New Delhi: According to a top CSA executive, the remaining tickets for IPL matches, mostly those priced between Rand 25 and Rand 75 (Rs 125 and Rs 375), are likely to be sold out in the next two weeks.
The tickets for inaugural ceremony and the first two matches — between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings — have been sold out.

The matches will be played in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria, East London, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Kimberley.

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Team India as it gears up to defend its Twenty20 World Cup title in June, feels all-rounder Yusuf Pathan.

“The IPL is a good opportunity for the Indian team to prepare before it heads for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup,” said Yusuf, who was a member of the triumphant Indian team captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in South Africa in 2007.

Yusuf will leave for South Africa tonight along with his other Rajasthan Royals’ team-mates for the second edition of the 37-day IPL, starting from the April 18.

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London: England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is excited to be a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and feels the experience in the shorter version will benefit his team in the Twenty20 World Cup in June.

The Lancashire all-rounder has signed up for two weeks with the Chennai Super Kings and will earn $1.5mn on a pro-rata basis depending on the number of matches he plays for his new side.

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Kolkata: Bangladesh pacer Mashrafe Mortaza feels turning out in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will boost his confidence.

Confident about performing well in the coming edition of the cash-rich league in South Africa, Mortaza said his inclusion will increase the IPL fan following in his country.

“It feels great that I’ve got a chance to play for a strong side like the Kolkata Knight Riders,” Mortaza told reporters on his arrival here Saturday.

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Royal Challengers Bangalore (also referred to as RCB) is an Indian Premier League team, based in the city of Bangalore. The team is owned by the liquor magnate Vijay Mallya, through his flagship firm UB Group. Brijesh Patel is the CEO of the RCB and Kevin Pieterson is the captain. Rahul Dravid is the team’s Icon Player, while Ray Jennings, the former South African coach, is the coach.

History
Indian Premier League is a cricket tournament being organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and backed by the International Cricket Council (ICC). For the inaugural tournament to be held in Apr-Jun 2008, the BCCI had finalised a list of 8 teams who will be participating in the tournament. The teams representing 8 different cities of India, including Bangalore, were put up on auction in Mumbai on 20 February 2008 and the Bangalore team was won by Vijay Mallya, who paid US$111.6 million for it. This was the second highest bid for a team in the IPL, next only to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries’ bid of $111.9 million for the Mumbai team. