IPL 2013 Schedule

IPL Schedule 2013 cricket match will start on Apr 3, 2013 in India. The last match of the match will be held on May 26, 2013. 

The IPL time table is considered to be a lot more hyped than other match time tables owing to the fact that cricket crazy India always tends to promise a superior turn out at the stadiums than any other countries in the world. The IPL schedule has been watchfully designed to ensure optimum crowd turnout and the months of April-May are considered to be the time of the year when cricket in India is played at its best.

NO	DATE	TEAM	PLACE	TIME
1	3-Apr -2013	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils	Kolkata	20.00
2	4-Apr-2013	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians	Bangalore	20.00
3	5-Apr-2013	Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Pune Warriors	Hyderabad	20.00
4	6-Apr-2013	Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals	Delhi	16.00
5	6-Apr-2013	Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians	Chennai	20.00
6	7-Apr-2013	Pune Warriors vs Kings XI Punjab	Pune	16.00
7	7-Apr-2013	Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore	Hyderabad	20.00
8	8-Apr-2013	Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Jaipur	20.00
9	9-Apr-2013	Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils	Mumbai	20.00
10	10-Apr-2013	Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings	Mohali	20.00
11	11-Apr-2013	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Bangalore	16.00
12	11-Apr-2013	Pune Warriors vs Rajasthan Royals	Pune	20.00
13	12-Apr-2013	Delhi Daredevils vs Sunrisers Hyderabad	Delhi	20.00
14	13-Apr-2013	Mumbai Indians vs Pune Warriors	Mumbai	16.00
15	13-Apr-2013	Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore	Chennai	20.00
16	14-Apr-2013	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Pune Warriors	Kolkata	16.00
17	14-Apr-2013	Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab	Jaipur	20.00
18	15-Apr-2013	Chennai Super Kings vs Pune Warriors	Chennai	20.00
19	16-Apr-2013	Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Mohali	16.00
20	16-Apr-2013	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Daredevils	Bangalore	20.00
21	17-Apr-2013	Pune Warriors vs Sunrisers Hyderabad	Pune	16.00
22	17-Apr-2013	Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians	Jaipur	20.00
23	18-Apr-2013	Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings	Delhi	20.00
24	19-Apr-2013	Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kings XI Punjab	Hyderabad	20.00
25	20-Apr-2013	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings	Kolkata	16.00
26	20-Apr-2013	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals	Bangalore	20.00
27	21-Apr-2013	Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians	Delhi	16.00
28	21-Apr-2013	Kings XI Punjab vs Pune Warriors	Mohali	20.00
29	22-Apr-2013	Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals	Chennai	20.00
30	23-Apr-2013	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Pune Warriors	Bangalore	16.00
31	23-Apr-2013	Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils	Mohali	20.00
32	24-Apr-2013	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians	Kolkata	20.00
33	25-Apr-2013	Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad	Chennai	20.00
34	26-Apr-2013	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab	Kolkata	20.00
35	27-Apr-2013	Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad	Jaipur	16.00
36	27-Apr-2013	Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore	Mumbai	20.00
37	28-Apr-2013	Chennai Super Kings vs Ko lkat a Knight Riders	Chennai	16.00
38	28-Apr-2013	Delhi Daredevils vs Pune Warrio rs	Delhi	20.00
39	29-Apr-2012	Rajast han Ro yals vs Ro yal Challengers Bangalo re	Jaipur	16.00
40	29-Apr-2013	Mum bai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab	Mumbai	20.00
41	30-Apr-2013	Pune Warrio rs vs Chennai Super Kings	Pune	20.00
42	01-May-2013	Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mum bai Indians	Hyderabad	16.00
43	01-May-2013	Delhi Daredevils vs Ko lkat a Knight Riders	Delhi	20.00
44	02-May-2013	Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab	Chennai	16.00
45	02-May-2013	Pune Warrio rs vs Ro yal Challengers Bangalo re	Pune	20.00
46	03-May-2013	Ko lkat a Knight Riders vs Rajast han Ro yals	Kolkata	20.00
47	04-May-2013	Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Daredevils	Hyderabad	16.00
48	04-May-2013	Ro yal Challengers Bangalo re vs Kings XI Punjab	Bangalore	20.00
49	05-May-2013	Mum bai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings	Mum bai	16.00
50	05-May-2013	Rajast han Ro yals vs Pune Warrio rs	Jaipur	20.00
51	06-May-2013	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad	Bangalore	20.00
52	07-May-2013	Rajast han Ro yals vs Delhi Daredevils	Jaipur	16.00
53	07-May-2013	Mumbai Indians vs Kolkat a Knight Riders	Mum bai	20.00
54	08-May-2013	Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings	Hyderabad	20.00
55	09-May-2013	Kings XI Punjab vs Rajast han Ro yals	Mohali	16.00
56	09-May-2013	Pune Warrio rs vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Pune	20.00
57	10-May-2013	Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers Bangalo re	Delhi	20.00
58	11-May-2013	Pune Warrio rs vs Mumbai Indians	Pune	16.00
59	11-May-2013	Kings XI Punjab vs Sunrisers Hyderabad	Mo hali	20.00
60	12-May-2013	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore	Ranchi	16.00
61	12-May-2013	Rajast han Ro yals vs Chennai Super Kings	Jaipur	20.00
62	13-May-2013	Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab	Delhi	16.00
63	13-May-2013	Mum bai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad	Mumbai	20.00
64	14-May-2013	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Pune Warriors	Ranchi	20.00
65	15-May-2013	Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils	Chennai	16.00
66	15-May-2013	Mum bai Indians vs Rajast han Ro yals	Mumbai	20.00
67	16-May-2013	Kings XI Punjab vs Ro yal Challengers Bangalo re	Dharmasala	20.00
68	17-May-2013	Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajast han Ro yals	Hyderabad	20.00
69	18-May-2013	Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians	Dharmasala	16.00
70	18-May-2013	Pune Warriors vs Delhi Daredevils	Pune	20.00
71	19-May-2013	Royal Challengers Bangalo re vs Chennai Super Kings	Bangalore	16.00
72	19-May-2013	Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Ko lkat a Knight Riders	Hyderabad	20.00
73	21-May-2013	T BC vs T BC, Qualif ier 1 IPL (1st Placed Team vs 2nd Placed Team )	Chennai	20.00
74	22-May-2013	T BC vs T BC, Elim inat o r IPL (3rd Placed Team vs 4t h Placed Team )	Chennai	20.00
75	24-May-2013	T BC vs T BC, Qualif ier 2 IPL (Winner o f Elim inat o r vs Lo ser o f Qualif er 1)	Kolkata	20.00
76	26-May-2013	T BC vs T BC, Final IPL (Winner o f Q1 vs Winner o f Q2)	Kolkata	20.00

