The aerodynamics of Reverse Swing !

Brett Lee celebrates another English wicket

A combination of Shane Warne and Australia's fast bowlers brought England crashing to defeat in the second Test in Adelaide.

One bowling weapon that aided their cause was the same one used so effectively by England 18 months ago.

This time, Brett Lee found reverse swing in the heat of south Australia.

But what is swing? And more to the point - what is reverse swing and how can certain bowlers harness it so potently?

We explain the theories.


WHAT IS SWING?
The cricket ball often moves in the air towards or away from a batsman when a pace bowler is bowling.

It is this deviation most fast bowlers strive for because of the problems it causes batsmen.

Swing is all about aerodynamics, more of which is explained in the next section.

Batsmen are used to facing orthodox swing - which happens when the ball is still relatively hard and new in the first 10 to 15 overs.

However, over the past 20 years fast bowlers have developed a new method of making the ball move in the air with the older ball called 'reverse swing'.

But to obtain any sort of movement, there are a number of factors to consider.


THE BALL
You will often see fielders constantly shining one side of a ball by rubbing it on their trousers.

The rubbing helps to maintain a smooth, shiny side while the opposite is left to deteriorate through normal wear and tear.

In simple terms, the aerodynamics of bowling means the shiny side travels faster through the air, while the rough side acts as a brake, pushing the ball in that direction.

But other factors also play a part too.


SEAM POSITION

The conventional grip for the seamer

The stitching around the centre of the ball is called the seam, which acts as a rudder for faster bowlers.

All fast bowlers grip the seam vertically, with the middle and index fingers on either side, with the ball resting in the third finger and thumb.

The straighter the seam when the ball is delivered, the greater the chance of swing, especially when the ball is older with one shiny and one rough side.


IN AND OUTSWING
To move the ball in an orthodox fashion away from a right-handed batsman, the rough side of the ball will be on the left side with the seam angling towards second slip.

And it is the other way round for inswing - the rough side is on the right with the seam pointing towards an imaginary leg slip.

Both deliveries also require a subtle change in seam grip too.

This generally happens when the ball is relatively new but tends to stop after the ball has lost its shine and hardness.


WHAT IS REVERSE SWING?
Once the ball becomes older and more worn, it will begin to move in the opposite direction to where it would usually swing with no great change in the bowling grip.

For example, an outswinger's grip will move towards the batsman in the air while an inswinger will move away from the bat.


The grip is all important bowling reverse swing

All this tends to happen very late on in the delivery, making it difficult for the batsman to pick up the changes in the air.

Not every single bowler can obtain reverse swing - the ball needs to be propelled above 80mph or thereabouts to make it move in the air.

Former Pakistan international Sarfraz Nawaz was the founder of reverse swing during the late 1970s, and he passed his knowledge on to former team-mate Imran Khan.

It was Imran who schooled bowlers Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, who brought the art to the cricket world's attention during the late 1980s and 1990s.

The dynamic duo managed to make the old ball swing a considerable distance at pace in both directions, a skill few bowlers can master.


HOW DOES IT WORK?
There have been plenty of theories about why, but here's the simplest explanation from former England bowling coach Troy Cooley:



"Reverse swing is all to do with the deterioration of the ball and the seam position in flight.

"As the ball becomes rougher, it will take on a different characteristic as it deteriorates.

"So if you present the ball as an outswinger, the ball has deteriorated so much on the rough side that it takes on the characteristics of the shiny side.

Which means a natural outswinger will become an inswinger and conversely, an inswinger into an outswinger."


WHEN DOES THE BALL START TO REVERSE?
Since reverse swing favours the older ball, it will usually start to move around the 40-over mark.

However, England's bowlers last year were able to make the ball reverse after just 15 to 20 overs. Lee found his reverse swing in Adelaide on the 30-over mark.

But how can bowlers manage to do this so early in the innings?


Wasim Akram brought reverse swing to the public limelight

One theory could be the ball. In England, Test balls are manufactured by Dukes, while in Australia and the sub-continent the Kookaburra brand is usually used.

Like footballs, each manufacturers' cricket balls are different. Some have more pronounced seams while others deteriorate slower, all of which have an influence on how the ball will move in the air.

Another theory is how some players are able to rough the ball up faster than other teams.

In England's case last year, Harmison and Flintoff both banged the ball hard into the pitch.

While their fielders often throw the ball back to wicket-keeper Geraint Jones on the bounce from the outfield, all of which contribute to the deterioration of the ball.

However, nothing has been scientifically proved - but batsmen the world over know what to expect when the ball starts to get older.



Article Source : BBC

Dravid, the sixth player to score 10000 runs in Test Cricket !

Rahul Dravid became the third Indian and the sixth player to score 10000 Test runs !

He continues to be the No 1 Test batsman, says Sreenath. The innings he played today was a character innings, in a day dominated by the Springboks.


He holds the world record for being involved in 72 century partnerships !

Veeru perished in the slips, but only after he had scored 319!


These are the records set up yesterday

1 The fastest 300, off only 278 balls

2 In 503 minutes, 41 fours, 5 sixes.

3 The third batsman to score triple twice, after Bradman & Lara

4 The first triple against two different countries.

5 The first opening batsman to score two triples

6 The highest score in India and in Chepauk

7 Of the 8 200 odd partnerships, Sehwag figure in four

8 His 14th hundred, and third against RSA

9 The fastest double hundred against RSA, off 194 balls!

10 The first Indian batsman to score a double agains RSA

11 The highest score by an Indian batsman ( 257 )

12 The highest opening partnership at Chepauk

13 The second best opening partnership against RSA ( 213 )

14 The second wicket partnership and Indian record ( 255*)

15 Having two partnerships over 200 runs for the first time !

Thank you, Sehwag !

