Free tutions in the Delhi Daredevils' camp in IPL

Indian Premier League may not have pleased the purists but has clearly blurred borders and thrown up scenarios where Glenn McGrath is teaching Pradeep Sangwan tricks to tame Aussie batsmen while A B de Villiers shares first-hand knowledge on how to blunt Dale Steyn.

A peep into the Delhi Daredevils' practice reveals a new world altogether, where nationalities take a backseat and the motley crew of players go into a huddle and sweat under the harsh sun as they prepare to take on Bangalore Royal Challenge in their next IPL encounter tomorrow.

Former pacer and a key cog in Daredevils think-tank T A Sekar could not praise McGrath enough when he talked about his influence in the side.

"He is always there to help the youngsters. He is talking to (V) Yomahesh, Sangwan and even (Sri Lankan pacer) Ferveez Maharoof. If you saw the last match, you would remember how McGrath was trying to cool Maharoof who was getting some stick.

"All in all, it has been a learning experience for the youngsters in the side and it's up to the lads to make the most of the opportunity," Sekar, who has shaped many a bowling career during his stint at the MRF Pace Foundation, said here today.

Rajat Bhatia came forward to vouch for McGrath's assistance and said, "It has been a great experience. He is such a great guy. There are plenty of things you can learn from him and it's not just about bowling but also your attitude and temperament."

IPL Umpire Saheba suspended for 2 matches

IPL Governing Council member I S Bindra today slammed umpire Amish Saheba for commenting on S Sreesanth's on-field behaviour in the media and said he should have mentioned it in his report on the match between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians here last week.

"The umpires are not supposed to give their reports to the media, but there is a set procedure through which they can report to the match referee or IPL," Bindra said.

Bindra said Saheba, who was suspended for two IPL matches for his remarks reported in a Mumbai newspaper, had not submitted any report to match referee Farokh Engineer or the IPL on Sreesanth's conduct.

"There is a prescribed proforma which umpires are supposed to fill and report in case they want to report on any incident. To my knowledge, the umpire in question has not submitted any report to the match referee or IPL co-ordinator," Bindra said at a press conference here.

Saheba had reportedly told a Mumbai newspaper that Sreesanth abused the Mumbai Indians (led by Harbhajan Singh) relentlessly throughout the game and was warned twice" by him and the other umpire, Pakistan's Aleem Dar". On the slapping incident, Bindra, who is also the ICC's Principal Advisor, said, "It's a bad episode. There are no two opinions about that, but we should move forward.”

Bindra further added, "this kind of behaviour is not acceptable. We have maintained that spirit of the game is equally important, if not more than the letter of the law".

Dhoni will also be dancing in Chennai super kings' Music Album

A bilingual musical support to Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings is to be provided by BIG Music, following a tie-up between the franchise and the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company.

A music album in Tamil and Hindi, the highlight of which is a special song performed by Dhoni, will comprise the official theme song as well as victory anthem of the team, said a media release.

The songs in Tamil are penned by well-known Tamil film lyricist Vairamuthu and Dhoni will perform for the Hindi version of the Tamil-cum-English theme song, the release added.

poor batting was the reason for our loss : Saurav Ganguly

A disappointed Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly attributed his side's seven-wicket defeat to Mumbai Indians here today to "bad batting". "We didn't bat well. We didn't have enough runs on the board. It was difficult to defend a small total of 137," Ganguly said after his team's second consecutive defeat in the IPL.

He said even after the modest innings, his side was still in the fight after the Mumbai Indians lost three early wickets. "Our bowlers were bang on target in their (Mumbai) innings. They were 25 for 3 and I thought we were in for a game as they had not batted well in the tournament. We dropped a catch and then (Dwayne) Bravo and Robin (Uthappa) took the game away from us," the Prince of Kolkata said, referring to Debabrata Das failing to hold on to an offering from Uthappa.

Ganguly, however, was confident his team would bounce back in the tournament. "We have a long way to go in the tournament. We have to improve upon our batting in the remaining ten matches. I hope we will do well," he said.