Hyderabad IPL Team name is Sun Risers

The Indian Premier League Hyderabad team, which was bought by Sun TV Network, was named Sun Risers. The previous team Deccan Chargers was terminated by Board of Control for Cricket in India October and in the auction, Sun TV bought the team.

Later on, the regional television network bought the Hyderabad Franchise for an amount of Rs. 85.05 crores per year for a 5 year deal. Sun TV, owned by the Chennai-based Maran group, put in the maximum bid of 85.05 crore a year for the rights to the franchise in the lucrative T20 league that was founded in 2008. Sun TV beat PVP Ventures, who offered Rs. 69.03 crore to buy the franchise. The permit was at first bought by Deccan Chronicles for Rs 562 Crore in 2008.

The owners of the new franchise based in Hyderabad later to retain over 20 players who were first a part of the Deccan Chargers team, including, among others, Kumar Sangakkara, Dale Steyn, Cameron White and JP Duminy.

IPL Auction not to pick Pakistani players

The Indian cricket fans might be absorbed in the England series but, without doubt, the contest they are every eagerly awaiting is the 2 T20 and 3 ODI series against Pakistan Series, starting December 25.

While the BCCI in India welcomed the resumption of two-sided series between the 2 teams after the government go-ahead, it has also decided to clearly separate their stance on the Pakistan team and Pakistani players.

The Indian Premier League governing council has subtly informed the franchises, after their meeting on November 21, not to pick Pakistan players during January’s IPL player auction. It fears that any new argument might completely tarnish the image of the IPL, though they have officially deferred the matter till the next meeting.

The IPL main council includes Chairman Rajiv Shukla, Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shastri, Anirudh Chaudhary, MP Pandove, among others.

According to sources, the Board is wary of quite a few factors, including recent spot-fixing allegation against Pakistani players, their off-field bad behavior and the practical problem of providing extra security as well as intimidation of disruption from political clothes against their contribution.

A top BCCI official confirmed to MAIL TODAY that the board isn’t keen on Pakistan players participating.”We are trying to discourage the franchises against picking them during the auction. And there are clear reasons for it,” he said without elaborate on the issues.

Pakistan players, including Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar and now-banned Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif all played in the 1st year of IPL but were released from their contracts then.

Asif was banned for 1 year after being found responsible of using banned drug Nandrolone and later BCCI, in wake of 2008 terror attacks, had shut the doors on them.

Only Azhar Mahmood, a former Pakistan player was part of last IPL but he was picked as a British citizen. The decision should come as a shocker to several Pakistan players who were hoping that resumption of ties could also their way to IPL riches.

Franchises though are quite comfortable with the BCCI mandate “There aren’t too many big players to pick anyways, and most of us have very unfinished slots. Maybe if those players were available, Saeed Ajmal would have been a major draw or Abdul Razzaq or Umar Akmal,” a franchisee owner said.

