it's not in India," Fintoff told BBC Radio 5 Live. "Playing cricket out there in front of those crowds in that environment is special but I'm sure South Africa will do a great job."

Moving the tournament back by a week will have an impact on England's players as they need to return to prepare for the first Test against the West Indies, but IPL organisers will attempt to accommodate the ECB.

The overriding reason that we opted for South Africa was because of the weather conditions

Lalit Modi

"It does affect our plans as far as the number of days that the ECB players will be able to participate," said Modi. "We're trying to see how best to schedule those matches and get them to play more and more matches."

Pietersen and Flintoff had both spoken publicly about their concerns over security in India, especially in light of the terrorist attacks in Lahore when Sri Lanka cricketers were the targets of fundamentalists.

Since then, Modi said he had no choice but to move the event because India's government could not guarantee safety and security resources, with national elections happening at the same time.

South Africa are also due to host elections during the tournament - on 22 April - but appear to have provided Modi with sufficient assurances over security.

England were thought to be the early favourites to stage the tournament in place of India, but it appears that the country's inclement weather has ultimately cost them.

"I would like to put on record my sincerest thanks to the England and Wales Cricket Board for their help and support," Modi told a news conference.

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"We were in negotiations but the overriding reason that we opted for South Africa was because of the weather conditions, which are a lot more favourable there than in England."

Ranjit Borthakur, the vice-chairman of the Rajasthan Royals, said: "We are disappointed the tournament is not being held in India, but if the choice is between no tournament and a tournament in another country, then we clearly prefer the latter.

"The atmosphere and the buzz the matches create in India cannot be replicated.

"Having said that, now that the tournament is in South Africa, we are happy that the tournament is happening and going forward."

There are other factors that render South Africa a more attractive option, including television timings - South Africa is closer to India in terms of time zones - while the cost of holding the tournament is reportedly cheaper in the African nation.

The TV rights issue in South Africa is also more straightforward, with Supersport holding the rights to the IPL as well as international cricket in the country.

That is not the case in England, where Sky hold the broadcast rights to all cricket played in England - but rival Setanta bought the UK rights to the IPL last year and showed the inaugural tournament.

BBC sports editor Mihir Bose also believes the South Africa government played its part, saying: "South Africa have clearly provided the Indians with the sort of guarantees they were after.

"The weather was a factor, but I also understand from talking to various people that the South African government came in in a very strong way. With a lot of spectators expected to move around, issues like visas are also crucial and all of that has played a part."

Sony got IPL Tv Rights

In the biggest-ever deal in the sporting history of India, Multi Screen Media and World Sport Group have bought the telecast rights of the Indian Premier League for a whopping Rs 8,200 crore (around $ 1.63 billion) for a period of nine years.

Multi Screen Media (Sony), which had bought the rights in the inaugural season for $ 1.1 billion, shelled out more than half a billion dollars this time to acquire the rights. MSM had earlier dragged IPL to court after it had terminated the existing contract, signed last year, and sold it to WSG Mauritius. MSM earned handsome revenues from the 45-day extravaganza last season. But it will be interesting to see how hard it sells the slots this time, given that media planners are already demanding a cut in rates.

"We have done some pioneering work in showcasing cricket in an entertaining and informative way and will continue to extend the excitement of cricket through the IPL," MSM CEO Manjit Singh said.

Yet again, Clarke says no to IPL

Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke on Thursday announced his unavailability for the second season of the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League, citing a busy international calender for the national team.

"I won't be going to the IPL," Clarke was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press on the eve of second season auction to be held in Goa, India.

Clarke, who has also given a miss to the inaugural edition of the lucrative tournament, understood the IPL would be a good preparation for the World Twenty20 Championships to be held later this year but the batsman said he wanted to utilise the time for a much-needed break from cricket.

"The lead up to the Twenty20 World Championships is the IPL so it's good preparation so it does not surprise me that a lot of players are going.

"(But) The most important thing for me is we've only got a couple of weeks off, we've got a very busy schedule. With me, with my body and time with my family, I want time off this year," he said.

"It's a wonderful thing for cricket, it's definitely improved Twenty20 cricket, its played a part in improving one day cricket," he added.

Clarke had attracted a reserve price of whopping USD one million dollars in the list of 43 foreign players nominated by the eight franchises for Friday's auction.

As many as 10 members of Australian cricket team and three retired greats will take part in the players' auction.

Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds are among the high-profile stars while the ex-players include Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden. Others are Nathan Bracken, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Simon Katich, Justin Langer, Brett Lee and Cameron White.

IPL on Move & without Pakistani Players?

The first season of the Indian Premier League was a huge hit among Pakistani cricket fans. The spicy combination of Twenty20 cricket and Bollywood proved irresistible to people of all ages on both sides of the border. The negligible time difference between the two neighbours meant that like in India, the tournament aired in the prime time slot, attracting huge audiences.

