E.R. RAMACHANDRAN writes: The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has signed a contract with Nimbus Corporation for a jaw-dropping $612 million. The BCCI’s present sponsorship and sale earnings are around Rs 3,354 crore, the breakup being: team sponsor Rs 415 crore, kit sponsor Rs 215 crore and media rights Rs 2,724 crore.

With all this money, what is BCCI’s plan for cricket in the country?

Or for that matter, the Indian Premier League’s?

IPL czar Lalit Modi recently announced his plans at a media conference.

Since time is money, and although the Indian and foreign media were invited, only three questions were allowed due to paucity of time. The function was held in the Taj Mahal hotel’s crystal ball room. The television rights of the 2-hour programme itself were auctioned for $ 50 million.

The members of each team flew into Bombay in their own brand-new “Air IPL” plane and helihopped to the Gateway of India.

After the now-mandatory gymnastics show by Chinese girls, songs by rapper Eminem, belly show by Shakira, Modi took the stage. He was accompanied to the stage by cheer girls of Vijay Mallya’s Royal Challengers.

After receiving a standing ovation from the glitterati, the IPL commissioner read out his vision of IPL over the next 5 years:

1. In IPL-3, three paying spectators will be ushered into their seats by their respective club’s cheer girls. A token charge of $25 or equivalent in rupees will be levied. This would generate the IPL revenue of additional $200 million.

2. There will be two breaks of 10 minutes after every 7 ½ overs. This will enable the cheer leaders to change their dress. It will also take care of complaint from spectators that they are tired of seeing the girls in the same dress for the entire duration of the match. The dressmakers will add $ 100 million to the IPL kitty every 7 ½ months.

3. IPL-4 will be held in grounds of all countries that play cricket. The host cricket boards will pay IPL a royalty of 10 million for each match. At least $200 million is expected as some matches will be played twice in a ground in one season.

4. An international cheer girls training school will be started in London before IPL5 Season. Umpire Billy Bowden will be the director. Since this is an honorary post, IPL will incur no expenses in the appointment.

5. The US cricket association wants to have IPL-7 matches in their cities. IPL will directly negotiate the media rights with CNN, ABC and NBC networks and we hope to get revenue of $ 1 billion at least. If President Barack Obama agrees to toss the coin for the inaugural match and the finals, the revenues will be doubled.

6. By the time we reach IPL-10, using stem cell research and human cloning, IPL intends to have look-alike robots for leading players like Sachin Tendulkar and Andrew Flintoff so that they don’t have to field. This also opens the door for superlative Twenty20 players of the past like Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Manjrekar to stage a comeback.

With his proposals now laid out, Modi threw open the floor to the media and invited the three questions.

Question 1: Mr Modi, this is regarding fielding, a term used in cricket wherein the fielders chase the ball and dive to stop the ball making it difficult for the batting side to score runs. Don’t you think that had India fielded well and their batsmen run faster between the wickets they could have easily become the No. 1 ODI team? Wasn’t the sacking of fielding coach Robin Singh inappropriate?

Modi: I don’t know what you are talking about? My guess is, you must be talking about the 2009 one- day series.  We have already moved on. I am in the 2014 IPL planning stage. I also don’t deal with the nitty-gritty of cricket administration any more.

Question 2: Mr Modi, what will happen to Test match cricket, I mean the classic cricket one plays with white pants and white shirts and a red ball for five days. It already looks dead now in 2009. I am afraid you will have to re-enter circa 2009 and answer my question.

Modi: I think the problem is with the dress. Let’s face it. How many of us wear a white pant and white shirt these days? Even while playing maidan or gully cricket? Everything has changed around. Isn’t it? We need to take a hard look at the dress and decide something on this. But again this comes under trivia.

Question 3: After planning IPL-50, Mr Modi what will you do with your time?

Modi: It is not easy organising these events in Moon or Mars. I have to make sure the logistics is just right no matter where we play.

Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Many cricket watchers outside of South Africa will not be too familiar with Loots Bosman, but South Africans are all too aware of just how capable he is in limited over cricket. Loots “The Hammer” Bosman is the leading batsman in the domestic Pro 20 Series, and is currently the only player to score a Pro 20 Series 100. After being out of action with knee ligament damage he has returned to action with a bang, scoring 58 and 94 in the two T20 internationals against England.