Spot-fixing rife but proof No: Said Modi

Mumbai: Former I P L (Indian Premier League) chairman, Lalit Modi, has claimed spot-fixing is rife in the game but the authorities are helpless in ruling proof to bring the guilty to book. 

In the book 'Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy: A Journey to the Heart of Cricket Underworld by Ed Hawkins, Modi has said that during his IPL tenure, his life was in danger by the underworld for refusing to fix IPL matches. 

Spot-fixing is rife in the game. And I'm talking internationally. It's a Pandora's Box. It's staring you directly in the face, but difficult to prove. Almost impossible to prove, he is quoted as saying in the book, according to a release by the publish house PR agency.

Adam Gilchrist to play in IPL -6 Season

New Delhi: Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist on Friday confirmed he will be participating in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League.

At the end of IPL-5, Gilchrist had said that the final game for the Kings XI Punjab would be his last in the Twenty20 tournament. 

But on Tuesday, Gilchrist was among the 19 players whom Kings XI retained for the next season.

Gilchrist said he would honour the decision made the franchise. 

Franchises made the decision to keep me on the team list. Yes, I had earlier said that I had played my last game but I think I'm fit enough to have another go, he said during a promotional event for the University of Wollongong.

Indications are I will be playing in the IPL 6. Guilchrist's announcement of calling time on his IPL career had left even the franchise stunned. He said his decision was spurred by the injury that forced him to miss a large part of IPL 5.

Gilchrist is one of the seven internationals who have been retained by Punjab. Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood, now a British citizen, Australians David Hussey, Ryan Harris, Shaun Marsh, South African David Miller, and Englishman Dimitri Mascarenhas are the others.

Sun TV Network wins for Deccan charges IPL franchise

Indian Premier League cricket team, the Hyderabad Deccan Charger bought Sun TV group. This team is stuck in a financial crisis Rs 85 crore per year for a total purchase of Sun TV group. 

C D H L of the owners has been this team Cricket Control Board of India if it failed to pay the amounts due BCCI Deccan Charger Teams license granted to the company in the BCCI last September was canceled. 

Deccan Chargers team with the highest number of auctions conducted by the BCCI for the right to purchase the team Sun TV group.

Hyderabad Deccan Charger Sun TV got the team must find a replacement for one of the team was not able to BCCI.

Badrinath, Dhoni Helped CSK win the match

Badrinath was the anchor and MS Dhoni the attacker as Chennai Super Kings defeated Yorkshire by 4 wickets with 1 over to spare at Kings Mead today to end their Champions League Twenty20 campaign on a high with their 2nd consecutive win.

Chase a target of 141 on a slowest track, CSK lost their opening batsmen - FAF du Plessis and Murali Vijay - inside the first 5 overs with only 26 runs on the board. But, Yorkshire didn't help their cause with some sloppy field and lack of penetrative bowling. Badrinath and stand-in skipper Suresh Raina -31, then got CSK's chase back on track with a 48-run partnership for the 3rd wicket as the pair took their time to play themselves in while revolving the hit, and then went on to play the big shots. The partnership was finished by Oliver Hannon-Dolby (2-23) who had Raina caught by David Miller.

Man of the Match Badrinath (47 runs 38 balls) then shared a quick-fire 43-run partnership with Dhoni, as the great right-hander was on the attack from the outset and hit two massive sixes in his 23-ball 31. Iain
Ward law clean bowled Badrinath behind his legs, but at this stage CSK needed only 24 more runs to win, and Dhoni ensure there wouldn't be any late Yorkshire fight back. He was also spotless bowled by Ward law attempt a helicopter shot when the scores were tied, and then Wriddhiman Saha managed to keep out a yorker as CSK successfully go over the line.

CSK ended their campaign with 2 wins and 2 defeats, while Yorkshire lost 3 matches and had 1 No Result in their maiden CL T20 appearance.

Earlier, Gary Balance’s Excellent half-century and his 78-run partnership for the 4th wicket with Miller helped Yorkshire set CSK a target of 141. Ballance and Miller, who replaced Phil Jaques, came together after Yorkshire had lost 3 wickets for 8 runs in 3 overs just after the Power Play. Ballance hit a boundary and 5 sixes in his 38-ball 58 before he was run out in the 1st ball of the final over of the innings. 

Albie Morkel dismissed Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale and Joe Root, with Ben Hilfenhaus dismissing Adam Lyth in between to leave the County side stressed at 43 for 3 after eight overs. 

