More potential revenue for IPL

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All of us cricket-followers must have come across the offering from EA Sports - Cricket 07 at some point of time, if not played it. I am not sure if Lalit Modi has seen this. If he has, he will get a lot more ideas from this game.

Obviously, one would be to get into a partnership with a gaming company to create a Gaming eco-system around IPL. But, that is not my main suggestion for IPL (and LKM).

If you notice the commentary in the matches played in the game, the wonderful voices of Richie Benaud and other prominent commentators can be heard. Of course, the key sentences like 'A great over' or 'Wonderful shot to get a boundary' are recorded in the voices which are played whenever required.

From what we have seen in this year's IPL3, the commentators are more focused on giving the details of the sponsors rather than the happenings of the game - 'DLF Maximum', 'Karbonn Kamaal Catch', 'Max Mobile Timeout', 'Citi Moment of Success' are phrases more heard than the actual commentary. This will get worse next year if LKM is successful in getting the sponsors of the Orange Cap and Purple Cap (this year the deal did not fall through apparently).

These statements can be recorded in the voices of Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar and others. They can be played by the TV producers whenever required in the game. What happens between balls? They can be used to show more ads (further potential to make more money) - every ball can be preceded and succeeded by 1-2 ads. Optimal utilization of time at the best. All the travel/hotel costs of the commentators can be reduced this way. The match can be actually covered by the low-cost television anchors who cost way less than the ex-cricketers.

What do you say Mr. Modi? Will you follow this route next year?

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IPL for India - boon or bane

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While much has been written about IPL and its financial achievements, the jury is still not out on the benefits that the IPL will bring to the Indian cricket.

Of course, it was started to nurture new talent but that was three years ago. Nobody seems to be talking about this any more now. All talk revolves around the amount of money (more importantly profits) that the franchisees will or are supposed to make.

But, as one has been seeing over the last 3 seasons, the IPL is beneficial to India's rivals. How? In many ways:

• It used to be very difficult for competing teams to get advantage of the Indian sub-continent. This was one of the reasons why India ran up huge wins over teams like England, New Zealand in the 90's under the captaincy of Azharuddin. But, now the Last Frontier has been breached. One can see the youngsters of all teams (especially teams like Australia, South Africa - the main rivals for India's No.1 slot) play for various IPLsides. This is invaluable experience that they are picking up - you might start realizing the value that the Boards are seeing in the IPL (of course, other than their share of money).
• The captains of teams (Sangakkara, Gayle, Collingwood) are able to pick up tricks of the trade from veterans like Sourav Ganguly (the best Indian captain in the new age), Shane Warne (the best captain Australia never had), Anil Kumble & Adam Gilchrist. The use of slow bowlers to open the bowling, the field-changes are definitely of great help to the captains at the T20 World Cup.
• Of course, one cannot ignore the financial aspect (especially if it pertains to IPL, right?). The Caribbean team of 1980s were so successful that the only way forward seemed to be down. And that is what happened - the advent of sports like basketball in the neighboring US meant that the youngsters were attracted to the lure of these sports. The same happened when Adam Sanford started T20 cricket - but, thanks to his financial problems, he is cooling his heels behind bars as we read this article. The IPL has just taken the concept further and made it lucrative for Windies youngsters. Similarly, the players of Black Caps have been impacted by low salaries for few years now - again, IPL comes to the rescue here. No wonder, the Board is happy to allow their players ply their wares in IPL.

Obviously, the money that is generated from the IPL can be put to good use by having dedicated coaching (physical, cricketing, mental conditioning) facilities, great stadia around the country, helping retired players of domestic cricket,  nurture young talent so that a career option can be thought of, improving the standard of pitches of all centers, etc. But, obviously, none of this is planned so far.

Will the BCCI do this? What is your opinion?

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Making RCB the Indian T20 team

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The Indian selectors have come up with their team for the World T20 Cup on expected lines.

Though I more or less expected the team that was selected (except for Piyush Chawla), one another thought struck me today.

Why not take the RCB team that looks solid in the ongoing T20 World Cup and change it to suit the Indian team?

