Ganguly back as KKR captain, Whatmore appointed coach

KOLKATA: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Friday returned as the Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper for next year’s Indian Premier League,

replacing New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum.

The controversy-ridden IPL outfit, which finished at the bottom of the table this year, also named Dav Whatmore as its new coach with Delhi Ranji coach Vijay Dahiya as his deputy. Pakistani pace legend Wasim Akram was appointed the mentor of the side.

“Andrew Leipus and Adrian le Roux have been appointed physiotherapist and team trainer respectively,” the team management said in a statement.

“The KKR management held several meetings over the past few weeks to discuss and plan the way forward for the franchise and the team. After weeks of careful deliberation, keeping in mind the vision and ideals of the team, the KKR management has appointed Dav Whatmore as the new team coach,” the management said, adding Ganguly played an instrumental role in the entire process.

“KKR is looking forward to an exciting and successful season ahead with the new appointments and strategies in place. I am excited at the prospect of working with Dav and the entire team closely in addition to playing at our home ground once again,” Ganguly said.

Insisting that Ganguly’s position as captain is not merely ceremonial, the outfit said the former India skipper would be the “key driving force” who would “shape the cricket team” and “would be responsible for all cricket related decisions with regards to the 2010 season.”

After leading the team in the inaugural IPL, Ganguly fell out with the then coach John Buchanan, who first mooted the “multi-captaincy” idea, which did not find favour with the management.

McCullum led the side in the second IPL but came a cropper.

Hailing Whatmore’s appointment, KKR co-owner Jay Mehta said, “Dav has the right vision not only for the team, but for each of the players, and for the franchise as a whole. He is very aware of our current position in IPL and knows that there is only one way to go now–up.”

Whatmore, on his part, said he was looking forward to working with Ganguly.

“I am optimistic about the season ahead and have the utmost faith in Sourav, the team, and KKR Management and look forward to a successful tournament. I will be working closely with the team to continue building KKR into a successful franchise both on and off field,” he said.

BCCI has reservations over IPL expansion plans

NEW DELHI: IPL commissioner Lalit Modi’s plans of expanding the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2011 have been put on hold, for the moment.

The BCCI, at the working committee meeting held during the fourth India-Australia ODI at Mohali, has asked Modi to scrutinise and rework the expansion plans due to a number of “reservations” by board members and the franchisees. The initial plan for 2011 edition is to increase the number of teams to 10 and number of matches to 94, from the existing eight teams and 59 games.

The BCCI members are concerned about Indian players getting injured due to “too much cricket” and also about Indian wickets losing the juice due to over-usage. “They also want to ensure that too much cricket does not lead to fan fatigue,” revealed a BCCI source. Their reasoning is that expanding the IPL would mean more matches, which would result in more injuries.

Modi, when contacted by TOI, denied that he has been asked to put expansion plans on hold. However, he admitted that there are reservations within the BCCI. “It’s untrue (that I have been asked to cap the expansion plans). Yes, some working committee members have reservations but it’s not about the expansion… It’s about the modus-operandi with respect to the expansion. They are not happy with some of the factors in the expansion plan. Therefore, I will review it and present it in the next working committee meeting. Hopefully, there won’t be any more problems regarding it.

“To say that the members have refused to expand is wrong. The proposal to expand was approved at IPL’s governing council meeting held in Mumbai early this year. So the question of not going ahead with the expansion doesn’t arise. As far as I’m concerned the expansion plan remains as it was… I’m going ahead with it.”

Sources told that Modi has also been asked to talk to franchisees about their reservations. Some franchisees don’t want new teams to be added to the existing eight as new teams would “eat into their share of the pie”. “Modi has been asked by the BCCI to talk to the franchisees because they are unhappy about the expansion. The franchisees, especially Mukesh Ambani and Shah Rukh Khan, don’t want to share their profits with new entrants in the IPL. This expansion may happen after 2012, maybe 2013,” said a BCCI source.

IPL team owners enraged after BCCI cuts ties with IMG

High-profile owners of team franchises in the Indian Premier League have reacted furiously to the Indian cricket board’s decision to snap ties with event management company IMG, reports said on Monday.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday terminated its contract with the International Management Group, which helped it launch the lucrative Twenty20 league in 2008.

Business tycoon Mukesh Ambani and Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan, both owners of IPL franchisees, have shot off angry letters to the BCCI.

“I am personally shocked at the unilateral decision of doing away with the services of IMG,” the Times of India quoted Ambani, who owns the Mumbai Indians team, as saying in his letter.

“It is also worrying to me that such a significant decision in relation to IPL has been taken without even so much as consulting the franchises.

“I strongly believe that this decision, if taken forward, will destroy substantial value for all the stakeholders, especially the franchises and dilute the success of IPL in the coming years.”

Kolkata Knight Riders owner Khan said IMG had been “an integral part of the tournament management and its success so far” and questioned the logic of the board in ending the deal.

The BCCI had entered into a preliminary agreement with IMG in 2008 to promote and manage IPL’s affairs. IMG was to be paid 10 per cent of the tournament’s gross revenue as commission.

But the board felt the amount was “disproportionate to services rendered”.

Salman Khan may buy IPL franchise

Bollywood action hero Salman Khan is the latest cine star to join the Indian Premier League (IPL) gravy train and has expressed interest in buying a team. Salman met IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi on Wednesday and was briefed about the nitty-grittes of buying an IPL franchise.

The fourth season of the IPL in 2011 will see two new teams and they would be up for grabs through a bidding process later this year.

