Till yesterday speculations were ripe that Current Pakistan T20 Skipper Shahid Afridi will be the hottest pick in this 3rd IPL Players Auction & the 8 franchises will bid tough to get him in their squads, But Surprisingly it was the Hard Hitting All – Rounder from Trinidad and Tobago,  Kieron Pollard who walked away with this honour as Mukesh & Nita Ambani owned Mumbai Indian’s bought out Pollard for a huge sum of USD $750,000 only after they quoted the top bid in a historical Tie- breaker bid round in which along with Mumbai Indians, Pollard was aggresively sought after by Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Shane Bond – The Top Speedster from New Zealand who marks his foray into the Indian Premier League after decamping from the ICL, was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a sum of USD $750,000 which they won in a silent Tie-Breaker Bid Round along with Deccan Chargers.

Losing Bond to Kolkata Knight Riders did not dent the hopes of Deccan Chargers as they decided to buy another young promising fast bowler – Kemar Roach of the West Indies for  a staggering amount of USD $7,50,000. The same amount as Pollard and Bond. Roach’s claim to fame is the series Down Under in Australia where he consistently troubled Ricky Ponting with short pitched deliveries, Deccan Chargers will be hoping that he spearheads their opening pace attack alongside the Indian Left armer R.P Singh & they might replace him in the place of his West Indian Team mate Fidel Edwards who unfortunately did not have too much of a good outing for the Chargers in last year’s IPL, which eventually was won by Deccan Chargers.

Another Young Cricketer alongside Roach who was sold for a much higher price than the base price was South African left arm fast bowler – Wayne Parnell,  he was bought by Delhi Daredevils for a price of USD $610,000. Eoin Morgan, the England batsman, was picked up by Bangalore Royal Challengers  for USD $220,000. Mohammad Kaif, the only Indian up for auction, went unsold in the first round of bidding but was later signed up by Kings XI Punjab for $ USD 250,000.

Ex International & Former ICL Stars Justin Kemp and Damien Martyn from South Africa and Australia were sold at their base price each since barring 2 franchisees, no other franchisee bid for them & eventually Kemp was bought by Chennai Super Kings & Damien Martyn by Rajasthan Royals, both were sold at their base price of USD $ 100,000.

Thissara Perera was the Only Sri Lankan who was bought by  Chennai SuperKings for USD $50,000, Adam Voges makes his IPL Debut with Rajasthan Royals who bought him for USD $ 50,000, and Yusuf Abdulla’s Contract was again bought by his previous team – Priety Zinta & Ness Wadia owned Kings XI Punjab for a sum of USD $ 50,000.

Only three of India’s Under-19 players, priced at Rs. 800,000 each, were eligible to play in the IPL and they were chosen by a draft system. Bangalore picked U-19 captain Ashok Menaria, Deccan went for Harmeet Singh and Mumbai opted for Harshal Patel.

But The Major Controversy of the entire IPL 2010 Auction was the fact that not a single Pakistani player of the 11 on the auction list – including several of the World Cup-winning team – were completely ignored by all the franchises, ironically the 1st player whose name was called in the Auction was Pakistan T20 Skipper Shahid Afridi, but to a major surprise – No Franchisee bid for him, The same fate greeted other promising cricketers from Pakistan including Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamir, Sohail Tanvir,  Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naveed and Imran Nazir. None of the 8 franchises were keen to buy any Pakistani Player into their squads.

Afridi was shocked and in an interview with the Press stated – “The way I see it, the IPL and India have made fun of us and our country,” he said. “We are the Twenty20 world champions and for me the attitude of the franchises was disappointing. I feel bad for the Indian people who, I am sure, wanted to see us play in the IPL this year.”

Abdul Razzaq, the allrounder, said politics and sports should be kept separate. “They have basically tried to hurt our cricket and image and this is most disappointing because I believe there should be no politics in sports,” Razzaq was quoted as saying by PTI. “In the end it is the IPL which has lost out because the fact is our players have star value and are the best in T20 cricket.”

