A DLF Maximum or Citi Moment of Success: The Power of Brands this DLF IPL

Well when Chris Gayle hits a huge six over the boundary it is merely more than a six as it called a DLF Maximum.Whenever a catch is taken or there is a turning point in the match it is classified as the Citi Moment of success.To be honest these are really well ingrained with the nuances of an DLF IPL Match and soon people will get used to these interesting alliances in cricket be it Twenty 20 or One dayers or test matches.Orbit is playing safe and is the official chewing gum for all the 8 franchisees of the DLF IPL. If chewing gum was not enough Boomer is the official Bubble gum for all the franchisees.
Thats how sponsor publicity and the return of their investment of their advertisement spend is valued.Well television commentators are a part of this marketing glitz for the fact that they keep thanking the title sponsors of the DLF IPL which are DLF,Citi,Vodafone,Fly Kingfisher,Hero Honda,World Sports Group,Southern Sun and Microsoft.This apart you have the presenting sponsors who advertise during the telecast of these matches on SET Max or Multi-screen media the new name for SET MAX.
But with the DLF IPL shifting to South Africa there have been some interesting changes when it comes to advertisers and sponsors. Pepsico announced its association with two IPL teams, but on the flip side, has pulled out of a reported Rs 50 crore deal with the DLF IPL .

Kolkata Knight Riders:
As for the teams we have an interesting line up of new sponsors and some old ones who have pulled out.HDIL backed out of supporting Kolkata Knight Riders.They now have Nokia as their main sponsor on the front of their Jerseys,Star Plus is on the back of the jersey,Next Electronics retail store on the sleeves along with Sprite which is an interesting choice considering SRK has been a Pepsico loyalist and its after a long time that he or his team is associating with Coca Cola.Reebok is their jersey merchandixzing sponsor.Tag Hueur at the back of their caps and helmets is the best sponsor for any DLF IPL Franchisee and brand SRK has a lot to do with this.I wonder if they could have had a brand SRK or Red Chillies on their cap which would have been a marketing glitz for SRK’s genius.I am sure very soon we may have the Name of popular movies of these stars coming /allying with IPL Teams.Well My Names Is Khan on Kolkata Knight riders could have been unique.

Kings eleven Punjab:

Kings eleven Punjab aka Arsenal have Fly Emirates as their main sponsors. Other sponsors include Gulf Oil as official team partner, Nimbooz by 7 Up Official Beverage Sponsor, Netlinkblue Official Team Sponsor, Royal Challenge Official Games for Royal Challenge Partner, Springbok International Official sponsor, Reebok Official Apparel Partner, Dabur Glucose D Official Team Sponsor and Orbit as Official Chewing Gum Sponsor.

Rajasthan Royals:

Last years most underrated team and this years defending champions Rajasthan Royals had one of their major sponsors Bajaj Allianz Insurance backing out as the DLF IPL shifted to South Africa.So much so that they had to re-launch their team jerseys with new lead sponsors UltraTech Cement.Well 7-up is their Official Beverage Sponsor,Tata is their Official Team sponsor.With Bajaj Allianz going out we had HDFC Standard Life Insurance coming behind the back of their jerseys.The Tata Group and Kingfisher Premium on their left and right sleeves are their official team sponsors.Last but not the least and interestingly for this sector we have Tata Consultancy services advertising on their caps and helmets.Puma the third sporting shoe cum apparel and accessories maker makes an interesting mark with the Rajasthan Royals.

Delhi Daredevils:

Delhi Daredevils seem to be doing really well in this edition of the DLF IPL already along with the Deccan Chargers. GMR Holdings are the team owners and they welcomed Hero Honda as their main sponsors .Their suave yet cool blue and red jerseys are designed by Adidas distinctively marked with their trademark three stripes. Their official beverage is Coca Cola. Jet-King seems to be another unlikely sponsor on the back of their jersey which is an interesting combination.The new partners include Coke and Royal Challenge (both as Associate Sponsors), Wrigley's India (Official Gum Partner), Virgin Mobile (Official Mobile Partner), Fever 104 (Official Radio partner), Big Adda (Official Online Partner), GupShup.com (Mobile Fan Activation Partner), the Times of India and The Hindustan Times (both Official Media Partners).

Mumbai Indians:

Mumbai Indians is another team with their light and dark cool blue jerseys designed for them by Adidas. Owned by Mukesh Ambani the owner of Reliance Industries tag comes along onto the Mumbai Indians.Master Card is the official sponsor of the Mumbai Indians on their jersey sleeves with cellular co Idea being their founding partner and the official team sponsor on the front of their jerseys. Zandu Balm is another sponsor on the caps/helmets of the Mumbai Indians.Pepsi,Kingfisher Premium,Royal Stag ,Red FM 93.5 ,Geetanjali and Alakh Advertising form the next list of their associate sponsors.

Chennai Super Kings:

Chennai Super Kings have India Cements behind their jerseys and are the owners of this behemoth from the South.Reebok is behind their team jersey and has chosen a slightly bright yellow colour which goes with the city.Aircel is the chief sponsor of the team on the front of their jersey and indeed is the biggest advertiser.Chennai Super Kings has been followed by brands like Cloud 9, Reebok and 7Up. Health companies are also associated with the CSK and it has been found that there is a relatively unknown local ayurveda company, Nivaran 90 that has shelled out almost Rs 5 crores to make it to the CSK T-shirt. Peter England the shirt maker owned by the Aditya Birla Group is another sponsor that is vying for the space on the CSK T-shirt.Among other brands that the franchisee of CSK has got for its players include, Band Aid, Nivea for men, Lays, Orbit and Boomer. The association is not relegated to the products category, but even media partners have aligned their fortune with the DLF IPL and sponsors for CSK include Star Vijay and radio station Hello 106 FM.Big Bazaar of the Pantaloon Group is another advertiser associated with the CSK and this could be owing to the fact that the captain of CSK, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a brand ambassador for the group; therefore the company may have decided to align their fortune with the Chennai Super Kings.Clearly CSK has the most number of sponsors and there is a lot of buzz going for them.