Ballance and Miller then consolidate Yorkshire innings and kept the scoreboard ticking over, and both batsmen hit a six each in the 13th over bowled by Jadeja, with the former's slop sweep the pick of the 2, as importance started to set keen on the innings, which controlled a total of 61 dot deliveries. Ballance survived a caught behind appeal by Saha off Ashwin bowling in the 14th over, but replays clearly indicated that the ball had bounced on the pitch. Ashwin (0-25), who shared the new ball with Bollinger in this match, had an unsatisfactory tournament by his standards as his 3 wickets came at an average of 47.66 and economy rate of 9.53. 

As Raina had promised at the toss, Dhoni was given a couple of overs - the 15th and 17th - and his 12 deliveries cost CSK 25 runs. Though Dhoni bowled 2 wides in the 15th over, he managed to get away with conceding only 7 runs. But, he was taken to task in the 17th over as Ballance hit 2 sixes and also scored all but one run in that over. 

Bollinger ended the 4th wicket partnership between Miller (28) and Ballance when he had the former caught by Ashwin at cover; and also bowled an brilliant final over and conceded only 3 runs as Yorkshire ended their innings at 140 for 6, which in the end proved to be 20 runs too short. Morkel (2-12) and Bollinger (2-16) were the pick of the Super Kings bowlers.

Again Failed to Chennai Team

CAPE TOWN: Indian teams continued with their bad run at the Champions League as Chennai Super Kings suffer their 2nd straight loss in the match, this time to Highveld Lions. Of the 4 IPL teams playing, only Delhi Daredevils have won a game against Kolkata Knight Riders. 

The Highveld Lions bent yet another well-compiled chase, reaching their target of 159 with 3 balls to spare. A couple of night ago, they had beaten the star-studded Mumbai Indians, with Quinton de Kock and Neil McKenzie smashes fifties. Tonight, it was Gulam Bodi’s turn to be the hero with the bat.

The temperature at Cape Town was less than 20 degrees Celsius. The situation was chilly and damp again. With Chennai’s spinners struggling to get a grip on the white ball, Bodi revitalized the innings after a poor start in which they had lost Alvio Petersen and de Kock inexpensively.

Bodi and McKenzie set up the chase wonderfully. They added 93 runs in just 10.3 overs with Bodi doing the bulk of the scoring. Bodi, born in Hathuran, a village near the West Indian city of Surat, tore into Chennai’s spinners. His and McKenzie’s wickets didn’t slow down the Lions. Jean Symes and Chris Morris completed off the match, scoring the 20 runs needed off the last 2 overs. 

Left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso has beat against the IPL teams. Against Mumbai Indians he dismissed Sachin Tendulkar and bowled economically. Today, he set Murali Vijay up with a beautiful straight ball. He walked to an LBW shout. 

Phangiso then hit Ravindra Jadeja in the air, causing him to mistime a slog to long-on. The Lions spinner bowled out economically again. 

Chennai’s stop-start innings gather some pace in the end with Badrinath fast 27 in which he clubbed sixes on either side of midwicket. Captain Dhoni was with him, making 34 and adding 52 runs with Badrinath to end off the innings satisfactorily. But despite a strong new ball attack, Chennai failed to defend the score.

Score Details 

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: 158/6 

Highest Score

MS Dhoni -34 

Subramaniam Badrinath-27 

Highest Wickets 

Aaron Phangiso-4 over 17 runs 2 wickets

HIGH VELD LIONS: 159/4 

Highest Score 

Gulam Bodi -64 

Jean Symes -39 

Wickets 

Doug Bollinger-4 over 18 runs 2 wickets 

Man of the Match 

Aaron Phangiso

Today start Champion league T20

With a long season awaiting Team India, the Champions League T20 would be a brilliant 'practice pitch' for Sehwag to find his stroke back. But an ankle injury had almost ruined that possibility.

However, the starter had a reason to smile when he was declared well for the D opening CLT20 game against the Delhi Daredevil and Knight Riders, at Centurion, on Saturday. 

On Thursday, Sehwag allegedly gave a fitness test. He not only clears that scrutiny, he also went on to play in the Daredevils' warm-up game, against CLT20 competitors the Sydney Sixes. 

An agency report, however, tinted a very different picture. As per that report, Sehwag undergo a fitness test on Thursday under the attentive eyes of Kirk Russell. Virender Sehwag today appears for a health test which was conducted by Kirk Russell. He cleared the test and was declared fit to play in the match from the start, the agency report quote a Daredevils official as saying. 

Sehwag was at first doubtful for the CLT20, after straining a sinew in his left ankle during India's World T20 Super Eights match against South Africa, in Colombo, on October 2. He had gone off the field at some stage in the Proteas innings and did not return.

Sehwag has been troubled by health issues over the past one year. After the 2011 World Cup, he had late a shoulder surgery, played the IPL and then next missed India's tour of the West Indies and half of the Test series in England. 

Then, former this year, towards the end of the Australia tour, he had back spasms. That was the reason for the selectors to rest him for the Asia Cup.

