The business community in Pakistan is pretty keen on this idea. In an interview which the PCB Chief Naseem Ashraf, a controversial personality according to us, gave to the media, he said and I quote:

“We will be waiting for a suitable time to start the tournament as many corporate institutions here have also shown their willingness to sponsor the event”

Though the International calendar is finding difficulties in creating a window for the IPL, he was confident that something could be worked out.

“There is presently no gap available for organizing such an event and the PCB would be working on the details”

Set Up:

13 Teams, each team allowed 2 foreign players, after all:

“But priority would be given to local players”

Our View: When it comes to Pakistan, there are always a lot of issues which precede cricket. Security being one of them. But what I also think is that it might be good. Lets the money come in. Let cricketers from all over the world benefit from the riches. Its entertainment for the rest of us.

Photo: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Pakistan Premier League

Hopefully his injury has been fully healed and he can thrash the hell out of other teams’ bowlers now. OMG I was so waiting for the Little Master to be fit. Those who say that Twenty-20 is just for 20 -somethings would certainly need to take a backseat now. Meanwhile, here’s the current IPL Points Table for people who love sixandout way too much to go to cricket sites:

I think Bangalore is out, so is Deccan. Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata need to push harder now. With Sachin back, shouldn’t be that tough for Mumbai. To end the post : GO KOLKATA!

Image: sixandout archives and Cricinfo

Post from: EveryJoe

Sachin Tendulkar is Back! IPL Standings Revisited!

Though it seems that his career is finally over, you never know with the Pakistan Cricket Board, given the past incidents, and more

What I wanted to talk about is the dramatic way in which the incidents have panned out. Though being nothing new, it sure is surprising. It all started with Shoaib being bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for a huge sum of money. Then he being banned for 5 years for reasons where we are not going right now (he hit a teammate). Then he goes in the press saying that Mr Naseem Ashraf, the Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board vindicated him because he refused to pay him a share of his IPL moolah. Then there is talk of Mr Ashraf suing Akhtar on grounds of defamation.

Meanwhile, the IPL says that it won’t play a banned player. Too Bad. PCB reverts, the ban is on hold for one month. Now, suddenly, the lawsuit has also been taken back. Strange. Maybe Mr Akhtar has realised that paying a part of the earnings is the only way out. Or so it seems.

This is just an opinion. There are many. What do you think?

Photo: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

The latest on Shoaib Akhtar! Something Fishy!

Well, this was something really fast. Mr Mallaya seems to think that sacking the support staff is the best way to increase the team’s morale. I think he is wrong. Poor old Sharma, he said on tv the other day that “I want to be CEO of this great team for my lifetime”. Maybe this comment gave it away.

Post from: EveryJoe

Venkatesh Prasad and Charu Sharma Sacked

1. Sachin Tendulkar is still not playing
2. Shaun Marsh is a great find, but I think its too early to tell
3. MS Dhoni can lose in T20 (Aussies too would agree)
4. No Team is unbeaten now
5. No team is with zero wins
6. There is a three way tie at the top, with Delhi, Rajasthan and Chennai all on 8 points
7. All the matches are running in Packed Stadia
8. IPL can now be declared a success
9. Some Controversies : Slapgate, Cheatgate
10. Team sixandout supports: still KKR

Later

Post from: EveryJoe

IPL Buzz : Some things I noticed

During the game, there was a moment when Saurav Ganguly (48* then) lofted a ball straight to Greame Smith at deep mid wicket who took a lowly catch. As the Royals celebrated, Ganguly stood his ground and asked, I repeat asked the umpire to refer in upstairs. And ‘upstairs’ said : Not Out. Poetic justice was delivered when he got out three runs later. Huh!

Finally, congratulations to Warnie and the Royals for their fourth successive win. Faith be wit Ganguly and the Night Riders. Or was that Knight. Who Cares? You do? I don’t.

Laters

Photo Credit: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

SRK Gifts, Rajasthan Wins, Ganguly Cheats!

We start with Mr. Shah Rukh Khan, the owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders. Apart from owning the IPL Team, SRK is arguably the biggest star of the Indian Film Industry.

In India, he is referred to as King Khan, and for reasons which are not fallacious at all. This guy has got this charisma, this ‘People’ thing. He knows how to catch the pulse of the audience. Be it coming to the Knight Rider matches and hugging each player to dancing and jumping in joy when they do well. Compare that to the other owners of the IPL teams, and they are closer to stationary blots. With his team doing reasonably well in the inaugural IPL, he has reasons to cheer. He once said that he has spent a lot of his money for this venture, and is at a point of no return. Though not the richest of all IPL owners, he is undoubtedly the most popular and stylish.