Deccan Chargers:

Deccan Chargers from Hyderabad is the second team for whom the jerseys and merchandize has been designed by Puma.With odyssey as their sponsors on their sleeves. Their main sponsors are their owners Deccan Chronicle ,KingfisherPremium , McDowell’s No 1, Big 92.7FM, Wrigley’s Orbit. Surprisingly their beverage partner is Pepsi which is underplaying its association with DLF IPL and the 8 teams.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Royal Challengers Bangalore have used their sponsors very interestingly with Royal Challengers ingrained in the name of their team.This is the fourth team for whom Reebok has designed the team jersey and merchandize.Fly Kingfisher,McDowells No 1 would be natural sponsors coz of their owner Vijay Mallya also the proud owner of United Breweries and Kingfisher airlines.More on RCB Soon.

With a slugfest of advertisers from all genres this years DLF IPL is happening in times of recession.With MSM/Sony Max having sold 85 percent of their on air advertisements and 15 percent remaining to be sold at a premium we have a huge Blockbuster hit already.

KKR Reloaded or Sourav Ganguly Reloaded

The new KKR Reloaded ad is more abt Ganguly and about KKR:
You can love him,you can hate him but you cannot ignore him : For me he shall always be the eternal prince of Calcutta Sourav Ganguly.SRK and Coach Buchannan were aware of the backlash in Kolkata that would arise if Sourav Ganguly were to be replaced for the Kolkata Knight Riders by a new captain like Rahul Dravid was by Kevin Peterson for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Being Indias best former captain and the only celebrated player from Bengal for close to a decade,the repercussions were more than just expected.Bengalis being so passionate and cricket loving,removing Ganguly from KKR’s captaincy was like removing Bengali Rosogulla from a Bengali thali.
So SRK the marketing genius and shrewd coach John Buchanan announced that they would have multiple captains to create a different kind of flurry within the Indian media and basically I knew what was coming cos the multiple captaincy formula was never going to work any which ways.
Days before the DLF IPL officially began on 18 April,KKR then announced Brendon McCullum would replace Sourav Ganguly as their captain.After creating the hype around the multiple captains this announced was delivered effectively from a media stand point.The decision to replace Ganguly sunk in slowly and the aftershocks were more subtle.
Blog protests and effigies of SRK burnt in Kolkata are still happening but the decision was taken way before to remove him from the total control of KKR.The roots lay in the last years edition of DLF IPL.Umar Gul dint really get along well with Ganguly.KKR’s performance was a huge setback after their huge expectations. Reportedly SRK and Ganguly did have a few arguments over selecting a few players.
KKR has a good mix of International players but what they lack are a good bunch of Domestic players from Bengal compared to the other teams,the swapnil ashnodkars,Karan Goel,Manpreet Gony .Randadeb Bose was outsed who joined the Kings eleven Punjab and is rumoured to be the Fake IPL Player who is blogging giving away dressing room strategies of the KKR.
Ganguly for all matter played some swashbuckling innings last year when they won chasing against Kings eleven Punjab.Count Ganguly out and he gets back more stronger in character and wiser by his dedication. After the captaincy debacle ,and his poor performance in the first match versus the Deccan Chargers where he was found wanting for the short pitched deliveries,he came back once again.
The 2 for 24 againts the Kings eleven Punjab in 4 overs with the momentum breaking wicket of Irfan Pathan was all about immense passion.His 46 of 27 balls in the tied game vs Rajasthan Royals was an astute example what dedication ,passion and talent for a dedicated servent of the game could do when written off.His urge to fight gets sweeter like wine as he ages.
I agree technically he may not be sound,his short ball play may be severely challenged and running between the wickets and fielding could well do a makeover.But for sheer passion,dedication and the hunger to play makes this man a cricketing legend who should be revered and respected like anyone else from the cricketing fraternity.
The man who took India to the 2003 world cup final who breathed life into the Indian team when he took over after the match fixing debacle.The main man who nurtured youngsters like Virendra Sehwag,Yuvraj Singh,Harbhajan Singh ,Zaheer Khan and the captain who stepped down for Virendra Sehwag to open for the benefits of the team is no ordinary man. These four are the players who form the crux of Mahendra Singh Dhonis new India.
More than KKR ,being beaten and dismissed yet coming back strongly in the advertisements with the theme KKR Reloaded where a young boy throws a dart at a body-builder thus getting beaten up and yet gets up and throws back the dart at that guy, applies aptly to the career of Sourav Ganguly.For me and Rahul Dravid he shall always be the king of Offside and a passionate captain who deserved more.

Match 8 :Charge of the Deccan Hyderabadi brigade(Gibbs is their fielding captain)