Sohail Tanvir, the best bowler in the inaugural IPL and an instrumental part of the Rajasthan Royals’ title win, wondered why so much effort was put into getting the clearance from his country’s board and government if none of the franchises wanted to buy Pakistan players.

“They mean to say none of our players are good enough to be in the IPL,” Tanvir said. “I am sorry to say the franchises have taken a decision not based on cricketing sense but on political grounds which is a shame and has hurt the image of the sport.”

Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said the apprehension over the availability of Pakistan players was the main reason for them being unsold. “Franchises are no more ready to spend $7-8 million on someone who won’t be available for the tournament,” he said. “It not only exhausted their purse but also wasted slots. They want only those players who would be available for the tournament. They are spending money and they want to get the results.”

Shilpa Shetty, the co-owner of Rajasthan, echoed Modi’s words. “We were not convinced about their availability and that’s why we did not want to take any risk,” she said. “If someone is not going to be available, why bid for him.” She also said that though they had watched Tanvir over the past year, they were looking for a batsman.

The co-owner of Kings XI Punjab, Ness Wadia, had a different take, pinning the non-sale of Pakistan players to the lack of open slots for the franchises – 67 players were auctioned for only 13 vacancies. “I do not think that the Pakistan players were ignored purposely,” he said. “Many Australian players were too not auctioned. In fact, last year we suffered because of Australia.”

“Given the current relationship between India and Pakistan, we didn’t want to take a risk,” said a franchise official. “Imagine if we filled up two slots [out of 10] with Pakistani players and were then told that they couldn’t travel, or that their security couldn’t be guaranteed.”

The Fact That All the Pakistani players were ignored by the IPL franchises despite being the current T20 Champions proved that the Current Volatile relations between India & Pakistan, and Politics played a major role which as a result proved that IPL as a major sporting event was marred by Politics, and no franchisee was willing to take their chances of buying Pakistan Players at huge prices only to lose them in the end because of a political reason.

The End Result – Cricket Fans might suffer and they will surely miss seeing the current T20 Champions and talented stars like Afridi, Gul, Razzaq & Aamir playing in this year’s IPL.

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Surprisingly tickets for the first semi final at Delhi are priced higher than the final on October 23 at Hyderabad.

**UPDATE** A Word Document (.doc) has been uploaded which contains information on all the Cafe Coffee Day Outlets, UCO Bank Branches & other Outlets which are selling the Airtel Champions League T20 2009 Tickets in Bangalore, New Delhi & Hyderabad. Please Download the list from the below link and head to the nearest outlet to buy the Airtel Champions League T20 2009 Tickets Now.

Click Here to Download Airtel Champions League T20 2009 Ticket Outlets List To Buy Airtel Champions League T20 Tickets in Bangalore, Hyderabad and New Delhi

To witness the Delhi match, on October 21, the fans would have to shell out between Rs 400 and 1500 for the lower denomination tickets and Rs 6000 for the premium ones, a media release said.

At Hyderabad, the entry fee for the second semi final (October 22) and final will range from Rs 250 and 2000 for the lower end tickets and Rs 3000 for the premium ones. Champions League chairman Lalit Modi expressed confidence that the pricing would boost ticket sales. “The attractive ticket-pricing should be a huge impetus for fans to come and see some of the finest cricketing talents in the world display their prowess on the field,” Modi said.

Click Here To Book and Buy Airtel Champions League T20 Tickets

Click Here to Download Airtel Champions League T20 2009 Ticket Outlets List To Buy Airtel Champions League T20 Tickets in Bangalore, Hyderabad and New Delhi

Venue locations have clearly been a factor in the pricing of tickets. Which is why tickets for the first semifinal in Delhi on 21 October cost more than the for the finals on 23 October at Hyderabad.

Tickets for the first semi-final at Delhi have been priced between Rs 400 and Rs 1500, with the first floor Southern Stand priced at Rs 6000. Tickets for the second semi-final and grand final at Hyderabad are on sale – they have been priced between Rs 250 and Rs 2000, with the ground floor on the South Stand priced at Rs 3000. Tickets for the second semi-final in Delhi will be available shortly.

