IPL 2009 Not in England

(This entry was originally published on Saturday, January 3rd, 2009)

Lalit Modi is the commissioner of Indian Premier League (IPL) and he has categorically denounced reports that IPL 2009 could take place in England and India. He said that IPL was a domestic cricket tournament for India and it will be held only in the home country. There are some media speculations that IPL 2009 could take place in England and at first, some matches could take place in India and then three weeks of action in England. Now, Modi has denied the report. So you can be sure that it will be not be like this.

IPL 2009: Without Pakistani cricketers?

It seems that there could be no Pakistani cricket player in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2009. IPL 2009 is going to take place in April and May and in the last season there were lots of Pakistani players such as, Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi,

Kamran Akmal etc. Some of the players like Sohel Tanvir performed superbly. In fact, Sohail Tanvir was one of the key players who contributed in the championship of Rajasthan Royal in IPL 2008. Because of Mumbai terrorist attack, the relationship between India and Pakistan is now very sour.

Many people are thinking that there might be no Pakistani players playing in the Indian Premier League this season. The main reason for their suspicion is that India has cancelled the proposed tour to Pakistan because of security reasons and political tension. So, I will not be too much shocked if there is absence of any Pakistani player in IPL 2009. Ofcourse it is not a good thing for world cricket and political tension can create a lot of problem for IPL. However, it is a political matter and it depends on the politicians. So, there is nothing Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or Indian Cricket League (ICL) organizers can do because ICL organizers are expecting the same thing that there would be no Pakistani team like Lahore Badshah in Indian Cricket League this season.

(This entry was originally published on Saturday, January 3rd, 2009)

IPL 2009 Online Live Scores in Different Websites

If you want to get the live score and updates of the first semi final of IPL 2009 between Delhi and Deccan, then visit the following link:

Delhi vs Deccan Semi Final Updates: IPL 2009

Indian Premier League 2009 is more than half way mark. Now, we are waiting for the next few matches and then the party will finish for this year. You know that this time, it is taking place in South Africa because of security problem in India about general election 2009. So, many fans in India felt unhappy that they could not go to the stadium. Instead, they had to be satisfied with watching the matches in their TV. This time, in many days, 2 matches took place in weekdays and as a result, many people were in their offices and could not enjoy the matches. So, in the end, TV ratings of IPL may go down a bit in season 2 compared to season 1.

This time, because it is not taking place in India, many fans in the country may seem to be out of touch with the event. So, Internet is a great medium to be updated with IPL condition. I have noticed that this time, many websites are covering IPL related news. In fact, because it is taking place in South Africa, therefore, many South African newspapers and websites are giving adequate coverage to the event.

So far, IPL 2009 has been very eventful. Of course, Shahrukh Khan has caused a lot of fun with his coach John Buchanan off the field to the cricket fans. He has been very busy to create one after another controversy. The cheer leaders are absent most of the time in front of TV viewers. Instead, they have focused more on entertaining the crowd who are present in the stadium. Well, in many matches, I found that there were not even 50% full crowd in the stadium. It happened mainly in the day time (afternoon) matches. So, here, I am giving description and links to websites that are providing live score of IPL 2009 matches:

Cricinfo

This is the most popular website based on Cricket and you can get live score and updates with text commentary of all the major cricket tournaments and matches. Besides international matches, Cricinfo also cover the domestic cricket tournament like county cricket of England, India’s Ranji Trophy and Indian Premier League (IPL). So, if you want to get the live score with ball by ball text commentary, then visit this link:

http://content.cricinfo.com/ipl2009/engine/current/series/374163.html

Cricket Next

Cricket Next is another popular cricket portal that also provides the fans with live score and updates as well as text commentary of cricket matches of all major tournaments. Besides live score, Cricket Next also gives cricket news, pictures as well as statistics for the cricket fans. So, if you go and visit Cricket Next for the live score of IPL 2009 matches, then you can also enjoy other things related to cricket and IPL 2009 tournament. To go to the live score section of Cricket Next, click on the following link:

http://cricketnext.in.com/cricket_scorecard/index.html

The Times of India

This is not a website dedicated to cricket only. In fact, this is one of the most popular newspapers in India. However, the online version of the newspaper has a sub-domain on IPL where you can get the updated score of an ongoing IPL match. Moreover, you can also enjoy reports and feature articles on IPL in this section of The Times of India. You should click on the following link to go and visit the IPL section of the newspaper:

http://ipl.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Yahoo Cricket

Yahoo Cricket is another cricket based website from where you can get to know all the latest of the game. If you are one of those who are interested to have a place from where you can have access to the latest of IPL 2009 matches, then Yahoo Cricket is one of the sites where you can enjoy the live score and updates of the IPL 2009 matches with text commentary. So, visit the following link to reach the Yahoo Cricket website:

http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/livematch?mid=6368

ipl.co.in

This is another website which also provides live updates of IPL matches for the cricket fans. Here, you do not need to refresh the page yourself in order to get the updated score of the match. Rather, the page is automatically updates after every few moments, and thus, the updated score is automatically presented to the cricket fans. If you can interested to visit the site, then click on the following link:

http://www.ipl.co.in/match16.html

ICC cricket world cup live

This is another website which is totally dedicated to cricket. You can get to know lots of information about IPL in this website, besides live score and updates of the IPL matches. To visit the site, click on the following link:

http://www.icccricketworldcuplive.com/live.php

24timepass.com

This website shares the feed of ibibo Live Cricket feed, and thus, allows the visitors to know the latest score of the IPL 2009 matches. You can also get the commentary and graphs of the IPL matches here. So, go and visit the website by clicking on the following link:

http://www.24timepass.com/sports/online-ipl-videos-ipl-score-and-scroreboard-live-ipl-telecast.htm

Cricket.indifun

Besides live score and updates of IPL 2009 matches, if you also want the graphical presentation of the match statistics, then I would recommend you to go and visit this website. Moreover, you can also get the ball by ball commentary of IPL matches. So, do not waste your time and be quick to click on the link given below:

http://cricket.indifun.com/livescores.html

Chennai Super Kings Live Streaming

This website is totally dedicated to IPL team Chennai Super Kings. The website mainly provides live score and live streaming of Chennai Super Kings matches. However, you can also get the live score and updates of the IPL matches as the website shares the live cricket feed from ibibo. You can go to the website by clicking on the following link:

http://chennaisuperkingslivestreaming.info/ipl-cricket-live-score

IPL 2009, Economic Recession and General Election

There is just one month left before the start of Indian premier league (IPL) 2009. But it is now the richest tournament in the world and the funny thing is that it is not even an official tournament in the sense that the records made here are not counted as the mainstream cricket records. They will be just regarded as IPL records but not as of Twenty20 records. Still, most people and players do not bother because it is the richest tournament and the cricketers earn a huge amount of money in just two months.

 

On the other hand, for TV viewers, it is six-seven weeks of continuous entertainment almost every night and in the weekends, they can have even two matches on the same day. Big companies in India are very happy because at last, they have found a tournament which will be played on a yearly basis and they can promote their products by advertisements. Thus, there is every thing and there is something for everyone with IPL. It is the second season that is going to start from April, 2009 and I am curious to see what happens this time because two important things are going to coincide during this time: recession and election.

The first thing to take note is the economic recession. Most people related to IPL management are confident that their event is recession proof. They feel that IPL is the most popular sporting event in India and cricket is more than a sports in this country. They think that People will never become tired of cricket and the big companies want to be where there are a lot of people. BCCI Officials are confident that thousands of people will come to the stadium to enjoy the matches like last season and on the other hand, all the companies will come with big endorsement, sponsorship and advertisements in TV.

Cricket 360 wrote:

Many news items and editorials have been devoted to statements made by Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi to the effect that the IPL is impervious to the recession; that the IPL will not be affected by the economic downturn because of its business model and long term contracts. According to Modi, the IPL typically enters into 5 to 10 year contracts which makes it ‘recession proof’. 

Even Kings XI Punjab co owner Ness Wadia believes that the recession won’t affect the Indian Premier League much and has gone on to say that the IPL will draw even more crowds this year. Certainly the likes of Vijay Mallya and Mukesh Ambani can thumb their nose at the recession, but there are many who are actually feeling the pinch.

 

 I do not agree with them and I feel that economic recession is going to affect IPL this time perhaps not the amount that I’m expecting but it will hurt the event to some extent. You have to understand one thing and that is many big companies in India are multinational companies and they are suffering in Europe and America because of economic recession. So, naturally they cannot afford to spend that amount of money for sponsorship and advertisements like last Specially, think of the American companies who are suffering a lot in USA and many of them are seriously trying to just survive at this moment. As for the Indian companies, you have to understand that they are also  trying to become cautious in the time of economic slowdown. Even a big conglomerate like Tata is worried about the future and they are trying to become careful about not to spend too much money. So, I feel that there will be some kind of repercussion of economic recession over IPL 2009.

Another big matter that is perhaps going to affect is that general election in India is going to take place in April 2009. But the main problem is that general election in India takes place over a period of time not just in one day and security is always a big concern when election takes place in this country. In fact, Indian government has already talked about making delay of IPL 2009 so that it does not clash with the general election 2009.

Cricket Next wrote:

Earlier, few games in the IPL were rescheduled due to the election dates. The IPL is scheduled to start on April 10 and the first round of polling is on the April 16.

"I have asked the Home secretary to get in touch with the IPL organisers. Since, the election dates are unalterable, I have asked to find out of the dates of the IPL can be rescheduled. I would be happy if the tournament starts when the bulk of the polls is over," said Chidambaram.

 

Well, BCCI officials will be in big problem because this is perhaps the only window of time (April and May) open for them to organize the event. It is impossible for them to find any other month for the event and you have to remember that in 2009, two import an international cricket events are supposed to take place: Twenty20 World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy. So, I think that it’ll be a big challenge for BCCI to find any other month for organizing IPL 2009.  

It seems that suddenly there is a lot of uncertainty over IPL second season and it cannot be good news for the BCCI management, the owners of different clubs and even the players. Here, I like to remind you that in 2008, Champions League did not take place because of terrorist attack in Mumbai. But well, it’s really there is some kind of uncertainty and in the end, the second season of IPL does not take place this year, then it will perhaps give a lot of satisfaction to everyone involved with Indian Cricket League (ICL). They will feel that it is like a poetic justice but the cricket loving fans in India will be very unhappy because they are eagerly expecting to have some kind of great entertainment from the second season of IPL. 

Rajasthan Royals Reaches Semi Final with a Six-Wicket Victory over Kolkata Knight Riders

Rajasthan Royals has secured a place in the semi final as the first team of Indian Premier League (IPL) following a six wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens last night. Rajasthan Royals was the one of the least spending franchises in player auction, but with time progresses Rajasthan Royals is becoming stronger. Shane Warne is leading the side pretty successfully with creativity and positive thinking. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders are now on the verge of getting out of the race to semi final.

Winning the toss, Warne invited Kolkata to bat first, a decision proven right by his pacers as they took two wickets within seven overs. After a superb 73 in the previous match, Salman Butt started off well hitting some boundaries. However, his opening partner Mohammad Hafeez continued his off form in the match. I think, opening pair has become a problem for Kolkata Knight Riders for the last few matches. Losing an early wicket means creating huge pressure over the next batsmen. Captain Sourav Ganguly scored the highest 32 runs for Kolkata before falling off a loose delivery. David Hussey got played on at 11. Actually, Kolkata lost wickets at regular interval. Kolkata innings reached 147 thanks to a fiery 31 off 20 balls from Debabrata Das.

Chasing 147 seemed to be easy for Rajasthan Royals considering their recent form of batting. However, the start was not that much solid for Rajasthan as they lost their second wicket at 42, when Sohail Tanvir went back to the pavilion proving his side’s experiment in the batting order wrong. Shortly after the departure of Sohail Tanvir, Rajasthan Royals lost two more wickets, which led the home fans hopeful once again, but for no longer. Following the entrance of Yusuf Pathan, it did not take much time for Rajasthan to snatch away the match from Kolkata’s grip. Yusuf played a devastating innings of 48 runs off 18 balls, hitting five boundaries and three over boundaries. Kolkata bowlers seemed helpless to Yusuf. Mohammad Kaif supported him well with his 31-ball 34. So, Rajasthan Royals wrapped the match up in the 17^th over with six wickets remaining.

With such blazing batting performance and a wicket for 14, Yusuf Pathan was the automatic choice for the man of the match award. Now, with this defeat Kolkata’s bid to reach the semi final is fading away. Kolkata has to win two remaining matches in the tournament and even two victories can not ensure a place for Kolkata in the semi final, because it depends on the performance of other competing teams, especially Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils.

Related article:

Cricinfo

Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals: Preview and Live Score

If you want to get the online live score and updates of the Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals match then visit the following link:

Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals Live Score and Updates

Delhi is the capital city of India and tomorrow, Delhi Daredevils will play against Rajasthan Royals. This is the first match for But of them. So, we cannot say anything about that teams as we had not seen anything until now about them. What I can say in this article is that The two clubs had some quality players who can win a game from any condition. This is what will make the match very exciting. The match will take place at night and that is why, it will be a good one for the crowd and the players who will not suffer from heat.

This match is expected to draw a large crowds in the stadium. Today, a huge number of people went to the stadium and enjoyed the match. It was A one sided match in which the visiting team surely demolished the home team. Of course, I would like to say that it was the match of one man- Brendon McCullum. He almost single-handedly won the match for his club. Bangalore Royal Challengers batsmen played in a way that they forgot the basics of the game of cricket. So, you see that the first match of IPL did not meet the expectations of the cricket fans.

The captain of Delhi DareDevils Virender Sehwag and he is icon player. He is a good batsman and he can score very rapidly. He has scored some big centuries in test cricket. He is not that experienced as a captain. So, kid in a big challenge for him to lead Delhi DareDevils in Indian premier league. He will be the main pillar in batting for his team and if he fails in any match then Tillakaratne Dilshan, Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary will be under pressure to perform. Dinesh Karthik and AB de Villiers are the wicket keepers and most probably, one of them will play in any match. As for bowling, Daniel Vettori, Mohammad Asif and Glenn McGrath will be the key for Delhi DareDevils. Glenn McGrath is a very dangerous bowler and he was always a nightmare a for the opponent team. Now, let us see how he performs tomorrow. Has he become too old?

Thaindian reported:

For Daredevils, captain Sehwag and in-form Gautam Gambhir is one of the best opening pairs in the tournament. Sehwag is on a high after his triple century and Gambhir is fresh from his two tons in the Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia.

The duo is expected to provide a formidable start to the Daredevils’ innings. The team’s middle order comprises Delhi’s Ranji team trio of Rajat Bhatia, Mithun Manhas and Shikhar Dhawan, who have done a commendable job this season in domestic competition. And adding Dinesh Kaarthick and Manoj Tiwari to the list, the Daredevils batting line-up certainly looks strong on paper.

The Daredevils’ bowling attack will have the accuracy of McGrath and the guile of New Zealand skipper Daneil Vettori. But they also have worries on bowling front. Nagging injuries to Pakistani Mohammed Asif and Sri Lankan Farveez Maharoof might open a chance for young and impressive Pradeep Sangwan and Yo Mahesh.

On the other hand, Shane Warne is the captain of Rajasthan Royals. He was the best leg spinner cricket has ever seen. He just retired last year but he is a still great player. However, I’m not too sure about his experience as a captain. This may be a challenge for him. The good thing is that Shane Warne can bat too. Graeme Smith, Mohammad Kaif, Justin Langer and Younis Khan are the main batsman of Rajasthan Royals. They are a very good batsman in international level of cricket. So, Rajasthan Royals has a formidable batting line up. Kamran Akmal is the wicket keeper for the team. Shane Warne will be the main weapon in bowling for the team and along with him, Munaf Patel, Morne Morkel and Sohail Tanvir we’ll be there. So, Rajasthan Royals has a bowling lineup.

Rediff reported:

Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, will be hit hard by the absence of Smith -- though retired Australian Darren Lahmann has been drafted in -- Younis and Akmal and it will be interesting to see how captain and coach Warne juggles his final XI.

Warne, who just retired from international cricket after captaining English county Hampshire, has long stopped from playing ODIs, leave alone Twenty20 and he will be severely tested in his bowling as well as fielding.

Warne, the champion spinner who combines as captain and coach, will also be tested to a lesser extent how he handles players of different countries.

Who will win the match? I am not sure about it. I think that Delhi has a better chance as they have a very strong bowling lineup. I feel that Glenn McGrath may become the key factor for this match.

I am giving live score website here:

Cricinfo

Thetwenty20cup

Cricketnext

Cricket.sulekha

indianpremierleagues

stickcricket

cricpoint

cricbuzz

indvsauslivescore

squidoo

Sify

cricketworld

sports.yahoo

Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings: Preview and Live Score

If you want to get the online live score and updates of the Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals match then visit the following link:

Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals: Preview and Live Score

For live score of Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings, visit this entry:

Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings Live Score

I do not need to remind you that Indian Premier League has started today. In the opening match Kolkata Knight Riders had a convincing win over Bangalore Royal Challengers. Tomorrow, there will be two matches and in the first match Kings XI Punjab will play Chennai Super Kings. So, you can see that it is the battle of two kings. Now, all the people in Punjab and Mohali are looking at the match because the match will take place in Mohali. Of course, by TV channels, people from all over the world can watch the match live. So, for enjoying the match you do not have to be in Mohali. You can enjoy the match from anywhere in the world.

The two captains of the two teams are very famous for hard hitter. The captain of Chennai Super Kings is MS Dhoni who is the current captain of Indian ODI and Twenty20 team. On the other hand, Yuvraj Singh is the captain of Kings XI Punjab and he is the vice captain of Indian ODI team. So, you can see that this is the battle between two team mates. For Chennai Super Kings, it is an away match and for Kings XI Punjab, it is a home match.

The Hindu reported:

Swashbuckling left-hander and Mohali team captain Yuvraj Singh, who is also India's ODI vice captain, has already fired the first salvo, saying he and Dhoni may be great pals off the field "but there is no friendship on the field."

Yuvraj, who will try to cash-in on the home support to put pressure on the Dhoni-led team, said "we wants to win the game and have an upper hand in the competition."

Yuvraj Singh is the icon player of his team and Tom Moody is the coach of this team. The main strength will come from Mahela Jayawardene, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Kumar Sangakkara. These three batsmen are dangerous against any teams. As for bowlers, there is Brett Lee, Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth. So, you can see that Kings XI Punjab has a solid batting line up and they have some pretty impressive bowlers. I am really eagerly waiting to see Brett Lee bowling side by side with Irfan Pathan for the same team. Both Brett Lee and Irfan Pathan are dangerous and they can destroy any batting line up anywhere in the world.

Hindustantimes reported:

Yuvi has on his side Australian Brett Lee, one of the fastest bowlers in the world, the maverick S Sreesanth, the dependable Irfan Pathan and spinners Piyush Chawla and Romesh Powar.

On the batting front, Yuvraj - the icon player of the Mohali team co-owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta and her industrialist boyfriend Ness Wadia - will lead from the front with ample support from Sri Lankan strikers Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardane, Australian James Hopes and the ever-consistent local Punjab batsman Pankaj Dharmani.

But not only does the Chennai team have as many stars, Yuvraj and his gang will have to decode the thinking mind of Dhoni - India's T20 world cup winning captain.

The Chennai team is also full of talent. Kepler Wessels is the coach of this team and you know that Kepler Wessels is a very famous player of South Africa. Chennai Super Kings has some good players too. I have already talked about Dhoni. In the batting they have Mathew Hayden, Stephen Fleming, Jacob Oram. In bowling, they have Muttiah Muralitharan and Makhaya Ntini. Muralitharan can be a very dangerous bowler in Indian condition as you know that Indian pitches are more favorable to spinners.

The Hindu reported:

Chennai coach Kepler Wessels reiterated that the team had grown “as a unit” with each practice session but declined to name the likely composition of the team for the opener. The sides are well balanced but much depends on the composition of the playing XI. Since the rules stipulate a maximum of four overseas players and make it mandatory to include four under-22 players in the XI, it will be a huge challenge for the teams’ think-tank to arrive at a winning combination.

Today, the first match took place and both the teams have perhaps something to learn from the first match. In the first match we saw that the team batting first got some advantage. Of course, it was rather one sided match and I would like to show that it was a one man show. Brendon McCullum of New Zealand single handedly bagged the win for Kolkata Knight Riders. The other batsmen of Kolkata Knight Riders failed to score any big score. Only Brendon McCullum could show the magic. On the other hand, no batsmen of Bangalore Royal Challengers could click. So, both Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings should learn something from this match. Fielding will be a key in the match. Both the matches have some superb batsmen. If you drop catches and give them some life line then their batsmen can really become dangerous tomorrow. Now, I am giving some live score websites.

Cricinfo

Thetwenty20cup

Cricketnext

Cricket.sulekha

indianpremierleagues

stickcricket

cricpoint

cricbuzz

indvsauslivescore

squidoo

Sify

cricketworld

sports.yahoo

Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings: Yuvraj Singh vs MS Dhoni?

For live score of Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings, visit this entry:

Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings Live Score

The first edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), IPL 2008, kicked off on Friday. To be honest, the opening match was not exciting as Bangalore Royal Challengers failed to live up to the expectation, while Kolkata Knight Riders was on fire.

However, you can surely expect an exciting match tomorrow between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings. No doubt, both teams have some world class players besides some potential local players. Chennai Superstars has a star studded batting line up in the presence of Matthew Hayden, Stephen Fleming, Michael Hussey, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, while Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan is there to offer his spin magic for Chennai Superstars.

Similarly, Kings XI Punjab batting line up includes Mahela Jayawardene, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Yuvraj Singh, Kumar Sangakkara. For bowling, Kings XI Punjab has Brett Lee, Sreesanth, Kyle Mills and some other local young bowlers. So, you can at least expect an exciting match tomorow, if not mind blowing. The match will take place at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh and the kick off time is 17:00 local (11:30 GMT).

However, can you see a fight within the fight? Do you think that there could be another competition between the two captains: Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni? Both of them are capable of playing quick fire knocks which is badly needed in Twenty20 format. More than that, Yuvraj and Dhoni had been among the top favorites as the future captain of Indian cricket team, before the selectors turned to Dhoni to give the captaincy of India Twenty20 and ODI team. Then, Dhoni did not take time to prove the decision right by leading India to win the ICC World Twenty20 Championship last year and his captaincy record in ODI is also satisfactory so far. Well, it does not mean that Yuvraj had no part behind the Indian triumph in ICC World Twenty20 Championship. In fact, he was one of the top performers of that tournament with his devastating batting. He played the fasted half century of Twenty20 format in that tournament against England and during that innings, he also hit six 6s in an over, the only instance in Twenty20 cricket so far.

Now, it seems that Yuvraj Singh might have some aspiration in his mind to prove his captaincy skill and it is perhaps the biggest stage to show that he has it in him to lead India one day. On the other hand, Dhoni must not want to lose the match against Yuvraj Singh’s side. Perhaps, this is the first time, Yuvraj and Dhoni will face each other as the captain of their respective sides and thus, the competition between Yuvraj and Dhoni come in the forefront of minds of cricket fans.

As I mentioned earlier that Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, both are capable of scoring quickly, their teams and fans would expect a typical innings from them in the match. As it is a twenty20 match, hard hitting batting style is always welcomed. So, much of the success of Chennai and Punjab sides will depend on the performance of Yuvraj and Dhoni. Now, let us see who are going to win the battle.

Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Live Score and Update

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If you are interested to get the online live score and updates of the Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab match then visit the following link:

Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab: Live Score and Updates

If you want to get the online live score and updates of the Mumbai Indians vs Bangalore Royal Challengers match then visit the following links:

Mumbai Indians vs Bangalore Royal Challengers: Live Score and Updates

If you are interested to enjoy the live score and updates with text commentary of Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers then visit the following link:

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers: Live Score and Updates

If you want to get the online live score and updates of the Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals match then visit the following link:

Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals: Preview and Live Score

For live score of Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings, visit this entry:

Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings Live Score

Kolkata Knight Riders has won the match by 140 runs.

Bangalore Royal Challengers Innings

15.1 Overs: RCB is all out for 82. Kolkata Knight Riders has won the match by 140 runs.

14 Overs: RCB is 77/9

13 Overs: RCB is 70/8

12 Overs: RCB is 59/8

11.3 Overs: RCB is 57/8

11 Overs: RCB is 56/7

10 Overs: RCB is 51/7

9 Overs: RCB has losst the 7th wicket. Now, RCB is 43/7. White gone back to the pavillion at 6

8.1 Overs: RCB has losst the 6th wicket. Now, RCB is 38/6

8 Overs: RCB has losst the 5th wicket. Now, RCB is 38/5. Mark Boucher got out

7 Overs: RCB is 33/4

6.3 Overs: RCB is 27/4

6 Overs: RCB is 26/4.

5.2 Overs: RCB is 24/4. Another wicket has fallen for RCB.

5 Overs: RCB is 24/3. RCB lost 3rd wicket. Now, Jaffer and Cameron White are batting

4.3 Overs: RCB is 18/2.

4 Overs: RCB is 16/2.

3.3 Overs: RCB is 15/2.

3 Overs: RCB is 12/2. Kallis and Wasim Jaffer are batting now.

2.2 Overs: RCB is 9/2

1.3 Overs: RCB is 8/1 Rahul Dravid is out

1 Overs: RCB is 4/0

0.3 Overs: RCB is 3/0.

0.1 Overs: Bangalore Royal Challengers (RCB) is 1/0

Kolkata Knight Riders Innings

20 Overs: KKR is 222/3. Another six from Brendon McCullum to end the innings. He scored 158 runs not out.

19.3 Overs: KKR is 214/3 and Brendon McCullum has scored 150 runs. Brendon McCullum has scored 12 sixes in this match so far. Can you believe it?

19 Overs: KRR is 200/3. Kolkata Knight Riders have touched 200 runs. One over left.

18.3 Overs: KKR is 191/3. Another huge six from Brendon McCullum

18 Overs: KRR is 178/3

17.3 Overs: KKR is 173/3. David Hussey is out and Hafeez has come to bat for Kolkata Knight Riders.

17 Overs: KRR is 172/2

16.3 Overs: KKR is 162/2

16 Overs: KRR is 158/2

15.3 Overs: KKR is 157/2. First century of IPL has come from Brendon McCullum.

15 Overs: KRR is 154/2. Brendon McCullum is on a run rampage. He is going after every bowler.

14.3 Overs: KKR is 141/2

14 Overs: KKR is 130/2

13.3 Overs: KKR is 126/2

13 Overs: KRR is 124/2

12.3 Overs: KKR is 116/2. Hussey is the new batsman after Ricky Ponting was out.

12 Overs: KRR is 112/1.

11.3 Overs: KKR is 110/1

11 Overs: KRR is 102/1. 15 runs came from this over.

10.3 Overs: KKR is 92/1

10 Overs: KRR is 87/1

9.3 Overs: KKR is 80 runs. Spinner Joshi is bowling the over.

9 Overs: KRR is 77/1

8.3 Overs: KKR is 73/1. Kallis is bowling this over.

8 Overs: KRR is 73/1

7.3 Overs: KKR is 70.1

7 Overs: KKR is 68/1

6.3 Overs: KKR is 64/1

6 Overs: KKR is 61/1. Ricky Pointing is new batsman

5.3 Overs: KKR is 61/1. Knight Riders has lost captain SOurav Ganguly.

5 Overs: KKR is 60/0

4.3 Overs: KKR is 59/0.

4 Overs: KKR is 50/0.

3.3 Overs: Kolkata Knight Riders is 43.0. Ganguly hit a boundary.

3 Overs: Kolkata is 27/0

2.2 Overs: Kolkata is 22/0

1.4 Overs: First six of IPL came from Brendon McCullum. Kolkata is now 17/0

1.3 Overs: Kolkata is now 11/0. Two boundaries from the bat of Brendon McCullum in the last two balls.

Zaheer Khan is bowling the second over.

1 Over: After 1st over, Kolkata Knight Riders are 3/0

0.4 Overs: Kolkata is 2/0

0.1 Overs: Kolkata is 1/0. The first run came from Leg Bye

Sourav Ganguly and Brendon McCullum are opening batting for Kolkata Knight Riders.

Praveen Kumar is bowling the first over.

The match will start soon. Dont go anywhere.

The toss just took place. Rahul Dravid won the toss and Bangalore Royal Challengers will field first. So, Kolkata Knight Riders will bat first.

The pitch looks solid and may help the batsmen. We may see some big scores tonight.

The Opening ceremony is over. Now, it is back to match. We will update you as things go by. Be with us. Read other entries of this blog in the meantime. We have covered a lot about IPL in the last few days. This is a must read for everyone:

100 Things about Indian Premier League (IPL)

The much awaited opening match of the IPL 2008 between Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders is going to take place at 8 PM Indian Time (14:30 GMT). Here, in this post we will be giving online live score and updates of the match with ball by ball text commentary. So, be our guest and enjoy the match with us.

100 Things about Indian Premier League (IPL)

Indian Premier League (IPL) has created a lot of attention in the cricket world. In India, almost all the TV news channels are giving information about IPL. Many websites and newspapers have also given substantial coverage to IPL 2008. Here in this blog, we are very busy with our last minutes effort too. We have tried to give a lot of information and point you to some useful things. Now, we have taken an effort to compile a list of 100 things about Indian Premier League (IPL). Here, you will find links to some useful articles, reports, entries etc.

1. Indian Premier League (IPL) is the richest cricket tournament in the world.

2. BCCI is the organizer of IPL.

3. IPL will start on 18 April 2008.

4. The opening ceremony will take place in Bangalore.

5. Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan will be present in the opening ceremony.

6. Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders is the first match of IPL.

7. Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly will be the captains of these two clubs.

8. There will be some cheer leaders from USA to entertain the spectators in the opening day.

9. Star cricketers from all over the world are going to play in Indian Premier League (IPL).

10. IPL will be a Twenty20 format tournament.

11. Some South African players may miss a couple of matches as they have home duty.

12. Schedule of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008 is in this link.

13. The rights of official website has been sold for $50 million to a Canadian company.

14. The rates of advertisement for TV is a bit high.

15. The people of Kolkata will perhaps see a battle of Mithun Chakraborty vs Shah Rukh Khan.

16. BCCI announced the plan of IPL after ICL came into existence.

17. No national cricket team is playing in IPL. So, fans may have a tough time to decide which team to support.

18. 8 clubs are playing in Indian Premier League 2008.

19. IPL matches will be shown live in all corners of the world.

20. Major cricket based websites like Cricinfo will have a tough time to cover IPL matches.

21. Indian Premier League would be telecast live in almost every continent of the world in different television channels.

22. A conglomerate comprising of India’s Sony Television Network and World Sport Group from Singapore has bought the global broadcasting right of Indian Premier League (IPL) for US$1.026 billion for ten years.

23. According to the deal, the consortium of Sony Television Network and World Sport Group will pay US$918 million to BCCI for the telecast right of IPL and US$108 million for promoting the tournament.

24. For the next five years meaning 2008-2012, IPL would get 20% of the money, while 72% would go to the eight franchises of IPL and 8% is allocated for prize money. After 2012, IPL would get a bigger share of the money.

25. In India, Sony SET Max would telecast the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches live for the Indian cricket fans.

26. Ten Networks television channel of Australia would bring the IPL matches live in Australia for free to air.

27. Willow television is going to telecast all of the IPL’s 59 matches live for the North American cricket fans.

28. In Canada, Asian Television Network International Limited (ATN) has got the broadcast right of Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. ATN operated CBN would telecast the matches of IPL live in Canada.

29. Arab Digital Distribution (ADD) has secured the rights of telecasting IPL matches in different countries of the Middle East. The matches will be telecast live in ADD’s ART Prime Sport television channel.

30. The cricket fans of UK and Ireland are going to enjoy the IPL matches live on Setanta Sports television channel.

31. In Indian Premier League, the eight participating clubs are based on different cities and provinces of India.

32. All of the eight franchises have different owners, who bought the clubs for 10 years for a whopping sum of money.

33. Among the owners, there are business personalities, media personnel and Bollywood actors.

34. The eight teams of Indian Premier League (IPL) are- Bangalore Royal Challengers Squad (Bangalore franchise of IPL), Chennai Super Kings Squad (Chennai franchise of IPL), Deccan Chargers Squad (Hyderabad franchise of IPL), Delhi Daredevils Squad (Delhi franchise of IPL), Kings XI Punjab Squad (the Punjab franchise of IPL), Kolkata Knight Riders Squad (Kolkata franchise of IPL), Mumbai Indians Squad (Mumbai franchise of IPL) and Rajasthan Royals Squad (Rajasthan franchise of IPL).

35. Mumbai Indians club of IPL was bought by Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Industries Limited for $111.9 million, which is the highest amount spent to buy an IPL club.

36. India’s Business tycoon Dr. Vijay Mallya and his UB group are the owner of Bangalore Royal Challengers for which they spent second highest $111.6 million.

38. Deccan Chronicle, an English language newspaper published in Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu, owns the Deccan Chargers, for which the newspaper spent a $107 million.

39. Chennai Super Kings is owned by India Cements and N Srinivasan for which $91 million was spent.

40. GMR Holdings paid $84 million for the ownership of Delhi DareDevils.

42. Actress Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Karan Paul (Apeejay Surendera Group) and Mohit Burman (Dabur) are owners of Kings XI Punjab, for which they spent $76 million.

43. Kolkata Knight Riders is owned by Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla Mehta and Jai Mehta. They paid $75.09 million to secure the ownership of the club for 10 years.

44. Emerging Media: (Manoj Badale, Lachlan Murdoch, Suresh Chellaram) owns the Rajasthan Royals club. It spent $67 million to become the owner of the club for 10 years and this is the lowest paid amount for an IPL team.

45. From selling the club ownership, Indian Premier League (IPL) got US$723.59 million from the auction of the bidding. The amount is way more than the base price of auction, US$400 million.

46. Though there are many star players from different cricket playing countries, there is no player from England in the first edition of Indian Premier League.

47. Five out of eight teams of Indian Premier League (IPL) have an icon player. The five teams that include an icon player each are- Bangalore Royal Challengers, Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians, Delhi DareDevils and Kolkata Knight Riders.

48. An Icon player did not take part in the auction of the players. Rather, they were selected by IPL authority to lead a particular team based on the city or province from where the icon players hail.

49. The icon players are paid 15% more than the next highest paid players in their respective teams.

50. The icon players are- Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians, Yuvraj Singh for Kings XI Punjab, Sourav Ganguly for Kolkata Knight Riders, Virender Sehwag for Delhi DareDevils and Rahul Dravid for Bangalore Royal Challengers. V.V.S. Laxman was also offered to become the icon player for Deccan Chargers, but he rejected it thinking of the financial benefit of his club in the player auction.

51. The captains of the eight IPL teams are- Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians), Sourav Ganguly (Kolkata Knight Riders), Rahul Dravid (Bangalore Royal Challengers), Yuvraj Singh (Kings XI Punjab), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings), Virender Sehwag (Delhi DareDevils), V. V. S. Laxman (Deccan Chargers) and Shane Warne (Rajasthan Royals).

52. Shane Warne is the only foreign captain in the first season of Indian Premier League (IPL).

53. Indian Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become the highest paid player of Indian Premier League as he signed for Chennai Super Kings for a whopping $1,500,000.

54. Andrew Symonds becomes the highest paid foreign player. He was signed by Deccan Chargers for $1,350,000.

55. Kings XI Punjab spent highest amount of money in the player auction. The Punjab team spent $6,503,750 for including the stars like Brett Lee, Irfan Pathan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Ramnaresh Sarwan etc.

56. The other teams also spent huge amount in the player bidding auction of Indian premier league (IPL). Bangalore Royal Challengers spent $5,795,000, Chennai Super Kings spent $6,225,000, Delhi DareDevils $6,372,500, Deccan Chargers spent $6,105,000, Rajasthan Royals spent $3,610,000, Kolkata Knight Riders spent $6,222,500, Kings XI Punjab spent $6,503,750 and Mumbai Indians $5,496,250.

57. In IPL 2008, the first edition of the Indian Premier League, there will be 59 matches.

58. All of Indian Premier League (IPL) teams have a home ground.

59. In the group stage, each of the eight participating teams will play against each other twice; once at home and another at away.

60. The four teams with highest points earned after the end of the group stage will progress to the semi final of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008.

61. The winners of the semi final round will face each other in the tournament final due to take place on 1 June.

62. The semi final and the final match of the tournament will take place at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

63. The home grounds of the eight teams are- M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore for Bangalore Royal Challengers; Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh for Kings XI Punjab; Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi for Delhi Daredevils; Eden Gardens, Kolkata for Kolkata Knight Riders; Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur for Rajasthan Royals; MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai for Chennai Super Kings; Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad for Deccan Chargers. However, Mumbai Indians will play two different home grounds: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai and Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai.

64. Not more than two matches will take place in a day. If there are two matches scheduled in a day then the first match will kick off at 16:00 local time (10:30 GMT) and the second match will start at 20:00 local time (14:30 GMT). However, if there is only one match then the match will kick off at 20:00 local time (14:30 GMT).

65. Each of eight teas of Indian Premier League (IPL) consists of some local and some foreign cricketers.

66. According to the IPL rules, a team can not spent more than $5 million for buying players for 2008.

67. Each of the players has come through a bidding process in the player auction, except the icon players.

68. If a player remains completely unavailable in the season or can not play 25% matches of his respective teams, then 25% of the player fee bid in the player action will not be counted within the $5 million mark set up by IPL for the participating teams.

69. As per the IPL rules, each of the IPL teams must have a squad of at minimum 16 players for the tournament.

70. Each of the participating teams can include maximum 8 foreign players in the squad.

71. Not more than 4 foreign players can be taken in the final XI of a match.

72. A squad must include minimum 4 under 22-year old players (as of 1 April of the season).

73. According to IPL rules, each of the teams must include at least four players from the catchment area. The catchment areas are decided on the basis of a player’s registration with his local cricket association.

74. No Objection Certificate (NOC) must be required for a player from the cricket board of his country to take part in Indian Premier League.

75. According to Cricket Australia, the regulatory body of cricket in Australia, no IPL franchise can include more than two Cricket Australia centrally contracted players and more than two players from each State Association in Australia.

76. A team must spend minimum $3.3 million on players’ fees for 2008.

77. Each of the IPL teams includes a catchment area from where it has to include at least four players. The catchment areas for each team are- Mumbai (Mumbai, Maharashtra and Vidarbha), Bangalore (Karnataka, Goa and Services), Chennai (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Railways), Kolkata (Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura and associate member Sikkim), Hyderabad (Hyderabad, Andhra and Orissa), Delhi (Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh), Mohali (Haryana, Punjab, Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir) and Jaipur (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Baroda and Saurashtra).

78. Bangalore Royal Challengers has a 24-player squad in which 10 players are from abroad. There are four under 22 players in the squad.

79. Former Indian pace medium fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad is the coach of Bangalore Royal Challengers.

80. Chennai Super Kings squad also comprises of 24 players in which there are 7 foreign players and 6 under 22 players.

81. Kepler Wessels is the coach of Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2008 tournament.

82. Deccan Chargers squad includes 20 players in total in which 8 players are from abroad and 6 under 22 players.

83. Former Indian all rounder Robin Singh is the coach of Deccan Chargers.

84. There are 21 players in the Delhi Daredevils squad including 8 foreign players and 5 under 22 players.

85. Greg Shipperd is the coach of Delhi Daredevils team.

86. Kings XI Punjab has a squad of 25 players in which 9 are from abroad. There are 8 under 22 players in the squad.

87. Former coach of Sri Lanka national cricket team Tom Moody is the coach of Kings XI Punjab.

88. Kolkata Knight Riders includes 22 players in the squad including 8 foreign players and 6 under 22 players.

89. Former Australia national cricket team coach John Buchanan has been appointed as the coach of Kolkata Knight Riders.

90. Mumbai Indians squad consists of 27 players including 8 players from abroad and 4 under 22 players.

91. Lalchand Rajput is the coach of Mumbai Indians team.

92. Rajasthan Royals includes 26 players in its squad in which there are 10 foreign players and 4 under 22 players.

93. Former Australian great Shane Warne will be seen as both captain and coach of Rajasthan Royals.

94. DLF Universal, a real estate developer from India, has become the title sponsor of Indian Premier League (IPL) for five years for INR 200 crore (over US$50 million).

95. Hero Honda has come under a deal of US$22.5 million to become the associate sponsor of Indian Premier League (IPL) for five years.

96. Soft-drink company Pepsi has become the tournament's Official Beverage for five years by signing a deal of USD 12.5 million.

97. Signing a five year deal for Rs. 106 crores (appx. US$ 26.5 million), Kingfisher Airlines has become the IPL's umpire partner by which the company can advertise in umpire’s clothes and sponsor third umpire’s decision during the matches for next five years.

98. From all the revenues of sponsorship rights, 40% will go to IPL, 54% will be given to the eight franchises, and the remaining 6% will be spent for prize money.

99. Indian Cricket League (IPL) has gained the approval of ICC.

100. Indian Premier League (IPL) offers a whopping Rs 12 crore prize money. The champion team of IPL 2008 would receive a cheque of Rs 4.8 crore. The runner up side will be awarded Rs 2.4 crore. Even the last placed team will be given Rs 40 lakh. The two losing semi finalists can get a cheque of Rs 1.2 crore each. The fifth, sixth and seventh placed teams, as per the points achieved in group stage will be given Rs 80 lakh, Rs 70 lakh and Rs 50 lakh respectively.