Players who have scored more than 10 K runs in Tests



Player Tests Runs

Brian Lara 131 11953
Sachin 147 11762
Border 156 11174
Steve Waugh 168 10927
Gavaskar 125 10122
Dravid 120 10031


and in ODIs

Sachin 417 16361
Dravid 333 10585
Lara 299 10405

Sehwag scores fastest triple hundred against mighty RSA

The entire Chennai stadium erupted with joy as Sehwag scored the fastest triple century ever. Sehwag blasted 42 fours and 5 sixes in an incredible batting display, scoring 257 runs in a day, out of 384 runs scored by his team !

His 309 not out today is considered better than his 309 at Multan. On the first day, he was then 228 not out. Today he scored 257 runs !

His captain had told him to bat responsibly til the end and he did oblige Kumble !

At lunch he was 110 and at tea he was 218, scoring a century during the post lunch session, off only 67 balls. . He said it hurt when he was out of the team. He had worked hard and Kumble's advice was very apt.

Some of his shots were described by the commentator Rameez Raja as " lazy elegance "

300 off 278 balls ! The fastest 300 ball-wise! He plays a Test match like a T20!

He became the third batsman to score a triple hundred twice, after Lara and Bradman !

What a glorious day for Indian cricket! India 468/1 ! India has become a world power in Cricket and is going from strength to strength. Gone is the inferiority complex which had plagued this nation !

Harmison may join IPL. May both IPL and ICL go from strength to strength, promoting this game of glorious uncertainties ! Healthy is this competition between IPL and ICL. Players are already benefitted !

Sehwag scores century & India consolidates !

India at the moment are 176/0, with Sehwag on 110 and Jaffer on 60 ! This is a good reply to RSA's 540.

ICL will be staging international matches with an Indian XI, Pakistan XI, England XI etc , said their spokesman Modi.

Another Modi, of IPL, said that IPL had already raked in 2 billion dollars, without a ball being bowled. Sponsors are coming to them with higher rates, as well as adverisers. Anything will click in India, a cricket mania country. Well, the business of sports, or rather the business of cricket is really taking off !

India reply well to SA's 540

Sehwag scored 52 not out out of 82/0. The six he blasted was worth going miles to see.

Indian fielding was shoddy and conceded 81 boundaries to the South Africans. Amla scored a brilliant 159 and Boucher 70, along with McKenzie 94 and Smith 73.

So on the placid Chennai track, a batting paradise, we are yet to see records ? Will there be Indian records tomorrow? Let us wait and see. It is time for India's formidable batting line up to click tomorrow.

SL beat the WIs comprehensively.

In ICL matches, to match Sharukh Khan, Mithun Chakrvarthy has taken over the Kolkotta Tigers. Rechristened Bengal Royal Tigers, Mithun is posing a big challenge. So far ICL is put under pressure by BCCI. But no more !

Show some courage, says Kirsten

November 24, 2006 19:47 IST

South African great Gary Kirsten has identified technical flaws in Indian batsmen and advised them to work on their defensive tactics if they were to succeed in the remaining part of their tour.

The former opening batsman said the Indians tend to play away from their body on faster pitches rather than showing the courage to get behind the rising delivery.

"They were not quite there on the off-stump and it's a failing which usually causes the downfall of most opposition batsmen on South African pitches," said Kirsten.

"But for Australia, nobody seems to get it right here."

Kirsten is the highest run-scorer ever for South Africa in Tests and this is well-reflected in figures -- in 101 Tests he scored 7289 runs at an average of 45.27 with 21 centuries.

Kirsten said the problem with the Indian batsmen is that they did not try to get behind the line of the ball.

"Most of them don't get behind the line of the ball. One of the things which successful batsmen do on such surfaces is to get behind the line rather than play away from the body.

"You can get away with such a faulty technique in India where the edges fall short of slip cordon but here they disappear right into the cusp of their hands. Indians must also learn to get behind the line of the ball."

Indian batsmen were shot out for 91 in the second one-day international in Kingsmead in Durban on Sunday, mostly playing away from body.

Kirsten also said the Indian batsmen would have to come on the front foot more often than they have been doing on this tour.

"I watched them on Sunday and most of them seemed to play from inside the crease. It simply won't do on such surfaces. You need to be on lookout to come on the front foot. The more you stay on the backfoot and inside the crease, the lesser are your options of scoring."

Kirsten though sees a silver lining for India in the way he perceives the tour would pan out from now onwards.

"The rest of the pitches wouldn't be quite as difficult as it was in Kingsmead in Durban so in that respect they would have far easier batting conditions. I also feel there is a great deal of class in your batting line-up and it would come good before long.

"Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in particular are seasoned and proven enough to leave their stamp on any conditions. They would soon be providing the thrust to your team."

The former left-handed willower, however, sounded a word of caution for the rest of the batsmen.

"I want to stress here though that a few of the youngsters in your team need to really tighten up their technique. It wouldn't work what they have been doing in India.

"They need to adapt and do it quickly. Anyway it's the hallmark of acknowledged international players that they are not found wanting on any surface. If they can do well here, it would truly get their careers going. In a way, it's also an opportunity for them."



Artidle Source : Rediff

India takes on mighty South Africa on 26th !

England lead by 487 runs! Andrew Strauss scores century. It seems England is taking revenge on the Kiwis. Ryan Sidebottom swung them out for 168 (7/47).

Jayawardhene scored a century as SL consolidated their position against West Indies.