Click Here To Book and Buy Airtel Champions League T20 Tickets

The CLT20 has also announced special hospitality packages for corporates at all the three venues. The Corporate Hospitality packages will include five-star catering, a complimentary spirits and beverages service, limited parking and exclusive Champions League memorabilia. Corporate Hospitality packages in Bangalore will range from $ 15,300 for a box of 15 seats for the entire season, going up to $ 51,000 for a box of 50 seats.Similarly, hospitality packages for the new club house corporate boxes in Delhi will range from $ 25,700 for a box of 21 seats, to $ 39,183 for a corporate box of 32 seats for the entire season. Corporate hospitality packages for the North Block at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium at Hyderabad have been priced at $ 30,612 for a box of 25 seats, while the South Block corporate boxes at the ground level have been priced at $ 20,408 for 25 seats. The corporate boxes at the second level of the South Block have been priced at $ 40,816 for a box of 25 seats. All the hospitality packages can be booked directly with the Airtel Champions League Twenty20, through Ms. Poorna Patel at clt20hospitality@bcci.tv

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The new tournament dates are October 8-23, with 23 matches scheduled and $US6 million in prize money up for grabs. A draw will be held on June 23 in London to decide the fixtures.

The teams will be divided into four groups of three each and will initially play each other on a league basis. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the second stage and four teams from the second stage would make it to the semi-finals, it was announced on Sunday.

The tournament was scheduled to be held in India last year but was postponed because of the Mumbai attacks.

Deccan Chargers ( IPL 2009 Champion) The Royal Challengers (IPL 2009 Runner Up), and Delhi Daredevils (Top League Finisher in IPL 2009) will represent India, Victoria and New South Wales will represent Australia, while the Cobras and Eagles will the two South African teams. Otago from New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago from West Indies and Wayamba from Sri Lanka.

The two English teams will be decided after the domestic Twenty20 championship, which ends in August.

Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist said: “Champions League Twenty20 will provide a different level of stimulus as we will test our strength and our strategies against the best in the world.

“We are keen to make our club a global name and (there is) nothing better than winning the biggest league club cricket has to offer across the world.”

Anil Kumble, captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, said on the occasion: “We have achieved our first aim of qualifying for the Champions League Twenty20.We have learnt a lot by competing in the two editions of the IPL and are hopeful that we will do India proud by holding the Champions League Twenty20 trophy later this year.”

Lalit Modi, chairman, Champions League Twenty 20, said, “The inaugural edition did not take place last year due to unfortunate circumstances but we are fully equipped this time around to conduct an extremely successful tournament in India.

Manu Sawhney, managing director, ESPN Star Sports, said, “Today, we are the biggest stakeholder in the game of cricket globally and with our strong brands, we are well placed to fully leverage and exploit multiple opportunities across platforms and markets.”

The League will carry a prize pool of $ 6 million for 2009. ESPN Star Sports are the commercial rights holders for the League for a period of 10 years. The tournament is a joint venture by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA).

Log on to SportsPundit for more Cricket Updates Latest Information on Cricketers and all the latest news and updates from the English County Cricket Series

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Book Tickets For IPL Season 2 in South Africa

 The Indian Premier League has announced the sale of online tickets for the second season in South Africa starting April 18.

The tickets for the double-header in Cape Town on April 18 are priced between South African Rand 50 for students to Rand 200/150 for the grand stands and are inclusive of the opening ceremony. Kingsmead in Durban hosts 16 games, the most for a single venue, and the tickets are priced between Rand 25 for students to Rand 150 for the grand stands.

Click Here To Book Your Tickets Now Online For IPL Season 2 in South Africa via CompuTicket

The organisers have focused on making the tickets affordable, in order to attract youngsters to the event. The tournament had to be moved out of India due to the general elections in the country.

The prices are relatively cheaper in the smaller venues like East London, Port Elizabeth, Kimberley and Bloemfontein, ranging between Rand10 and Rand 75.

“We had promised our fans in the Rainbow Nation of a non-stop cricket carnival and the attractive ticket pricing,” Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said. “I think should be a huge impetus for fans to come and see some of the best cricketing talent in the world, display their prowess on the field.” Fans can avail tickets at the official website http://www.computicket.com.

TICKETS for the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament will go on sale at various outlets around Port Elizabeth from Monday.

The IPL will explode into action in Cape Town on Saturday, April 18, with the first match at Sahara Oval St George‘s being played two days later.

The opening clash in Port Elizabeth will feature the Chennai Super Kings and the Bangalore Royal Challengers, starting at 4.30pm.

Unreserved tickets will sell at R10 for children and R25 for adults. Tickets for the Duckpond Pavilion terrace will cost R50 and those for the top tier R75.

Fans will initially only be able to buy tickets for matches to be played in April. The tickets for May‘s fixtures will go on sale from April 15. Tickets can be bought at the ground and through Computicket.

The IPL expects to sell about 1,5 million seats at the eight venues during the tournament. The event will attract a global audience of more than two billion people during the 59 matches spread over 34 days.

The fixtures for Port Elizabeth are:

(All Timings mentioned below are South Africa Local  Time)

Monday, April 20: Chennai Super Kings v Bangalore Royal Challengers, 4.30pm.

Sunday, April 26: Bangalore Royal Challengers v Delhi Daredevils, 12.30pm.

Monday, April 27: Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians, 4.30pm.

Saturday, May 2: Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals, 12.30pm.

Sunday, May 3: Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab, 12.30pm.

Sunday, May 10: Mumbai Indians v Bangalore Royal Challengers, 12.30pm.

Saturday, May 16: Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians, 12.30pm.

Tickets Sold Out  For IPL Opener at Sahara Park, Newlands, Cape Town

The IPL in South Africa has got the best possible start as tickets for the opening day extravaganza have been sold out within two hours.

IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi told CNN-IBN that the unprecedented rush for tickets will result in a full house at Newlands, Cape Town on April 18.

“We are expecting a full house in Cape Town,” Modi told CNN-IBN on Friday. “From all the indications we had about slow sales and that it would take a few weeks to get the sales up, I’m happy to report that we went on radio to break the campaign with the sale starting this morning and the tickets were sold out within two hours.”

Modi said the IPL has a good opportunity to build a global fan base with the second edition in South Africa.

“I think the whole idea is of displaying the flavour of India all throughout the tournament,” he said. “We have a lot of entertainment and great cricket around, and the way we are selling it to the people of South Africa, they should come and embrace the teams. It’s a part of their life like you would support any other football team and make the teams known all across the world. We want to make sure that the stadiums are full and that’s our only objective right now, which is to build a fan base.”

Modi added that people from around the world have already signed up for the event. “We have had a good response. Kingfisher Airlines started its flights to Cape Town and there are some other airlines who are bringing in packages. We have had a few thousand tickets sold to Indian fans. In reality, we have had some 600-700 confirmed bookings, with a few hundred coming out of England itself. About 400 bookings have been confirmed from the Middle East and some people from Australia are also coming in.”

An extravagant opening ceremony will kick in cricket’s biggest carnival, followed by a double header. Chennai Super Kings take on the Mumbai Indians in the opening game, followed by defending champions Rajasthan Royals taking on the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

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As the official airline and travel partner to the DLF Indian Premier League, Kingfisher Airlines will extend its hospitality to not only all the teams and players of the DLF Indian Premier League but will also offer IPL fans in India the unique opportunity to travel to South Africa to root for their favourite teams participating in Season 2009 in South Africa.

Kingfisher Airlines is working in close consultation with the South African Tourism and three of the largest tour operators to offer cricket fans a unique once in a life time fare to experience cricket in the Rainbow Nation, an official release said. The airline is also working closely with IPL to ensure that all teams and support management get to “travel in style and convenience” between India and South Africa.
In addition to that fans can also savour the treasures of the Rainbow Nation with local sight-seeing tours conducted by expert tour operators and local guides to enhance their South African experience. Attractively priced IPL match tickets will ensure that fans from all across can fly and support their teams.

IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi says, “I am very pleased to have the country’s premier 5 star airline Kingfisher Airlines join us as our Official Airline and Travel Partner. I am certain that the IPL fans travelling to South Africa for Season 2009 will enjoy the 5 star hospitality of the airline while flying the good times to the Rainbow Nation. “Kingfisher’s decision to extend the association with the DLF IPL further bears testimony to the fact that there is a huge global fan following for the league and I am certain now that a lot of Indians will partake of this unique offer from Kingfisher Airlines to make the trip over to South Africa to enjoy an action packed Season 2009.”

Kingfisher Airlines chairman and CEO Dr. Vijay Mallya said, “We are delighted to extend our partnership with the DLF Indian Premier League as the official airline and travel partner for Season 2009. Fans can expect to fly the good times in the Rainbow Nation as they follow the fortunes of their favourite IPL teams in South Africa.”This extension of our agreement with the DLF Indian Premier League is further testimony of our commitment to Indian sports. I am certain that all the fans, players and officials of the DLF IPL will undoubtedly enjoy our hospitality and fly the good times during the thirty – six days of intense competition. I welcome all DLF IPL fans to sit back, relax and enjoy the Kingfisher experience.”

The DLF Indian Premier League is set to kick-off in Cape Town with a double-header weekend, which will see all eight teams pitted against each other. The double header on 18 April will see the winner of the inaugural season the Rajasthan Royals face-off against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, while the Mumbai Indians will do battle against the Chennai Super Kings. On 19 April the Deccan Chargers will face the Kolkata Knight Riders and the second game will see the Delhi Dare Devils take on Kings XI Punjab.

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Steyn said that the Twenty20 extravaganza will popularise the sport in South Africa and will help youngsters take up to the game. “Imagine what this will do for the youngsters of my country. When I was growing up, there were no World Cups in South Africa. I was excited just by the opportunity to watch Jonty Rhodes diving all over the place on television.

Now the kids of South Africa have a chance to go down to their local grounds and watch the best players in the world playing each other. There is already a real buzz in the country after the Test series against Australia, and this is just going to make it louder,” Steyn told a leading cricket website.

Steyn, who will play alongside team-mate Jacques Kallis, Kevin Pietersen and Rahul Dravid for the Bangalore Royal Challengers, conceded that the glitz and glamour of the first season would be difficult to replicate since the cricket season in South Africa is coming to an end.

“It will be interesting to see what can be achieved at such short notice,” he said. “The reception was amazing last year. We were really treated like rock stars everywhere we went. From my point of view, I am going to be happy to actually show my friends and family what I was talking about last year. Explaining it to them is one thing, but showing them is another.”

Graeme Smith, who is fast gaining a reputation of modern cricket’s most courageous captain, feels cricket fans in South Africa will get the chance to experience India’s culture.

“This is wonderful news for the growth of our cricket and for the growth of our country. It will also give our fans the chance to experience India’s cricketing culture.”

Smith will turn out for defending champions Rajasthan Royals, who won the title last year under the astute leadership of spin bowling legend Shane Warne.

IPL in SA will be big hit, says Pietersen

England batsman and former skipper Kevin Pietersen on Wednesday backed South Africa as the choice for second edition of the Indian Premier League and hoped the Twenty20 extravaganza will be highly popular in the rainbow nation.

Pietersen, who has been bought by IPL’s Bangalore Royal Challengers team for a whopping $1.55 million, feels the good weather and hard pitches will add to the attraction of the 37-day tournament in its new venue.

“The weather will be good, the pitches will be hard and there should be some exciting cricket with some really big scores, which is what T20 is all about.

“England would have been a great host for the tournament as well, but now they’ve made the decision to go to South Africa I think everybody will get behind it and turn it into another massive event,” the 28-year-old cricketer was quoted as saying in ‘The Mirror’.