Bosman is not new to the South African set up, having played 12 ODI’s and 6 T20 games, with limited success in the 50 over format. In ODI’s he has only one 50, a score of 88, and has been less destructive than he can be, perhaps an indication of not having settled in international cricket at that level. However it seems he was born to play T20 cricket. Before today’s match he had an international record of 5 games, an average of 40.75 with an impressive strike rate of 153.77, and Fridays score of 58 being his highest. He also shared the best opening partnership record for South Africa, 146 that he and Smith put on against Pakistan. Today’s innings saw him and Smith better that record, and the world record, as they put on 175 from only 88 balls. Bosman’s innings of 94 is also the highest by a South African in T20 internationals, beating Gibbs 90 not out, and he now has the highest score in both South African domestic and international T20 cricket.

Domestically Bosman has played 34 Pro 20 Series matches, with an average of 34.66, a strike rate of 144.24, and a highest score of 104. That’s a record that would hold up with the best in the world. The freedom that he is allowed in T20 cricket is just what Bosman thrives on. While is record is impressive what he has shown in the last two games against England is that his game has gotten better. The freedom that is afforded to him, particularly with the relative newness of T20 cricket, has seen Bosman as a bit of gun slinging batsman, swinging for every ball. While this is an approach that has worked for him, his move from the Free-State Eagles, to the Kwa-Zulu Natal Dolphins, has seen Graham Ford working with him to build an innings. This was evident in both games, particularly in today’s master class, where he took a couple of overs to play himself in before launching, picking the balls to hit, rather than swinging for each one.

Hopefully the selectors for the Mumbai Indians have been watching these games. Bosman has been Indian for two years but is yet to play a game. The 4 non Indian players rule means that is tough to get into the side, particularly with the likes of Duminy, Malinga, Jayasuriya, Bravo and Mills in the squad. However there have been many opportunities to play Bosman but Ashraful, Napier and Ronchi have been picked ahead of him. Ronchi in particular has had many chances to prove himself but has failed to do so.

The talents of Bosman are obvious to all South Africans and will have been noted by others. If the Mumbai Indians continue to ignore these I’m sure other IPL teams will have no problems finding a place for the explosive hitter in their teams.

pic from cricinfo.com

Reports this morning confirm Andrew Flintoff has signed a new deal with Lancashire. Freddie will play one-day cricket for the Roses for the next three summers. The deal will also enable Flintoff to continue to play Twenty20 cricket in the IPL. The deal would enable him to play cricket in Australia, South Africa and the West Indies, as has been reported recently. There is no clarification wether the deal allows him to take part in stunt-based TV shows….

Read More Articles On: Cricket online betting, Cricket Betting Tips, Cricket betting picks, cricket betting, cricket betting odds

Board of Control for Cricket in India vice-president Rajiv Shukla on Monday said there is no possibility of resuming cricketing ties with Pakistan for the next 6-8 months.

“Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt met with BCCI president Shashank Manohar in Mohali today and they spoke about India Vs. Pakistan cricket. We explained to the PCB chairman that India has a busy international schedule in the coming few months and there is no space in the calendar to play Pakistan,” Shukla said in Mohali.

“We are playing Australia at the moment and after that we will play Sri Lanka . We will then take on South Africa followed by the Indian Premier League and the World Twenty20 , so there is no free space for the Indian team,” he added.

Shukla further pointed out that officials of the two boards would meet after eights months and discuss the possibility of resuming ties.

“But it would depend on how relations between the two countries are at that moment, and from there we will take it forward. Hopefully, the relations are cordial and peaceful then and government will also give us permission. But for now there is no possibility of playing against Pakistan,” he said.

PCB chairman Ejaz Butt had left for India last Wednesday to convince the BCCI and government officials to revive the cricket ties between the two countries, which were snapped following the Mumbai terror attacks.

The Indian team refused to undertake the scheduled tour against Pakistan early this year and also rejected suggestions to play their arch-rivals at a neutral venue.

Pakistan is struggling to get teams to play them at home following the terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in March this year.

They moved their home Test series to New Zealand late in November and will play two Tests against Australia in England next year.

GREAT Britain’s relegation to Europe/Africa Zone Group II of the Davis Cup only confirms the futility of national team tennis.

I do not mean it is futile to play as a team or to represent one’s country but that it is pointless to play as a national team.