Mumbai Indians skipper Shaun Pollock said his team's first victory in the league would boost their confidence. "This will be a confidence builder. Bravo batted really well and Robin played a matured innings," he said, adding that man-of-the-match Sanath Jayasuriya bowled fantastic. PTI

Ban Harbhajan Singh for life : former Aussie umpire

Former Australian Test umpire Lou Rowan today labelled Harbhajan Singh a menace on the field and called for a life ban on the temperamental off-spinner for slapping India teammate S Sreesanth. "This fellow (Harbhajan) doesn't belong to the game of cricket. He has shown he is no good. They should just get rid of him from the sport," Rowan told 'The Courier Mail'. "I don't know what other sport would want him, though," he added sarcastically.

Rowan, who stood in 25 Tests between 1963 and 1971, said Harbhajan comes across as a rogue player in whatever he has seen of the Indian tweaker's on-field behaviour. The Australian felt the 11-match ban imposed on him by the Indian Premier League (IPL) was a light punishment and his actions deserved a stricter sentence.

"I certainly don't think he would have been allowed to get away with what he has been allowed to get away within any other sport. They should just get rid of him and move on," he said.

After being banned from the IPL, Harbhajan is now awaiting the verdict from a separate disciplinary inquiry to be conducted by the BCCI. The temperamental bowler has already given his reply to the Board's show cause notice and has apologised for his conduct.

However, his penchant for landing in disciplinary trouble with alarming frequency has not gone down too well with the Board, which backed him to the hilt during the racism row with Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds a couple of months ago. PTI

Issue over Shoaib's IPL play Continues

If Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI's chief administrative officer, has the last word, Shoaib Akhtar may not be able to take part in the ongoing IPL despite being allowed to play by the PCB. The BCCI has disallowed Shoaib from playing in the IPL tournament in view of Pakistan Cricket Board's decision to ban him for five years.

The PCB’s disciplinary committee had earlier allowed pacer Shoaib Akhtar to play in the IPL as well as in the county cricket. Climbing down from his confrontational stand against the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar on Monday agreed to accept any disciplinary action taken by the board.

Akhtar left everyone surprised at the first regular hearing of the appellate tribunal which is hearing his appeal against the five-year ban imposed on him by PCB by agreeing to its disciplinary action.

A statement read by Akthar's lawyer said: "I (Akhtar) would like to apologise from the bottom of my heart for any grief or embarrassment that may have been caused to the nation, particularly to the PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf. I have resolved to alter my habits to refrain from such incidents in future and I will obey the PCB rules and regulations," the statement said.

The 32-year-old paceman was banned earlier this month for breaching the players' code of conduct by publicly criticising the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after he was not offered a central contract in January. Shoaib can still not play for Pakistan as he is serving a five-year ban.

IPL is here to stay: Zaheer Abbas

The purists may scoff at it but former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas feels the Indian Premier League is here to stay as the cash-rich twenty20 extravaganza has caught the imagination of the masses like no other cricket tournament before it.

"Looking at the way the people are taking to Twenty20 cricket I am sure it has a bright future and is here to stay," Zaheer said on Saturday.

He said the growing number of spectators in IPL matches was a big boost for cricket itself which could now be promoted globally.

"After the success of Indian cricket League and now the IPL, I think even those players and purists who don't like this form of the game and think it will harm traditional cricket have been forced to take to it and support it. They have no other option," he said.

Zaheer, however, felt batsmen would gain nothing from Twenty20 cricket.

"There is no technique required in this form only that player is successful who can lash out big sixes and fours. I pity the bowlers. The best of them are mauled and I sympathise with them because in four overs they don't even find their rhythm properly," he explained.

"Even the skills of the best bowlers are wasted in this form of the game. I think any bowler who can take three wickets in Twenty20 cricket has achieved something big because when the batsmen are willing to take risks even the best bowlers are helpless," Zaheer said.

Zaheer said administrators needed to seriously assess the popularity of Twenty20 cricket because of its short duration.

"It shows people nowadays prefer sports which end quickly and are packaged with entertainment."

The former skipper saw nothing wrong in making changes in the rules and introducing new concepts in cricket to make it more saleable and watchable.

"It happens in every sport changes have to be made to meet the demands of the time. I support any form of the game which brings in more crowds and is popular," he said.

Sreesanth's 'hard luck' remark irked Harbhajan

Sreesanth wept on the field after Harbhajan Singh slapped him on Friday night during an IPL match.

It all happened after Kings XI Punjab won their first match of the DLF Indian Premier League beating the Mumbai Indians.