South African-born Pietersen, who will lead the Bangalore Royal Challengers while he is playing, exuded confidence that the event will be a huge success in South Africa.

“It will be great fun. The South African public love their Twenty20 and I’m sure it will be another great spectacle, like the World T20,” Pietersen said.

“Having some family back in South Africa means I will get the best of both worlds. We’ll play in front of some passionate fans,” he added.

Vettori Would Had Liked To Play IPL in India –
“It’s disappointing it’s not in India. The guys love going over there and touring,” Vettori said; Vettori was also skeptical about how the IPL would be received in South Africa.”One of the most exciting bits about the tournament was you got to play in front of 50-60,000 people who are tremendously excited about the game,” he was quoted as saying in a New Zealand Press Association report “We probably won’t have those sorts of crowds. It will take a little bit away from it, but the important thing is the games are being played,” said Vettori, who plays for Delhi Daredevils.”It’s pretty late to be playing cricket in South Africa, but the pull of international players should make it as good a tournament as it was in India,”
“Delaying the tournament is the best thing for us, otherwise most guys would have hopped on a plane after the last day of the Test match and that can be quite tough on you,” he said.

“Now that it’s concrete I think everyone’s settled and pretty happy.”

His teammate Ross Taylor hailed the shifting of IPL venue, saying, “If you’re dead you can’t earn any money. Life’s obviously more important than earning cash.”
“I was still not sure whether I was going to go or not. If they said it was safe I would have gone and if they said no then I wouldn’t have. It’s good to be taken out of our hands and for it to be played in South Africa or England ,” the batsman was quoted as saying by SportToday.

IPL’s Relocation Disappoints Shane Watson – Australian all-rounder Shane Watson is disappointed with the relocation of the Indian Premier League to South Africa as it will deny him a chance to play the Twenty20 event in front of passionate spectators in India.
“It’s extremely sad the IPL won’t be held in India. It is a beautiful country and the people there are absolutely fanatical about cricket. I think it will definitely be slightly different,” said Watson.

The BCCI decided to shift the cash-rich event out of India after government refused to assure adequate security to the tournament, dates of which were clashing with the general elections in the country.

The 27-year-old cricketer, who was named the competition’s best player in 2008 after helping the unfancied Rajasthan Royals clinch the inaugural trophy, hopes the shifting will not disturb the spirit of the tournament.

“But it’s still going to be an amazing tournament as it was last year.” Watson, who was immediately recalled to the Australian one-day side after last year’s IPL, again aims to use the tournament as a springboard to come back into the international arena.

“The IPL’s again come at the right time of my career to get back on the track,” Watson told the Fox Sports News.

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New Delhi, March 25:  The Indian Premier League and Sony entertainment television on Wednesday signed a new nine-year deal worth Rs. 8200 crore.
The deal, which has made Sony the official broadcaster for the lucrative T20 league, will stand till 2017.

Sony had leased the IPL`s subcontinent broadcast rights last year from WSG (India), who had won an original ten-year bid for USD 1.02 billion, and after termination of contract it was speculated that the BCCI`s Twenty20 league would have a new broadcaster for the second season.

“We had agreed on various commercial terms but if we agree to a non-terminable contract, we cannot terminate the arrangement even in case of a serious breach. No one can accept that,” IPL chairman Lalit Modi had told a cricket website.

It is learnt that talks between MSM and the BCCI have resulted in a “full and final” settlement on a new deal that will run for the remainder of the nine-year term the contract has to run with principal rights holder World Sport Group. The parties entered a new agreement after the legal dispute was taken out of court but did not materialise.

The original deal Sony-WSG committed to pay $918 million for the 10 year telecast rights plus an additional $108 million towards marketing and promotion expenses. In that deal, MSM had telecast rights for five years. This has been extended for a further five years.

Sony Max was retained but with a few amendments in the original deal. This was confirmed by highly placed sources after the IPL governing council meeting at the BCCI office in Mumbai on Sunday.

