Cape Cobras (South Africa)
South Africa’s Twenty20 champions are a strong side with experience in the form of Herschelle Gibbs, Jean-Paul Duminy and Charl Langeveldt but the loss of Graeme Smith with injury will impact on their chances.

Deccan Chargers (India)
The IPL champions will be the tournament favourites with home advantage and four overseas players to call upon. Adam Gilchrist still has plenty to offer in Twenty20 cricket while for Andrew Symonds this is now his main mode of employment.

Delhi Daredevils (India)
Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir make up the world’s best opening partnership at the moment and Dirk Nannes, the Australian fast bowler, has emerged as an unlikely star in Twenty20 cricket. Glenn McGrath was on Tuesday confirmed as Paul Collingwood’s replacement. Look out for Owais Shah too.

Diamond Eagles (South Africa)
The weaker of the two South African franchises and Sussex will look to beat them to advance to the second round. Short on big names but have won three domestic trophies over the past four years.

New South Wales Blues (Australia)
Seven members of their squad played a part during the recent Australia tour to England and outside of the Indian sides they are the next strongest team. Phillip Hughes certainly has something to prove and Brett Lee relishes playing in India.

Otago Volts (New Zealand)
Outsiders but with Brendon McCullum and England’s Dimitri Mascarenhas they have plenty of Twenty20 experience and skill. Hamish Rutherford, son of former New Zealand captain Ken, is a young player who could emerge during this tournament.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (India)
No Kevin Pietersen but they probably don’t mind that — after his departure during this year’s IPL the team improved under Anil Kumble and reached the final. Jacques Kallis has turned himself into a good Twenty20 bowler while Ross Taylor and Mark Boucher provide strength in the middle overs.

Somerset (England)
Beaten Twenty20 Cup finalists, but thanks to the experience of Justin Langer and Marcus Trescothick, they probably have a better of chance of progression than Sussex. Peter Trego is one of the best Twenty20 players on the county circuit and James Hildreth and Craig Kieswetter have England credentials to prove.

Sussex (England)
The loss of Matt Prior (rested) and Murray Goodwin (ineligible) have hurt them deeply and left much resting on the powerful hitting of Luke Wright. Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla will be a key figure and Dwayne Smith is capable of match-winning contributions.

Trinidad & Tobago (West Indies)
At first glance the weakest of the teams but were too good for Middlesex at last year’s Stanford Challenge and the Bravo brothers, Dwayne and Darren, are capable performers. Left-arm leg spinner Dave Mohammed has a good Twenty20 record and captain Daren Ganga is probably the best skipper in West Indies cricket.

Victorian Bushrangers (Australia)
England know all about Cameron White’s ability with the bat while David Hussey and Brad Hodge are two of Twenty20 cricket’s better batsmen. The bowling is light and will be carried by Peter Siddle and Bryce McGain, a 37-year-old spinner mauled by the South Africans on his Test debut.

Wayamba Elevens (Sri Lanka)
A very strong side. Hammered Sussex in a warm-up match earlier this week and have a healthy smattering of Sri Lankan internationals including Mahela Jayawardene and Ajantha Mendis, while there is plenty of talk about young batting prospect Mahela Udawatte.

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There will be four groups of three teams each and they will play each other on a league basis. From each group, top two teams will qualify for second stage and thereafter four teams will qualify for the semi finals.

There will be a total of 23 matches and the teams will be divided into four groups of three each to play on a league basis before the top two teams from each group move on to the second stage. The four top teams from there will play the semi-finals.

Group A: Deccan Chargers (India), Somerset CCC (England), Trinidad & Tobago (West Indies)

Group B: New South Wales (Australia), Diamond Eagles (South Africa), Sussex Sharks (England)

Group C: Royal Challengers Bangalore (India), Cape Cobras (South Africa), Otago Volts (New Zealand)

Group D: Delhi Daredevils (India), Victoria (Australia), Wayamba (Sri Lanka)

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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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Middlesex Crusaders of England will challenge Victoria Bushrangers of Australia in the opening match of the Champions League Twenty20 to be held in India in December.

