The IPL is set to make its second major concession in a week, with executives close to a compromise with the South African provinces over the allocation of corporate suites. Indian officials had initially demanded control over the boxes, much to the chagrin of their South African hosts, but a series of meetings during the week have resulted in the IPL softening its stance considerably.

The dispute over corporate suites had prompted several South African newspapers to speculate that the IPL could be cancelled. That, though, appears unlikely, with officials from both countries eager to reach a compromise.

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Cape Cobras v Rajasthan Royals, Cape Town

The Rajasthan Royals’ warm-up for next week’s IPL began with defeat to the Cape Cobras at Newlands. The defending IPL champions, fielding an XI that included rookie Indians and a few first-time overseas names, did well in the field but couldn’t reach the target of 143 set by the Cobras, South Africa’s domestic Pro20 champions.

The Australian import Rob Quiney got Rajasthan’s reply off to a good start, but with wickets falling at regular intervals at the other end, he too succumbed to the pressure. Naman Ojha was the first to go for 10, edging the burly medium-pacer Rory Kleinveldt behind, before Vernon Philander cut Quiney off on 34. Robin Peterson then drew a leading edge from the experienced Mohammad Kaif. The wobble was on.

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Major international news agencies would not be covering this year’s IPL because they are unhappy with the tournament’s media guidelines. They had boycotted the previous year’s IPL for the same reason.

The News Media Coalition, the umbrella body that comprises global news and photograph agencies Reuters, AP, AFP and Getty Images, has failed to get the tournament’s organisers to amend the conditions.

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Brett Lee has flown to South Africa in a bid to advance his comeback from ankle surgery, and will seek to train with the touring Australian one-day side in the coming days. Lee’s trip across the Indian Ocean comes amid speculation he could be in the frame for a surprise recall to the Australian squad for the limited-overs series against Pakistan, which is expected to be named on Wednesday.

A move to reinstate Lee for the series in the United Arab Emirates was considere Indian Premier League (IPL) 2009, Watch online IPL Cricket Match, IPL Cricket Match Streaming, ipl matches, ipl 2009 cricket tournament, free live ipl cricket match, watch online ipl cricket matchd highly unlikely last month, given that he has not played a match since undergoing surgery to his left ankle in January. But an intense training regime – he has worked with a personal trainer six days a week since the beginning of February and added 10kg of lean muscle mass – has accelerated his recovery, and medical staff are understood to be impressed with the progress he has made.

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Ray Jennings, the Bangalore Royal Challengers coach, expects Rahul Dravid to play a key role as a leader and a batsman for the second IPL in South Africa. The franchise had replaced Dravid with Kevin Pietersen as captain last month but Jennings said Dravid would still be crucial to the team’s tactical planning in the short period that he is available.

Jennings expects Dravid to reach Johannesburg, the team’s training base, on April 12 or 13 and be part of the setup till his return, possibly early in May, to be with his wife who is expecting a child around that time. There has been a considerable amount of speculation on Dravid’s availability for the tournament, especially against the backdrop of his removal from the captaincy, and the kind of role he would play.

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Andrew Flintoff, who was bought by the Chennai Super Kings for US$1.5 million in the second auction, believes the IPL will help him reach his peak for a busy summer. Flintoff has signed on for two weeks with Chennai and intends to absorb as much as he can from team-mates and opposition in a bid to aid England in the World Twenty20 at home in June.

“It’s been frustrating with the hip injury, thigh injury and getting hit on the thumb just before the end of the tour of the West Indies and I think the IPL will be good for me,” said Flintoff, who had earlier expressed disappointment at not being able to play the tournament in India. “There are a few people putting it down but keeping playing should help me out a lot. When I stop and start is when my body is at its most vulnerable.

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Shah Rukh Khan, owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, has hit back at Sunil Gavaskar’s comments about franchise coach John Buchanan, and asked Gavaskar to stay away from issues concerning his IPL team.

In his column for the Hindustan Times, Gavaskar termed Buchanan a “failed former cricketer making a living telling international players to do what he couldn’t do”. It has not gone down well with the IPL franchise, which last week tried to put a lid on the controversy generated by Buchanan’s theory of multiple captains by releasing a statement that during a game the team would resort to a group of “strategists” who would report to one on-field captain while making decisions.

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Jerome Taylor, the West Indies fast bowler who was picked up by Kings XI Punjab in this year’s auction, has withdrawn from the IPL due to an injury. Taylor sustained the injury from a motor vehicle accident.

He has been replaced by the 26-year-old South African left-arm fast bowler Yusuf Abdulla, who made an impressive Twenty20 debut against Australia last week.

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The tickets for the double-header in Cape Town on April 18 between the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, and Rajasthan Royals versus Royal Challengers Bangalore, have been sold out within hours of going on sale online, the IPL said in a media release today.

The IPL had announced the sale of online tickets for the second season in South Africa with the tickets for the first two matches priced between R 50 for students to R 200/150 for the grand stands, inclusive of the opening ceremony. Kingsmead in Durban hosts 16 games, the most for a single venue, and the tickets are priced between R 25 for students to R 150 for the grand stands.

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The elections in South Africa on April 22, four days after the IPL starts in the country, the crime rate in cities like Johannesburg and the limited time available are some of the key challenges facing the league’s security managers, according to Nicholls Steyn & Associates, who are handling the tournament’s security.

Nicholls admitted that moving the tournament to South Africa was a good option from the security point of view because the situation in India had made it “very difficult ” to host the event there. Besides, Nicholls said they were not able to conduct a final assessment of the situation in India for the IPL because of the delays in final decisions.

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