SHAKIB left DHAKA to start his IPL-5 mission

Shakib Al Hasan

 World's best all-rounder  Shakib Al Hasan left Dhaka on Sunday to play in the fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Shakib, 25, will play his second season for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

The experience of playing in the last IPL season for Knight Riders and England county cricket helped Shakib to reach a new height in international cricket, he said.

The slow left-arm orthodox bowler was successful as a bowler in the last season of IPL. He is hopeful of having a blast in the batting department this season.

The world's best all-rounder's IPL bowling average is 15.91. Shakib was unlucky with the bat in his first IPL season as he got a total of 29 runs playing seven matches.

"I am confident of doing my best and aim to play in all the matches," Shakib told reporters.

Meanwhile, Tamim Iqbal will fly out on Monday to play for Pune Warriors. 

 

Pakistan Cricket Board launching a Pakistan Premier League (PPL) T20

Premier League (PPL) T20 logo

The Pakistan Cricket Board will be shown presentations next week on the feasibility and possibility of launching a Pakistan Premier League (PPL) T20 competition this year.

The board had postponed a two-day moot on the feasibility of having the PPL last month due to the busy schedule of the board chairman Zaka Ashraf.

"But now these meetings will be held sometime next week. They are some parties who will make presentations to the board on how the PPL can be organised in Pakistan," a senior official said, Pakistan newspaper The Nation reports. 

Sources say besides a Dubai and Karachi based sports management group, a company with direct links to a well known international television broadcasting and sports management company will make presentations at the PCB meeting.

"We are dead serious about having our own PPL. But the reality is that we have to first study the modalities and feasibility of having such an event which would not be possible without input and expertise from a established company," the official said.

The PCB has been toying with the idea of launching its own T20 league with the involvement of foreign players for some time now but has never got down to practically implementing the event.

"The situation is different now we need to showcase an event in Pakistan with foreign participation and the PPL appears to be the best bet for us," he said.

The official said that the board was looking at a PPL model similar to the ones adopted by the Indian Premier League and Bangladesh Premier League.

He said the board had also become positive after a statement from the Lashings club chairman that he was ready to send his team to Pakistan and also from support assured by some former test players with links to foreign players abroad.

"It can be done but obviously it requires lot of groundwork and hardwork." The official admitted that the PPL will also allow Pakistani domestic players like their counterparts in India and Bangladesh to earn some good money.

"There is no doubt that the IPL and BPL have gone a long way in improving the status of domestic players in both countries," he added.

While large number of Pakistani players took part in the recent BPL in Bangladesh for the fourth year running, no Pakistani player has been signed on by any franchise in the IPL that begins from April 4.

Ashraful lost his annual deal of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)

 Former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful lost his annual deal on Sunday as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) cut their list of contracted players from 18 to 15.

Ashraful, who was not involved in last month's 50-over Asia Cup campaign, Syed Rasel, Junaed Siddique, Raqibul Hasan, Shahadat Hossain, Naeem Islam and Suhrawadi Shuvo were omitted from the new list announced by the BCB.

Of the seven players missing out, Shahadat was the only one who played in the Asia Cup.

All-rounder Nasir Hossain, batsmen Nazimuddin and Shuvagata Hom and left-arm spinner Elias Sunny are the fresh faces to receive anuual contracts.

Pakistan beat Bangladesh by two runs in the Asia Cup final in Dhaka on March 22.

The list of contracted players are: Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Abdur Razzak, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Mahmudullah, Imrul Kayes, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Nasir Hossain, Jahurul Islam, Nazimuddin, Shuvagata Hom, Elias Sunnny

Analogy of India vs South Africa only t20 match

(FOR LIVE SCORE)

After the battering it was subjected to during the tour of Australia and the Asia Cup, the Indian cricket team would look to make a fresh start before the IPL razzmatazz when it takes on an in-form South Africa in a one-off T20 international here tomorrow.

The match is being organised to commemorate 150 years of the settlement of the Indians in South Africa but its scheduling did raise a lot of eyebrows.

The match is happening just after the Asia Cup, of which India was a part, and a few days after the Proteas hosted New Zealand for a long tour, involving T20s, ODIs and a Test series.

In a cramped international calendar, the game does seem like an oddity given that the Indians would be travelling all the way for just over four hours slam bang action before getting busy with their respective IPL franchises. Only five days separate the match and the beginning of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 5).

The long journey means that several players will miss initial practice camps with their respective franchises and that would certainly add to the physical strain.