Sehwag will not captain the Daredevils at the CLT20 since he had asked the permit to relieve him of the blame so he could think on his batting. 

The Delhi Daredevils managed only 107 against the Big Bash champions. Delhi Daredevils captain Jayawardene and star starter David Warner didn't play the game. While Warner was rested, Jayawardene had an appointment with the dentist and was unavailable for the match. 

The Knights, too, had a perform game on the day. But their match against South African side High veld Lions was washed out robbing Gautam Gambler's side some much-needed match practice.

Champions League Twenty20 2012

Champions League Twenty20 2012 will be held in South Africa in this month of October. On Friday, the organizers announce the schedule for the match. The event will be held from October 9 to 28. 

DATE	TIME	MATCH	VENUE
QUALIFYING STAGE
Oct 9, 2012	16:30	ECB 2 Vs SLC	JHB
Oct 9, 2012	21:00	ST Vs AA	JHB
Oct 10, 2012	16:30	ECB1 Vs AA	CEN
Oct 10, 2012	21:00	ECB2 Vs T&T	CEN
Oct 11, 2012	16:30	T&T Vs SLC	JHB
Oct 11, 2012	21:00	ECB1 Vs ST	JHB
GROUP STAGE
Oct 13, 2012	16:30	TI Vs PS	CEN
Oct 13, 2012	21:00	KKR Vs DD	CEN
Oct 14, 2012	16:30	CSK Vs SS	JHB
Oct 14, 2012	21:00	HL Vs MI	JHB
Oct 15, 2012	21:00	KKR Vs Q1	CT
Oct 16, 2012	16:30	SS Vs Q2	CT
Oct 16, 2012	21:00	CSK Vs HL	CT
Oct 17, 2012	16:30	TT Vs Q1	DUR
Oct 17, 2012	21:00	KKR Vs PS	DUR
Oct 18, 2012	16:30	HL Vs SS	CT
Oct 18, 2012	21:00	MI Vs Q2	CT
Oct 19, 2012	21:00	DD Vs Q1	DUR
Oct 20, 2012	16:30	HL Vs Q2	JHB
Oct 20, 2012	21:00	CSK Vs MI	JHB
Oct 21, 2012	16:30	PS Vs DD	CT
Oct 21, 2012	21:00	KKR Vs TI	CT
Oct 22, 2012	16:30	CSK Vs Q2	DUR
Oct 22, 2012	21:00	SS Vs MI	DUR
Oct 23, 2012	16:30	PS Vs Q1	CEN
Oct 23, 2012	21:00	TI Vs DD	CEN
SEMI-FINALS
Oct 25, 2012	21:00	A1 Vs B2	DUR
Oct 26, 2012	21:00	A2 Vs B1	CEN
FINAL
Oct 28, 2012	21:00	FINAL	JHB

Became the team's captain Jayawardene Delhi

New Delhi-Virender Sehwag Friday steps down from captaincy of the Delhi Daredevils and Jayawardene will now lead the team in the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) beginning October 9 in South Africa.

Delhi Daredevils mentor TA Sekar said that Sehwag ask for to relieve him of captaincy for the Champions League has been received by the team management.sehwag told us a few months ago that he wanted to bat freely and suggested that we make Jayawardene the captain of the side," Sekar said.

Delhi Daredevils have been strained in Group A with KKR, Perth Scorchers, Titans and a qualifier. Group B has Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Sydney Sixers, Highveld Lions and a qualifier. The 2 qualifiers will be spotted from with Trinidad and Tobago, Sialkot Stallions, Uva Next, Yorkshire, Hampshire and Auckland Aces.

Explosive batsmen David Warner, Kevin Pietersen and Ross Taylor, IPL 2012 Purple Cap winner, pace bowler Morne Morkel and exciting West Indian -Andre Russell total the set of overseas players in the squad of 15.

1	Mahela Jayawardene	6	Andre Russell	11	Pawan Negi
2	David Warner	7	Virender Sehwag	12	Naman Ojha
3	Kevin Pietersen	8	Irfan Pathan	13	Ajit Agarkar
4	Ross Taylor	9	Umesh Yadav	14	Unmukt Chand
5	Morne Morkel	10	Venugopal Rao	15	Aavishkar Salvi

make a window for the IPL-Dravid

Previous Indian batsman Rahul Dravid feels that the IPL is a reality that the world must accept, and that a window for the Indian T20 league was necessary.

Speaking to Jonathan Agnew on BBC’s Test Match Special during the 3rd Test between England and South Africa at Lord’s, Dravid said, when the top players play, people will watch the Indian Premier League. But the game’s also the loser when these stars don’t play Test cricket. There must be give and take between the two, for which a window may be needed.