Under the new agreement, MSM will pay the IPL 18 per cent more than the amount in the original agreement and have managed to extend their five-year deal to 10. 

Problems first began to appear between BCCI and MSM when Reliance ADAG-owned Big TV, walked out of their Rs 137 crore sponsorship deal and MSM instead signed Airtel Digital as their on-air sponsor for DTH.

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DLF IPL Season 2 2009

 South Africa has edged out England to be named host nation of the 2009 IPL. The decision was made after a meeting between the IPL commissioner, Lalit Modi, and the Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive, Gerald Majola, in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The IPL also announced that a final schedule for the 59 matches and the host venues for the eight franchises will be released shortly.

“The South African public loves Twenty20 cricket and CSA successfully hosted the inaugural World Twenty20,” Modi said. “Both these factors weighed heavily in South Africa’s favour, and we look forward to a successful and exciting tournament being held at venues throughout South Africa.”"The South African public loves Twenty20 cricket and CSA successfully hosted the inaugural World Twenty20,” Modi said. “Both these factors weighed heavily in South Africa’s favour, and we look forward to a successful and exciting tournament being held at venues throughout South Africa.”

“We are very happy to confirm that South Africa will host the 2009 Indian Premier League,” IPL chairman Lalit Modi said in a statement following a meeting with Cricket South Africa.

The tournament will be held between April 18 and May 24, a delay of about one week from the original schedule of April 10, 2009. Modi thanked CSA for agreeing to host the Twenty20 event in such a short notice. Six venues have been identified for staging the eight-team tournament and the matches will start at 4 pm IST and 8 pm IST to make it convenient for Indian television viewers back home. The tournament will feature 59 matches as planned and the fixtures will be announced shortly.

Some Reasons on How South Africa got the nod to host IPL Season 2

1. The weather was the most important factor. The IPL realised that rain could seriously affect “as many as 70% of the matches” if the tournament was held in England.
2. Top officials within the South African government and Cricket South Africa gave assurances that the IPL will receive the full red carpet treatment.
3. Less logistical problems as South African domestic season concludes before the IPL’s scheduled start while in England the county season will just get underway. 
4. The cost of running the tournament in South Africa would be substantially less than in England. 
5. Supersport owns the rights both for the IPL and for international cricket played in South Africa while there would have been a clash between Sky TV and Setanta in England.  
   

Related News:

South Africa To Host IPL Season 2 – Cricinfo

Why South Africa Won The Rights To Host IPL – IBN Live

South Africa will  host the Second Edition of IPL – ExpressIndia

Why England Lost The IPL Race to South Africa – The Times of India

South Africa To Host IPL Season 2 – Lalit Modi – The Times of India

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Cricinfo – Champions League Postponed

Yahoo Sports – Champions League Postponed after Mumbai Terrorist Attacks

CricketNext – Champions League T20 Postponed after Mumbai Terrorist Attacks

ICL and Ranji Trophy also affected

* The ICL has called off its ongoing world series after a meeting with Gujarat government officials. “The [ICL] executive board decided it was not appropriate to continue,” Kiran More, a board member, told Cricinfo. “We were ready with the extra security but felt the atmosphere in the wake of the Mumbai events was just not right to go ahead with the matches.” The world series, involving India XI, Pakistan XI, Bangladesh XI and World XI, was scheduled to end on Saturday.

* The Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and Hyderabad, which was scheduled to start on November 29 in Mumbai, has also been postponed. The match will now be played between December 2 and 5.

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But the England and Wales Cricket Board has yet to confirm this and is expected to make an announcement later.

The final two one-day matches were cancelled on Thursday but Modi told BBC Sport the Tests would continue, with the second match moved from Mumbai.

Related News

Cricinfo – ODI’s Off but Tests will go ahead
BBC SPORT – India Bullish over England Tests
Yahoo Sports News – India vs England One Day Series Called Off
Reuters UK – England’s Test Matches vs India To Go Ahead – BCCI

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