Graeme Smith admitted that the series against India will be tough. RSA is fully confident. And so is India. Both India and RSA have scored substantial triumphs of late. So a royal battle is in the offing. We can play in the subcontinent well. This is proved by our experiences in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Confonting India is the greatest challenge. Our fast bowlers have the ability to bowl out the world class Indian batsmen. Ntini, Morke, Steyn & Sondesky are class bowlers. They can shine in India as well. Also spinners Paul Harris & Petersen. The players have been rattled by the recent changes in the team. But we are professionals and can overcome any crisis. Andre Nel was sacked and Langveld was taken. This created a crisis. This was part of the Board's decision to field 6 non white players. So Langveld withdrew and Sondesky was taken in place.

Not only in bowling, but also in batting RSA is powerful. Along with Smith, Kallis, Boucher, Bram Villiers, McKenzie, Prince, Amla strengthen the Springbok batting line up.

The RSA coach Aurthur said that all coaches have thorough knowledge of the opposition players, when asked if Gary Kirsten and Upton, both South Africans, will pose a threat !

Kumble, leader of the glorious Knights, said that confronting RSA is a formidable challenge. The last series was won by India, but only after a fierce battle. In Bangladesh, they proved that they can acclimatise quickly. Their team is full of world class players.

Smith sounds warning!

"Our fast bowlers - Ntini, Steyn, Morkel etc - can take 20 Indian wickets and we can win the series" warned Smith, the RSA captain.But beating India in India, he said, is difficult.

Kumble said the series will be tough.

All eyes will be glued to the TV, from 26th onwards.

In Guyana, Malinda Warnapura scored a century against the West Indies. Vandort, the other lefthander was out for 52.

In the other Test Match at Napier, Kevin Petersen scored a brilliant 128. He was supported by Stuart Broad .

Indian Cricket is a financial success, but not a cricketing success, says Harsha Bhogle. The adrevenue coming from an ODI is around 150 crores, which makes the match financially viable. Gate collection may be around 5 crores. With 300 million cricket fanatics watching everywhere, even ICL and IPL will click, let alone the Test matches and ODIs. But India has been rated as the second best team in the world. She has to move to No 1 spot in order to be a cricketing success.

Dhoni wants to be a collegian and has joined College at Ranchi.

India moves over to Second Spot in Tests !

After Australia, India is the second team in the world, in Tests!

Now India takes on formidable RSA !

ICL stars are banned from playing county cricket. Wavell Hinds, Andrew Hall, Van der Werth, Kemp,Hamish Marshall - all these have been banned. This has put County Cricket Board in jeopardy. The reason - ICL has no official recognition from ICC. The English Cricket Board decreed so. Nottinghamshare and Derbyshire are already suffering. Hall and Van der Werth are Nottingham players and Hinds Derbyshire.

Now Sachin has 11782 runs in Tests and needs only 172 runs to overpass Lara's record. Many believe this is possible and are glued to their TV sets. Dhoni and Bajji have been declared fit and both teams are in Chennai today. Torrential rain poses a big problem to the Test match.

The WI - Lanka Test series starts today at Guyana.

The third Test is already on at Napier, between England and NZ. Both share honours at 1-1. Now England is 230/7. Kevin Petersen scored 129.

The Cricket war hots up. Sarwar, Gayle and Chanderpaul have been omitted for the first two Tests against Australia. Reason - they joined ICL.


It was Sachin who nominated Dhoni as a leader, Pawar said.

Dhoni's controversial remarks !

Dhoni's controversial remarks about the Seniors have created a furore. Many have opined that his remarks are strange.

In the ICL match, Chennai Superstars scored 9 per over and triumphed over Delhi Giants. Bevan showed what can be done with the bat, scoring 22 runs off 9 balls! R Satish, the captain, scored a brilliant 60 odd and Russell Arnold 40 odd.

Maher & Binny star in Heroes win !

At 95/6, things looked desperate for Hyd Heroes and in walked Stuart Binny, the son of Roger Binny.

An unbroken 73 run partnership with James Maher (65 n o ) and there you are ! Heroes the champs in an incredible match.

Earlier Lance Klusener proved that he is no spent force with a swashbuckling 71 !

All credit to Heroes. Can they take on mighty Lahore ?

Catch All The Action Of The Match With Live Cricket Match Score

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Raviraj Patil pulls Mumbai to victory

As Yadav bowled magnificently to claim 4 for 14, R Patil of Mumbai scored 65 not out of 40 balls to bring home the bacon for Mumbai.

Ahmedabad Rockets could only muster 132, though they started well with Hinds and Dholpure. But they had no answer to Yadav's spin.

Mumbai is now up in the table.

Indian Cricket at its Zenith !

Indian Cricket is at its Zenith, with the T20 WC, U19 WC and after beating the World Champiions in their den in the ODIs.

A great cricketing war is in the offing, as Dravid's Bangalore Royal Champions, Ganguly's Kolkotta Knight Riders & Sehwag's Delhi put on the warrior's clothes in IPL.

In ICL, we have a parallel League. The ICL matches have clicked. They are scheduled at peak TV Time, at 1900 to 2200 hrs, when people are glued to their TV sets.

Yesterday's match was thrilling. 90 runs off 60 balls situation. Chennai chasing Calcutta's 185 responded with Ian Harvey blasting 49 off 30 odd balls, till 19 year old Pritam Das sent Harvey's off stump cartwheeling with a magnificent delivery. In came Russel Arnold and he stroked his way through. The final situation was macabre - 4 runs needed off 2 balls and Arnold swung Chennai to victory with a four off the penultimate ball !

So thrilling ICL matches. In the offing are thrilling IPL matches.

Earlier, Craig McMillan, the Kolkotta skipper had blasted 69 off 40 balls and it was supported by Jhunjunwalla's 50 not and Rohan Gavaskar's blitzkreing 23 off 8 balls !. The average rate was good - 9 per over !