Lets look at the team composition -
Batsmen - Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa, Rahul Dravid, Eoin Morgan, Virat Kohli
All-rounders - Jacques Kallis
Wicket-keeper - Mark Boucher
Bowlers - Praveen Kumar, Dale Steyn, Vinay Kumar, Anil Kumble


There are four overseas players and 2 players who no longer play T20 (Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid). Replace these 6 players for like-to-like players from other teams and this might be a good composition. Who can be these replacements? Let us see

• Rahul Dravid can be replaced by Suresh Raina - a solid player who can take the middle-order slot.
• Eoin Morgan - Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are the 2 players who walk into the team. They currently play for Delhi Daredevils team.
• Jacques Kallis - Yuvraj Singh (the most explosive player in the first T20 World Cup) can offer options on the ground in all the departments.
• Mark Boucher - no more discussions here as MS Dhoni brings in his presence to the team
• The Dale Steyn effect can be brought in by the experience of Zaheer Khan
• Anil Kumble gives way to his successor in the Indian team, Harbhajan Singh

All these players have been anyway playing together in the other formats for some time now. The flair of Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa will bring in a whiz of fresh air to the team.

Of course, it usually does not work most of the times but it does not stop us wondering what might be, does it?

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Call-up arrives for Vinay Kumar

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There were few surprises in the Indian T20 World Cup squad announced by Srikkanth & Co. today.

As expected in my earlier post, the team members have been picked as per their latest form and performance.

Virat Kohli was a surprise omission for me but Rohit Sharma's bowling did the trick for him.

Piyush Chawla was another surprise (selection) - looks like the selectors wanted to try him after they given a number of chances to Ojha & Mishra.

Vinay Kumar gets a call-up which was reinforced by his performance in the IPL3.

There is still a chance that Ashish Nehra might not be fit for the World Cup - the selectors should try to blood someone like Tyagi instead of going back to Ishant or Sreesanth.

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World T20 Cup squad for India

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The Indian selectors will announce the World T20 Cup squad on 26th March - 2 days to go. The selection committee must have seen enough of the provisional list to prune it down further.

The Probables list is given below with the ones I feel will not be selected:

• Batsmen - Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Naman Ojha, Manish Pandey, M Vijay
• All-rounders - Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar
• Pace Bowlers - Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, S Sreesanth, Sudeep Tyagi, Ishant Sharma, Abhimanyu Mithun, R P Singh, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar
• Spinners - Harbhajan Singh,  Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin
• Wicket-keepers - Dinesh Karthik, M S Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha

 Ashish Nehra is doubtful considering his injury situation - if he is not available, Ishant Sharma might come in again. The all-rounders list have players who can contribute well with their bat and bowl useful spin - the recent matches between West Indies and Zimbabwe showed that the grounds helped the slower bowlers - makes sense to have these part-time bowlers in the T20 squad. Dinesh Karthik is capable batsman and gives backup to MS Dhoni in the wicket-keeping department. The rest pick themselves. Injuries might change the names mentioned above - already MSD, Ashish Nehra, Gautam Gambhir are on the sidelines so far - hopefully, there are not many more to this list.

Many ex-players wanted Sachin Tendulkar to play the World Cup but the veteran has ruled himself out.

Whom do you think you would like to see in your team? Do let me know.

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Lalit Modi - the next Ecclestone

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Lalit Modi - the name is worth millions, no billions in the cricketing world. Not just for him, but for the rich BCCI. Today's outcome of the selection of additional 2 teams was no different - $703 million for 2 teams - could anyone have predicted this? Especially after the way the previous auction was terminated.

The IPL has become a brand that was evaluated at more than $4 Billion last year - this year, the number is set to grow exponentially.All this has been the brain-child of Lalit Modi who holds an iron hand in all decisions regarding the IPL as well as the Champions League. Who would have predicted that the game would prosper in such a way that it will become every marketing guys' envy.