I may be accused of sour grapes but personally I think the Davis Cup should be about competition and as far as I could tell from Britain’s latest defeat we are nowhere near being competitive without Andy Murray.

Andy Murray cannot win Davis Cup ties singlehandedly and nor should he. It is meant to be a team effort and Britain just doesn’t have a team.

Would it not be better, more competitive and more exciting if we left representing one’s nation at the Olympics and turned team tennis into more of a competitive league format?

Imagine having a league based around cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL).

You could have franchises of the world’s top players effectively playing the Davis Cup format of five rubbers with the winning team taking points at the end.

Teams could be made up of four top-class players, meaning fans don’t have to watch the world number 303 take on the world number 650.

Top ten players could be seeded with a maximum of two seeds allowed in each team so as to prevent one franchise setting up a team of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.

The remaining places in each team would be filled by players in the world’s top 50 – though only if bought by the owners of the franchise.

In all there could be eight teams of world-class players playing each throughout the year for the league title.

For me this would make team tennis much more exciting and would give tennis fans around the world the opportunity not only to see the world’s best players battle it out against each other but also alongside each other. Just imagine a doubles match of Federer/ Murray v. Nadal/ Djokovic – mouth-watering.

People will no doubt say the players schedules are already too full and the season too long but get rid of the Davis Cup and I wouldn’t be surprised if the world’s top 50 want to play first-class team tennis.

What do you think?

Though social media promotions are common in countries like the US and the UK, emerging economies like India too are accelerating into the new world of marketing. Not only businesses and the entertainment industry, but also the sports industry has started taking social media seriously – particularly Cricket, which is considered as a “religion” in India by many.

The Indian Premier League (IPL), a Twenty20 version of cricket, has earned tremendous popularity in India and several other cricketing nations. The format, which currently includes eight franchises in form of teams, comprises of professional players from different International cricket teams to compete for the tournament. Though these teams invest huge amount of money in offline promotions, some have turned up to online media since the last year after realizing its potential in connecting with the Cricket fans.

The latest example of a franchise that has stepped up its efforts on the social media front is Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), owned by business tycoon Vijay Mallya. The runner-up team of the second season of ‘DLF IPL’ has set up a platform for interested people to become a chief blogger, chief photographer and a chief RCB fan with an aim to build its fan club. The winners of the Fanatic Fans Challenge will get an opportunity to travel with the team to Airtel Champions League.

So, where does social media come into picture? The applicants will have to collect votes and testimonials from their friends, and support RCB to run a successful campaign on social media. Higher the competency level, higher would be their chances to get on-board with the team and experience this unique opportunity presented for the first time by any team so far.

Good friend Nidhi Makhija who works for a digital agency called Experience Commerce just sent me an email about the social media campaign for IPL’s Royal Challengers Bangalore, called the RCB Fanatic Fans Challenge.  If you’re a cricket fan or RCB follower you can apply now before the contest closes on 20th September.

Here is what Nidhi says,

It is the first type of campaign in Indian cricket history. The club is basically allowing fans to apply for the positions of chief blogger, photographer and RCB fan – and the three winners will tour Champions League with the RCB team itself next month. It’s a great opportunity for fans to meet their dream cricketers, and for sports bloggers & photographers & ‘fans’ (or YouTube-content-creating-lovers) to get real experience and mass exposure.

Once again a fantastic demonstration of how agencies are tapping on the potential of social media.  India is a cricket crazy country and die-hard fans are just going to love the opportunity of sharing stage with their favorite cricketers.  Without doubt this challenge is going to success and you’d soon see a social media success case study about the RCB Fantatic Fans challenge.

Don’t waste your time and apply now & if you are a blogger help the guys in spreading the word

1. India cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni: $10 million
2. Sachin Tendulkar: $8 million
3. Yuvraj Singh: $5.5 million
4. Rahul Dravid: $5 million
5. England’s Andrew Flintoff: $4 million
6. Sourav Ganguly & Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting: $3.5 million
7. Australia’s Brett Lee and English cricketer Kevin Pietersen: $3 million
8. Australian Michael Clarke: $2.5 million

Ricky Ponting has announced his retirement from international Twenty20 cricket in a bid to extend his Test and ODI playing career. Ponting will retain the captaincy of Australia’s Test and one-day sides and Michael Clarke is expected to take the reins of the Twenty20 outfit, although a formal decision on Ponting’s successor has not yet been made.