It also came in the midst of a very rough time in Pakistani cricket, with top foreign teamsrefusing to visit the country and Pakistani cricketers seeing very little top-level action. The IPL gave Pakistanis a chance to see many of the best international players – including some of its own game-starved players – battle it out in the sub-continental setting. More importantly, it provided a much-need psychological fillip: situation-permitting, perhaps we too could host an international-standard domestic tournament soon.

The decision to move the tournament out of India has thus had an impact of Pakistani cricket fans too. If sports events are being cancelled in India – even the staging of the much-hyped Commonwealth Games in India next year is being questioned – then what hope is there for any sports event taking place over here in the near future? And, like many commentators have pointed out, it seems doubtful that the mirch masala of the first tournament would survive the move from the steamy sub-continent to the chilliness of South Africa in early winter.

However, there seem to be a couple of interesting upshots for Pakistani cricket from these developments. Sambit Bal of Cricinfo points out that the shifting of the IPL abroad ‘might provide a template for, and hasten the process of, Pakistan’s home games being played in England or elsewhere.’ The move also makes it possible that the IPL will feature Pakistani players, who had earlier been ruled out from the tournament after the Pakistani government refused them permission to travel to India. The PCB has already taken up the issue with IPL’s organizers, and Pakistani players, including Shoaib Akhtar, have expressed excitement at the prospect of once again taking part in the lucrative tournament.

As is the case in any major socio-political developments and decisions in the Indo-Pak region, the shifting of the IPL – a decision big enough to raise concerns in the Indian parliament – is bound to have a ripple effect on Pakistan. It could mean that Pakistani cricketers are welcomed back to their respective league teams or, more likely, any flicker of hope of international sporting events in Pakistan is pushed back by another 10 years.

IPL Teams $ Rating

Jaipur Shane Warne (US$450,000), Graeme Smith (US$475,000), Younis Khan (US$225,000), Kamran Akmal (US$150,000), Yusuf Pathan (US$475,000), Mohammad Kaif (US$675,000), Munaf Patel (US$275,000), Justin Langer (US$200,000)

Chennai MS Dhoni (US$1.5 million), Muttiah Muralitharan (US$600,000), Matthew Hayden (US$375,000), Jacob Oram (US$675,000), Stephen Fleming (US$350,000), Parthiv Patel (US$325,000), Joginder Sharma (US$225,000), Albie Morkel (US$675,000), Suresh Raina (US$650,000), Makhaya Ntini (US$200,000), Michael Hussey (US$350,000)

Mumbai Sachin Tendulkar (icon), Sanath Jayasuriya (US$975,000), Harbhajan Singh (US$850,000), Shaun Pollock (US$550,000), Robin Uthappa (US$800,000), Lasith Malinga (US$350,000), Dilhara Fernando (US$150,000), Loots Bosman (US$175,000)

Bangalore Rahul Dravid (icon), Anil Kumble (US$500,000), Jacques Kallis (US$900,000), Zaheer Khan (US$450,000), Mark Boucher (US$450,000), Cameron White (US$500,000), Wasim Jaffer (US$150,000), Dale Steyn (US$325,000), Nathan Bracken (US$325,000), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (US$200,000)

Hyderabad Adam Gilchrist (US$700,000), Andrew Symonds (US$1.35 million), Herschelle Gibbs (US$575,000), Shahid Afridi (US$675,000), Scott Styris (US$175,000), VVS Laxman (US$375,000), Rohit Sharma (US$750,000), Chamara Silva (US$100,000), RP Singh (US$875,000), Chaminda Vaas (US$200,000), Nuwan Zoysa (US$110,000)

Mohali Yuvraj Singh (icon), Mahela Jayawardene (US$475,000), Kumar Sangakkara (US$700,000), Brett

Kareena Kapoor don't want to follow others on IPL

Bollywood beauties Preity Zinta, Juhi Chawla and Shilpa Shetty are trying their luck in the business of cricket through the Indian Premier League (IPL), but Kareena Kapoor says she has no such plan as she doesn't have a business sense. Asked if she planned to enter IPL like other actresses, Kareena said: "I have no idea about business. I only know how to act. As for business, I will think about it five years later." Kareena, who was last seen with superstar Shah Rukh Khan in a song in Billu, is busy working for forthcoming films like Kambakth Ishq, Main Aur Mrs. Khanna, Three Idiots and an untitled Renzil D'Silva project. While Preity co-owns IPL team Kings XI Punjab, Juhi is part owner of Shah Rukh's Kolkata Knight Riders and Shilpa Shetty joined the cricket bandwagon this year with beau Raj Kundra by buying a stake in Rajasthan Royals.