Don't cover IPL if they don't want Media: Kapil

In light of the restrictions imposed on media organisations by the Indian Premier League, former captain Kapil Dev has hinted that the press should not to cover BCCI's multi-million dollar venture if the IPL does not lift the curbs.

"If they (IPL) don't want, don't cover it," Kapil told reporters in Panchkula on Friday night on the sidelines of the first final of the Indian Cricket League's Twenty20 tournament between Lahore Badshahs and Hyderabad Heroes.

Kapil's comments came when mediapersons asked him about accreditation norms put forward by IPL authorities, though he went on to add that it was "unfair" for him to give a "judgement for somebody else".

"As a cricketer, I wish them luck," said Kapil, the chairman of the ICL's Executive Board.

He hit out at the BCCI for allegedly bending rules when it "suits them".

Kapil said many players in the Indian Test side, flouting the Board's own rules, were busy attending various launches in connection with the IPL, which starts its first Twenty20 championship later this month.

Another senior ICL functionary, Kiran More said the Indians looked jaded in the Ahmedabad Test.

"How many turned up for the net practice session tells the story. The players were already too tired by attending the launches," More claimed.

Near to 50% Australian cricketers players want to retire for IPL !!!

Nearly half of the Australian cricketers contracted with their board are willing to give up their international careers for playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) or its rival Indian Cricket League (ICL), a survey conducted by the country's Players' Association has revealed. According to the survey, the findings of which were reported by the Sydney Morning Herald today, 47 per cent of the national players and 49 per cent of the state players responded in 'yes' when asked if they were willing to give up international cricket for playing in the rival Twenty20 leagues in India. "Whilst it is surprising that players would want to quit international cricket to play in a lesser competition, the players' responses highlight how much the pressure, difficulties of so much time away from families, and the restrictions and obligations associated with being an international cricketer can affect their desire to continue playing international cricket for a long period of time," Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) chief executive Paul Marsh was quoted as saying by the newspaper. The ACA survey also revealed that the players were dissatisfied with Cricket Australia and 80 per cent of them wanted a change in its style of functioning. Almost two thirds of the respondents also condemned ICC's decision to remove Steve Bucknor from the Test series against India after the Jamaican's bloopers during the infamous Sydney Test infuriated the visitors, who threatened to abandon the tour at one point. A whopping 93 per cent of the players surveyed said they wished to continue playing cricket after retirement and Marsh felt the only way to prevent a mass exodus was to make room for IPL in the international calendar. "Cricket needs to carve a window out of the Future Tours Program for IPL, ICL or any other Twenty20 event that emerges, so that players won't be lost to international cricket. "Cricket has the choice as to whether it competes or co-exists with these leagues and if it chooses to compete it may well lose many of its players," he said. However, CA chief James Sutherland felt creating a window for IPL would eat into the seasons of several teams. "These are major issues for everyone to consider before they jump at a window," Sutherland said.

Hrithik Roshan and Katrina to perform for IPL

April 9, 2008 (Sawf News) - Unsure of viewer interest in cricket matches that do not involve national teams, IPL team owners are desperately banking on the presence of movie stars in the stadiums to give fans enough reason to part with their money to view the match.

Hrithik Roshan is not only filming a promotional video for Mukesh Ambani's IPL team - Mumbai Indians he will cavort with the team members in the stadium to the beats of the team's anthem, reports HT.
Similarly, Katrina Kaif, besides featuring in music video with Deepika Padukone to promote Vijay Mallya's Bangalore IPL team - Royal Challengers, will perform at the opening ceremony with Zayed Khan, reports Mumbai Mirror.

Akshay Kumar, who is promoting GMR Group's Delhi Daredevils has already committed to being on the field

"You'll find me in the stadium for every match, encouraging my team, cheering them on, and waving to them from the field," he told the press recently.

India Cement, who owns Chennai Super Kings plans to bring Tamil stars Vijay and Nayantara on to MA Chidambaram Stadium to ensure it is filled to capacity of 50,000.

Shah Rukh Khan, not surprisingly, is ahead of the pack in using Bollywood to ensure Eden Gardens has its capacity crowd of 88,000. Besides his own charismatic presence he is trying to get bongshell Bipasha Basu and Rani Mukerji to be in the stadium to cheer Red Chillies Entertainment's Kolkata Knight Riders.

So far Preity Zinta has resisted the temptation to give a filmi flavor to the Kings XI Punjab.

While there can be little doubt that the presence of popular film stars on the field and in promotional videos will snare viewer interest, it remains to be seen to what extent and for how long.

S-Max will be launching new campaign to promote Indian Premier League.

Television channel Max will be launching its new campaign, designed by TBWA, to promote its broadcast of the DLF Indian Premier League.

The BCCI’s league cricket format is expected to change the game and its presentation forever; as they’d say in Hindi, it’s expected to be the baap of all entertainment. Working around that idea, the TBWA team created the 75-second, ’70s Bollywood-style film to pitch the DLF IPL as ultimate entertainment on TV.