The draws and fixtures were announced tonight in a glittering function here, which also saw the presentation of the inaugural T20 Champions Awards. All the Matches from the Twenty20 Champions League 2008 will be broadcasted Live on ESPN, Star Sports & Star Cricket.
The Eight Teams have been divided into two groups:

Group A
Chennai Super Kings (IPL T20 runners-up)
Victoria Bushrangers (Australia)
Pretoria Titans (South Africa)
Middlesex Crusaders (England)

Group B

Rajasthan Royals (IPL T20 champions)
Sialkot Stallions (Pakistan T20 champions)
Western Warriors (Western Australia)
Natal Dolphins. (South Africa)

December 2008

Wed 3
16:00 local, 10:30 GMT  Group A – Middlesex v Victoria
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
 
Wed 3 
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT  Group B – Dolphins v Rajasthan Royals
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
 
Thu 4
16:00 local, 10:30 GMT  Group B – Sialkot Stallions v Western Australia
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
 
Thu 4 
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT  Group A – Chennai Super Kings v Victoria
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
 
Fri 5
16:00 local, 10:30 GMT  Group A – Middlesex v Titans
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
 
Fri 5 
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT  Group B – Rajasthan Royals v Sialkot Stallions
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
 
Sat 6
12:00 local, 06:30 GMT  Group B – Dolphins v Western Australia
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
 
Sat 6
16:00 local, 10:30 GMT  Group A – Titans v Victoria
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
 
Sat 6 
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT  Group A – Chennai Super Kings v Middlesex
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
 
Sun 7
12:00 local, 06:30 GMT  Group B – Dolphins v Sialkot Stallions
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
 
Sun 7
16:00 local, 10:30 GMT  Group B – Rajasthan Royals v Western Australia
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
 
Sun 7 
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT  Group A – Chennai Super Kings v Titans
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
 
Mon 8 
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT  1st Semi-Final – TBC v TBC
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Group B winners v Group A runners-up 

Tue 9 
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT  2nd Semi-Final – TBC v TBC
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Group A winners v Group B runners-up 

Wed 10 
20:00 local, 14:30 GMT  Final – TBC v TBC
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

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Everything you wanted to know about the Indian Premier League

What is the Indian Premier League?
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a franchise-based Twenty20 competition organised by the BCCI, and it has official sanction since it has the backing of the ICC. It features the world’s best cricketers playing – their affiliation decided by open auction – for eight city-based franchises, owned by a host of businessmen and celebrity consortiums. The inaugural edition of the tournament will run from April 18 to June 1.

What are the logistics of the IPL?
The tournament will begin on April 18, when the Bangalore Royal Challengers take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The tournament will feature 59 matches in total, the teams playing each other on a home-and-away basis. Click here for the full list of fixtures.

Why is the IPL generating such a buzz?
Two main reasons why. One the football-club concept of the IPL, which is unlike anything cricket has known. The best players from across the world playing not according to nationality but according to market forces. Second, the sheer financial scale of the IPL is unprecedented at this level of cricket. The BCCI has already made close to US$ 1.75 billion solely from the sale of TV rights ($908 million), promotion ($108 million) and franchises (approximately $700 million). Players are expected to earn close to US$1 million for a three-year contract. It’s an entire cricket economy out there.

Who are the top cricketers involved?
The IPL has the top current players who will feature in its inaugural tournament, with the likes Mahendra Siggh Dhoni, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Shoaib Akhtar, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Yuvraj Singh, and Matthew Hayden participating. England will have only one representative in Dimitri Mascarenhas because the IPL will clash with their domestic season, while Australia’s Michael Clarke has opted to focus on his regular cricket.

Who are the franchise owners – celebrities and others?
Mukesh Ambani, the Reliance Industries chairman, acquired the Mumbai franchise for $111.9 million over a 10-year period; beer and airline baron Vijay Mallya, who also owns a Formula 1 team, won the Bangalore franchise for $111.6 million; Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment won the Kolkata franchise for $75 million; the biggest surprise was the Chandigarh franchise, which went to Preity Zinta, another Bollywood star, and Ness Wadia, together with two other industrialists, for $75 million. The winning team will get richer by $3 million if they win the first edition of the tournament.