Match 8: Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers. The charge of the Hyderabadi Brigade
It was a start to end clinical performance by the Deccan Chargers as they ascend to the top of the table with another comprehensive performance where they beat the Royal Challengers in match of the DLF IPL at Cape town hands down by 24 runs.
A capacity full house was treated to run feast by the deccan chargers.I feel the IPL is catching up with the South Africans to such an extent that it was the general elections day there on a weekday and still we had a full house.
It was the excellent start by Deccan Chargers Openers Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs who set them off to a roller coaster. Adam Gilchrist the new skipper for Deccan Chargers and Matthew Hayden for Chennai Super Kings are playing as if they are at the peak of their one day international careers.
As acknowledged by Kevin Peterson in the post match presentation it was the first six overs in both the innings that is the key match turning point of this game. Deccan Chargers simply came all guns blazing and the Royal Challengers were held back to below a run a ball within the first six overs and from that point in time it was always going to be difficult.
Rahul Dravid gets the orange cap again for being the highest scorer of this year’s DLF IPL. He was brilliant again in this innings but the charge came a little too late.So was Virat Kohli who got a swashbuckling half century.But after scoring just 57 runs in the first 10 overs after losing 4 key top order batsmen it was always going to be difficult.
But the bowling of Rudra Pratap Singh has been a revelation and deservingly has got him the purple cap taking 6 wickets in two matches and average run rate of 5.7 per over. South Africa has always been a happy hunting place for him with his match winning 5 wicket haul against England in the 2003 world cup.Royal Challengers are not playing as bad as their two consecutive losses,however if they are to win this years DLF IPL they have to pick their game higher.
Deccan Chargers simply look totally rejuvenated and seem the most likely to reach the finals of this years of DLF IPL,though its early days and anything can happen once the teams settle down into a groove.They have a unique fielding captain in the form of Herschelle Gibbs and the fields he sets have been incredible and even more ably supported by some excellent fielding led by Rohit Sharma and an incredible catch by Ravi Teja of Robin Utthapa at the boundary.Their bowling with led by RP Singh,Fidel Edwards who bowled an incredible Yorker the very first bowl to get Jesse Ryder clean bowled for a second duck.Pragyan Ojha has been another underrated yet over performing bowler who had Kevin Peterson stumped after two stumpings in the match vs Kolkatta.
All in all it seems that the charge of the hyderabadi brigade will continue until someone can come up with an even better performance.If that were to happen the eventual beneficiary would be the T20 cricket fan.

Obama tries his hand with the Cricket bat: Courtesy Brian Charles Lara

Cricket is truly globalizing,Apart from giving billion dollar aids to distressed companies in the USA through the TARP(Troubled Asset Relief Program),he got a cricketing lesson from none other than Lara.
Barrack Obama took time out from attending the Fifth Summit of the Americas to meet with Trinidad’s most famous cricketer Brian Charles Lara the famous two time triple centurian who is also a former captain of the West Indies. While his sport of choice is basketball, Obama was given a brief batting lesson by Lara, although attempts to teach him to drive were slightly less successful that his lesson in playing the forward defensive.

I wonder if President Obama were to be a cricketeer what would he do.I think he would make a great captain loved by one with all his accute leadership skills.On the Kingfisher FairPlay award I wonder how many points would his team garner.

Obama greeted Lara by saying that he “always wanted to meet the Michael Jordan of cricket”. Lara repaid the compliment by presenting the president with a signed bat.

World Earth Day: A case in point for the DLF IPL to go green

Puma ,Reebok and Adidas are into overdrive merchandizing and selling various franchisee jerseys,caps and many other accessories all across India and abroad. With recession looming and the DLF IPL Shifted out of India the eventual impact of the sale of these merchandizes will be clear only later.
Puma has come up with a great range of clothing for Rajasthan Royals and the two lions holding an ancient Indian horn on a royal blue background in indeed royal. They have come up with some ubercool merchandize like the RR slippers,pullovers and many such accessories at their store.Deccan Chargers has also gone in for a shade of blue with Puma after last year they had a dullish performance in the IPL and an even more dullish ocher and grey jersey.Puma expects the stadium sales to be hit by upto 5 percent. Indian stadiums holding IPL Matches creates that extra urge for the spectators to go and purchase these jerseys which will be missing this year.
Adidas for its part expects a fourfold increase in the sale of IPL merchandize. They have designed jerseys for the Delhi Daredevils. This leading sports brand has come up with a new, fiery red and electric blue fan range for the Delhi Daredevils which is also my best pick of the lot for the season.Mumbai Indians is another team which has got their team wear designed by Adidas. The cool blue and dark blue does look elegant for the Mumbai Indians. They have got 70 percent of their sales from online stores whereby customers are given a chance to customize their merchandize as per their liking and it seems a great POS(Point of Sale) and should do wonders in years to come.
Reebok for its part has made lot of headways already with Khan 12 jersey. The SRK Reebok KKR black and golden jersey is a huge hit already in India and abroad. More surprising part is that SRK wearing the jersey is shown in its advertisements as the captain of KKR where infact he is the co-owner of the team.Brendon Mccullum the actual captain would have made a good pin-up poster too.For the other teams you have Peterson,Mahendra singh dhoni and Yuvraj Singh wearing their respective team jerseys.
The kings eleven Punjab with red and silver ,the Chennai superkings (looks really bad with the gawdy yellow) and the Bangalore royal challengers with a refreshing red looks interesting.
I wonder why none of the teams have chosen the Green Color. A case in point to brand themselves eco-friendly and so to for the IPL today on world earth day.If not the teams jerseys may be the official staff and the support admin could Go Green just to raise awareness about Climate change ,global warming.After all it’s a business organization with such a huge fan base.A case in point for the DLF IPL to take forward after the great initiatives like HEAT and also Miss Bollywood South Africa.
As of today KKR with SRK’s sheer star power ,Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians should sell the most of their merchandize profitably coz of being in the metros with huge population and sheer fan following of Sachin Tendulkar and Virendra Sehwag.Dhoni is huge star infact biggest right now but doesn’t seem to naturally fit into the Chennai Identity apart from the fact that he is captain.

Harsha Bhogles favourite DLF IPL Moment of last year.

Set Max is looking at the entire Indian Family and targetting the middle class Indian Diaspora as its viewer so it is understood they would be having Hinglish for their commentary team.That explains why we have Arun Lal for the prematch analysis.Last years Mano-ranjan advertisement campaign was brilliant.I wonder if they could get it back.

But we do have Sunil Gavaskar,Ravi Shashtri ,surprise surprise even Harsha Bhogle.Simply brilliant ar'nt they.I also think Robin Jackman,Simon Doull and Mark Nicholas are really good commentators on air.I miss Michael Holding,Tony Greg and Geofrey Boycott.Wonder what they are upto.I spotted Geoffrey with Shipla Shetty the other day,which did set lot of eyeballs rolling for the fact that Geoffrey has been such an avid Shilpa shettys supporter.