Of course, there have been various turns and twists in the story so far but this man cannot be out of action - as the saying goes, you like him or hate him, you cannot ignore him at any cost. Just have a look at his introductions to the IPL brand this year:

• Tie-up with Youtube to broadcast the IPL on internet
• Partnership with ITV for UK broadcasting rights
• Broadcasting of the matches in HDTV

Whatever one can say of the man, he has shown that he is one innovative person in terms of branding and marketing his product. I am not sure whether he considers Bernie (F1 Supremo) as his guru but he sure looks like he is on the same highway as Mr. Ecclestone.

What will he do next year remains to be seen - re-auctions will happen and the stalwarts who are playing (Tendulkar, Kumble, Gilchrist and others) after their retirement from this format may not continue. From what I can see, the IPL will continue to expand and be played in many more venues than today - more countries will be covered. There will be more countries where cricket will be beamed, 2 IPLs in the same year was one thinking last year. He might be one reason why West Indies and New Zealand teams will see a revival, thanks to the financial backing.

What next, Mr. Modi?

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Players who have shone in IPL3

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The IPL3 has thrown up a number of performers (old and new) in the 14 matches played so far. Some of them are already certainties in their international squads but there are quite a few youngsters (and veterans) who are making the mark. 

Saurabh Tiwary has been consistent in his outings so far and he seems to have impressed his captain SRT so much that he has been asked to come ahead of superstars like Bravo and Pollard - his idol is MS Dhoni and that is very visible in his run-scoring. After non-performance in the first 2 versions, Saurabh has come of age both with his shot-selection and power-hitting. Similarly, Manish Pandey has been giving Jacque Kallis good company for boosting RCB's score in the initial overs - the lad is showing all the signs of playing international cricket in India and this experience will definitely help in the long run. Robin Uthappa is showing signs of form after a long innings of failures. Individual sparks of brilliance have also come from Manvinder Bisla (ex-India Under-19 captain), Abhishek Jhunjunwala and Manoj Tiwary.

The ICL returnees are making a mark in this version of the IPL with their abilities whether it is Ambati Rayudu with the bat, R Sathish with bat and ball or Amit Uniyal with the ball. They have shown that they are not out of place in this tournament and repeated their heroics from the now-defunct ICL.

Among the bowlers, it has been R Ashwin and Vinay Kumar - both have been part of the India squad (though not playing) already earlier in the season. They have taken wickets and made sure that their teams have benefited by their street-smartness. Jaskaran Singh is another bowler who seems to have attracted the attention of his captain - how he repays the faith of his captain seems to be seen.

Angelo Matthews was long touted as the ideal T20 player for Sri Lanka - he has shown that very visibly in this season for KKR and has been a vital cog in the wins that KKR has notched up this season so far. Yusuf Pathan scored a quick century in the first match but has not been able to score heavily in the following matches (the teams seem to be targetting him with short-pitched balls). But, he has been continuing to contribute with the ball, that has been vital for his team.

Among the veterans, it is quite interesting to see one topping the wicket-taking list (Chaminda Vaas) while yet another scoring the highest number of runs (Jacque Kallis). They were criticized by their teams and the initial perceptions of the think-tank was that they are not material of  the shorter version. They have now shown that they still have enough gas in the tank that is applicable to all the formats available. Similarly, Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar, though not playing in the T20 format, have contributed to the team cause - they do not seem to be out of tune with the game at any moment. Andrew Symonds and Justin Kemp - both players of the similar calibre and both neglected by their boards for whatever reason known. They have shown the capabilities their national teams are missing. Whether the boards change their minds and select them for the World Cup remains to be seen.

A Tare of the Mumbai Indians has a lot of potential to be considered for higher honors (at least in the domestic version to start with, maybe the India A team). The others like Parthiv Patel and W Saha have not shown any great glimpses so far and hence Dinesh Karthick seems to be the replacement for MSD in crises. 

How many of these players perform consistently to be considered for the national team remains to be seen. Let us hope more players do well - it will only keep their national teams happy.

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IPL3 - First 5 matches

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After the first 5 days of the IPL, the excitement has (re)started!!! Last over finishes in the first 3 matches meant that the games were truly on.

