Rebel cricket league starts today

The rebel Twenty 20 cricket tournament of Zee group chief Subhash Chandra, the Indian Cricket League, is set to take birth tomorrow at Chandigarh’s Tau Devi Lal stadium; though pangs remain.

Having grappled with problems like securing a playing arena and last-minute uncertainly over key international players like Brian Lara, ICL will take guard with live performances by Bollywood actors Kareena Kapoor and Lara Datta, model Yana Gupta, singers Sunidhi Chauhan, Kailash Kher and Band of Boys, among others.

That could be expected from a group that is a force to reckon with in media and entertainment. However, the lifeblood of media and advertising has been more than a walk in the park for Chandra.

Currently, ICL, which will be played in the increasingly popular 20-overs-a-side format, has a partnership with apparel brand Provogue for uniforms while Microsoft is the online partner and Thomas Cook the travel partner.

On Monday, in a bid to attract on-air advertisers, the promoters Essel Sports announced that the first 30 minutes of the matches will be telecast live across its 25 channels in India and overseas simultaneously.

This initiative was taken after advertisers’ lukewarm response to the promoters’ decision to telecast the matches only on Zee Sports. Advertisers are now considering buying ten-seconds slots for around Rs 20,000.

ICL executives are scouting for one on-air presenting sponsor who would pay around Rs 75 lakh and six associate sponsors who would pay nearly Rs 48 lakh each.

However, industry estimates suggest that with the tournament starting on November 30, the asking rate may come down.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav will be the chief guests at the inauguration. Following which, two teams representing Delhi and Chandigarh, respectively, will play against each other.

The six teams representing Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Hyderabad will begin play on November 30, and the series will conclude on December 16.

The champion team will play for a prize money of Rs 3.9 crore, the runner-up will get Rs 1.9 crore. The team ranking third, fourth, fifth and sixth will get Rs 1.5 crore, Rs 1.25 crore, Rs 1 crore and Rs 85 lakh, respectively.

This apart, every winning team, each day, will be awarded Rs 18.75 lakh, while the man of the match, in each match, will be awarded Rs 3.75 lakh.

Each team consists of 19 to 20 players, of which, five are international cricketers. Going by the schedule, each team will play around six to seven matches. The ICL will host 20 matches in the Twenty20 tournament in its first season.

Brian Lara calls for rebel league recognition

West Indies legend Brian Lara on urged Indian cricket boards to officially recognise Indian Cricket League's (ICL) Twenty20 tournament which begins December first week.
Lara said he was disappointed by the decision of the cricket boards to ban players who sign up with the ICL. "The reaction from the established cricket bodies was on expected lines but still I was disappointed," Lara said here.
"The intentions are quite honourable and I hope down the line people will understand what this league is all about and accept it," he said.
Lara is so far the most high-profile cricketer to sign up with the multi-million dollar tournament bank-rolled by Zee Telefilms, the country's largest listed media house.
The International Cricket Council has refused recognition of the ICL while the Indian cricket board plans to hold its own Twenty20 league in April to counter it.
Lara, however, said he was looking forward to the tournament to be played in Panchkula, an industrial town on the outskirts of the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, from November 30.
"I am looking forward to playing in the league. I would love to play alongside the young players from India who may not have had the opportunity to play with me and other international players," he said.
Pakistan's Inzamam-ul Haq, Sri Lanka's Maravan Atapattu and New Zealand's Chris Cairns are some of the other star players who will be in action in the ICL comprising six teams.
The teams have been named Chennai Superstars, Hyderabad Heroes, Kolkata Tigers, Delhi Jets, Chandigarh Lions and Mumbai Champs.
Besides 30 international players, it will have local players drawn from across the country.
Lara said the Twenty20 format of the game was fun and had expectedly caught on with fans round the world.
"I don't generally watch cricket on television but was glued to the TV when India took on Pakistan in the World Twenty20 final.
"It's a very exciting game and is fun. It has given the authorities a chance to take the game to places not familiar with cricket."

Afghan game short of cash but full of optimism

Short of funds and experience but bursting with confidence, Afghanistan's fledgling cricket team are already itching to take on the best sides in the world."If we had just 50 percent of the facilities that other international teams have, then nobody would be able to beat Afghanistan," declared national cricket federation president Shahzada Masood.

Buoyed up by what they claimed as victory in the Asian Cricket Council's (ACC) Twenty-20 Cup earlier this month, Afghanistan officials hope to attract aid to help the development of the recently imported but already popular sport.Officially, the ACC final against Oman on November 2 was declared a draw because Afghan fans invaded the pitch in Kuwait before the umpire could pronounce the match over after Oman, needing three runs to win, had missed the last ball.Afghans, however, celebrated the result as a victory.

Their enthusiasm impressed former England all-rounder Matthew Fleming, who ended a four-day fact-finding trip to the country for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on Sunday.MCC wants to help to develop the game in the country. The relationship began with a match in Mumbai in March 2006 when Afghanistan thrashed an MCC XI led by former England captain Mike Gatting by 171 runs.Two members of the Afghan team, Hamid Hassan and Mohammad Nabi, subsequently spent time at Lord's on the MCC's Young Cricketers scheme.In June this year, fast bowler Hassan became the first Afghan cricketer to play at Lord's, appearing for MCC against a Europe XI.

The absence of cricket in Afghanistan was a sign that the Afghans, unlike neighbouring imperial India, had never been conquered by the British.While the hard-line Taliban banned most traditional sports, cricket was one of the things they brought with them from the Pakistani refugee camps where many of their recruits originated.A new wave of refugees fled to Pakistan to escape the ongoing violence and, in their turn, brought the sport back with them when the Taliban were toppled in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

The Afghan national team have done well in competitions across Asia, including Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Kuwait. Last year, they won six of seven matches on a tour of England against local sides including university teams and county reserves. In the last decade, the number of registered players in the country has grown to more than 12,000, according to the Afghan Cricket Federation.

The MCC is considering providing equipment and support for schools and helping the federation to complete the building of a pavilion and stands at the national cricket ground.Where most games are played in a whirl of dust on patches of waste ground, Afghan cricket authorities have brought in soil and laid grass in an effort to create a showpiece national ground. But they have run out of money and it stands half built, the grass patchy and thin.

Despite the problems, national coach Taj Malik sees a bright future for the game."Cricket is a new sport here but now it is very popular," he said.

Great return from Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar made another headlines in international cricket by taking a first over clean bowled wicket of South African captain Graeme Smith and with an impressive 4-43performance. With his brilliance Pakistan restrict South Africa to 233-9 in the fifth and final one-day match played at Gaddafi Stadiu, Lahore . Akhtar was playing his first one-day international in 13 months.
Akhtar missed the preceding two Tests and first four one-dayers as part of a 13-match ban for disciplinary lapses, including hitting teammate Mohammad Asif with a bat ahead of the Twenty20 world championship last month.
He bowled Graeme Smith with the third legitimate delivery of the innings for nought. He got Jak Kallis, Mark boucher and Albi Morkel later.
Pakistan rested the pace pair of Umar Gul and Mohammad Asif. They also dropped opener Yasir Hameed to bring in Akhtar, Sohail Tanveer and Imran Nazir.
The match was relocated from the southern city of Karachi after South Africa raised security concerns .