The Max preview show has a mix of Hindi-english with Arun Lal.Wonder if they could get Navjot Sidhu or Mohinder Amarnath to add a bit more spice to their preview show.Mandira bedi seems to be upto no good.Shonali Nagrani the co-host for Max during the ICC World Cup 2007 was some real good eye candy.I wonder where she is right now.

Harsha Bhogle today was urging SRK to smile while on air with lot of anxiety on his face.His favourite moment for DLF IPL Season 1 was when 80,000 fans were singing along with SRK Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo le in a fully packed ground at Eden Gardens Kolkata.I am sure that is one sight I love to behold specially if you have our beloved Dada Sourav Ganguly coming down the track and hoisting some leftarm spinners for huge sixes over long-on or simply caressing the quickies through the offside of whom hes the God as per Rahul Dravid.

Match 6 :DLF IPL Its the Gayle and McCullum show for KKR.

Match 6 of the DLF IPL:
Kings 11 Punjab had their moments.After loosing an early wicket Irfan Pathan who seems a much better batsmen than bowler did do good for their cause.But KKR kept taking wickets at crucial intervals.
Well you can love him,you can hate him but you cannot ignore the prince of Calcutta.With two wickets in one over and match figures of 4 overs 24 runs for 2 wickets Sourav Ganguly just proved us all wrong when people had started to write him off.
After the 10 overs and into the strategy break Kings 11 Punjab were 67/3 of 10 overs.

After the break Yuvraj Singh played really well with those flamboyant super sixes.His wicket was the most important wicket of the day when you look at the result.With him finding his feet a score of 200 was looming over KKR.
Towards the end of the match it was Mahela Jayawardenas late flurry that got them to a score of 158/6 which seemed power for the course.

Then came the Knights:
Brendom Mccullum and Chris Gayle started causiously and Karan Goel dropped a sitter of Gayle which is another turning point of the match.Like all good players Gayle took it in his stride and phew Irfan Pathan and the others were sent chasing Leather all over Kingsmead Durban.

Within the first 5 overs Kolkata Knight Riders had screamed past the 50 mark and were 76/1 in 7.2 overs when rain interrupted play and hasnt stopped since for the next match.

SRK expressed his gratitude to Duckworth and Lewis and wished he could meet them.He was extremely tensed and being a good actor in emotional movies he too could not control the anxiety and tension that was so evident on his brow.

It seems KKR might simply be the best team one day if their openers and Ganguly get going or disasterous if they loose their first three wickets.It was a change in strategy with Ganguly slated to come 2 down.Early days though but the day all three get going it will be a treat to all our eyes.

As for the Kings from Punjab ,all the pep talk and eye candy in the form of Priety Zinta wont do as they seem to have a really weak bowling line up without Brett Lee ,Shreesanth.

The cut-off time for the Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals match is 10:45 pm IST and if rain doesnt stop we wont have a 5 over a side match.I dunno but if I were in either team I wouldnt be gearing up for that small a match.

Coming soon :ICC Cricket League

What I feel is that IPL will eventually go back to India.But eventually the success of the event in South Africa would be such an eye opener where by you could have the English Premier League for cricket or even bigger an ICC Cricket League.We already have the Pro20 Cricket tournament in South Africa and had the Allen Stanford cup in the west-Indies which are offshoots of this larger idea.May be more and more Cricket boards would offer huge chunks of money to Lalit Modi and the DLP IPL to organize it in their country.England was already a contendor for this years IPL and I see Australia with all the requisite Infrastructure to hold an event of this magnitude.

The IPL is predominantly and Indian event with only 4 Foreign players inside a team and it would make more sense to have more than just 4 international players.You could actually have more than just 4 foreign players.May be Independent clubs would be set up and there would no regulations about which players or the number of players from a particular nationality.Now this could be held yearly in a new country and thus giving a lot of opportunities for the other countries to take part and indulge in the spirit of the game of Cricket and T20.

Thus we could have the Champions league of cricket and the IPL which is more similar to the Football EPL.Champions trophy is designed to have winners of various tourneys come and participate and this is how ICC wants to milk the money from cricket.The official T20 World cup to be held once in 2 years seems another important factor that needs to be accounted for.

However the disadvantages would be the fact that One Day Internationals and test cricket would keep cricketers tied up with national commitments and after all T20 is not a purists game .It would be difficult to get these players time for various commitments to these independent tournaments.Playing only T20 is also not the main aim of any true cricketer and he always dreams to excel at Test Cricket.

So for the time being get your popcorn and pepsi and raise a toast to the IPL.

HEAT :Help educate and Teach in DLF IPL South Africa

With the various initiatives in DLF IPL Season 2 ,I really like this initiative where by in every match a 100,000 Rands are given to needy schools in and around the stadium/province in which the IPL Matches are being played.
Apart from this 5 young kids from those who have come to watch the IPL Matches are given 15,000 Rands as scholarship amount every match as money for their future education.
Lalit Modi calls it step to give back something to the country that has been so supportive to IPL in terms of their uncertainties and the quickfire scheduling of the entire event with in a time frame of 4 weeks.
Hats off to Lalit Modi and the team at IMG Sports group who came up with approximately 100 new schedules for the IPL in lieu of the Indian Home Ministry requesting the IPL to readjust the dates of the matches with the Lok Sabha elections taking place in India.

It feels good to see that young children are being encouraged to visit stadiums.Its really a great sight to see young South African youth visit the IPL and actually follow an Indian team.They seem to be coming in hordes and augurs well for the game of cricket.Most of these kids seem to be avid fans of Herschelle Gibbs,Graeme Smith,Jacques Kallis ,Shaun Pollock and even JP Duminy.

South Africans well known for Rugby seem to be taking a keen liking for cricket with their team beating the Aussies in a test series at Australia (though lost to them recently at home) and beating them in two consecutive one day series catapulting SA as the no 1 ODI team in the world.