However, Indian skipper MS Dhoni has ruled out the fatigue factor.

"All happy. I don't think fatigue will be a real factor. We all enjoy playing the IPL that's one format where you are not representing your country, and the span of the tournament is slightly longer so you play quite a few games," Dhoni said after arriving with the team. 

The Indians are not heading into the match in the best of form given the poor form the team has endured in the past few months.

As if the disastrous Australian tour was not enough, India failed to qualify for the recently-concluded Asia Cup final as well, thanks to a shock defeat against hosts Bangladesh.

On the contrary, the Proteas are in good touch as they had an extremely successful tour against New Zealand. They won the T20, ODI and the Test series against the injury-ravaged Kiwis.

The hosts though have retained only eight players from that tour in the T20 squad.

Almost all the seniors have been rested with the exception of all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who will be honoured after the match.

India, though, are almost full strength, opener barring Virender Sehwag and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan as the duo has been rested.

All the players, who were part of their Asia Cup campaign, are in the squad except for veteran Sachin Tendulkar, who does not play international T20s. He has been replaced by the hard-hitting Robin Uthappa.

Since the highly-popular IPL is beginning exactly five days after the match, the game would help the players get into the slam-bang mode, although the conditions would be different from India.

Squads:

India: MS Dhoni (C), Virat Kohli (vc), Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda.

South Africa: Johan Botha (C), Farhaan Behardien, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Richard Levi, Albie Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk, Dane Vilas. 

Match will start march 30,2012 (17:00 india time, 15:30 GMT, 09:30 Bangladesh time)

 

India may slip to 4th rank in ICC Test ranking

Whitewashed in two consecutive Test series, India are all set to lose a spot and slip to number 4th rank in the ICC Test Championship table.

With Australia eyeing a series win against the West Indies during the three Tests, starting in Bridgetown on April 7, India's current position is under threat.

While a series win will put Australia ahead of India in third rank, a 3-0 series win will put Australia on equal points with England on 113 ratings points (if England lose 2-0 to Sri Lanka).

And when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point, then Australia will be placed above England in second position as it will have a rating of 113.10 against England's rating of 113.045.

England, meanwhile, find themselves in a must-win situation in the Colombo Test if they have to retain the number one position.

England's victory will keep them ahead of South Africa by a fraction of a point but their failure to win the Test will make South Africa as the new ranked side.

If England lose the series 2-0, they will drop from 118 ratings points to 113 ratings points -- three points behind South Africa -- while a 1-0 defeat will mean they will slip to 114 ratings points.

Meanwhile, South Africa's AB de Villiers has reached the numero uno batting position for the first time in his career where he has been joined by Australia captain Michael Clarke in the rankings.

In ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, South African Vernon Philander is continuing his climb up the chart. The fast bowler had figures of four for 70 and six for 44 in Hamilton and six for 81 and none for 29 in Wellington. 

Philander has gained 148 ratings points, which has not only given him a career-best rating of 764 but also led to a jump of 11 places that puts him in a career-best fifth position.

In Test all-rounders' list, Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan is in the No. 1 spot.

PCB agree to host Australia in Sri Lanka

 Pakistan's home limited-overs series against Australia this August is likely to be played in Sri Lanka, with SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga and PCB director Intikhab Alam both saying they had agreed in principle to the arrangement.
Cricket Australia's stand has not been made public but it is understood to be aware of the plan. The Memorandum of Understanding has not yet been signed and Alam will travel to Sri Lanka next week to finalise arrangements.

"Sri Lanka Cricket had expressed the desire to host the series to the PCB a month ago and both boards have no problems with it. I do not know about the stand of the other cricket board [CA] yet," Ranatunga told ESPNcricinfo.

Alam revealed that South Africa and Australia itself were the other two nations being considered as venues for the series, but Sri Lanka was selected for commercial and cricketing reasons.

Pakistan and Australia will play five ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals against each other. The original plan was to play just one Twenty20, but with the World T20 immediately after the series, the countries' boards have agreed to play two extra matches.

Pakistan have had to play their home series in neutral venues since the attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in March 2009. While the UAE has been their location of choice recently, the scheduling of the Australia series just before the World Twenty20, which will be played in Sri Lanka, may have influenced the decision on where to play the five ODIs and one Twenty20 international.

Pakistan have hosted a Test against Australia in Sri Lanka before, in Colombo in 2002. Their last home series against Australia was played in England, in the summer of 2010, after which they have hosted all their home series, including one against Sri Lanka, in the UAE.