Viewers were left puzzled when they saw Sreesanth weeping copiously and being comforted by his teammates.

At first it seemed he was overcome with emotion after his team's victory. But it now turns out that Harbhajan had slapped Sreesanth.

He later apologised. Yuvraj Singh confirmed at the post-match press conference that it was an ugly incident off camera.

Reports suggest Sreesanth had said, "hard luck" and this provoked Harbhajan.

Harbhajan Singh took a defensive stand and refused to answer any question related with the incident.

"I'm here to talk cricket, I'm here only to talk cricket," said Harbhajan at the press conference.

Sreesanth just wants to let bygones be bygones and has moved on. He seemed keen on underplaying the unpleasant exchange with his Indian teammate.

"I won't really call it a slap, more like the handshake was in the wrong place. I told him, I'm OK with it, I'm fine with it. Maybe, next time I meet him in Mumbai, I'll give it back on the field," said Sreesanth, Member, Kings XI Punjab.

On their part, IPL have asked their players not to speak to the media about the Harbhajan-Sreesanth row.

Is IPL a 'SERIAL killer'?

The initial doubts about whether the DLF Indian Premier League tournament would be able to compete with prime time television soaps have been dispelled. The verdict is out, the DLF IPL is here to stay. At least, that's what the television ratings seem to suggest. The Target Rating Points (TRP) of IPL is much higher than the daily soaps.

In its second week itself, IPL's TRP has soared up to 4.7, which is higher than the highest rated television soaps.

If we were to take a look at the female target audience of 15 years and above and compared what they watched. Kyuki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi on Star Plus had a rating of 4.5, while another popular soap on Zee TV, Saat Phere, shows a rating of 4.6. A lot of these women seem to have tuned in to watch the DLF IPL as seen by the TRP of 4.7.

The TRP of IPL shoots up when the target audience shifts to men. For men over 15 years, the ratings for IPL move up to 7.3, which is a dream figure for any daily soap.

While other channels are struggling to retain the viewers, IPL broadcaster SET Max is cashing in on it. Its market share rose to 28.8% from a mere 5.7% just a few weeks ago.

It's not just the broadcaster, advertisers like Godrej are also ecstatic at having taken such a gamble that is beginning to pay off. Godrej has not only chosen the IPL to stage its makeover, it has also spent 16-18 crore on doing it!

"We have not been advertising much on cricket but IPL is a major cricket event which was timed extremely well from our point of view as we were launching our new brand and the IPL had also started. So, we became the TV sponsors of the first set of IPL on SONY Max and that has worked very well. I understand viewership is much higher than expected," Adi Godrej, Chairman of Godrej Group said.

As brands get ready for battle of the eyeballs, the war will not be confined to the cricket field. It will also be interesting to watch how TV viewership ratings fluctuate over the next few days as Shah Rukh Khan's Kyya Aap Panchvi Pass se Tez Hain begins on Star Plus on April 25

BCCI issues notice to Harbhajan Singh

After the alleged 'slap' incident between Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth, the BCCI has sent a notice to Harbhajan for violating the code of conduct on the field. He has been asked to reply to the notice by April 28th.

The unsavoury incident took place after Kings XI Punjab beat Mumbai Indians and Sreesanth's words irked Bhajji so much that he slapped him after the match. Television cameras caught Sreesanth weeping bitterly on the field.

Later on, Harbhajan Singh apologised to Sreesanth and said the matter has been sorted out as Sree was like his younger brother.

"A lot of things happen in a family. We are part of one family. I think a lot of things which are coming out in the media, whatever have happened we have sorted out all, everything is fine now," Harbhajan said.

Sreesanth also played down the incident and said it wasn't a slap but an awkward handshake in the wrong place.

"I won't really call it a slap, more like the handshake was in the wrong place. I told him, I'm OK with it, I'm fine with it. Maybe, next time I meet him in Mumbai, I'll give it back on the field," said Sreesanth.

Though, the Kings XI team, led by Yuvraj Singh, had decided to file a complaint against the off-spinner, Sreesanth has asked not to take any action.

"I have told the team not to lodge complaint".