“After much thought and careful consideration I have advised Cricket Australia of my decision to retire from international Twenty20 cricket,” Ponting said in a statement. “I have also spoken to [chairman of selectors] Andrew Hilditch, [coach] Tim Nielsen and [vice-captain] Michael Clarke and I feel this decision provides me the opportunity to prolong my Australian Test and one-day career, an opportunity I am extremely determined about.

“As I said after the fifth Test in London, I am hoping to continue playing Test cricket for as long as possible and retiring from the Twenty20 format gives me the best chance of doing this. I will now have set periods of rest throughout the Australian summer and while touring which I feel will be very beneficial.”

Ponting will continue to fulfil his Indian Premier League contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders and will be available for Tasmania in the domestic Twenty20 competition. Ponting has played 17 Twenty20 internationals and the unbeaten 98 he scored in the first Twenty20 international remains the second-highest individual score in the format.

However, Ponting has been rested several times from Twenty20 matches with Clarke, Adam Gilchrist and Brad Haddin having all captained Australia in the short version. Ponting was keen to deliver Australia the ICC World Twenty20 title this year but their first-round exit meant they would have to wait until the next tournament in the Caribbean next year.

“We are very supportive of the decision Ricky has made and understanding of the reasons behind it,” James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s CEO, said. “Needless to say he will be a huge loss to the Twenty20 side but it does present opportunities for the other players and leaders within Australian cricket to gain further experience.

“While we have not seen much of Ricky in Australia’s Twenty20 matches in recent times, his innings in the first ever Twenty20 international against New Zealand at Auckland was probably the best innings I have ever seen in the Twenty20 form of the game.”

Cricket Australia said Ponting’s replacement as Twenty20 captain would not be announced until later in the year. Clarke led the side during the recent games in England but Australia do not have another Twenty20 international on their schedule until February 2010, when they take on Pakistan at the MCG.

Ponting has had a two-week break following Australia’s Ashes defeat and he flew out from Sydney on Monday to rejoin the squad in England for the remainder of the one-day series. After the loss at The Oval, Ponting raised the possibility of returning to England for the 2013 Ashes, when he would be 38, and he has also expressed his desire to lead Australia’s World Cup defence in 2011.

The Karnataka Premier League makes no attempt to hide the fact that it is a pathetic “Modi Xerox” copy of the Indian Premier League, which within two years is already tolling the bell for 50-over cricket, if not five-day Test crickret itself, while reducing a classy, civilised sport into a loud, rowdy circus.

IPL marries sport with business and entertainment with nary a worry for conflict of interest, so KPL marries business and entertainment with nary a worry for conflict of interest. IPL auctions players like prostitutes, so KPL auctions players like prostitutes.

IPL was the personal project, the cricketing arangetram of Lalit Modi, so KPL is the personal project, the cricketing arangetram of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, masterfully puppeteered by the dance-master, Brijesh Patel. And so on.

So, because IPL had a theme song, KPL also has to have a theme song or what it thinks is a “theme song”. This, then, is the mind-numbingly vacuous effort of composer Ricky Kej and lyricist Kaviraj, with Avinash Chebbi and M.D. Pallavi at the mike. The video director is Aloke Shetty.

What is remarkable in this “Phase I” video is: a) how the lyrics and visuals are completely devoid of anything called the gandha of Karnataka or the regions from where the players hail from. And b) how the tournament has little to do with cricket but twisting the teats of the clubhouse cash-cow till it hurts.

What you also wonder, looking at Erapalli Prasanna and B.S. Chandrashekhar and Syed Kirmani, is: is there anything our legends won’t do, say or endorse for a few extra bucks after a few extra pegs?

Take a bow, Anil Kumble.

Link via Pavan Murali

Also read: CHURUMURI POLL: Yella OK, andru KPL yaake?

Can’t South Indians play Twenty20 cricket?

Twenty20 cricket to promote 60-30 cricket?

Not many know that Shahrukh Khan, the biggest Bollywood superstar is graduated in Economics from Hans Raj College. King Khan revealed that he was very fond of Economics and scored 72 percent marks in graduation. Shahrukh Khan always dreamt of joining London School of Economics for higher studies but couldn’t accomplish his dreams due to his acting career.

sharukh khan

We are talking about Shahrukh’s dream to do higher studies from London School of Economics, it’s nothing to do with salman Khan‘s upcoming flick London Dreams.