What one noticed that, as usual, T20 and that too IPL is very hard to predict. Front-runners for this version have lost (Chennai SuperKings, Deccan Chargers in their first match) whereas last year's "wooden-spoonists" have come back to win the first 2 matches (I can say with modesty that I was not surprised).

The T20 specialists have made their mark already - check Angelo Matthews in the first 2 matches, Yusuf Pathan's century (another of my prediction came true), Gautam Gambhir's knock (though he no longer is just a T20 specialist) - in the first few matches.

KKR seem to have got their strategy right even though it is early days to form any opinons - Ganguly and Akram together seem to have brought about a change with the attack that promises (and delivers) more.

Deccan Chargers have their stars at the top of the order but they seem to depend a lot on Adam Gilchrist (who seems to start well but his body seems to pull him back). Gibbs and Symonds seemed to struggle but stayed at the crease to score runs quickly. Chaminda Vaas is another veteran who has impressed this year with his incisive bowling.

Delhi Daredevils are looking formidable thanks to the top-order (filled with stroke-players like Viru, Gauti, Dilshan, AB de Viliers).

RCB has the domestic stars in their team but still have to get their composition right - give them 1-2 games and they will show their mettle.


CSK will be looking forward to the forthcoming matches to get their act straight. MS Dhoni has the domestic stalwarts as well but they seemed to be overawed by the occasion.

Rajasthan Royals - Yusuf Pathan won the match for him (almost) but the others should also carry their weight and come to the game.

Kings XI Punjab - one feels for the effervescent Preity since she has a weak team and does not know how she will win. Lack of bowling firepower is clearly evident.

Mumbai Indians - Good knocks by the youngsters (Tiwari, Rayudu) was just enough to stall the heroics of Yusuf - their bowling looks good but needs tightening still.

PS - Check the venues and the home-towns of the MOM recipients here.

IPL3 starts in less than 24 hours

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The IPL is scheduled to start in less than 24 hours now and there is excitement in the Twitterverse - everyone is looking forward to the next 45 days. One's evenings are going to be busy and housewives will have problems getting the attention of their husbands to do anything!!!

Matthew Hayden is planning to use the Mongoose bat in the IPL - would be interesting to see the bat and how runs will flow from the already broad blade of Haydos.

 Darren Lehmann must be hoping to do it third time - he has been part of the winning teams in the first 2 editions.

Adam Gilchrist feels that his team does not have the pressure on them - maybe because they are not playing in their home-town. The DC skipper has advocated for a IPL window to be scheduled by ICC.

Hope the tournament does not see any problems with security, which was a big worry for many international stars.The opening ceremony will definitely be a huge spectacle, considering the nature of Lalit Modi. Let the games begin!!!

This edition will be one where many players will try to prove their point - there will be a re-auction next year and hence, the players will be eager. The favorites for this IPL - Kolkata Knight Raiders

PS - Grounds of IPL3 can be found here.

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Batsman to watch out in IPL3 is Yusuf Pathan

Zaheer Khan said that bowlers will play a big role in IPL3. That might be his thought before the tournament which could be true during this tournament.

One man who will play a huge role in this version of the tournament would be Yusuf Pathan, considering his recent form.

He was the leading player in the first version of IPL, scoring 435 runs at a strike-rate of 179. The previous version was not so productive but still Yusuf was the 2nd highest scorer for his team with a strike-rate of 133.

In the last one month, the scores he has come up with include:

• Duleep Trophy final - a double-century that helped West Zone defeat South Zone - 19 fours and 10 sixes - his last first-class match after scoring 108 (off 76 balls) containing 12 fours and 5 sixes
• Vijay Hazare league match - a century of 40 balls for Baroda - 8 fours and 10 sixes
• Deodhar Trophy final - 80 off just 39 balls - 3 fours and 9 sixes

Yusuf played an effective, if minor role in the legend Sachin Tendulkar's double-century  - MS Dhoni was happy that Yusuf had a quick-fire 81 run partnership with SRT - MSD knew that this knock would have taught Yusuf a lot more than what he had learnt in his cricketing career so far.