When asked about the IPL’s role in the showdown between Kevin Pietersen and the ECB, Dravid was not sure if the match alone was the reason for the break in the English player’s association with his board. He though agreed that the IPL would clash with the start of the English period, adding that Test cricket needed names like Chris Gayle and Kevin Pietersen.

Dravid, who is in London to go to the MCC Cricket group meeting, also said that administrator must keep Test cricket relevant, there are no issues with players like Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli who have dreamt of playing Test cricket. The trouble may happen with the next age group of cricketers, who have grown up watching the IPL. Administrator must talk to them about the best format.

On his experience in the IPL, Rahul Dravid feel that travel during the match was hard but added that there wasn’t too much physical effort on the field, when compare to in concert a Test match or a ODI.

Vijay Action hundred Super Kings to meet Knight Riders in final match

CHENNAI: Murali Vijay's withering century set-up a massive 86-run win for Chennai Super Kings over Delhi Daredevils in the 2nd qualifier on Friday.

Chennai’s rousing triumph, their 2nd in succession after the shellacking of Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator, places them in their 3rd consecutive, and 4th overall, last, which they will contest against Kolkata Knight Riders at the same venue on Sunday evening for a tilt at the most unachievable of records – a hat-trick of IPL titles.

Once Chennai had posted the season’s highest total – 222 – it would have been wishful thinking to expect Delhi to make a first of it on what is generally careful to be a treacherous track. As it happened, Delhi, opening with Jayawardene and Warner, were never in the chase after the early dismissals of Warner and captain Sehwag disallowed them to gain any sort of momentum.

Daredevils kept up a run-rate in the vicinity of nine runs-per over for the most part, thanks to Jayawardene’s classy 55, but behind the tempo - at least through the duration of a super-200 chase - was nigh impossible. The pursuit was ruined by tumbling wickets, as batsmen attempt in vain to meet the spiraling obligation, only to be arrested with finality in the 17th over when Dhoni ran out final man Varun Aaron.

The double defensive champions appear to be on an upswing, and on Friday it wasn’t just good cricketing that took them to victory. Daredevils – strictly the ‘home’ side by virtue of last at the top in the league stage – were on the back foot even previous to the game began. They chose to ‘rest’ the most winning bowler in IPL-V, Morne Morkel, and replaced him with debutant off-spinner Sunny Gupta, who was murder for 47 runs in 3 overs. It did not help that the pacy, supposedly promising Varun went for 63 in his 4 overs.

When Sehwag selected to field in a crunch game at a venue where pursuer are in need by the progressive slowness of the surface, Delhi appear to be hell-bent on making things tough for them. If that wasn’t bad enough, Vijay initiate the mayhem by nailing boundaries off the 1st 2 balls of Chennai’s innings, and from there the run-rate only went North, and beyond.

It would be futile to delve into person hits, which were too many to recount. Let it be put on record still that it was Dhoni’s faith in Vijay that paid off. Out of sorts with a niggle in the wrist for the most of the season, Vijay began by hammering boundaries off Sunny and in the company of Michael Hussey took Super Kings to 68 in seven overs.

Hussey was quickly out, and Vijay got moving when Sehwag introduce himself in the 11th over – first a six over midwicket caught by Ross Taylor who overstepped the boundary then a slash over backward point for four, and then one more 4 and 6 to long-on and over cow corner respectively.

Daredevils made things worse with their butter fingers. Slowcoach Sehwag at cover was late on a mishit by Raina, and even the regularly reliable Warner fluffed Dhoni at long-on. It was persistent hitting all the way as Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo joined the revels with brutal cameos of their own, as if they were just ongoing the riot act from their earlier game against Mumbai Indians.

Vijay reach his hundred in 51 balls and was run-out on the final ball of the 1st innings. It was a remorseless show through and through – a display befitting the most dominate team across the short history of the match – and reminiscent of the destruction Vijay had caused in the 2011 IPL final. Can he do it again on Sunday against KKR? Or will Sunil Narine derail the Chennai juggernaut and prevent a hat-trick of titles? We shall know quickly.

Man of the match

  Murali Vijay

Tomorrow Match

Chennai Super Kings Vs kolkata Knight Riders.

Final, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, 27 May 2012 08:00 Pm

Super Kings Stunning Beat in Mumbai

BANGALORE: Lucky. Kissed by fortune. Favored by fate. Whatever! Count Chennai Super Kings out at your own peril. After creation the play-offs following a string of happy results, the defending champions overcame a disastrous start to defeat Mumbai Indians by 38 runs in the Eliminator at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday night.

Chennai Super Kings will next play Delhi Daredevils in the Qualifier - a near semifinal - at their stronghold, the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, on Friday. The winner of that game will meet Kolkata Knight Riders in the final match of IPL- Wednesday, Chennai were sent in to bat by Harbhajan Singh and found themselves in hot water within the 1st 8balls of the match. They were two down for 1 run, with M. Vijay and Suresh Raina back to back in the pavilion, and the ball swinging cruelly late, when they engineered an amazing turnaround.