Prisoners at a Jail in Kolkatta are demanding to watch the IPL.Wonder if KKR's woes will continue today.

Well prisoners of a jail in Kolkatta are really keen to watch the IPL.They have gone on a hunger strike until they get to watch their favourite cricketers all over the world.I wonder though if if their support for Kolkatta Knight Riders has dimished a little after their dismal performance from the last game.
They have consistently been 30 odd for 3 or 4 wickets over and over from the last years season.
Srk's dream is becoming a nightmare as he exulted after KKR's loss to Deccan Chargers.

But if you look at KKR's team composition they seem to have a long tail and are missing good allrounders of the likes of Jacob Oram,Scott Styris or even a Freddie Flintoff(if they could afford it).And a middle order stable batsmen like Ricky Ponting or Dravid is solely needed.Akash Chopra doesnt seem to fit well.

Ajit Agarkar has never been economical though the fastest to reach 50 wickets in one-dayers.Ishant Sharma is the only cricketer from the present Indian team to be playing in all three forms of cricket Test,One dayers and T20.This is a significant difference as India is one of the top one-day and the test team if not the numero uno and that is benefitting the other teams in the DLF IPL.

Pakistani fast bowlers like Umar Gul and a fully fit Shoaib Akhtar would have been idle for the conditions at South Africa.Salman Butt is another decent player to miss out.

I guess choosing a team can be such immaculate strategizing that who would have thought that relations between India and Pakistan would sour and players banned from that country.SRK should have hedged by choosing some South Africans.After all the IPL has taught a lesson or two in Business hedging and strategizing.

Match 5 of the DLF IPL2.Chennai beat Royal Challengers comprehensively despite their lull after the strategy break.

Match 5 of the DLF IPL2:
Bangalore Royal Challengers vs the Chennai Super Kings:
Royal Challengers got off to a decent start with Jacques Kallis looking in good form.But from 40/1 in 5.1 overs things were all set for an interesting run feast and a humdinger of a match.
But in a span of 11 runs they lost 5 wickets and from that stage on with Freddie Flintoff bowling just short of a length ,perfect for the conditions the match was heading only one way,the chennai way.
The defeat margin could have been higher if not for the strategy break

Chennai Innings:
Like written before the Strategy Break seems to have halted the momentum of Chennai Super Kings with Kevin Peterson clean bowling Parthiv Patel.Mathew Hayden being run out brilliantly by Rahul Dravid for 65 of 37 balls.

After the initial 10 overs going for 106/0 Chennai have ended with 179/5 only 73 runs for 5 wickets of the last 10 overs.Overall its a good score with it being the highest T20 score at St Georges ,Port Elizabeth.It was kevin peterson who bowled 2 overs for 7 runs and the important opening wicket of Parthiv Patel.

Freddie Flintoff remained unbeated and hit an awesome flatbatted six of Daryl Sten in the last over.Daryl steyn also dropped a skier of Suresh Raina of Kumble who evetually holed out to a good catch by Virat Kohli of Praveen Kumar scoring 28 of 29 balls.

Mahendra singh dhoni trying to up the scoring was caught by Bishnoi of Kumar scoring 16 of 14 balls.

.Chennai has won the toss and raced to 106/0 in 10 Overs with Hayden racing to 53 of 22 balls.Bangalore seemed to have very little options with everyone from Kumble to Kumar being belted for runs.At the strategy break Bangalore and Kevin Peterson seems to be having their hands full and needed to make serious inroads.

Earlier Mahendra Singh dhoni has won the toss and has elected to bat.Chennai have two changes with Murlitharan and Albie Morkel coming in. Also Bangalore has Jacques Kallis in the team in place of Jess Ryder.All the decisions seem to be good and makes an interesting prospect.
With another important aspect being the Red Cap being handed over to Rahul Dravid as the highest run getter and the Blue Cap being handed over to Anil Kumble as the highest wicket taker of the tournament so far, it augurs well for the Royal Challengers after their last years debacle.
Well the weather Gods seem to be angry again and it slightly overcast.As per Kris Shrikanth the pitch should turn for Muralitharan later in the day and a good score would be 135-140.The average score here has been close to 125.All in all an exciting prospect coming up.

The conditions are overcast and surprisingly both captains wanted to bat first after winning the toss.I feel it going to be a series where the older much more experienced players like Dravid,Kumble and Kallis will have a much bigger say compared to the flat wickets of last year.