Despite this offering of olive branches, the BCCI has taken a serious note of it and said the board would not tolerate such things. The BCCI's chief administrative officer Dr. Ratnakar Shetty said, "players have to follow the code of conduct. They can't just say it's sorted out and get away with it".

Harbhajan Singh, however, is free to play in Sunday's IPL tie for Mumbai Indians against Deccan Chargers.

"We have issued a show cause notice to Harbhajan for which he has been given time till Monday evening to reply. He can play in the match," BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said.

The match between Mumbai Indians, which has been captained by Harbhajan due to the groin injury to Sachin Tendulkar, and Hyderabad's Deccan Chargers is to be held at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

"BCCI condemns the behaviour of Harbhajan Singh as a contracted player and he is called upon to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him, " Shah said.

"The reply from Harbhajan will hopefully make things clearer," he pointed out.

DLF IPL chairman Lalit Modi has said he will look into the match referee and umpire's reports and then decide on any action, if at all.

"We are waiting for the match referee and umpire's report only after which our committee will take a decision. The tournament is being played under the ICC guidelines, besides there are also tournament guidelines for the players," he said.

"It looks like a serious matter the way it's being shown on television channels but I can't say anything now. In any tournament it should not happen, it's unfortunate what happened yesterday," Modi added.

Warnie Finishes with one ball to spare chasing 215

Shane Warne cracked successive sixes off the last two balls of the innings as the Rajasthan Royals condemned the Deccan Chargers to a third straight Indian Premier League defeat in a thrilling finish on Thursday.

The veteran Australian struck 22 from just nine balls to lead his side to a three-wicket win.

Symonds had earlier been at his belligerent best as he scored the fastest century in the IPL - from just 47 balls - on the way to an unbeaten 117.

He struck seven sixes and 11 fours in a lesson in explosive hitting as the Chargers posted 214 for five.

Yusuf Pathan though then struck the fastest IPL half-century - from just 21 balls - in his score of 61 and Graeme Smith plundered 71 to help the Royals to 217 for seven with one ball to spare.

Adam Gilchrist saw the Chargers off to a fine start, sending the ball racing to the boundary three times in his first over.

VVS Laxman joined the party with a four flicked off his legs before racking up another straight down the ground.

Royals captain Warne responded by bringing on Yusuf Pathan and his off-breaks worked a treat.

Gilchrist was superbly stumped by the quick-thinking Kamran Akmal for 13 as he looked to swipe Yusuf Pathan out of the park, while Afridi (10) became the spinner's next victim after he mis-timed a big hit and Ravindra Jadeja took the catch as the ball dropped out of the sky.

Symonds served notice of his intentions early on, cracking successive fours off Munaf Patel, the first a baseball-style slog past the despairing dive of Shane Watson and the second a sweetly-struck cover drive.

Laxman fell caught and bowled to Warne for 16, but the loss of his partner did not put Symonds off his stride.

He continued to blast the ball to all sections of the ground, launching a glorious maximum into the stands off Warne before sending the next ball whistling back past the head of his former Test team-mate for four.

Symonds was dropped on 75 by Pathan at point and he made his opponents pay as the boundaries continued to flow on the way to a second century in Twenty20 cricket.

Kamran looked to get the Royals on track from the off, clipping a six over square leg to follow a fine four through the covers before he was caught above his head by Sanjay Bangar off Chaminda Vaas for 12.

Yusuf Pathan though sought to give Symonds a run for his money in the big-hitting stakes and succeeded with a host of shots more suited to Yankee Stadium.

He launched a six high into the stands over cover and then cracked successive maximums high down the ground.

A flurry of late wickets - Mohammed Kaif, Smith, Jadeja and Salunke all going in the space of 10 balls - put the Chargers back in the driving seat, but Warne produced a captain's performance at the death to lead his side home.

McGrath's Presence will help the youngsters : Dennis Lilee

Former Australian pace legend Dennis Lillee, who is the advisor of the Delhi Daredevils, has said that the presence of experienced bowlers like Glenn McGrath will help the youngsters in the team.

"Sharing the same dressing rooms with Glenn McGrath, Mohammad Asif and Farveez Maharoof can be the best learning process for youngsters like Pradeep Sangwan and Yo Mahesh," Lillee told reporters.

The former pacer said he was confident that the young bowlers in the team will become "very good pacers" by the end of the tournament.