The Indian team needs Yusuf to fire - the need has become desperate now. Gone are the days when Dhoni used to blast attacks - the team needs a strong No.7 who does what MSD used to do earlier. This role should be occupied by Yusuf Pathan.

His drop earlier from the ODI squad has made him hungry and determined to score big runs. He has always enjoyed playing under the leadership of Shane Warne - one will see the big runs once again this IPL. Let us hope this happens as per my plan, so that the Indian team gets a striker for the T20 World Cup.

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IPL - feedback

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The twitterverse throws up very interesting feedback on what people think about IPL - some selections provided below:

• anishmohan If #IPL can make more money by joining hands with bookies, they definitely need 2 do that
•  shripalgandhi made enquiries for #ipl3 tkts...east/west stands priced @ 500 and 1000. those seats suck! better ones priced at @ 3k and 5k! too expensive! 
• good one for a change - nithin1989 waiting for ipl3....atleast time we ll b out of boredom...

What this says is very clear - IPL as a concept is no doubt the winner all over the cricketing globe but everyone is sick and tired of the business model. Of course, everyone wants to make money but Mr.Modi, spare a thought for the viewers also - if you change your attitude, there will be more fans to the IPL. 


Thanks everyone - I will continue this trend on including your tweets in my blog. If you do not like it, please let me know.

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Countdown starts for IPL3

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IPL3 is all set to start and the countdown has begun already. Reviews of the various franchise teams are on TV and all websites. Lalit Modi is busy as ever, twittering away to glory. Players from all countries are likely to join this version (though the high-profile Aussies will most likely stay away).

Shane Warne, Damien Martyn are already in town - finalizing their teams while Greame Smith is on his way (with his other team-mates).

The Caribbeans are finishing the ODI series against Zimbabwe before they board the flights to India - in fact, some of the players like Bravo, DR Smith are playing T20 in Oz right now.

The Indians must have been happy with the free time they have received, recuperating from injuries (Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan) while some played the Salil Ankola Benefit match. The domestic series (Deodhar Trophy) is being played out - finishing off in the next few days.

The Kiwis will wrap up their ODI series against Aussies at home before landing in India - the IPL is definitely one of the reasons the players feel safe (financially).

The English side is getting into test-mode against Bangladesh very soon - the ODI/T20 specialists thus are available to come over - Owais Shah, Bopara, Flintoff being few of them.

Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will miss out - probably one or two of the players from the latter 2 countries will play a match.

The selectors from the teams will be eyeing the IPL for new talent that might emerge out of nowhere. The captains must be hoping that their players get good practice at the same time praying for the absence of injuries.

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IPL - what to look forward to

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Harsha Bhogle has come out with his thoughts on what he is looking forward to, in IPL3. There were quite a few innovations in IPL2, if you remember.

While he talks about most of the innovations (slower/faster ball, scoops/paddles, wicket-keepers, captains), one point that he has probably missed out is the time-outs and how it will impact the concentration of the batting team.The teams are allowed to choose when to have the time-out (just like the NBA matches). This will become as critical as the PowerPlay in ODI matches. Teams will struggle to find the right time to take the time-out.

Another point to notice is the presence of dew in night-matches - how is Lalit Modi going to ensure that it does not play such a major impact?

The presence of Windies players will be an added attraction in this season of IPL - the performances of players like Pollard, Roach, Tonge will determine how the remaining players of the Caribbean will be awarded contracts in future versions of IPL.

The other innovation that I would like to see in IPL3 is the use of a Super-Sub - remember this not too long time ago?

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The casualties of IPL

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Today, the main news-item of the day was about Mutthiah Muralithara - he plans to bid adieu to test matches after the West Indies tour.

Few days back, it was Brett Lee.

Andrew Flintoff fears that he may not play again.

Earlier, Matthew Hayden spent a season in IPL and jeopardized his chances to play for his country - finally, tendering his resignation.

The common thread between all of them - IPL. Is Mr. Lalit Modi bothered? Not at all.

Only when an Indian player follows the players above, the BCCI will wake up. Till then, the Modi-dom will rule and he is allowed to talk about 'test cricket'...

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