 Indian Premier League - Where cricket meets entertainment
17th Apr 2008 23:00 IST
Manish Kumar
A total of eight teams will slog it out in 59 matches of intense Twenty20 cricket spread over 45 days - an event that promises to take cricket to a new level of entertainment with actors from the Indian film industry either owning the teams or becoming their brand ambassadors.
Established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2007, the first IPL season is scheduled to start on April 18, 2008 and the final match will be held on June 1, 2008. Each of the eight teams will play two matches with every other team, held at Home and Away venue. The league matches will be followed by two semi-finals and a final match.
A brief look at all the teams:
Mumbai Indians: Led by Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, the designated icon player, Mumbai Indians will represent the city of Mumbai in the IPL. Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan is the Brand Ambassador of the team.
Reliance Industries Limited through its subsidiary Reliance Retail Ltd purchased the rights for the Mumbai franchise of Indian Premier league for a total of $111.9 million during the auction on January 24, 2008. The RIL bid has made the Mumbai Indians the most expensive franchise in IPL.
The team logo has the Sudarshan Chakra with the team's name engraved in it. The team's colour will be blue.
The batting of the Mumbai Indians will be their biggest strength spearhead by the explosive opening combination of Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya. A few early blows from the seasoned campaigners would make the virtues of line and length a mockery. The openers will be followed by Robin Uthappa, hard-hitting South African Loots Bosman, his compatriot Ashwell Prince and Australians Luke Ronchi and Dominic Thornley and will be supported by promising youngsters Abhishek Nayar and Pinal Shah.
Pacers Shaun Pollock, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando and comeback man Ashish Nehra can be dangerous and spinners Harbhajan Singh and Jayasuriya will be more than a handful. No doubt Mumbai Indians form a potent force as a unit.
Advancing age is a factor that could affect not just their bowling, but also the fielding which is of prime importance in the Twenty20 matches. Jayasuriya (38), Tendulkar (will be 35 in a few days), Pollock (34), Fernando (28) and Harbhajan (27) are spring chicken. And 28-year-old Nehra, who is trying to stage a comeback after his ankle injury, is famous for having his mind elsewhere while fielding.
Wicket keeping could also prove to be a weak link as New Zealand-born Luke Ronchi, expected to be the first choice, is not so experienced. Shah, who also opens the batting for Baroda in domestic cricket, will apparently be on standby.
The Squad: Sachin Tendulkar (Captain), Loots Bosman, Ankeet Chavan, Siddharth Chitnis, Gaurav Dhiman, Dilhara Fernando, Harbhajan Singh, Sanath Jayasuriya, Musavir Khote, Dhawal Kulkarni, Lasith Malinga, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Manish Pandey, Rajesh Pawar, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohan Raje, Luke Ronchi, Pinal Shah (Wicketkeeper), Swapnil Singh, Yogesh Vijay Takawale (Wicketkeeper), Dominic Thornely, Saurabh Tiwary, Robin Uthappa, Vikrant Yeligati.
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