Super Kings steady the boat through Michael Hussey (49) and S. Badrinath (47), and then benefited from a jaw-dropping display of power hitting from skipper M.S. Dhoni (51, 20b) and Dwayne Bravo (33 runs 4b) The conclusive assault bring in 105 runs from the last 8 overs, as captain cool and Bravo went crazy, adding 73 in just 29 balls and taking Chennai to a gargantuan 187-5.

The most successful IPL permit then tided over Dwayne Smith’s early fireworks in the chase to trounce Mumbai expansively, the chase having virtually ended when the pursuer found themselves 5 down for less than hundred, all their stars back in the dugout. Bravo had a brilliant day in the field, 1st sparkling with the bat and adding 2 wickets to his haul when Mumbai took guard.

The Champions League T20 winners were never in the hunt except for a brief period when Smith was going after Ben Hilfenhaus – who had an unusual off-day – but when Sachin Tendulkar sacrificed his wicket for Smith in a brainless run-out, the chase faltered irreversibly, ending in a rash of wickets resulting from the pressure of a sky-high asking rate.

The match was really about what Chennai did when they took 1st strike. Harbhajan, criticize through the match for under-bowling himself, opened events by restricting Hussey and Vijay to just one off the 1st over. Vijay continued his indifferent form when he edged Dhaval Kulkarni’s late away swinger to Rohit Sharma at 1st slip. On the next ball, Suresh Raina went for a drive on the off-side and chopped the ball on to the stumps for a golden duck out.

Within the first 8 balls of the match, Chennai were on the back-foot in this most critical of matches. Harbhajan followed up his one-run opening over with a maiden to Hussey and the pressure on Chennai mounted, but Hussey and Badrinath made the best of their chances to resurrect the torn innings.

Badrinath edges Kulkarni a couple of times to the boundary and shattered the same bowler to the long on fence. Hussey got off the mark on the 9th ball he faced, but switched gears when R.P. Singh came on to bowl. The Aussie crunch 3 fours – one of which was chancily feathered wide of first slip – to catch up on his strike rate.

Malinga was introduced and Hussey welcomed him with a four caress through the off-side. Chennai reached 61 for 2 in 10 overs as Bhajji played around with the bowling changes. But when the captain Dhoni came on again to bowl – in the 11th of the innings – he was ill-treated by Badrinath and Hussey, who clouted a six each and took 19 from the over.

Badrinath looked good for a fifty in his return game but he skied Kieron Pollard to long-on where he was taken by Rohit for 47. Hussey and Ravindra Jadeja departed quickly after, and then began the most brutal phase of the innings as the last 8 overs of the innings conceded 105 runs. Dhoni flick the first ball he faced to the mid-wicket fence and waded into the flurry of full-length delivery that Mumbai bowlers accessible him. James Franklin was massacred over long-on for the main hit of IPL-V – all the way for 112 metres.

The Power play hero Kulkarni was clobbered straight past his head. Then the India captain launched into a helicopter shot (112 m) off Malinga over that came to rest in the stands. Dhoni reached his 50 in 20 balls. It was fearless, nerveless hitting as Bravo joined his skipper in a carnage that produced 73 runs in just 29 balls. The highlight of Bravo's knock was a banana peel ‘six that he powered, off-balance, against Kulkarni in the final over. What Sooper hitting! Whatay Sooper team! Delhi Daredevils had better watch out.

Man of the match

MS Dhoni

Tomorrow Match

Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils

8:00pm

Kolkata gallop into 1st Time IPL final

PUNE: His bizarre antics can lastly be appended to a reason. Shahrukh Khan bounded about like a rabbit on speed, hugging his teammates on the field of play – Yes! He was allowed to enter the arena on this occasion – as his permit Kolkata Knight Riders strode into their 1st IPL final, after outplaying Delhi Daredevils by 18 runs in the ‘Qualifier 1’ on Tuesday night.

Spin-heavy Kolkata batted 1st, pulled themselves up to 162-4, thanks to Yusuf Pathan’s and Balaji Shukla late onslaught, and then stalled Delhi on 144-8 with their battery of bowlers – mainly the confounding mystery spinner Sunil Narine and expert seamer Jacques Kallis, both of whom had match figures of 4-0-24-2.Delhi has another chance of making the last when they play the winner of the Mumbai Indians-Chennai Super Kings eliminator.

In chase of a tricky target, Delhi suffered a massive hinder when David Warner was out to a horrible caught-behind decision off Shakib Al Hasan in the 2nd over of the chase. Virender Sehwag, back after sitting out with an illness, followed soon after, slashing a wide Balaji deliverance to the ‘keeper. With 2 of their most dangerous batsmen out, Delhi faced a mammoth task ahead, but were bring back in contention with a 59-run partnership between Mahela Jayewardene (40) and Naman Ojha (29).