"Knowing the tactics from Glenn that how he bowls in tight situations, how he reacts after being hit for three boundaries consecutively will give immense knowledge and confidence to these young pacers," he said.

Lillee said he was impressed with the bowlers in the Delhi team especially because the Twenty20 format was tilted towards the batsmen.

"Considering both the department spin and pace we have a very good bowling attack. Before Asif it was a good attack but now he has joined the squad we have strongest attack in the tournament," he said.

Mark Boucher defends his decision to stayback for IPL

South Africa wicketkeeper Boucher has shot down claims he put the lucrative Indian Premier League ahead of his domestic club and their ambitions in the Pro20 League.

Boucher and Proteas team-mate Jacques Kallis remained in India after the recent Test series to play for the Bangalore Royal Challengers, while their Cape Cobras team-mates were beaten by the Titans in the semi-finals of the Standard Bank Pro20 competition.

Boucher told the Cape Times: "We made ourselves available because we were committed but we were made to feel like pawns in somebody else's game.

"The inferences about money were unpleasant and unfair. We are upset about it.

"Cobras coach Shukri Conrad eventually called me to explain but I was not at all convinced by his reasons.

"Nobody even called Jacques. No doubt there were various administrators having their say in the decision."

David Hussey clinches thriller at Eden Gardens

In a match that went right down to the wire, the climax seemed to be lifted straight from one of Kolkata Knight Riders' owner Shah Rukh Khan's blockbusters.

Locked in battle in an evenly matched, star-studded contest, the Deccan Chargers from Hyderabad were skittled out for 110 before they came back only to lose to out to some David Hussey brilliance on a wicket which appeared to have been exposed to at least eight days of continuous cricket.

If the Kanpur minefield in the recent India-South Africa Test was made to favour the home side, this particular track at the Eden was just that, enough for the Knight Riders to bundle out the visitors for 110 inside 20 overs. That there were any favours attached to it, is however unknown.

However, chasing the lowest total in the tournament so far, this one wasn't going to be a walk in the park. The Knight Riders were 89-5 after 16.4 overs. So bad was the pitch that it was almost embarrassing for Indian cricket's grandest stage — the Eden Gardens — that one of the light towers at the stadium went out.

Needing a solid opening stand, not necessarily by way of the runs on the board, the Knight Riders lost Brendon McCullum early, before Chaminda Vaas trapped Ricky Ponting leg before for his second successive failure.

Sourav Ganguly and David Hussey gutsed it out with the former taking a fierce blow on the rib as the duo ambled to their target. But Ganguly's dismissal not only spurred the visitors to stage an excellent fightback, but created a deafening silence at the packed Eden.

Had it been a blackout, the abrupt end couldn't have dented the tournament's spectacular progress, as the hosts were 89-5, exactly their cut-off score where they should have been. However, the lights were back on as David Hussey hit two mammoth sixes to guide the Knight Riders to their second straight win in the competition.

As VVS Laxman put it during the toss, this one was the "keen contest" everyone was looking forward to, as his Deccan Chargers Hydebarad outfit elected to bat here on Sunday.

Mark Boucher Gets Bangalore home in humdinger

After being thrashed in their opening match, the Bangalore Royal Challengers came back strongly in the fifth match of the inaugural IPL tournament by beating the Mumbai Indians by five wickets at the Wankhede stadium here.

Chasing 165, Bangalore won with just two balls to spare in a thrilling encounter. And the hero for the visitors was Mark Boucher who remained unbeaten on 39 with four boundaries and two sixes to his name.

Even after a steady start, the Bangalore team it seemed was always facing an uphill task, remaining below the required run-rate through most of their run chase. But the equation changed completely with Jacques Kallis and Boucher suddenly launching a brilliant counter-attack at the death.

After Boucher hit Harbhajan Singh for a much-needed six, the visitors needed 30 off three overs. Ashish Nehra bowling the 18th over was hit by two sixes and one four in the over, giving away 19 runs.

With only 11 needed off two overs, Mumbai for the first time were facing the heat and even though they managed to get rid off Kallis for 25, Bangalore managed to reach home in the last over.

Earlier, Rahul Dravid after battling hard in the initial part of his innings took his team off to a steady beginning, hitting a 33 ball 32. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (16), Ross Taylor (23) and Virat Kohli (23) also chipped in with handy contributions.