No wonder Shahrukh is taking up business ventures including owing IPL team and staring his production house . Here comes an economist actor! SRK’s next venture Happy New Year will cast Juhi Chawla in the lead role.

Actor Salman Khan may be the owner of an IPL Team too now.He has evinced interest in owning an Indian Premier League (IPL) team by meeting Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner of IPL in Mumbai to discuss the possibility of buying one of the two new teams to be added to the tournament in the fourth season that will start in 2011.

The Mukesh Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians has so far been the most expensive acquisition at $112 million. Earlier this year, Raj Kundra and his partner Shilpa Shetty, acquired a 11.7% stake in the Jaipur franchise of the IPL, Rajasthan Royals, for $16.39 million valuing the franchise at $140 million.

The IPL, so far, has not yet decided which cities will be added, though names like Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Vishakhaptanam are doing the rounds. The city that gets the highest bidder will be the new IPL team.

Apart from Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan and Sanjay Dutt are also reportedly interested in owning IPL teams. The request for proposal and tender for the two new teams will be floated by December and the auction will take place in January 2010.

The teams are of IPL 2010 are:Deccan Chargers (DC), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Mumbai Indians (MI), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Delhi Daredevils (DD), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

March 12: DC v KKR in Hyderabad.

March 13: MI v RR in Mumbai/Nagpur; KXIP v DD at Mohali.

March 14: CSK v DC in Chennai; KKR v RCB in Kolkata.

March 15: RR v DD in Jaipur.

March 16: RCB v KXIP in Bangalore; KKR v CSK in Kolkata.

March 17: DD v MI in Delhi.

March 18: RCB v RR in Bangalore.

March 19: DC v KXIP in Vishakapatnam.

March 20: RR v KKR in Ahmedabad; MI v RCB (venue to be decided)

March 21: DD v DC in Delhi

March 22: MI v KKR (venue to be decided)

March 23: RCB v CSK in Bangalore.

March 24: KXIP v RR at Mohali.

March 25: KKR v DD in Kolkata.

March 26: CSK v MI in Chennai; RR v DC in Ahmedabad.

March 27: RCB v DD in Bangalore; KXIP v KKR at Mohali.

March 28: RR v CSK in Ahmedabad; DC v MI in Vishakapatnam.

March 29: DD v KKR in Delhi.

March 30: MI v KXIP in Mumbai/Nagpur.

March 31: CSK v RCB in Chennai; DD v RR in Delhi.

April 1: KKR v DC in Kolkata.

April 2: KXIP v RCB in Mohali.

April 3: CSK v RR in Chennai; MI v DC in Mumbai/Nagpur.

April 4: DD v RCB in Delhi; KKR v KXIP in Kolkata.

April 5: DC v RR in Hyderabad.

April 6: MI v CSK in Mumbai/Nagpur.

April 7: RR v KXIP in Ahmedabad.

April 8: RCB v DC in Bangalore; CSK v DD in Chennai

April 9: KXIP v MI in Mohali

April 10: RCB v KKR in Bangalore; DC v CSK in Hyderabad

April 11: RR v MI in Jaipur; DD v KXIP in Delhi

April 12: DC v RCB in Hyderabad

April 13: CSK v KKR in Chennai

April 14: MI v DD (venue to be decided)

April 15: RR v RCB in Jaipur; KXIP v DC in Dharamsala

April 16: DD v CSK in Delhi.

April 17: RCB v MI in Bangalore; KKR v RR in Kolkata.

April 18: DC v DD in Hyderabad; KXIP v CSK at Dharamsala.

April 19: KKR v MI in Kolkata.

April 20: Rest day.

April 21: 1st Semifinal in Bangalore.

April 22: 2nd Semifinal in Bangalore.

April 23: Rest day.

April 24: Play-off for 3rd place.

April 25: IPL 3 finals

IPL 2010 SCHEDULE

Deccan Chargers of Hyderabad will open their defence of the Indian Premier League title by taking on Kolkata Knight Riders to kick off the third edition of the Twenty20 League at home on March 12, 2010.

Nagpur, Vishakapatnam, Ahmedabad and Dharamsala have been added as new venues to the eight regular ones with teams such as Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab playing some matches in these centres.

