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.