ICL Information

Mumbai, April. 1: The Indian Cricket League (ICL) will organise a triangular Twenty20 series with ICL’s India, Pakistan and World teams vying for the title in a tournament to be played from 9-15 April.
Named “ICL 20s World Series 2008″, the tri-series, to be played at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad, will have seven matches with each team playing against each other twice, followed by the final. Matches will be broadcast live on Ten Sports and Zee Sports from 7pm to 10p.m. “With ICL World Series 2008, our promising domestic boys will face the toughest challenge of proving their cricketing credentials against two of the mightiest teams in the world,” ICL chairman Mr Kapil Dev said. n Agencies.

news source : http://www.thestatesman.net/

KARACHI: Senior batsman, Younis Khan has stressed the need that the PCB should work out middle path for those intending to be part of Indian Cricket League (ICL) instead of ban.

Younis told Geo News Monday that the Pakistan Cricket Board should not have banned the ICL players. Younis said a middle path would have been better to avoid confrontation.

The senior player was proud of the winning performances of the Inzamam-ul-Haq led Lahore Badshahs’ in the ICL.

The Badshah’s which include former and discarded Pakistan team players have made it to the semi finals of the ICL after winning seven consecutive matches. He didn’t support the ban imposed on ICL players and said it would damage the game.

He cautioned against taking Bangladesh lightly in the coming one-day series insisting they were an unpredictable side. Younis said that it is better to play against Bangladesh than playing no cricket at all.

news source : http://www.geosuper.tv/news_detail.asp?id=11648

It will be Shah Rukh Khan versus Mithun Chakraborty in cricket.

A fortnight after the gala launch of King Khan’s [Images] Kolkata Knight Riders team for the multimillon dollar Indian Premier League, rival Zee-promoted Indian Cricket League has roped in ‘Mithun Dada’ to be the franchisee owner of one of its sides ‘Kolkata Tigers‘.

“Yes, I have said ‘Yes’ to ICL. I was always interested in floating a soccer or cricket side. Now I have an opportunity,” said Mithun, who inked an agreement with ICL on Tuesday night.

Cricketing circles feel the rebel league bosses opted for Mithun, who rose from the ranks in Kolkata to make it big in Mumbai films and still holds a huge fan following in the City of Joy, to counter the massive propaganda mileage the IPL got in the city and across the country after Shah Rukh’s Red Chillies Entertainment won the franchisee rights for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Mithun’s presence could also help in boosting the brand image of the Craig Mcmillan-led team, which has attracted little attention from the media or sports afficionados ever since it came into being last year.

Mithun admitted his ‘gharer chele (son of the soil)’ image in the city would win him some additional votes from cricket buffs across the city and West Bengal. But beyond that, he did not wish to go into any comparison with Khan.

“They (Khan and IPL) have their own way of seeing things. I have mine. So, there can be no comparison. But I can tell you one thing. I shall not flee from the ground without a fight.”

To encash on his popularity across the state, the seasoned tinsel town hero was in favour of changing the name of the side to ‘Royal Bengal Tigers’.

“People from all parts of Bengal love me, be it Malda district in North Bengal or Bolpur in South Bengal’s Birbhum district.

“My fans across the state stay up whole night to have a glimpse of me. Why should I confine my team only to Kolkata and deny the rest of the state?” he asked.

Mithun said he would try to recruit some new players and support staff for the side.

“Just wait and see,” he quipped. Mithun said he would also lay stress on unearthing talents from the grassroots in Bengal.

Source:http://inhome.rediff.com

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had no qualms in removing Sunil Gavaskar as the National Cricket Academy head.

That was in September 2006.

Eighteen months later, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is keen to see him out as chairman of its prestigious cricket committee. All because of the stand he took, both on TV and through his columns, during Team India’s recent tour of Australia.

Gavaskar, who has been heading the committee for quite some time now, got re-appointed for a three-year term last June.

Significantly, till late on Tuesday, there had been no announcement from the BCCI that it would actually take up cudgels on the iconic former captain’s behalf.

But, then, it’s the present regime run by Sharad Pawar which removed Gavaskar from the Academy. It’s another matter that a year later, the same men worked overtime to get him on the Indian Premier League bandwagon.

Gavaskar’s son Rohan, by the way, is with the rebel Indian Cricket League.

According to The Telegraph’s sources, the BCCI’s working committee, which met here on Tuesday afternoon, was only told by Pawar that news emanating from the UK about Gavaskar’s removal was “incorrect.”

Bottomline is that Gavaskar has been asked to present himself at the ICC HQ in Dubai and “explain” his position (on the wearing of multiple hats) to the outgoing chief executive, Malcolm Speed.

Gavaskar is already in Dubai on a “private visit” and could meet the Australian on Thursday. By all accounts, the two haven’t been on the best of terms.