T20 is what the doctor ordered, as professionals cant afford to waste 5 days or even one day. Three hours of thrilling cricket is the need of the hour and no wonder IPL and ICL have risen to the occasion.

As Kapil said, one need not restrict the players of ICL. Youngsters who do well in ICL can be picked up by the national committee. It is healthy competition and in the near future, we will see an ICL World XI vs an IPL World XI.

Indian cricketers are benefited monetarily, as Dhoni got 1.5 million dollars. ICL also pays well and yesterday R Satish, the Chennai captain pocketed 25 lakshs for the team and the Man of the Match, Russel Arnold got 2 lakhs !

Now the focus shifts to the 26th, when Kumble's Knights take on mighty South Africa !

Russell Arnold pulls Chennai to glory !

A swashbuckling innings by Arnold ( 66 not out in 40 balls ) saw Chennai Superstars home.

Kolkota Tigers batted first and Craig McMillan played a great innings of 69, followed by A Jhunjhunwalla ( 50 n o ) and a cameo from Rohan Gavaskar ( 23 n o out of 8 balls ). Score well over 9 per over at 185 !


Ian Harvey started the proceedings for Chennai with a hefty 49. He was removed by a super ball from Pritam Das, which toppled his offstump. Then Arnold took over and single handedly won the match !

Chennai now moves up. She was down as the 8th. Lahore is still on the first position

England takes revenge !

Sidebottom took 5 wickets and England took revenge on the Kiwis. The Kiwis were all out for 311. England won by 126 runs.

Indian Squad for first two Tests

The Indian squad for the first two Tests against RSA has been named.Ishant Sharma, the new pace bowling sensation, is ruled out of the first Test.



Here they are

Anil Kumble, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Wasim Jaffer, M S Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Karthik, RP Singh, Sreesanth.

Kumble's Knights and Dhoni's Dashers

Today is the day of selection of the Test team, to play against mighty RSA !


Well. many in the Selection Committee wants to bring changes to the team, to infuse young blood !

The Awesome Fivesome ( Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman, Sehwag ) will be there most probably, along with Yuvraj. Can we call them the Splendid Six ?

Kumble's Knights and Dhoni's Dashers ( for ODIs & T 20s )- they are what the Doctor ordered. When Knights play, the Dashers get rest. When Dashers play, the Knights get rest. This cycling of Dashers and Knights have paved the way for India's famous victory !

India cannot take risks while confronting the formidable South Africans. Smith has moved to No 1 spot, overtaking Sachin and Ricky. ( But his latest runs were against Bangladesh ! ).

Smith, Gibbs and Dale Steyn are dangerous from an Indian perspective. The Indian swing bowlers, led by Ishant Sharma, are dangerous from a Sprinbok perspective !

May the better team win !

Farhat lofts Lahore to victory !

Farhat drove, cut, swung and pulled Lahore to victory over Chandigarh Lions. 8 sixes and four fours flowed from his bat ( 94).

The Lions proved to be too feeble, when confronting the mighty Lahore side !

Despite D Mongia's 34, Lions lost the battle !

It is exhilarating to know that Alternative Cricket, like Alternative Culture & Alternative Medicine, have come to stay.

Kemp's blitzkreig ennobles Hyderabad Heroes !

At 52/3, in walked Justin Kemp, to partner the solid Nicke Boje.

With 4 sixes and 6 fours, Kemp was 66 not out, out of 42 balls and Hyd had won the match.

This innings was worth going miles to see. What a tournaround !

Indian Cricket Board is giving aid to Weightlifting, swimming, archery etc.

ICL is here to stay and can be a formidable rival to IPL. The players who have fallen out of favour with the national selectors, like Kemp, Gillespie, Sunil Joshi, Bevan etc have got an alternative.

This Alternative Cricket is like Alternative Religion, Alternative Culture and Alternative Health !

Heavy workload on Indian players

Indian swing bowlers bowled more than 200 odd overs in Australia and many are suffering from injuries. Ishant, Zaheer, Pathan, Sreeshant and batsmen Yuvraj and Sachin.

Now they are getting the much needed 20 day rest, before they take on mighty RSA.

Indians have a tight schedule afterwards, playing in the IP League and in other matches.

Cricket has become a big industry in India, next only to Bollywood. So much money is circulating in IPL and ICL and this is a great opportunity for youngsters to showcase their talent. Not only for Indians, but for all cricketers !

Lahore, a formidable team in ICL !

With Inzy and Imran Nazir as batsmen, with Azhar Mehmood, Sami and Saqlain as bowlers, Lahore is a great side indeed.


The way they beat Hyderabad yesterday was effortless. Let us see if any other team can match them in performance.

Imran Nazeer powers Lahore to victory !

62 runs off 32 balls, with 8 fours and 3 sixes !. Imran Nazeer, the wizard of Lahore, did this today to win the war for Lahore against Hyderabad Heroes !

It seems Lahore is one of the strongest teams in the tournament.

ICL cricket has come to stay. More people are coming to the stadium and more and more people are watching the live telecast.

What a great opportunity this is for Indian youth ! Those players who have been ignored by the selectors now get a chance to showcase their talent, that too before 300 million cricket fanatics who watch all ICL matches on satellite TV !

Tim Ambrose scores 97 not out

England managed 291/5, thanks to a great innings from the wicket keeper, Tim Ambrose ( 91 n o )

Alistiar Cook and Vaughn put on 79 for the first wicket. But the day belonged to Ambrose.

In the South African team to tour, six non-whites have been picked. Andre Nil and Botha have been excluded.

Jayasuria and Murali have been omitted from the SL ODI XI, now touring West Indies.