Some Stats:

Age : 44
Team : Kolkata Knight Riders
Net Worth : $1.2 Million (approximate) (pays a lot of taxes, though!)
Bought Team for : $950,000
Alternate Occupation : Actor (Superstar)
Co-Owners : Juhi Chawla, Jay Mehta

(All figures are in USD)

Next Team : Kings XI Punjab (owned by Preity Zinta)

Laters

Photo Credit: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Owners of IPL : Shah Rukh Khan

I had been bickering for quite some time that I am going to write about it, as it should be written about of course. So, here it is. As the tournament is over, this would obviously act as a review post.

The teams:

1. Cobras
2. Dolphins
3. Eagles
4. Warriors
5. Lions
6. Titans
7. Zimbabwe

The prize:

R500 000-00 (about $65,446.37 right now)

The Winner:

The Nashua Titans

I just saw the Final as the other matches were not telecast in India (see, I told ya so)…. From what I saw, a lot could not be said about the popularity (though the web site claims that it was their most successful league ever. Dale Steyn shone in the final, making sure that his team won. My sincere apologies for not following this league closely, but after joining sixandout, the IPL hit me….or I hit it…whatever… I would make up for it by following it the next season for sure and yeah, proclaim on live web 2.0 that “Polly was the King”.

Till then, let’s focus on the IPL. Just to let everyone know: Gilly has just scored a 43 ball 100….

Later

Photo Credit : Flickr

Post from: EveryJoe

Standard Bank Pro20 : The Titans win it

There are a lot of incidents in life which one feels should not have happened. Being slapped by a senior in your cricket team is one of the worst. Having played (and still playing) some sort of cricket myself, I can at least try to understand the agony that Shantakumaran Sreesanth must have felt when he was slapped by Harbhajan Singh. According to most sources, after the match (which the Kings finally won), Sree (Kings) went over to Harbhajan (Indians) and said, and I quote: “Hard Luck, mate.” The next moment, Sreesanth was in tears. LITERALLY, and that too in front of a few billion international viewers. He looked totally inconsolable.

Sreesanth Inconsolable

Let’s tone down the melodrama and focus a bit on the psychology here. Dinnie, I know it’s your territory but I can’t help but dwell on it now. Harbhajan has always had his run-ins with the law. Right from his dislike for the National Cricket Academy food in his teens, to his possession of stinking shoes in New Zealand, to his ‘polite’ altercations with Hayden and Symonds, he has always been the talking point when it comes to the rule stretchers of Indian Cricket. What I feel about human psychology is that it follows the cause-effect principle. Everything has a reason. Digging into Harbhajan, you would find that he alone supports nine people in his family. His dad passed away when his place in the Indian Team was not even certain. He has been through a lot, and a bit of impatience usually comes with it.

Coming back to Sreesanth, he too has been the eye-candy for match referees throughout his young career. His actions mostly smell of aggression, stinking on the side of immaturity most of the times. The romantics in India certainly appreciate that, but then, what is immature is IMMATURE. When a known aggressor is the captain of a team which has just lost the third match in a row, only an immature personality can go up to him and say things Sree said. Harbhajan retort was acceptable, maybe not the manner in which he dished it out. A smart word should have sufficed. Sometimes it feels that we as cricket observers should try to find out who was right and who was wrong in every on and off field incident. We do this, knowing pretty well than nothing is RIGHT or WRONG, it just happens. You can analyze it as much as you may; the truth is that there is no truth. Everything is just an interpretation. Best of Luck, Harbhajan and HARD LUCK, Sreesanth

Video Credit : Youtube

Post from: EveryJoe

Harbhajan Slaps Sreesanth

1. Afridi had a go at Warnie, Warnie said something like : “Grow up, mate”
2. Tendulkar’s Birthday had the crowd more excited than their home team Deccan Chargers
3. Deccan Chargers continued their bad form. Having arguably the best team on paper, they have lost 3 out of three now.
4. Warnie won the game for the ROYALS, with the bat!
5. Warnie hit about 15 off the last over, bowled by Roy Symonds

That’s about it. This post was a tribute to one of the most exciting IPL matches I have seen.

Laters

Post from: EveryJoe

Experience is what counts, mate!