The alliance ended when Ojha cut Rajat Bhatia directly to point, and the death knell was sound when Jayewardene charged Iqbal Abdullah only to be stumped – after a minor fumble – by Brendon McCollum. Delhi needed 54 runs in 5 overs at that stage and a cascade of wickets resulted as the batsmen went after the spinners. Really, the chase was never on after Ross Taylor was demoting to below Pawan Negi in the batting order. Earlier, KKR, safe in the information that they contained 3 spinners in their eleven, batted 1st on a pitch with more than reasonable turn and grip.

Delhi’s attack comprise three quicks and Gambhir took an immediate liking to them, provided his team a blistering start with a 16-ball 32.Gambhir began with a pulled maximum off Umesh Yadav and tore into Varun Aaron for 6 and 4 in the last over of the Power play. Failure struck in the same over when the Kolkata captain was run out. He thumps Varun to mid-off, and was late returning to the crease after having backed up too far. A straight hit from Venugopal Rao found Gambhir short of his ground, and the wicket pegged KKR back.

The next 10 overs yield just 58 runs as Brendon McCollum (31) and Jacques Kallis (32) struggled to go faster. Left-arm spinner Negi slipped in his overs for precious little and picked up the New Zealander with bright turn, as he sliced one high into the night sky and was taken smartly by Warner.In the next over, Shakib edged Irfan Pathan to the ‘keeper and soon after Kallis walked off when he pull Umesh down Taylor’s throat. The 3 fast wickets stalled KKR and they would have been in fall were it not for Yusuf and Laxmi Shukla.

Yusuf shrugged off his uncaring season to partner Shukla for 56 runs in just four overs. The burly right-hander cream Morkel for a straight 6and powered boundaries off Umesh. Shukla too chip in, lofting Morkel for four and implementation a savage pull for maximum gain against the same bowler.

The final over, bowled by Varun Aaron, was a run fest. Warner dropped Yusuf at long-on and conceded a six instead as the ball sailed over the ropes. Yusuf smack vicious cover drives off the very last 2 deliveries, both to the fence, taking the cost of the final over to 21. Kolkata ended with 162 – a massive total consider the nature of the wicket.

Man of the match

Yusuf Pathan

Today Match

Super Kings v Mum Indians (20:00 local | 14:30 GMT)

IPL Thrilling Climax This Week

The I P L heads for a thrilling climax this week when the play-offs take place to decide the champions of this season popular T20 tournament.

The 5th edition of the glitzy cash-rich event is already being hailed as the most moving ever despite off-field troubles as packed houses watched beguiling cricket over the past 6 weeks. The last spot in the play-offs was decided in Sunday's last but one match of the 72-game league as defensive champions Chennai Super Kings sneaked through while Royal Challengers Bangalore were stunned by unfancied Deccan Chargers.

Table-toppers Delhi Daredevils will take on number 1 Kolkata Knight Riders in the 1st play-off in Pune on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the May 27 final in Chennai. The Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, the 3rd and 4th teams in the league, will face-off in Bangalore on Wednesday with the scum being knocked out of the race The loser of the 1st play-off will then meet the winner of the 2nd in Chennai on Friday to determine the 2nd finalist.

The play-off system rewards constancy over seven weeks, said IPL chairman Raj Shukla. One bad day in the office does not ruin a team's chances. The winner of Sunday's name clash at the Chidambaram stadium in Chennai will pocket $2 million and the runner-up will get $1.5 million. The 3rd-placed team will get a direct entry into the Champions League to be held in India in October among the top domestic Twenty20 clubs from about the world.

Delhi Daredevils, led by Sehwag and featuring Sri Lankan veteran Jayewardene and South African fast bowler Morne Morkel, have shown consistent form by winning 11 of their 16 league matches. But the Knight Riders will fancy their chances on a slow Pune wicket ideal for their West Indies Sunil Narine, whose haul of 22 wickets this season is 2nd only to Morkel's tally of 25.

You can't predict what will happen in a T20 game, but we have faith in ourselves, said Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir. We want to succeed this one for the people of Kolkata. Mumbai Indians, featuring the inspiring Sachin Tendulkar, bounced back after a shaky start to end 3rd and set up an intriguing clash against India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings.

We must not waste the s2nd life given to us, said Dhoni. We must execute our plans well as Mumbai will come hard at us. Among a series of scandals to hit the match has been police charges against Australian Luke Pomersbach, who played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, over supposedly molest a woman and beating up her fiancé.

5 Indian players signed to IPL teams were also suspended after an undercover TV report alleged they were ready to take money for spot-fixing.