Modi said Salman is interested in buying an IPL team.

“He has been interested to buy a team for quite some time,” Modi added.

“Today we had a brief meeting and I explained him how to go about with the task. I can assure you that Salman is not the only star who is thinking to buy a team. I have had around 28 queries and the list will surely go up,” he said.

IPL vice-president Niranjan Shah said that Salman is a serious buyer and will bid for one of the two new teams.

“Salman is a serious buyer and is contemplating to buy an IPL team. He came along with couple of his friends and was briefed by Lalit on the procedure to buy IPL franchise,” said Shah.

Shah went on to add that cities like Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Vishakhaptanam are in fray to be the hometown for new teams.

“It will be an open tender process and the city that gets the highest bidder will be the new IPL team,” he said.

IPL franchise in the 2011 season may cost over $200-300 million.

Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla are the co-owners of Kolkata Knight Riders while Preity Zinta is also a joint owner of Kings XI Punjab. Shilpa Shetty and her boyfriend Raj Kundra also bought some stakes in Rajasthan Royals.

Sources also indicated that Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Mohanlal and Priyadarshan were also interested in owning IPL teams.

Tenders for the new teams will be out in November-December 2009 and bidding will be done by January 2010.

Modi mulls two IPLs every year

With the Indian Premier League proving a smashing hit in its adopted home in South Africa, the organisers of the Twenty20 razzmatazz are
mulling a second and shorter version of the event in the same calendar year at an overseas location.

IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi told ‘The Daily Telegraph’ that the success of the second IPL has prompted the organisers to explore untapped territories like United States and Canada and the League’s Governing Council would discuss the issue after the tournament ends in Johannesburg on Sunday.

“The potential is huge,” Modi said. “We have turned the challenges and adversities in moving to South Africa into an opportunity. It is fans who determine if you are successful or not and they have come out in force. It has shown that the tournament can be in any region, in any country. This opens up many different opportunities for us,” Modi was quoted as saying by the daily.

The IPL mastermind made it clear that India would host the first season and it’s only for the second season in the same calendar year that a foreign destination would be considered.

“The IPL will be based in India, but the second season we are planning gives us the chance to see if a market exists and we are seriously looking at what we can do with it,” Modi said.

“America throws up challenges but the format we have developed works. It is an opportunity for families to spend a day out. Apart from watching great cricket they have an enjoyable evening out. That will work anywhere,” he said.

“Before this tournament we did not know if we could do it. But we do know now. We have to satisfy an appetite across the world and build a fan base across the world,” Modi added.

Modi said the Indian cricket board (BCCI) would be in touch with its English and South African counterparts but ruled out the prospect of any country hosting back-to-back events.

“We will talk to the England and Wales Cricket Board, and South Africa are natural allies who want us to come back every year. The public and the boards want us but it is not realistic to come back to the same place every year.”

While a second IPL in the same calendar year jeopardises Test cricket’s survival, Modi beg to differ.

“People who say we cannot work alongside Test cricket just don’t understand. You don’t need everyone available all the time. You don’t need all countries to be free.

“In England the Premier League runs at the same time as the Spanish and Italian leagues. We can do the same. They can run concurrently. To do that we must showcase and produce our own stars,” Modi said.

“England are playing the West Indies now so those teams are out but not Australia, South Africa or uncapped England players. That is where the misunderstanding is taking place,” he added.

IPL will be 10-team league in 2011

Buoyed by the success of the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), its chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi said the

eight-team tournament will be expanded to 10 teams in 2011.

Modi said the IPL will be back in India next year and the cramped International Cricket Council (ICC) schedule does not leave any room for the possibility of a second IPL in a calendar year in 2010.

“We have been missing India but we have made a strong fan base in South Africa. We have a tight schedule next year. We will have two more teams in the league,” said Modi.

Modi, who is also the vice president of the Indian cricket board, said that organising the IPL in South Africa was a great experience.

“We had a great time in South Africa. Everything was perfect. I am satisfied with the way the tournament was successfully conducted here at such a short time,” he said.

Bollywood action hero Salman Khan is the latest cine star to join the Indian Premier League (IPL) gravy train and has expressed interest in buying a team. Salman met IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi on Wednesday and was briefed about the nitty-grittes of buying an IPL franchise.

The fourth season of the IPL in 2011 will see two new teams and they would be up for grabs through a bidding process later this year.

Modi said Salman is interested in buying an IPL team.

“He has been interested to buy a team for quite some time,” Modi added.

“Today we had a brief meeting and I explained him how to go about with the task. I can assure you that Salman is not the only star who is thinking to buy a team. I have had around 28 queries and the list will surely go up,” he said.

IPL vice-president Niranjan Shah said that Salman is a serious buyer and will bid for one of the two new teams.

“Salman is a serious buyer and is contemplating to buy an IPL team. He came along with couple of his friends and was briefed by Lalit on the procedure to buy IPL franchise,” said Shah.

Shah went on to add that cities like Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Vishakhaptanam are in fray to be the hometown for new teams.

“It will be an open tender process and the city that gets the highest bidder will be the new IPL team,” he said.

IPL franchise in the 2011 season may cost over $200-300 million.

Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla are the co-owners of Kolkata Knight Riders while Preity Zinta is also a joint owner of Kings XI Punjab. Shilpa Shetty and her boyfriend Raj Kundra also bought some stakes in Rajasthan Royals.

Sources also indicated that Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Mohanlal and Priyadarshan were also interested in owning IPL teams.

Tenders for the new teams will be out in November-December 2009 and bidding will be done by January 2010.