IPL2 Schedule 2009 South Africa

2009 IPL League Matches Schedule:
Monday, 20th April, 2009
Chennai Super Kings vs Bangalore Royal ChallengersVenue: Port ElizabethTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Tuesday, 21st April, 2009
Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight RidersVenue: DurbanTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai IndiansVenue: DurbanTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Wednesday, 22nd April, 2009
Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers Venue: Cape TownTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Thursday, 23rd April, 2009
Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi DaredevilsVenue: DurbanTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan RoyalsVenue: Cape TownTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Friday, 24th April, 2009
Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kings XI PunjabVenue: DurbanTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Saturday, 25th April, 2009
Mumbai Indians vs Deccan ChargersVenue: DurbanTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight RidersVenue: Cape TownTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Sunday, 26th April, 2009
Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Delhi DaredevilsVenue: Port ElizabethTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI PunjabVenue: Cape TownTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Monday, 27th April, 2009
Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super KingsVenue: DurbanTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight RidersVenue: Port ElizabethTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Tuesday, 28th April, 2009
Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi DaredevilsVenue: Pretoria (Centurion)Timing - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Wednesday, 29th April, 2009
Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight RidersVenue: DurbanTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai IndiansVenue: DurbanTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Thursday, 30th April, 2009
Deccan Chargers vs Delhi DaredevilsVenue: Pretoria (Centurion)Timing - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan RoyalsVenue: Pretoria (Centurion)Timing - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Friday, 1st May, 2009
Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight RidersVenue: East LondonTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST Kings XI Punjab vs Bangalore Royal ChallengersVenue: DurbanTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Saturday, 2nd May, 2009
Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan RoyalsVenue: Port ElizabethTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super KingsVenue: JohannesburgTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Sunday, 3rd May, 2009
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI PunjabVenue: Port ElizabethTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Mumbai IndiansVenue: JohannesburgTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Monday, 4th May, 2009
Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super KingsVenue: East LondonTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Tuesday, 5th May, 2009
Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight RidersVenue: DurbanTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Wednesday, 6th May, 2009
Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai IndiansVenue: Pretoria (Centurion)Timing - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Thursday, 7th May, 2009
Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan RoyalsVenue: Pretoria (Centurion)Timing - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super KingsVenue: Pretoria (Centurion)Timing - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Friday, 8th May, 2009
Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai IndiansVenue: East LondonTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Saturday, 9th May, 2009
Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI PunjabVenue: KimberleyTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan RoyalsVenue: KimberleyTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Sunday, 10th May, 2009
Mumbai Indians vs Bangalore Royal ChallengersVenue: Port ElizabethTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight RidersVenue: JohannesburgTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Monday, 11th May, 2009
Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan RoyalsVenue: KimberleyTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Tuesday, 12th May, 2009
Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight RidersVenue: Pretoria (Centurion)Timing - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI PunjabVenue: Pretoria (Centurion)Timing - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Wednesday, 13th May, 2009
Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan ChargersVenue: Cape TownTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Thursday, 14th May, 2009
Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Chennai Super KingsVenue: DurbanTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan RoyalsVenue: DurbanTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Friday, 15th May, 2009
Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi DaredevilsVenue: BloemfonteinTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Saturday, 16th May, 2009
Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai IndiansVenue: Port ElizabethTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight RidersVenue: JohannesburgTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Sunday, 17th May, 2009
Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan ChargersVenue: JohannesburgTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi DaredevilsVenue: BloemfonteinTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Monday, 18th May, 2009
Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight RidersVenue: Pretoria (Centurion)Timing - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Tuesday, 19th May, 2009
Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Delhi DaredevilsVenue: JohannesburgTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Wednesday, 29th May, 2009
Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight RidersVenue: DurbanTiming - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI PunjabVenue: DurbanTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Thursday, 21st May, 2009
Mumbai Indians vs Delhi DaredevilsVenue: Pretoria (Centurion)Timing - 4.00 PM to 7.00 PM IST
Deccan Chargers vs Bangalore Royal ChallengersVenue: Pretoria (Centurion)Timing - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
2009 IPL Semi-Finals Schedule
Friday, 22nd May, 2009
1st Semi-FinalTBC vs TBCVenue: Pretoria (Centurion)Timing - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST
Saturday, 23nd May, 2009
2nd Semi-Final
TBC vs TBCVenue: JohannesburgTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST

2009 IPL Final
Sunday, 24th May, 2009
Winner of 1st SF vs Winner of 2nd SFVenue: JohannesburgTiming - 8.00 PM to 11.00 PM IST

Manchester United of IPL: Kolkata Knight Riders and some reasons why I like it

The Manchester United of IPL: The Kolkata Knight Riders:
My allegiance hasn’t changed and I still love the Mumbai Indians. But if you look at their team composition of KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) which is somehow weak on paper and their performance last year you may not have a world beating team. Nor would you expect them to challenge the Mumbai Indians ,Bangalore Royal Challengers ,Delhi Daredevils who seem to be my pick for the season as favorites after the first round of the IPL2.
But if ever you wanted to look at the euphoria or the pre-match buzz generated by any team in terms of promotion, marketing glitz and having the ability to be in the news its KKR.Be it the multi-captaincy row involving John Buchanan and Sourav Ganguly which seemed to be a played up phenomenon so as to gradually break the news that Sourav Ganguly the prince of Kolkata was not going to be captaining Kolkata Knight Riders. What their performance over the last couple of years also taught was though the essence of the team and local flavor was important ,performance in the game is a key metric of success and with so much money at stake tough decisions would be taken.
Or the reality TV Show on Knights and Angels the hunt for cheerleaders for KKR on NDTV Imagine SRK managed to get the new cricket viewer the Indian Female/Women into the game. I guess I know why STAR Tv has signed on to support the KKR.Now being a little cheesy going by their performance in the first match there doesn’t seem to be much cheering for them to do.I guess a reality TV Show to select the best cricketing talent would be a better bet next year.
However I salute the marketing acumen of Shahrukh Khan who is really witty with his words and has so brilliantly capitalized upon his global popularity and rubbed it upon his team.So even though Andrew Flintoff may be worth 1.54 million as the most expensive player while leading the charge brigade in capetown,SRK Stole all thunder.
If there was a Manchester United of Cricket its already Kolkata Knight Riders. With brands like Nokia,Tag Hueur Reebok and Sprite and one of the coolest looking jerseys in black and golden apart from the delhi daredevils who look ubercool in Blue and Red they seem to have euphoria going for them. With the only team having a tiger mascot for them and a catchy jingle Korbo Korbo Jeetbo le ,compared to say Chennai Super Kings whose Hindi song may not be even understood in Chennai,the team has it all.
There is a case in point where allocating Shahrukh Khan an IPL Team for abroad called London NRI’s Eleven, Durbans Indian Riders or Aussie Indo Juggernaut would have created even more global euphoria and sponshorship for his team,simply going by the euphoric popularity SRK has abroad.I was watching this interview on NDTV where the sports anchor Sonali chander quipped why does the Reebok KKR jersey Khan 12 sell more than any other jersey in IPL even though it was of SRK an actor and owner of a team rather than say a Sachin Tendulkar or Mahindra Singh Dhoni.Well the answer is unanimous SRK the brand is much bigger than KKR the team.
His sense of humour is at its best when he was asked with Shipla Shetty and Priety Zinta in South Africa don’t you think most guys would be interested in watching the two beauties to which he replied I don’t know about the others but the two would be watching only me.
Also as acknowledged by SRK himself his team may have everything from Dada to controversies,from brands like STAR Plus to sprite what’s lacking is a good middle order batsmen like Ricky Ponting .Akash Chopra seems like a misfit and they seem to have a long tail.They could so very well do with a Jacob Oram or an allrounder who could bat really well and bowl.
Till then lets leave you with all the Kings men and his wit.