The Bangalore team was announced yesterday. Nicknamed the Bangalore Royal Champions, the team is skippered by Rahul Dravid. Chanderpaul, Misbah, Ross Taylor, Virat Kohli, Wasim Jaffer, Jagdish Arun Kumar and Bharat Chipli adorn Bangalore.

Dayle Stein of SA, Nathan Bracken, Anil Kumble, Sunil Joshi, Abdul Razzak, Zaheer, Praveen Kumar are the bowlers. The team is graced by allrounders Jack Kallis, Cameroon White and Vinay Kumar. Wicket keepers are Boucher, Goswami & Devraj Patil. V Prasad is the coach and Martin Crowe is the CCO, the Chief Cricket Offier ! A formidable team indeed ! The team is owned by Vijay Mallya.

ICL matches - A Refreshing Change

Rather than seeing the same players for 20 years or so, we are now provided with an alternative option - of watching other talented cricketers, who have fallen out of favour with the national selectors ! We have been seeing some cricketers for 20 years or so and many young talented players have not just got into the national side !

Yesterday Rohan Gavaskar's batting was a revealation, as was his fielding.

Bevan impressed with his 56. Hemang Badani with his 30. Raviraj Patel with his blisteing 52 out of 32 balls. Inzy powered Lahore to victory.

Adams' two sixes in the last over was a revealation, as was his three wickets. Again Craig McMillan's experience showed as he guided the Tigers to victory.

Jason Gillespie and Shane Bond impressed.

We envisage in the near future an IPL World XI vs ICL World XI.

Let their differences be sorted out on cricket pitches !

Nantie Hayward bowls Kolkotta to victory !

Kolkotta wins by 2 runs in an exciting match.

Rohan Gavaskar impressed with 41 not out, out of 36 balls. He was instrumental in a run out and he got a catch as well. He did have a good match.

Raviraj Patil impressed with 52 off 32 balls. Looks a nice prospect.

Craig McMillan kept his cool and it was Nantie's turn to bowl Kokotta to victory. He took 2/17.

So this rebel series is turning out to be thrilling indeed !

Mukesh Ambani, Mallya, SRK win IPL bids

January 25, 2008 – 1:04 am


The high-profile Indian Premier League on Thursday received overwhelming response as India’s top industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya, and film stars Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta won bids to own teams in the Twenty20 venture.

After much suspense, Board of Control for Cricket in India vice-president and IPL governing council chairman Lalit Modi named the winning bidders, who shelled out staggering amounts to become owners of the Mumbai-based teams.

Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani pipped Vijay Mallya in the bid for the Mumbai team, for US $111.9 million.

The liquor baron, however, won the bid for the Bangalore team, for US $111.6 million.

Actor Shah Rukh Khan, joining hands with Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta, won the bid for the Kolkata team, for US $75.09 million.

Fellow-actor Preity Zinta and her boy friend Ness Wadia won the bid for the Mohali team, for US $76 million.

Among others, GMR Holdings was successful in bidding for the Delhi team (US $84 million), while India Cements bagged the Chennai team (US $91 million), Deccan Chronicle the Hyderabad (US $107.01 million) outfit and Emerging Media the Jaipur team, for US $67 million.

The bids of ICICI, Sahara and Futures Group were disqualified, Modi said.

“We can say that all the hard work fructified and the IPL is here to stay,” Modi said.

Asked if Shah Rukh was bidding just to use cricket as a means to promote his films, Modi replied, “Shah Rukh loves cricket and that’s why he invested his money. It has got nothing to do with film promotion.

“We have heard a similar complaint in the past but the Board never endorsed those views,” he added.

He also dismissed suggestions that there was a conflict of interests in Indian Cements, which has BCCI treasurer N Srinivasan as a shareholder, becoming a team owner.

“Mr Srinivasan is just a stakeholder there and he is not the owner. So there is no such conflicts of interests,” he said.

Modi admitted that some of the contracted international players would skip the twenty20 tournament, which begins on April 18 owing to national commitments, but said the pool of players is big enough.

“A team needs only four players from abroad and we already have a huge number of them contracted with us. You will have enough of them from the day one,” he said.

In all, 59 matches will be played over 44 days, with ICC umpires officiating the games that will be broadcast live on SET Max.

“We already have 80 contracted players and their auction would start soon. Each franchise will consult with the IPL Governing Council before naming the teams and discussing revenue sharing,” Modi said.

ICC’s anti-doping and anti-corruption units will also keep an eye on the Twenty20 league, he added.

Asked if the base price of US $50 million was too high, he replied, “It’s up to the bidders to decide if the base price was high. Since the winning bid proved much more than the base price, you can’t really say that it was too high.”

Schedules and operational guidelines of the league will be announced later.

Stung by the Essel Group-backed Indian Cricket League, the BCCI had announced the IPL to counter the rebel venture, which has left many state teams depleted.

New Zealand has also suffered a lot as six Kiwi players joined the ICL and pace spearhead Shane Bond too is ready to take the plunge.

The following are the bid amounts:

Vijay Mallya - US $111.6 million, for the Bangalore team.

Shah Rukh Khan - US $75.09 million, for the Kolkata team.

GMR Holdings - US $84 million, for the Delhi team.

Mukesh Ambani - US $111.9 million, for the Mumbai team.

India Cements - US $91 million, for the Chennai team.

Deccan Chronicle - US $107.01 million, for the Hyderabad team.

Emerging Media - US $67 million, for the Jaipur team.

Preity Zinta - US $76, for the Mohali team.

Article Source : Indian Premier League Cricket

Dhoni, Symonds fetch highest prices in IPL bidding

Franchise owners spent lavishly in a player auction Wednesday for the new Indian Premier League, with India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni topping the bidding on a day that demonstrated the enormous financial power of the Twenty20 competition.Bidding for the 77 available players reached about $40 million - pending late bids at Wednesday’s auction - and followed on from the $1.026 billion paid for the initial television rights and $723.6 million for franchise ownership.

