‘Thanks to IPL I could plot Aussies’

SYDNEY, June 22: Dwayne Bravo says his short stint with the Mumbai Indians in the inaugural Indian Premier League has helped West Indies to beat Australia in the Twenty20 International at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados last Friday.
Bravo, who led the West Indies in the absence of injured skipper Chris Gayle and his deputy Ramnaresh Sarwan, felt the same IPL has also worked to the Australians' disadvantage. With the Caribbean's first Twenty20 International reduced to an 11-over-a-side slug-fest due to rain, Bravo was adamant his reconnaissance work on several key Australian players during the IPL was a factor behind the Windies' seven-wicket victory, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

Jayasuria recalled to national squad after fantastic performance with Indians

Jayasuriya, recalled for the tournament after his superb form in the Indian Premier League, reeled off 72 quick runs from only 47 balls, hitting 10 fours and three sixes.

Cricketers ready to sacrifice careers for IPL

MELBOURNE: The Indian Premier League's (IPL) outstanding success is threatening to rock international cricket. A survey shows that more than half the players from the seven Test playing nations are ready to quit other two forms of the game for the huge money on offer in the Twenty20 format.

The Federation of International Players' Associations (FICA) surveyed seven of the 10 Test nations, with India, Pakistan and Zimbabwe not being members of FICA. Of the 64 players who responded, including a number of Australians, 33 claimed they were willing to sacrifice the end of their international career for IPL money.

The survey also showed that there is a strong call by players for an IPL window, which continues to be resisted by the International Cricket Council (ICC), with 62 of the 64 players polled supporting such a move, reports The Australian

In a major challenge to the Test cricket, two thirds believe the massive rewards of the IPL, which can be upwards of $1million a year for a six-week tournament, will one day make the Twenty20 tournament more important than playing for their country.

The avalanche of money for the Twenty20 format, which includes millions from Texas billionaire Allen Stanford will force the ICC to have a reality check at its next week's annual executive board meeting in Dubai.

Another worrying factor for the ICC, which emerged in the survey, is that out of the 10 Test nations, 86 per cent said they also consider the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) an attractive option, even though ICL players are effectively banned from international cricket.

The grind of international cricket is also seen as a reason which would help hasten their premature retirement.

FICA chief executive Tim May claimed that with the advent of wealthy Twenty20 competitions, players were no longer simply tied to their countries.

"It is evident that today's player is less likely to be loyal to commitments to his home board, as cricket's employment market is freed from the power of governing bodies, who previously enjoyed an inequitable power base by virtue of being the only employer in the market," May said.

"Simply, the freeing up of the market and the lifting of the citizenship barriers has resulted in more market-driven values for players, and the players not surprisingly are gravitating to that market."

"The players and FICA feel very strongly that to preserve a healthy balance between club or franchise cricket (such as IPL and ICL) and international cricket, that the ICC needs to create a window in its international programming, or risk losing players permanently from the international cricket scene."

The survey found that all but one player wanted Test cricket to maintain its elite status, but believed that one-day cricket would suffer significantly in both player and spectator interest as a result of Twenty20.

More than half believe that Twenty20 will make one-day cricket less attractive to play and 70 per cent feel Twenty20 will reduce the popularity of one-day cricket for fans.

To help raise the profile of Test matches in cricket's fast food age, the players have called for a championship of Test nations to be contested by the leading countries on a regular basis.

International Indian Premier League!

The season is over, but the fun and games have just begun. In order to leverage the T20 craze and create new revenue streams, event managers and IPL franchisee teams are planning to play independent matches that will be outside the purview of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the IPL.

Shane Warne is reported to have said that his Rajasthan Royals will play Victoria (his former Australian state team). Other teams such as Mumbai Indians and Kings X1 Punjab may also consider these options. The idea is to create property on the lines of the Manchester United programme whereby Man United plays matches in Asia and the US.

Dhawal Kulkarni Gets Sardesai Scholarship

The cash-rich Indian Premier League was not only about big money and superstars, but it also threw up some exciting and young talent with the potential to enter the big league. Nineteen-year-old Dhawal Kulkarni is one of the talented youngsters that IPL unearthed.

His performances in the Twenty20 format have impressed everyone. The Mumbai Indians bowler has been given an opportunity by Mumbai Cricket Association to train at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, Australia.

Kulkarni is the first cricketer of Mumbai to get the Dilip Sardesai Scholarship. Under-19 World Cup winning skipper Virat Kohli, Delhi’s Pradeep Sangwan and Uttar Pradesh’s Tanmay Srivastava will also be going Down Under. However, they have got the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The 12th standard student of Rizvi College said he learnt many things from IPL and also the legendary all-rounder Shaun Pollock. “It has been a great experience. I got an opportunity and I wanted to prove that I can perform at the T20 level in such a big tournament,” It was a great learning experience to play with Sachin sir, Shaun Pollock and all,” he added.

Kulkarni was amazed with the way his seniors used to prepare before the match. “The way they prepare before the game is different from how we do. Their attitude was different in the sense that they were relaxed,” he added. The youngster, who also did a decent job in the Ranji Trophy one-dayers said he learnt many things from Pollock. “He told me to bowl with rhythm.

Courtesy:DNA