Teams: Deccan Chargers (DC), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Mumbai Indians (MI), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Delhi Daredevils (DD), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

The full schedule of the 45-day tournament ending on April 25, 2010, is:

Mar 12: DC v KKR in Hyderabad.

Mar 13: MI v RR in Mumbai/Nagpur; KXIP v DD at Mohali.

Mar 14: CSK v DC in Chennai; KKR v RCB in Kolkata.

Mar 15: RR v DD in Jaipur.

Mar 16: RCB v KXIP in Bangalore; KKR v CSK in Kolkata.

Mar 17: DD v MI in Delhi.

Mar 18: RCB v RR in Bangalore.

Mar 19: DC v KXIP in Vishakapatnam.

Mar 23: RCB v CSK in Bangalore.

Mar 24: KXIP v RR at Mohali.

Mar 25: KKR v DD in Kolkata.

Mar 26: CSK v MI in Chennai; RR v DC in Ahmedabad.

Mar 27: RCB v DD in Bangalore; KXIP v KKR at Mohali.

Mar 28: RR v CSK in Ahmedabad; DC v MI in Vishakapatnam.

Mar 29: DD v KKR in Delhi.

Mar 30: MI v KXIP in Mumbai/Nagpur.

Mar 31: CSK v RCB in Chennai; DD v RR in Delhi.

Apr 1: KKR v DC in Kolkata.

Apr 2: KXIP v RCB in Mohali.

Apr 3: CSK v RR in Chennai; MI v DC in Mumbai/Nagpur.

Apr 4: DD v RCB in Delhi; KKR v KXIP in Kolkata.

Apr 5: DC v RR in Hyderabad.

Apr 6: MI v CSK in Mumbai/Nagpur.

Apr 7: RR v KXIP in Ahmedabad.

Apr 16: DD v CSK in Delhi.

Apr 17: RCB v MI in Bangalore; KKR v RR in Kolkata.

Apr 18: DC v DD in Hyderabad; KXIP v CSK at Dharamsala.

Apr 19: KKR v MI in Kolkata.

Apr 20: Rest day.

Apr 21: 1st Semifinal in Bangalore.

Apr 22: 2nd Semifinal in Bangalore.

Apr 23: Rest day.

Apr 24: Play-off for 3rd place.

The finals is scheduled for the 25th April 2010.

The IPL governing council which met at Mumbai had good news for the the former ICL players, who were allowed to participate in the IPL next year. However, their participation in the tournament would be possible only after the approval of BCCI. The former ICL players belonging to the domestic category would be paid between $18,000-45,000, the international players, which include both Indian and foreign, would be available for auction.

Another major change for the 3rd season of the IPL is the “Strategy timeout”, which is reduced from 7.5 minutes to 5 minutes. The IPL will also use of the services of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) for the 2010 season.

After being out of action for over two months following a shoulder injury that needed surgery, dashing opener Virender Sehwag is hoping to return to top notch cricket through the ICC Champions Trophy next month.

I am hoping to play in the ICC Champions Trophy. My rehabilitation is going well, he said .Sehwag sustained the shoulder injury during the semi finals of the Indian Premier League in South Africa in May while captaining Delhi Daredevils against eventual winners Deccan Chargers.

He was in the Indian squad for the World T20 in England but could not play any part because of the injury to his right shoulder that needed surgery.

Sehwag underwent a surgery on June 11 after a lesion was identified in the injured shoulder and he was ruled out of action from between 12 to 16 weeks. The lesion was expected to heal in six weeks.

Indian team’s physio Nitin Patel was given the task of monitoring Sehwag’s rehabilitation process at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.The Champions Trophy, earlier termed the Mini World Cup, is also to be held in South Africa from September 22.

India’s only batsman to hit two triple centuries, opener Virender Sehwag says his penchant to hit big centuries in Tests was driven by critics doubting his calibre in the longer version of the game.

In Test matches I’m very cautious. I want to score more runs and I want to score big runs and I want to prove everyone wrong because when I came to the Indian team everybody was saying He’s only a one day player, he cannot bat in Test cricket, he said on an ICC talk show.

The Delhi dasher is currently undergoing rehabilitation after a surgery to be fit for September’s ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa.Often compared to Tendulkar, Sehwag said he always wanted to emulate the little master.

I wanted to become a Tendulkar, but that’s not possible because he is a God of cricket. When I was watching him on television, I tried to copy every single shot.