In the Mumbai innings, a steady 48 by Robin Uthappa and Shaun Pollock’s blazing 12-ball 28 took the Mumbai Indians to 165-6.

After stand-in skipper Harbhajan chose to bat, Sanath Jayasuriya got the Mumbai Indians off to a flier clobbering five four and one six in his 16-ball 29. But Zaheer Khan, who was the best bowler in view, threw the wickets down at the non-striker’s end to send back the Sri Lankan southpaw.

Uthappa and Pinal Shah then put up a steady 51-run stand to build the innings. After slamming five fours and one six, Uthappa fell in the 17th over in an attempt to accelerate the scoring.

But it was Pollock who provided the much-needed impetus. The all-rounder hit two towering sixes along with three boundaries to motor the scoring rate, which looked a bit static at one stage.

Mumbai: Sanath Jayasuriya, Luke Ronchi (wk), Robin Uthappa, Dominic Thornley, Abhishek Nayar, Pinal Shah, Shaun Pollock, Harbhajan Singh (capt), Dhawal Kulkarni, Musavir Khote, Ashish Nehra.

Bangalore: Rahul Dravid, B Akhil, Jacques Kallis, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Virat Kohli, Ross Taylor, Mark Boucher (wk), Praveen Kumar, Sunil Joshi, Zaheer Khan, R Vinay Kumar.

IPL 1st match, Kolkata Knight riders Vs Bangalore Royal Challengers, Match Review

Brendon McCullum's murdering 158 helped the Indian Premier League on its way in remarkable fashion, as Kolkata Knight Riders walloped Bangalore Royal Challengers by 140 runs in a one-sided game on Friday night.

McCullum's score is the highest in T20 cricket, beating the previous mark by 17 runs. The short-statured but strong-armed wicketkeeper from New Zealand hit 14 sixes and 10 fours in a breathless exhibition of batting before a packed house at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Kolkata's score of 222-3 in seam-friendly conditions under lights was too much for Bangalore, who had chosen to field.

Bangalore Royal Challengers Embarrassed at Home turf

After Bangalore lost captain Rahul Dravid to Ishant Sharma's first ball, there started a sombre procession of wickets in an embarrassing performance where extras was the joint top scorer with 18.

It was McCullum's day from the start. He kick-started the innings in style in the second over from Bangalore's Zaheer Khan - three cross-bats for four and miscued pull that flew over third man for six set the tone.

McCullum had moved to 29 by the time his opening partner, captain Sourav Ganguly scored his first runs.

The fifty of their innings was up off the last ball of the fourth over. Ganguly fell for 10 to Zaheer, and in came Ricky Ponting. He wasted no time in moving to 20, the highlight of his innings being a trademark hook off Jacques Kallis for six.

Attacking Batting Performance

McCullum crossed 50 in 32 balls, 100 in 53 and 150 in 70 balls. Not a shot from his blade went wrong, not even the mistimed ones that flew over the fence comfortably.

The previous record for the highest score was Cameron White's 141 not out. Today, White was at the receiving end, hit by McCullum for 23 runs in his only over.

The Kiwi went into the last over on 136. Two huge sixes off the first two balls took him past the record in style.

His 14 sixes is also a record for most sixes in a T20 innings, comfortably beating Chris Gayle's 10 during his 117 that had started off the Twenty20 World Cup in similar style last year.

No Fightback from Bangalore

Kallis had been famously kept out of South Africa's T20 side last year. Today, he had the whole stage to him to prove he can be equally spectacular in this variety.

A huge six over extra cover started his innings. But he hit the very next ball to mid on.

Ajit Agarkar is making a comeback of sorts to cricket and he had a useful outing, finishing with three wickets.

With edges flying all around, Ponting's slip catching was easy on the eyes. He gobbled Wasim Jaffer and B Akhil with consummate ease.

After Bangalore were reduced to 4-24 in the sixth over, the rest of the game became a formality. Ganguly chipped in with two wickets after Ishant's fiery spell.

World news agencies not to cover IPL

The World's top news agencies have said they will not cover cricket's inaugural Indian Premier League, which starts on Friday, due to curbs on the distribution of photographs.

IPL officials have prohibited news agencies from supplying photographs to cricket-specific websites for the eight-team, Twenty20 tournament.