Day 2: IPL2- Strategy break may break momentum of the batting teams.

The second day at IPL2 is underway.After the brilliant opening ceremony last night the stage is all set for this season to become a huge success.
The weather Gods seem to be a little angry today.The first match between Kings 11 Punjab and Delhi Daredevils was a little bit of a disappointment. Imagine only 18 overs in all and the first team had 12 and the next team gets just 6 overs with a score of 54 to get(after D/L).Common this is one of the issues of a T20/IPL Game where sometimes I feel the entire potential of the entire team is not exactly tapped to decide the fate of the game. More so in a rain curtailed game.
To be fair in such a rail curtailed match, team batting second does get undue advantage though the Duckworth Lewis is meant to be in lines of the interest of the team batting first. It was surprising to see the playing eleven of the Delhi daredevils with Glenn Mc-Grath and Paul Collingwood sitting on the bench.I wonder if IPL could relook at having 5 international players in one team.Food for thought.
Also another interesting feature has been the 7 and a half minute strategy break after half the no of overs of a sides innings.I think it really broke the momentum for Kings 11 Punjab.Also the fact that Daniel Vettori one of the worlds most intelligent yet underrated slow left arm spinner was given the ball immediately after the break.He was simply immaculate with his flight and line. Commercially very beneficial , lets see what the actual impact of these strategy breaks would be in future matches.
Virender Sehwag did have his hands full when the opening pair was blasting their bowlers away and Daniel vettori simply got them back into the game.Delhi Daredevils seem to have a great team with Sehwag,Gambhir and David Warner the Australian rookie who is all set to become one of the biggest stars of this format of cricket.Their spin department with Daniel Vettori and ably supported with Glenn McGrath they should be a good team to beat.Priety Zinta being such a good actress couldn’t simply control her emotions. Joy,despair,anxiety,happiness she had it all apart from looking gorgeous as usual.
Kings 11 Punjab seem to have a well balanced batting line up. However their bowling line up seems a little wanting.In piyush chawla they have an exciting legspinner but they seem to be lacking is a good bowling allrounder.Sreesanth being injured and Brett Lee being out of cricket for a while they have some catching up to do.No wonder Preity Zinta and Juhi Chawla had their hands full when they were bidding for Mushrafe Mortaza that eventually went to Kolkatta for $600000.
All in all lets wait and watch the Kolkatta Knight Riders vs the Deccan Chargers as I post this.

IPL2: Day 1,Of Shilpa Shetty,Geoffrey Boycott and the dog on the field

The first day of the IPL2 flagged of with Mumbai Indians Vs the Chennai Super Kings.It was an euphoric setting ,almost seemed like a dream with so much of confusion about where and when the IPL2 would be played. Full credit to Cricket South Africa,South African government for such a warm welcome and an impressive turnaround time for this beautiful feast of cricket.
Also the genius of Lalit Modi ( a tad emotional at the opening ceremony and we know how busy he has been when he thanked his family for supporting him for being out )and his team at IMG Sports group have worked really hard to make this event a reality. Whats Ironical is that the president of South Africa quipped at the opening ceremony and urged all South Africans to take a break from cricket on 22 nd April and go and cast a vote. Wonder what the Indian politicians have to say about this and the outflux of revenues which would make South Africa richer by 1 billion Rand. Indian restaurants ,hotels are set to loose close to 50-60 crores and so is the airline industry with so much of travel. Official tour packages offered by Kingfisher Airlines starts at Rs 49,999 and seems a great deal with interest picking up.
On the upside ,IPL2 is set to be huge money spinner during times of recession in South Africa and is the perfect example of New Age entertainment that has almost everything from the glamour and high profile personalities of near demi-God Indian cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar ,Mahendra Dhoni to the Bollywood spice of Shahrukh Khan,Priety Zinta and Shilpa Shetty.
The IPL2 is all set to earn close to 1000 crores with Media rights from MSM(Multi screen Media) or Sony Entertainment Television or Max having sold 85 percent of add space to 7 main sponsors.
Now about the matches:
To be honest at 2pm IST, the overlooming dark clouds dint augur well. It almost looked to be a dark gloomy day.
Mumbai Indians v Chennai Superkings
I think Mahindra Singh Dhoni the fortuitous Indian Captain got his team selection absolutely wrong.Mutthiah Murlitharan an off-spinner would have been extremely difficult to hit for Abhishek Nayar whose 22 run over of the 1.44 million worth Andrew Flintoff and was the turning point of the match for me.Also Albie Morkel the all-rounder from South Africa fresh from the series with the Aussies would have been an ideal bowler and batsmen when he required to accelerate the scoring while chasing down Mumbai Indians total.Lasith Malinga bowled really well and his Yorkers and control at the death augurs really well for Mumbai Indians.
But great credit to the greatest Batsmen of all time Sachin Tendulkar to create the leveraging space for Abhishek Nayar to score the way he did and it was Sachins calming yet Godly influence that Abhishek could play the way he could.
It was literally the dogs day out at the match as another highlight where in everyone from the cricketers like the dog crazy Dhoni and ruffled security guards had a tough time driving him out of the ground.It also seemed like watching the match in Mumbai with Shahrukh Khan sitting right in between Neeta and Mukesh Ambani and more than anything they seemed cheering the fact that IPL2 was more than underway.
Bangalore Royal Challengers V Rajasthan Royals:
The highlight of the day was Shilpa Shetty with Mr Geoffrey Boycott who were cheering for Rajasthan Royals. I feel Kevin Peterson got it wrong by leaving Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher out, looking at the fact that the bowl would swing and seam and those two had been playing the aussies in South Africa compared to say a Ross Taylor whose a pure batsmen and he yet to be acclimatized to the conditions.
Rahul Dravid just showed what a class act he is and his humbleness at the post match presentation when asked by Ravi Shashtri about waving his bat in a peculiar way on reaching 50 if that was to prove a point.His answer really humbles me as a cricket fan of the legend.
Shane Warne will go down the as the best undisputed captain who never led the Australian side.I am sure his pro-activeness and his cricketing ability is of sheer genius that words can describe.Even Graeme smith ,South africas intelligent captain could learn a trick or two.His control and accurate bowling after he resumed bowling only in a practice match ,a week before ,right after last years IPL was immaculate and his two dismissals leg-spinners ultimate fantasies.Brilliant.
Kevin Peterson seemed buoyed by the South African crowd and the more they booed him the more swankier and classier are his shots.But the ultimate highlight was Pravin Kumars quick inroads and the legend of a well oiled clinical Jumbo Anil Kumle whose figures 3.1 over 5 wickets for 5 runs was simply his charismatic best.
Bowling straight,with flippers and the lately developed wrong one on south African wickets with bounce Anil Kumble is the most under-rated Spin Legend and match winner the world has ever revered.