Chennai trumped Mumbai in the race for India’s limited-overs captain Dhoni, with all team owners cheering the breaking of the $1 million mark as the southern Indian team landed him on a three-year contract worth $1.5 million or €1.02 million per season.

Dhoni, currently leading India in the limited-overs tri-series in Australia, was relaxed about being the most sought player for the league which begins April 18.

“I heard about it from my manager soon after the bid was held. The sum seems to be good and I’m happy, but I was never in any sort of tension about it, nor was I losing sleep over it,” Dhoni was quotes as saying by the Hindustan Times website.


Article Source : Premier League Cricket

Inzy powers Lahore to victory !

When Thiru Kumaran reduced Lahore to 32/3, nobody thought Lahore had a chance !

In walked Inzy ! He engineered a turnaround and Lahore triumphed home !

What a glorious win! Earlier, Micheal Bevan and Hemant Badani had put up decent scores of 56 and 30, in a respectable total of 156!

IPL's auction , well, Hopes get 1.2 crores and Misbah 50 lakhs. Ganguly's team is called Calcutta Knight Riders !


More vintage cricket in the offing and the IPL series will be on from Apr 18. ICL series ends on April 7.

The very champagne of cricket !

ICL vs IPL, leagues apart

Written by Sharad Chikara
Tuesday, 18 September 2007


Ever since the launch of IPL last week by BCCI one wonders if the latter was just a knee jerk reaction to ICL or was conceived for the benefit of the game. Indian Cricket League's (ICL) goal is create enthusiasm amongst the budding cricketers, carry that enthusiasm and momentum in the Sachins’ of tomorrow and give the domestic cricketers a chance to showcase their talent. On the other hand IPL's launch last seemed to be a "me too" by bureaucrats who have dominated the game more than the game itself.

Apparently the BCCI league had been conceptualized about 10 years ago but had recently been finalized. I think I can assume with reasonable comfort that ICL's announcement early part of this year expedited IPL by good couple of years.

BCCI top honcho believed just a couple of months ago that a Twenty20 league format (referring to ICL) would serve no good to the game of cricket. And it is rather ironic that a league was launched by the same governing body just a few months later in the same format.

Ever since the launch of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) BCCI mocked at the league commenting from time to time that who would watch a bunch of retired cricketers. On IPL launch in Delhi last week, all I saw was great cricketers who were either retired or on the verge of retiring from the game.

ICC refuses to recognize Indian Cricket League, we all know why. It's interest is to promote its own agenda in the world rather than promoting the game it represents. ICC would never disappoint the richest cricketing board in the world; rather going forward when BCCI current head Mr. Pawar becomes its chief will turn into Indian Cricket Council. It is rather appalling that an incompetent man will represent the council. A man who is on a mission, a mission to progress his personal agenda and solidify BCCI’s monopoly over the game in India.

I see Indian Cricket League emerging as a successful business organization, not ridiculed with bureaucracy and corruption like its counterpart, operating as a autonomous organization, investing in building the cricketing infrastructure and take advantage of its media arm to reach out to all cricket loving fans in India and abroad.

--Indian Cricket League, Staff Writer

Article Source : Indian Cricket League

Cricket Score Card Is The Summary Of The Match

- By: Ella Wilson, 2008-03-11

A score card is the instant source of information on the current status of the game. It is probably the easiest form of knowing the exact position of any match. The concept of score card is popularly used in every game but it has a major significance in cricket as the score changes with every ball. As it is, cricket is game that has countless number of fans and freaks who are ready to do anything to catch the tournament right from the beginning, following the live cricket score card throughout. The number of runs taken by a player of any team can also be seen on score card. They also give the details of sixes, fours, wide balls, no balls and extras. You can also know the statistics of your favorite player.

If due to any reason you cannot follow the entire session of the match, the cricket score card will let you have the instantaneousness peek into what is going on in the match. Many a time, it happens that you do multi tasking or working simultaneously, at such times cricket score card is an easy way to keep a track. Even if you catch a match in between, then instead of looking for details here and there or waiting for commentator to announce, score card would be a better option for complete information of game. Every cricket fan acknowledges the idea of score card.

Every cricket fan wants to catch every run and ball of the match. And the cricket score card is the best way to immediately learn about the position of both the participant countries. The score card flashes information of wickets, runs and overs that are being played on the field. This statistical data is very important for audience to get the correct knowledge about the present scenario. Cricket is a game that is capable of maintaining passion and excitement throughout the innings. People often become obsessive with the growing tension and the feature of uncertainty. As it is widely played between the two countries, they even get patriotically attached with the match and the winning and losing does affect them.

Cricket fans find it super amazing to catch the match live on the field. But this is not feasible all the time. However, television appears to be the most appropriate and convenient medium to follow every detail of the match. All the live action maintains the pace of interest and anxiety. Now, every sports website has the option of score card. It is easy to browse the Internet and look for the websites that let you access the score cord. They also allow you to download the score card, so that you can use it later if required. Technology has even made it possible to receive the complete score status on your mobiles through short message service. So now, getting cricket details is superbly simple. Cricket score card will tell you everything about how many runs are required to win from how many balls, what is the status with wickets and other necessary points that you need to know.