How are the players paired with teams?
The BCCI conducted a player auction on February 20, in which the respective franchises bid for a maximum of eight international players from pool of 89 players who had been contracted to the board. But Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Yuvraj Singh were not up for auction as they had been given ‘iconic’ status by the BCCI – which means that they had to represent the city in which they are based. Another exception to the bidding process was with regard to the Australian players – a clause in the rules of Cricket Australia meant that each team could select a maximum of two Australians.

Who were the top draws at the IPL’s player auction on February 20?
India’s ODI captain Dhoni and Australia allrounder Andrew Symonds were the big buys at the auction in Mumbai, with the Chennai franchise buying Dhoni for US$1.5 million and Hyderabad bidding successfully for Symonds at US$1.3 million. India’s young stars Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary together fetched nearly US$3 million. But Australian legends Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath were not so lucky as Jaipur bagged the legspinner for US$450,000 and Delhi took home McGrath for his base price of US$350,000.

What about the second auction on March 11?
The IPL conducted a second auction on March 11 for an additional list of 28 players [including 14 from India's Under-19 players - bought on the basis of a draft system] who had signed on with them after the first round of auctions were completed. But the franchises who had spent the least in the first auction were in a better position to buy as the major buyers from the first auction had almost reached their spending cap of $5 million. The most expensive player on the day was James Hopes, the Australian allrounder, who was purchased by Mohali for $300,000. Jaipur, the lowest spenders in the first auction, snapped up Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shane Watson, Morne Morkel and Sohail Tanvir for a total of $385,000. The biggest name traded on the day was Misbah-ul-Haq, who was signed by the Bangalore franchise for $150,000.

What will be the team names?
As of March 12, six of the eight franchises have announced their teams names and unveiled their jerseys and logos: Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Bangalore Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians, Hyderabad – Deccan Chargers, and Mohali – Punjab Kings 11.

When do the teams have to announce their line-ups for the first edition of the IPL?
The BCCI has set March 18 as the deadline for the eight teams to announce their final line-ups for the inaugural edition of the IPL.

Who will coach the eight IPL teams?
The IPL has lured some of the top names in the business with three Australians, one South African and one New Zealander signing up as coaches. Kolkata roped in former Australia coach John Buchanan and Mohali signed up former Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody, while Delhi recruited Victoria coach Greg Shipperd. Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe was the big surprise for Bangalore before Chennai announced that they had bagged former South Africa captain Kepler Wessels as coach. India’s fielding coach Robin Singh will coach Hyderabad and Jaipur named Shane Warne as their captain and coach while Mumbai are yet to reveal their cards.

Whose idea is the IPL?
The IPL is the brainchild of Lalit Modi, the vice-president of the BCCI, and is modeled along the lines of club football in Europe, specifically the English Premier League. Though there is a school of thought that the idea came about in the 1990s, the announcement that such a tournament would happen, and which it would be a precursor to Twenty20 Champions League, cricket’s version of the European Champions League, came only after Subhash Chandra, the owner of Zee Televison said, in April last year, that he was intending to start an unofficial league called the Indian Cricket League, fuelling speculation that is was a reactive idea rather than a proactive one.

How different are the IPL and ICL to each other?
The IPL is an official sanctioned Twenty20 tournament, and unlike the ICL, which is not recognised by any of the national boards or the ICC, it will have a better status, international reach, players, and the requisite infrastructure by default. Since the IPL is sanctioned by the ICC, players don’t have the danger of bringing their international/first-class careers to a halt – as is the case with the ICL – whose players have been banned by the various boards. Another major difference is with regard to franchises – the ownership of the team rests with the individual owners and not one single entity.

The IPL Teams Official Logos and Team’s Official Websites

Mohali – Kings XI Punjab

http://www.kings11punjab.com

Delhi DareDevils

http://www.delhidaredevils.com

Kolkata Knight Riders

http://www.kolkataknightriders.com

Jaipur – Rajasthan Royals

http://www.rajasthanroyals.com

Mumbai Indians

http://www.themumbaiindians.com/

Hyderabad – Deccan Chargers

http://www.deccanchargers.com

Chennai Super Kings

http://www.chennaisuperkings.com

Bangalore Royal Challengers

http://www.royalchallengers.com/

Read More about IPL at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Premier_League

http://www.indianpremierleague.com/

http://www.iplt20.com

http://www.iplmag.com

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