Sehwag was sent home from England during the ICC World Twenty20 because of a shoulder injury sustained during the second edition of the Indian Premier League.

Indian Premier League franchisee Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday said the new captain and coach for the team still remains undecided.

After the conclusion of the meeting at team owner Shah Rukh Khan’s residence, the management said the decision will be taken by the end of August and emphasised on Sourav Ganguly’s role as a mentor, who will be a part of all decision making.

Earlier, SRK said that Ganguly has been re-appointed skipper for next season, saying that captaincy of the side would be decided in a series of meetings from August 4 to 15.

We will be meeting on August 4 and that’s when all decisions on coach, captaincy and hopefully a formula for winning at least some of the matches next year would be worked out, Shah Rukh said.

KKR, which finished bottom of the table this season, sacked coach John Buchanan after the debacle and former India coach John Wright is tipped to fill in the post vacated by the Australian.

The team’s captaincy is also a subject of massive speculation and Ganguly, who was replaced by New Zealand Brendon McCullum this season, is all set to return at the helm for IPL -III scheduled next April.

The new series for Discovery Travel and Living, the flagship lifestyle offering in the Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific portfolio, promises to deliver a rare look at the superstar’s life as a father, husband and actor. The series is in production by Blue Mango Films and Red Chillies Idiot Box.

shahrukh khan

Rahul Johri, the senior VP and general manager for India, said of the commission: Discovery Travel and Living has always set the highest benchmarks whether showcasing travel destinations, redefining food programming or exploring genres like fashion, relationship, home, luxury, makeovers, music, trends and wellness.

The actor is very fond of non-vegetarian food especially Chicken Enchiladas and Chicken noodle soup. With this biggest series on India’s wonderful and talented superstar Shahrukh Khan, we are surpassing all established definitions of lifestyle entertainment.

We are extremely thrilled at this opportunity to work with Shahrukh Khan and to provide his fans and millions of viewers around the world with a personal viewing experience and uninhibited access to his life, for the first time ever. Other than this the celebrity is all set to come opposite Kajol in his forthcoming flick My Name Is Khan which would complete it’s shooting in 2010.

New Zealand’s top cricketers may choose to play in the Indian Premier League rather than for their country if cricket’s international calendar continues to create conflict between the two, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said.

Vettori said players may be forced to choose cash over country in future and hinted players came close to making that decision on Friday before signing New Zealand contracts hours ahead of a deadline.

New Zealand’s six IPL players, including Vettori, committed to playing in New Zealand’s Test matches against Australia next March, although the series overlaps the first half of the 2010 IPL season.

Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum may have to sacrifice as much as $350,000 of his $700,000 contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders to keep that commitment to the New Zealand team. IPL payments are made on a prorata basis, and players lose some of their contracted payments for each match they miss.

The start of next IPL season has been brought forward to around March 12 to avoid a clash with the ICC Twenty20 World Championship which begins in the Caribbean on April 28. New Zealand’s series against Australia, which has reportedly been shortened from three Tests to two to reduce the IPL overlap, is likely to finish March 31, ruling players out of the first half of the Indian season.

Vettori said that had the March series been against one of cricket’s lesser nations, such as Bangladesh, rather than against Australia, some New Zealand players might have chosen to play in the IPL rather than the test matches.

He said he, McCullum, all-rounder Jacob Oram, batsmen Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor and fast bowler Kyle Mills had carefully weighed issues before deciding to sign their New Zealand contracts at the expense to their IPL involvement.

“A lot of guys put a lot of thought into it,” Vettori said. “I am only 30 and have a lot of goals I still want to achieve with New Zealand. It’s a difficult decision and people have families and other issues to work through but our priority was to play for New Zealand.

“We want to make the most of that and have a successful team. But we realize that if these situations continue to come up it will be difficult for players to continue to turn down the money, so we implore the powers that be to find a solution so we don’t have to make these decisions every year.

“If Bangladesh were here rather than Australia it might have been an easier decision for players. It didn’t come into my thinking because my priority is to play for New Zealand.”

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said the ICC must find a window in its calendar to allow the IPL to coexist with the international game.

“There are reasons why it doesn’t exist and I understand that,” Vaughan said.

“The IPL is a domestic competition but it is bigger than that. It’s not just the domestic competition of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) but the pinnacle Twenty20 competition. It gets the best players and the ICC need to find a way to live with that.”