“The idea was to sell DLF IPL more as entertainment than cricket, considering it would be aired during prime time and was pitched against popular programming of saas bahu and mythological serials on general entertainment channels,” said Mr Rahul Ghosh, Creative Director, TBWA.

ICL’s offering prize money higher than IPL

The Indian Cricket League announced a prize money corpus of Rs 3.24 crores on Tuesday for its upcoming ICL 20s World Series 2008 in Hyderabad, starting on April 9.

The winners stand to gain Rs 1.25 crore and the runners-up will be richer by Rs 75 lakh while the third-placed side will pocket Rs 50 lakh.

That’s not all, for there are prizes to be won in the preliminary stage as well. While every team winning a match in the league phase stands to gain Rs 10 lakhs and the man of the match will be richer by Rs 2 lakhs.

On the face of it, though the money being offered by the ICL might seem quite less compared to the moolah being offered by the Indian Premier League — Rs 12 crore — but a closer analysis proves to the contrary.

While the World Series is a seven-day affair (April 9-15) with just one match being scheduled per day, the IPL is spread over 44 days and features 59 matches. Going by these numbers, the IPL prize money for a week would be Rs one crore 90 lakh approximately — much less than what the ICL is offering.

Himanshu Mody, the business head of Zee Sports, said, “We have started earning good revenue, hence the lucrative prize money. “In fact, all our advertisements on air have been sold out; this tournament too will be a huge success like the 20s Challenge.”

The tournament promises to be another blockbuster with Inzaman-ul Haq leading the formidable Pakistan team, while Chris Cairns will be captaining the star-studded ICL World team. R Sathish will skipper the ICL India team.

Shah Rukh Khan is in dilemma

Shah Rukh Khan will soon host a new quiz show Panchavi Pass (Reuters Photo)

MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan, the proud owner of the Kolkata Indian Premier League (IPL) team 'Kolkata Knight Riders', is in a dilemma. Will he perform on the field at the IPL event, or will he be best placed with his antics in a studio for his new television show Panchavi Pass ? The dates of both shows clash. Advertisers who have been kept out of the IPL arena are gearing up and cornering time slots on Panchavi Pass .
( Watch: SRK bach in the hotseat!)

IPL's 44-day cricket bonanza flags off on April 18 with 59 T20 matches. Panchavi Pass (PP) is SRK's new quiz show on Star Plus, which begins on the same date. It is to be telecast 8 pm onwards over the weekend. While Star Plus has signed on Airtel as the presenting sponsor for PP, while Airtel's competitor Vodafone is on board as presenting sponsor for IPL, to be telecast on Sony. This has initiated a battle of sponsorship between the broadcasters as SRK endorses Airtel too.

Despite the lukewarm response to SRK's Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), Khan and Star are gearing up for PP. The show is an adaptation of an international television game show, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? Incidentally, Bulldog Media and Entertainment has licensed the format from the owner, Mark Burnett Productions. Synergy Adlabs is to produce the show in India.

The prize money on PP is Rs 5 crore, while that of IPL is several times more. Media agencies buying air time slots told TOI that PP will be set in a classroom-like ambience with five and 10-year-old kids as part of the audience. If a contestant is stuck, he can refer to the audience who will act as his classmates. Cut to IPL. In this case, cricket on field will follow only after entertainment antics of fellow Bollywood personalities, and sizzling 'item numbers', both on and off field.

England cricketers want to play in the Indian Premier League

The chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association said a solution must be found or "money will talk".

"The value of the cricketer has just increased through what is happening in the IPL," Morris told BBC Sport.

"It's perfectly natural for the PCA to want our members to take advantage of that - it's a unique opportunity."

Morris was replying to comments made earlier by Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

"We are not interested in people playing in the IPL," Clarke said, before adding that he would not change the domestic calendar to suit the Indian league.

The ECB supremo also said he was "not getting any pressure" from players eager to sign up for an IPL franchise.

IPL chairman Lalit Modi, however, told BBC Sport that England's top players are keen to feature in the lucrative Twenty20 series.

There is a very real threat from what IPL cricket could do to the England team by decimating it of its stars PCA boss Sean Morris

And he said he would be happy to move his season forward to accommodate England's big names, who would all be attractive to IPL teams.

The billion-dollar competition, which has attracted players from every leading cricket nation apart from England, runs from 18 April to 1 June, clashing with the English season.

Any English cricketer wishing to compete in the IPL, or any other overseas league, requires ECB approval.

So far, Hampshire all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, who has played one-day and Twenty20 cricket for England, is the only Englishman to sign up for the league.

But on Thursday, New Zealand allowed five players, including skipper Daniel Vettori, to miss the start of their tour of England so they can play in the IPL.

India star VVS Laxman will skipper the IPL's Deccan Chargers

Modi believes England players are also keen on the IPL, and vice-versa.

"I know a lot of them are interested but we don't want to conflict with the English season," said Modi, who is also vice-president of the powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India.