Indeed, back in January, Speed had sought an explanation from Gavaskar for his comments in his column on Mike Procter, the Match Referee during the India-Australia Test series.

For Gavaskar, the trouble really began then.

The first “informal” steps at getting him out of the ICC, though, were taken during the recent executive board meeting in Dubai. Ironically, the same meeting appointed Inderjit Singh Bindra as the first-ever principal adviser.

Gavaskar wasn’t on the agenda, but “quite a few members” felt there was a conflict of interest between his role as a mediaman and as chairman of the cricket committee.

Clearly, people forgot that he’s been a columnist for over two decades. Also, that he’s been doing TV assignments across the world for a number of years too.

England and Australia, it seems, took the lead in that anti-Gavaskar move. The buzz is that the Australians are intent on having ex-captain Mark Taylor replace Gavaskar.

Last year, before Gavaskar got re-appointed, even Pakistan had been asking for the chairmanship to be “rotated.” Briefly, there had been a move to lobby for Majid Khan, also a former captain.

Confirmation couldn’t be got, but somebody influential in the BCCI maintained that Gavaskar had, last year itself, indicated he wouldn’t stay on for the full three years of his new term.

Perhaps, but Gavaskar isn’t the type — so far, at least, he hasn’t been — to buckle down under pressure. And, today, it’s a changed scenario.

If anything, Gavaskar’s a proud Indian and jumping to Team India’s defence, when we were being pushed around in Australia, came naturally to him.

No matter what England and Australia feel, they’d better not underestimate Gavaskar.

Source:http://www.telegraphindia.com/

Close on the heels of Rahul Dravid expressing reservations regarding the auctioning of cricketers at the Indian Premier League, former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq joined the debate by criticising the method adopted to pick the players.“I think it does not sound nice to hear a cricketer being auctioned or sold. They could have easily avoided it and done it in a better way. It is not something I would be keen to see happening with myself.”

Former Sri Lanka skipper Marvan Atapattu observed the IPL auction could have been conducted in a dignified manner. “I think the bidding was an indication of your worth. They should not have done it in the open. It was humiliating for some players.”

On his association with the Indian Cricket League, “I’m where I opted for and I’m happy being here. I’m enjoying my assignment,” said Atapattu.

For Stuart Law, the former Australian international, the IPL auction was a novelty. “It was quite an innovative idea. You can see the auctioning from both ways. I’m happy doing what I’m doing in ICL and I don’t regret anything,” Law noted.

Inzamam concluded by proposing a match between the winners of the ICL and the IPL.

“It would be a good idea to have a best-of-three finals between the winners of both the leagues. I don’t see ICL and IPL as enemies of each other. After all, both are meant to promote cricket.”

A fifth straight victory for Lahore Badshahs reinforced the belief that it is indeed the team to beat in the Indian Cricket League’s Edelweiss 20s Challenge.A comfortable eight-wicket victory over Delhi Giants made Badshahs the first team to qualify for the semifinals of the eight-team competition.

The defeat kept Giants at four points from five games. It plays Hyderabad Heroes on Monday and only a victory can keep alive its hopes of a place in the last-four stage.

Displaying a fine mix of enterprise and expertise, Badshahs restricted Giants to a paltry 103 for seven and then left it for Imran Nazir to make merry. The opener smashed a six and six boundaries in his 47-ball innings to help the team reach the target in 14.5 overs without taking undue risks.

Nazir put on 59 runs for the second-wicket with Humayun Farhat (16, two 4s) in 7.5 overs and another 39 with Hasan Raza in 5.4 overs to complete the formalities.

Earlier, Giants struggled for the better part of its innings. On a pitch where the ball was not exactly coming on to the bat, opener Mohnish Mishra (33, 31 deliveries, five 4s) made good use of the hardness of the new ball and kept the scoreboard ticking. Once Mishra was bowled off leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed in the ninth over with 53 on the board, wickets fell at regular intervals.

source:http://www.hindu.com/

The Ahmedabad Rockets’ ride in the Indian Cricket League so far has been a sort of a mixed bag. On our debut, which was also incidentally the tournament opener, we beat the Chandigarh Lions, who are a formidable side. We batted, bowled and fielded to the best of our abilities, and it worked for us.

And then on Sunday, we did the exact opposite against the Delhi Giants. I think we lost our way in the match with the fall of three early wickets, including two of our internationals. And once we were three for 15, we were always going to be the side that’s chasing, and that’s what happened. But we have analysed and discussed a few things and we have got to take the game against the Mumbai Champs on Tuesday in a positive manner. It’s a big game, for I believe, we are in with a chance to make it to the knockout stage.

Twenty-five years ago, Indian cricket enjoyed its greatest moment — the World Cup win. But now, even as a member of that team, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar plans a gala celebration at Lord’s to mark the occasion, there is a controversy brewing.

Can the BCCI be involved in an event that involves men who have crossed over to the breakaway Indian Cricket League?

The letter written by yesteryear’s Little Master, Sunil Gavaskar, would have been nothing more than an invite to a celebration if it had been sent a year or so ago.

In the letter, Gavaskar tells his his team-mates that he has booked the long room at Lord’s for the celebration and goes on to say:

“I do believe this is a great time for reflection, nostalgia and getting together to celebrate 25 years of India’s greatest cricketing achievement. I am writing to request you to make yourself available for the celebrations and the banquet at Lord’s. I look forward to your positive response so that we can get together and relive those wonderful moments,” Gavaskar writes in the letter.

However, Kapil Dev — who led the team to victory in 1983 — is now the Chairman of the rebel Indian Cricket League. And Kapil Dev, along with three other members of the victorious team, is at loggerheads with the BCCI.

The board now faces an embarrassing choice — ignore the celebration, or share a platform with a man who has challenged their monopoly. Not surprisingly, they aren’t quite sure about what to do.

“We should not just thrive on our 1983 win. We must try to win more World Cups,” is Board Secretary Niranjan Shah’s retort.

But for the men who were part of this grand occasion, this is a time to put the bad blood behind, at least for a day.

“The 1983 World Cup will always be special, will always be in every Indian’s heart. So I’m sure that the board will definitely celebrate it in a big way themselves,” says Krishnamachari Srikkanth.

“When we won the World Cup in ‘83, there was no ICL, there was no IPL. They should think above everything and invite everyone. I think they should behave like an elder brother in this case,” suggests Yashpal Sharma.

Perhaps the ‘Little Master’ will have to bring all his diplomatic skills to the fore to bring the warring parties together.

Source:http://www.ibnlive.com

The likes of Deep Dasgupta and Rohan Gavaskar will sport a new-look shirt from today when their team Kolkata Tigers take on Chennai Superstars in Hyderabad in the ongoing Indian Cricket League (ICL) competition - one which will carry a logo of a jewellery brand of Gitanjali group.

“No team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) was available and so we have decided to sponsor the Kolkata Tigers in the ICL as part of our branding campaign. The decision to choose the Kolkata team is because of our association with the city.”Gitanjali group chairman Mehul Choksi said.

However, Choksi did not elaborate on their financial involvement in the deal and whether the sponsorship would only last the 2008 season. Incidentally, Gitanjali group has already taken up space to establish a presence at the gem and jewellery SEZ Manikanchan in Kolkata. The group is also keen to set up a greenfield SEZ of its own in the city.

While some of the biggest names of corporate India and Bollywood like Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, UB chief Vijay Mallya and tinsel-town biggies Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta have become IPL Cricket franchisees, the ICL has thus far found it tough to attract sponsorships. If Edelweiss had not stepped in at the last minute as title sponsors, the 2008 ICL season may have proved to be a major disappointment for the organisers.

Source: http://www.televisionpoint.com

When a new team like Lahore Badshahs entered the Indian Cricket League, not many would have predicted that after the first week, our team will emerge as the team to beat in the tournament. But I knew what these boys were capable of and I am delighted that they have delivered on the field.

The first match was very crucial for us in many ways. It was our ICL debut and that too against the defending champions. And it was good that the game went down to the wire and we eventually triumphed. For the millions of ICL followers worldwide, it was a big upset. For us, it was exactly what we needed at the start of the tournament – a victory from a very close game.

Such a close game brings out the best in terms of camaraderie. And this is what exactly happened as in the next game, we overwhelmed the Hyderabad Heroes. And I hope we can keep it going against the Chandigarh Lions on Sunday. Having won both the matches that we have played so far, we are placed at the top of the table. And if we can clinch Sunday’s tie, we will have one foot in the semi-finals. And after having beaten the defending champions, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be able to win against the last tournament’s runner-up. We are being inspired by the Ahmedabad Rockets – the other new team in the ICL besides us – who beat the Lions in their first match.

The other day, someone asked me whether I have a magic stick since the team has done so well. After having such a bunch of talented, experienced and youthful players, I don’t think I will ever need a magic stick. It’s all about making them realise the importance of the match and assigning each one of them a particular role for a particular match.

Just because we have won our first two games, there is no reason for us to get complacent. After all, we are playing Twenty20. The match can change its course within two-three overs. So we need to back each other up and take one game at a time.

To conclude, I would say that the fact that most of us knowing each other even before the formation of the team has worked really well for us. Since most of the boys have played with me and with each other at the highest level, they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I hope they take full advantage of this throughout the tournament.

Source: http://www.indiancricketleague.in