Move over EPL,F-1,Rugby for IPL & T2O Cricket is here..

As I am big fan of Geofrey Boycot’s mum ,when the T20 world cup was played in 2007,being the orthodox and an ardent textbook cricket fan who sweared by test-cricket, I really thought what good to make of a 20 over a side match that din’t exploit the true potential of every player in the team.Yes it was exciting,exhilarating ,nerve-crunching but was it going to be restricted to a game of luck and chances.To put it simply I had my reservations. But after the first season of IPL and all the euphoria preceding IPL2 ,I must say I feel if anything T20 & IPL are actually the best testimonials to the game of cricket there has ever been right across the world. Over the years cricket had been type-casted as a sub-continental phenomenon and almost dying in the WestIndies which was once upon a time the breeding ground for the worlds best fast bowlers.But over the last year the excitement generated by IPL & T20 is catching up all across the world and has rubbed some of its magic onto one-day and test cricket.2 Feet long queues about 2 hours before a match in South Africa against the Aussies for a T20 Match was something I could imagine only happening in India.South Africa if anything seems to be in the midst of a cricketing revolution. Packed to capacity,the fun and games,the crazy fan day at all their venues and the number of south African flags on ground in one-dayers,test matches and of-course T20’s has been a common sight over the last year. No doubt their team has been successful in beating the Aussies which is no easy task, in remarkable fashion while touring them.The cricket fever generated by T20 has simply breathed a new lease of life into the cricketing fraternity. No wonder Brian Charles Lara says "Cricket was a dying sport and I believe that Twenty20 is going to be beneficial for many reasons,While every youngster in India who aspires to be Sachin Tendulkar or Kapil Dev,its also about fate and destiny.If they could not reach the heights their icons have scaled T20 has opened new avenues to a lot of cricketers.More and more youngsters world over would be looking at professional T20 in the future as it would also be a glamorous and a well paying job ,something that would put them on par with the footballers and F1 drivers.Or the careers of Sanjay Bangar, Aakash Chopra would have been bitten into dust (as they failed to make it consistently in the Indian colours) had not IPL come along.What it also has done is getting more and more youngsters into the game.For now you would have a young English boy,a new Zealander aspiring to be Kevin Peterson and Freddie Flintoff for 1.44 Million dollars in a season.Women spectators have been a remarkable feature of T20.The excitement, the adrenaline and the euphoria seems to have them enthralled. Talking about why only 8 teams world over could play this game over the last decades with all the nuances of swing bowling, seaming wickets and nitty-gritty’s of being of top quality, we now have a format that is adaptable right across the world. If T20 is promoted across the world the learning curve for adopting to this game would be smaller and more and more teams could develop great teams. We could have USA V China is a T20 Final one day which seems much more feasible due to the marketing prowess and excitement of T20.The same game which is criticized for its non textbook style would actually get the world investing in cricket and who knows we may have more than just 8 good test teams. The Chinese are good learners and the Japanese may instill Just In Time techniques.The amount of money IPL2 is going to generate via television ads,franchise sponsorship would be hysterical considering the world being in a deep recession.It may also be the feel good factor for the IPL Indian fan at the end of the day if the sensex or the NSE tanked in the day.Having a run-time of close to 4 hours which is full of so much excitement and drama ,its actually similar to a soccer match which is close to 2 hours which works very well for the average spectator to finish his work and come spend a delightful evening with his family friends at the venue. Well the organizers would be laughing all the way to the banks but who can blame them.Its a platform where entertainment is delivered Live and candid ,a kind of a reality TV that has no script where the control could switch by every ball and by every over.New stars of this era who specialize in T20 would be born and they would be rich and famous too .I can imagine no cricketing legend the likes of Gary Sobers,Sachin Tendulkar and Don Bradman partying away colouring the world with their larger than large personas (following across the world) like the Beckhams,Hakkinens,Hamiltons and the Ronaldos.But from now on there shall be clubs and there shall be transfers ,we shall have more and more cricketers as the richest sportsmen in the world and they shall be traded from one club to another for a million dollars.With the stock markets crashing,unlike speculation ,here where performance is equity we have the likes of J P Duminy and Mustafe Murtaza getting close to 600 million dollars and more PE players pumping money into the game of cricket.Finally soothsayers may question the basics of cricket and the quality deteriorating but then I rather see that co-existing as could be seen by the two-test series in Australia and South Africa where I feel the T20 euphoria and good cricket is getting more spectators involved with the game of cricket. And as long as that is the case I am happy and I must say the queues for a game of cricket world over will be over 20 feet to get into the stadium 2 hours before the start of a match.Move over Soccer,Football and Rugby.Its T20 Time.