Ella Wilson is a cricket fanatic. She simply loves the game and tries to catch live action no matter where she is.At Stickiewicket she works on Live Cricket Video,Live Cricket Score, Cricket score card, Fantasy cricket and Cricket News among other things.You can see her works at Stickie Wicket

Cricket Forum : Get Vocal About Your Opinion On Anything About Cricket

- By: Ella Wilson, 2008-03-11

Internet is a boon to the world of communication. Everyone has now understood the concept of easiness and simplicity. You can easily shop, communicate, process meetings and do almost everything that involves a conversation between two people or many. Forum is one of the most suitable examples of such concepts. Forum is place where people can put forward their views and ideas on a particular thing that the forum is about. Several forums including those on films, sports, business, society, politics and many other features are now displayed through the world of web, where people of similar interests participate and share their thoughts regarding the topic. Even in cricket forum, as the name suggests, cricket fans put their opinions about cricket, players, issues and everything that in some way is related with cricket.

There are several sites where you can get cricket forums. In fact several sports sites are now available on the Internet that has various options to gather information. You can not only read stuff about cricket, players and matches but can also post your views and thoughts concerning them. It has no limitation of features, any issue including your favorite player, match and decisions. You may also write about the events and controversies that are more likely to happen during cricket World Cup. Many times an injury or other such excuses can create a controversy regarding the bad performance of a player or a team in a particular tournament.

All cricket fans have different opinions and thoughts related to the cricket. And most of the times they want to share and discuss things over such issues. For such, cricket forum is the most appropriate idea. The entire idea is very easy to use and post. You just have to browse the Internet and find the websites on sports that have the option of forum. To post in the forum, you have to get yourself registered. So, with just couple of clicks and little valid information you get the access to post anything that is related to the game. You are then allowed to discuss and post your thoughts on any issue and event concerning cricket irrespective of your nationality, favorite player and tournament.

The discussions are often very interesting. People take a lot interest in knowing other people's opinion and thoughts regarding some decision and performance of the players. It is an easy way to know about the reputation of a player among the common populace. Most interesting topics to discuss are the ones that discuss about an ongoing match. The ongoing matches hold the cynosure most of the times. You can even maintain the discussion when the match is going on. Right from the beginning, people start discussing as in who will win the toss, whether they should choose to bat or ball. These discussions on cricket forum may lea to serious evaluations, witty conversation and pleasurable experience. It is a better way to talk about cricket in every sense with good number of participants. Difference in opinion, aspects and approach to a tournament and players is fun to know about.

Ella Wilson is a cricket fanatic. She simply loves the game and tries to catch live action no matter where she is.At Stickiewicket she works on Online cricket score, Cricket Score, Fantasy cricket and Cricket forums among other things.You can see her works at Stickie Wicket

ICL vs IPL

The World's greatest cricket league matches are about to begin.

In the first match of the ICL, Ahmedabad Rockets beat Chandigarh Lions. Yesterday Delhi Giants beat Mumbai Champs !

World class cricketers like Shane Bond and Jason Gillespie adorn ICL. World Class commentators like Tony Greig and Jeff Thomson adorn ICL. The telecast by Ten Sports was also world class.

IPL has selected 8 teams - Delhi, Mumbai, Mohali, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Calcutta and Jaipur !

DLF secured the Title Sponsorships for $50 million while World Sports Group and Sony Television grabbed TV rights for $1 billion !

A great cricket festival is in the offing. It will be a cricketing heaven !

Indian cricketers felicitated !

The victorious Indian team was felicitated at Delhi. The U 19 players Virat Kohli and Pradeep Sangwan were also present.

Sharad Pawar, Arun Jaitley, Vijay Mallya, Bhindra were also present and the Ferozshah Kotla ground was jampacked.

"The Bajji fiasco brought the whole team together" declared Yuvraj. The whole fought like one unit and triumphed over the mighty Aussies !

"India's method paid off " said Ricky Ponting. Earlier the Indian selection had come under severe criticism when they dropped Ganguly and Dravid. Dhoni and the selectors took bold decisions, favouring youth for experience. Youth plus the experience of Sachin finally paid off. Can we say this is more or less the T20 team + Sachin's genius ?

DCA gave 2.5 lakhs to the Delhi boys, Virat Kohli, Sangwan of U19 and Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma and Sehwag !

Each member of the victorious team got 58 lakhs.

More money is in the offing as the contracts of the players like Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar by IPL is expected to be 30 lakhs !

More monetary encouragement should mean more professionalism. Let us hope both Teen India ( U19 ) and Team India keep playing to their potential. India is already second in ODIs and 4th in Tests !

"I scored some good runs" said Sachin. He had scored 399 runs and Gautam Gambhir scored 440 runs. Gambhir got 2 checks, one for 58 lakhs and another 2.5 lakhs !

India Rising

A cricket enthusiast writes from Bangkok

Another master class, perhaps his final one on Australian soil,from the Little Master, inspired leadership from Dhoni and great bowling spells from the Indians, saw Australia humbled in their own backyard.To many Indians this is a great victory. To me, it has been India's greatest cricketting summer. Or greatest six cricketing months in it history ! And perhaps the emergence of the next cricketting superpower and the begginning of a crickting decline of another proud nation!

For the 17th time, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar missed an ODI century by less than 10 runs and failed to add to his 42 scores above the hunderd mark. If his 117 not out at Sydney,was perhaps one of the greatest "chasing" centuries and a payment back to the excellent Indian bowlers, his 91 yesterday with a niggling injury to his groin, was a match deciding, rivetting innings,duly paid back by the disciplined Indian Bowlers... Peter Roeubuk writes that his bat was as wide as the Suez Canal and he was in comand from the start. He has reclaimed his position as the number 0ne ODI batsman in the world this week.

Australia have lost Warne, Mcgrath, Langer, Martin and now Gilchrist and Hogg. Macgill, injury prone, is near his end. Hayden is pushing 37. These holes are always difficult to fill, if not impossible.The loss of Gilchrist is a vital, irreplaceable blow in any form of the game. One has to asuume that Australia's domination is nearing it end.