Sari-wrapped cheerleaders this IPL season!

The upcoming session of the Indian Premier League (IPL), India's glamour-packed cricket tournament, will see a sartorial anomaly come to life — cheerleaders wrapped in saris.

Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan's IPL team, the Kolkata Knight Riders, has decided to cover their cheerleaders in one of the most traditional Indian outfits — a marked departure from their 2008 wardrobe when a lot of skin, from midriff to thighs, was on display.
All these sari-clad cheerleaders would be "local hires" and will dance to classical Bengali music in between boundaries and fall of wickets. The team management is of the opinion this will help connect with Bengali cricket fans and improve ticket sales.
 

This is not the first time an IPL team has shunned short skirts and pompoms for a more conservative costume. Last year, the newest addition to the IPL franchise — Pune Warriors — had classical dancers, called 'cheer queens' in ethnic clothes. The owners had said these 'cheer queens' would showcase India's rich and diverse culture on an international platform.
But could it be that this change in attire has less to do with a new-found respect for Indian culture, and more with economics? Since the 1920s, some analysts have believed that during times of economic hardships, hemlines drop dramatically. The theory, known as the hemline index, has been put to test recently. In recession-hit 2008, full-length dresses had been in vogue. In 2010, as stock prices rose, mini-skirts made a comeback.

When the IPL burst on the scene in 2008, it was all about big salaries and high TV ratings. The heady cocktail of high-profile team owners, swashbuckling players, scantily dressed foreign cheerleaders and after-match parties had the nation hooked. For a while, that is. Over the last four years, the league's image has been tarnished by a series of scandals, TV ratings have dropped and team owners are still figuring out how to make the most of their investments.

So, is this switch to the sari a coincidence or does it reflect troubled times in what was called India's biggest sporting extravaganza? Will shorts and cartwheels make a comeback if the franchise's fortunes improve, or will the nine-yard fabric triumph?

Threefold role in IPL 5 doesn't upset Gilchrist

Adam Gilchrist

 At the age of 40, Adam Gilchrist is one of the elderly statesmen in the Indian Premier League this season.

However, instead of slowing down, the gritty Aussie has taken more responsibility upon himself as he prepares to both coach and lead the Kings XI Punjab this year.

The former Australian wicketkeeper-opener sounded really excited about his new role as he began training with his KXIP unit in Chandigarh on Tuesday.

"I am looking forward to a new role this year. I don't think there will be any sort of extra pressure on me because we have a very strong coaching unit to back me up. Vikram (Rathore) and Joe (Dawes) are very experienced and it will be good to have physio Patrick Farhart back with us," Gilchrist told TOI on Tuesday.

Gilly, who gave up all forms of international cricket five years back, still doesn't miss a trick when it comes to preparing for the IPL.

"We are all professional cricketers playing in this tournament. I don't think getting ourselves prepared for the tournament is an issue for us. I hit the gym a few weeks back to get into shape and have also been batting in the nets for some time now. I have played enough cricket in the sub-continent, so hitting top form in the IPL should not be an issue," he said.

Kings XI missed out on a play-off berth last season but had the chance of making the top 4 till their very last game. A loss to Deccan Chargers had dashed the hopes of Gilly's team then.

"The kind of build-up we had to the last season was not beneficial for anyone. We weren't even sure if we were going to be part of IPL-4. Considering that we still came to within a game of reaching the play-offs, was a brilliant effort by the team. This year we'll look to build on those gains and challenge for the play-off berth again," he said.

The skipper-cum-coach believes the strength of the Kings XI lies in their Indian all-rounders.

"We have a very good bunch of all-rounders with the likes of Abhishek Nayar, Piyush Chawla and Bipul Sharma. If you add Azhar Mahmood and England's Stuart Broad to this list, it shows the great depth we have. The pace attack is also very strong with Australians Ryan Harris and James Faulkner leading the way. Their contributions will be very useful if tracks at Mohali and Dharamshala provide some help to the fast bowlers," Gilchrist said.

The West Australian southpaw, who scored 383 runs with a century and two fifties last season, believes the ace-in-the-pack will once again be Shaun Marsh. The left-handed opener has been struggling with loss of form but the Australian has a special liking for the IPL.

In spite of being rather off colour last year, he still managed to tally 504 runs at an average of 42 and strike-rate of 146.

"There is no doubt that Marsh is an outstanding player. He is a very important cog in our team. Although he has had a tough time with the Australian team, I am sure he will find his rhythm in IPL soon," he said.