Originally posted by Neil Young
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Watch the IPL then
"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob Paisley -
I will. I'm looking forward to the India/Australia rematch.Originally posted by looprevil View PostWatch the IPL then
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Suppose you have a physicist and a sociologist standing at the side of a field, observing a set of events unfolding on the field. The physicist does [describes] it using the terminology of mass and velocity and frequency of radiation and the rest. And the sociologist does it by describing it as a rugby match.
May the Lord bless this post.Comment
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My team is up first. Bangalore. Come on DravidComment
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"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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Kolkata are going to get battered. The Prince of Calcutta...Ganguly against The Wall Dravid.
Chakde IndiaComment
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I am really looking forward to these games now.
From the BBC:
The Indian Premier League, with its potential to transform world cricket, begins on Friday with a floodlit match in Bangalore scheduled for 1530 BST.
Acrobats and Bollywood stars took part in a lavish opening ceremony featuring fireworks and cheerleaders. The match is officially a 55,000 sell-out.
The first contest features teams led by Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, both former captains of India.
They will be trailed by spotlights for the toss with the floodlights off.
If a supporter of the Punjab franchise celebrates wildly when Lee shatters Tendulkar's stumps in Mumbai for a duck then the IPL will have broken new territory
Two hours before the match was due to start, music was pumping out of giant speakers at the M Chinaswammy Stadium.
Long queues gathered outside, though most of the stands were already full.
The contests between eight teams will feature nearly all of the top names in the game. And they will be closely watched in England, the birthplace of Twenty20 cricket.
The ECB is in talks with an American billionaire to set up its own version of the IPL, but on Friday the attention is squarely on India.
The match between Dravid's Bangalore Royal Challengers, and Ganguly's Kolkata Knight Readers sets the six-week tournament in motion.
With the final in Mumbai on 1 June, fans should see some mouthwatering cricket with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai), Ricky Ponting (Kolkata) and Matthew Hayden (Chennai) facing the bowling of Brett Lee (Punjab), Shane Warne (Rajasthan) and Glenn McGrath (Delhi).
American cheerleaders will pep up the Bangalore crowd
The stars will get around £100,000 a week during the tournament, putting them on similar pay to the world's top footballers, albeit for a limited period.
But the BBC's Rahul Tandon said the rushed build-up to the matches had created a sense of confusion for Indian fans.
He said: "The organisers wanted to do this quickly in response to the Indian Cricket League but they are not completely ready for it.
"It's hard to pick up merchandise - I didn't see one person in Kolkata with a Knight Rider shirt."
However, there are enough cricket fans desperate for tickets. Angry scuffles broke out in the build-up to the opening match in Bangalore when fans wanting tickets were turned away.
The airline and brewery tycoon Vijay Mallya has enlisted the services of the Washington Redskins cheerleaders to add some glamour to his Bangalore team.
They were the main attraction on Thursday for many of the journalists covering the build-up to the inaugural match.
And there have also been reports that Mallya is keeping a staggering 40% of the tickets for Friday's first match to give to his private business associates - that may explain why it's sold out.
It will certainly be a new experience for the fans.
BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew said: "The success or failure of the IPL lies with the Indian supporters who are fanatical about cricket but only until now about the national team.
"If a supporter of the Punjab franchise celebrates wildly when Lee shatters Tendulkar's stumps in Mumbai for a duck then the IPL will have broken new territory."
One dampener is that there are some notable absentees for the first few matches.
Star names Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Nathan Bracken are injured and out of the opening exchanges.
The most exciting fast bowler around, South Africa's Dale Steyn, is playing domestic cricket for the Titans back home and will also miss the start.
Meanwhile, England's only representative, Dimitri Mascarenhas, will only be released from Hampshire duty for a fortnight some time in May.
The IPL may be a vivid symbol of the new wealth in India.
But one team owner, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, has admitted to having "sleepless nights" about how the League might pan out.
Another aggrieved party is the editor of the Cricinfo website, Sambit Bal.
His journalists have been barred from entering the press box, and agencies will not be able to sell them match pictures.
Bal wrote in an editorial: "The IPL's outrageous regulations are a brazen assault on the concept of freedom of the press by a sports body apparently drunk on its sense of power."
The Federation of International Cricketers' Associations also has concerns of a different nature.
It has begun investigating how many players have not received their initial IPL fees and has warned if the problem is widespread they could walk away from their contracts.
David Hussey, who sold for US$625,000 in February, is one of the Australians who has not received the 15% payment for their auction price, which was reportedly due on 1 April.
"It's been an absolute nightmare in terms of the paperwork required to get the players there," Hussey's manager Rick Olarenshaw told The Age.
"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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That's a lot to pay for cheerleaders..
Suppose you have a physicist and a sociologist standing at the side of a field, observing a set of events unfolding on the field. The physicist does [describes] it using the terminology of mass and velocity and frequency of radiation and the rest. And the sociologist does it by describing it as a rugby match.
May the Lord bless this post.Comment
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Originally posted by Neil Young View Post
"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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Still, they're worth it from the IPL's point of view. They'll certainly distract attention from the cricket at least.Originally posted by looprevil View Post
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Suppose you have a physicist and a sociologist standing at the side of a field, observing a set of events unfolding on the field. The physicist does [describes] it using the terminology of mass and velocity and frequency of radiation and the rest. And the sociologist does it by describing it as a rugby match.
May the Lord bless this post.Comment
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If the cricket is anywhere near as exciting as the Twenty20 WC it should be a great event. And if the girls are fit its all good.Originally posted by Neil Young View PostStill, they're worth it from the IPL's point of view. They'll certainly distract attention from the cricket at least.
"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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BB McCullum spanks 158 off 73 for the Knight Riders who finish 222/3. Murderation.Comment
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"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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Wow. Although I'm not surprised. He is incredible in the shortened forms of the game.Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’Comment
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The shorter the innings the better he is.
Imagine how good he would be in a one ball per side match.
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Suppose you have a physicist and a sociologist standing at the side of a field, observing a set of events unfolding on the field. The physicist does [describes] it using the terminology of mass and velocity and frequency of radiation and the rest. And the sociologist does it by describing it as a rugby match.
May the Lord bless this post.Comment
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Originally posted by Neil Young View PostThe shorter the innings the better he is.
Imagine how good he would be in a one ball per side match. 
6 not out every time!
Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’Comment
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