On September 24th 2007, India won the 20-20 event in South Africa, when no one gave them a chance and without three of their greatest run-getters in its cricketting history ! A commendable feat, yet I put that as third in my list of cricketting achievements. Second of course is the Indian under-19 team's World Cup victory, which proves the secoind line of defence is ready for future battles. But above all, when everyone expected India to be thrashed on both Tests and ODI's in Australia against the best team in the world, we came up trumps. If you are willing to consider that we were cheated (out of at least a draw, if not a vitory) at the Sydney Test, the series is to be deemed a creditable 1-1 draw. The lack of preparation on Australian soil undid us at Melbourne, for sure. But we won at Perth, which no team in recent history has done. Then to beat the World Champions 2-0 to lift the CB series was the icing on the cake.

The last six months have showed the world that India is ready to match its cricketting financial superpower status with its players performing on the field

India moves over to Second Spot in ODIs

As per ICC ratings, India is second team in ODIS. In Tests, however, she is fourth.

Indians have become more professional and their bowlers are concentraing on swing and reverse swing. In Praveen Kumar, they have a bowler who can swing both ways. The other medium fast bowlers, Ishant Sharma, Pathan, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Zaheer Khan etc also have improved considerably. The young batsmen have been coached by none other than (Sir) Sachin Tendulkar. In other words, the Indian team is now more professional.

Credit must be given to Greg Chappell, who suggested this system of putting 33 players on BCCI payroll. Now there is healthy competition amongst players and no single player can be sure of any post. There are competing bowlers, batsmen and wicket keepers.

The coaches have also performed well. In V Prasad, a master of reverse swing, India has an excellent bowling coach. R Singh and Gary Kirsten are also doing their jobs well.

The youngsters have risen to the occasion.

Good Luck, India !

India creates history !

Like the Juniors ( Under 19 team ), the Seniors do it again. Winning against Aussies in Australia is like winning the W C !

All credit to the star performers, Sachin with the bat ( 91 ) and Praveen Kumar ( 4/46).

This is a clear message to the world that Indian cricket has come of age. Two World Cups this season ( the T20 and U19 ) plus this CB series win make India a formidable adversary to the Aussies!

Let us hope India keeps up the winning streak against SA, in the next series.

India does well

India scored 259/8 and Sachin was at his masterly best, scoring 91.

It seems Praveen Kumar has matured into a good swing bowler, as he took 3 glorious wickets and Aussies are now down at 41/3 !

The U 19 team has great potential. Most probably they will be swallowed by IPL with huge perks. Lady Fortune is going to smile on the teenagers !

Uthappa and Sachin put on 94, a good partnership. Uthappa is coming up and with experience can be a good one day batsman.

Let us see how the match progresses !

Super, Duper Sunday for Indian Cricket

People danced on the streets and firecrackers burst everywhere as 300 million cricket crazy Indians celebrated India's twin win !

The Indian U 19 team was invincible. Much credit must be given to the coach, Whatmore.

It was Sachin who gave coaching to the youngsters and the young boys rose to the mark. Gambhir, Uthapa, Rohit Sharma all impressed.

Credit must also be given to the bowling coach, V Prasad, who groomed excellent swing bowlers !

Indian cricket and BCCI are becoming more professional !

Cricket - English game

- By: Ellen Birkin, 2008-03-02

Cricket is the passion of all Brits. Playing cricket has been a well-known tradition in all English homes from the beginning of 18th century. English cricket was a part of leisure as well as English tea; playing it was considered a status of symbol, an exhibition of good taste. The announcements of cricket tournaments were often published in English newspapers: the pictures of the time depicted the players dressed in white shirts, white breeches and cylinders, elegantly leaning towards the cricket ball.



The Cricket game has been the favored game in most English high schools – the most “rich and famous” schools hold a long history of cricket games. Eaton, Rugby and other selective schools were famous not only because of the education they provided, but also remembered for their sport games and sport groups. Cricket was a symbol of high standard, of belonging to a certain social group. The sight of boys and girls playing cricket on green lawns gave a British citizen feeling of certainty and trust in the strength of British Empire, known worldwide for its physical education.



The rules in cricket are not too difficult and can be easily learned: two teams, of eleven players each, play on grass field, in a center of which is cricket pitch. In some ways it is analogous to the American Baseball: a bowler, whose role in the game is to bowl cricket balls, is analogous to a pitcher in baseball. However, there are different categories of bowlers, relying either on speed or on the rotation of the ball. There are also different codes of behavior, which many players learn from their childhood.



Cricket has maintained its role as the symbol of British tradition – the passion for Cricket, developed in school years, doesn’t fade as the time goes by. These days, Cricket news is popular in certain countries just as much as soccer.

Marcia Henin, content writer for Inter-dev - Internet marketing company, On Behalf of sportingo.com - A sports news site.

Article Source : Article Wisdom

India on fire ! Celebrates two glorious wins !

Kaul took 2 wickets in the ultimate over and India won by 12 runs over South Africa in the Under 19 World Cup!

Srivastava top scored with 46, out of a total of 159 in 45.4 overs . Hendricks did well for SA, scoring 35, out of a total of 103/8 in 25 overs !

The Indian boys had done India proud ! This is reminiscent of the 1983 World Cup win and 2007 T20 win !

In the other match Down Under, Rohit Sharma took the pressure off Sachin,a fact acknowledged by Sachin, by scoring 66, while Sachin guided India home with an undefeated 117 not out.

Earlier Indian bowlers did well, restricting the Aussies to 239. Praveen Kumar, the allrounder India has been waiting for, clicked again, taking 2/49, while Bajji took 2/38. Ishant, Yuvraj and Pathan took one wicket each.

Go India ! Go and become a cricket superpower which thou art capable of !