The London-based News Media Coalition (NMC), which defends media rights for global news and photograph agencies such as AFP, Associated Press, Getty Images and Reuters, called the restrictions "discriminatory."

"It is discriminatory for the accreditation terms to prohibit international news agencies from being able to serve a specific group of users, such as cricket websites," the NMC said in a statement.

"The interests of the Indian Premier League are protected by the fact that its accreditation terms limit news content generated by the news agencies to be used for editorial purposes only.

"The News Media Coalition calls upon the Indian Premier League to remove remaining obstacles in the way of full editorial coverage of the tournament," the release said.

The Editors Guild of India also called for the "unacceptable conditions" to be withdrawn.

In an advisory note to clients, AFP said it "will not, until further notice, offer any text, photo or graphics coverage of the inaugural Indian Premier League cricket, beginning on Friday, due to restrictions imposed on international news agencies on the distribution of photographs."

The Press Trust of India decided to cover the event "under protest" after the IPL lifted a host of stringent conditions for accreditation but refused to ban on cricket websites.

The tournament marks the first time that international cricketers will put aside national allegiances to play for privately-owned and city-based teams, who selected their players via a multi-million-dollar auction last month. International cricketers have been offered huge pay packets to take part in the 44-day, 59-match extravaganza across cricket-mad India.

Shaun Pollock Relishing in IPL chalenge

Former South Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock is relishing the challenge of playing in the Indian Premier League when it gets under way this week.

Pollock will turn out for the Mumbai Indians alongside former Proteas team-mate Loots Bosman, India duo Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar, and Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya.

"I'm really looking forward to it," Pollock told The Mercury. "I'm particularly looking forward to playing with my friend Sachin Tendulkar in India after a lifetime spent playing against him."

Pollock, however, was under no illusions about how tough bowling would be, but was eager to bat up the order so he could "play a few strokes".

The 34-year-old also admitted he was interested in seeing how the tournament panned out.

"This is unchartered territory," he added. "The interest has been huge."

On completion of the tournament Pollock is set to link up with former Dolphins team-mate Dale Benkenstein and Durham in the Twenty20 competition in England in June.

He is also scheduled to commentate for Sky Sports during the England-South Africa Test and one-day international series between July and September.

Mascarenhas is optimistic for more England players involvement in IPL

The only English player in IPL Mascarenhas, is confident that the ECB would allow more players to participate in the next edition of the cash rich Twenty20 tournament even if it conflicts with the English season.

''A clash with the English season would make it harder for them,'' Mascarenhas said.

''The England Cricket Board (ECB) can tell them to rest or play for their counties. For the others, it is up to the counties and they may help their players because it is such a good opportunity."

''I know the IPL want more English players. I think non-contracted players will go, like Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara. Luke Wright is a good hitter and, perhaps, Chris Tremlett,'' he added.

Dashing middle order batsman Kevin Pieterson decided to concentrate on the domestic season while Mascarenhas was bought over by Rajasthan Royals for 100,000 dollars.

The flabuoyant English all rounder felt the inaugural edition of the League would be a huge success and with time will attract more foreign players.

''I do not know what to expect,'' he said. ''But if you look at the players and the companies involved, I do not see how it can fail."

''Really, it is the experience of being there that grabs me. If I do well, there is the opportunity to earn more next year."

"Being in New Zealand around the first auction was funny because we heard that their players were listening as things happened."

''Brendon McCullum went for 700,000 dollars, Jacob Oram for 675,000 dollars, Dan Vettori for 625,000 dollars and then Scott Styris for only 175,000 dollars,'' he said.

Mascarenhas, who will be available in the tournament only from May 12 to 26 is confident of playing the tournament in 2009 and 2010.

Darren Lehmann to substitute for Greame Smith

Former Australian middle order batsman Darren Lehmann, at the behest of fellow Australian and Rajasthan Royals skipper Shane Warne will fill in for Graeme Smith for a brief spell.

The batsman, who retired from first-class cricket last November, was reportedly surprised when he got a call from Warne asking him to fill in till Smith is available to play in IPL after finishing his domestic commitments.

"It's all happened so quickly," he said. "They needed someone as cover for Graeme Smith so I didn't hesitate to put my hand up. It will be good playing in the same side as Warnie."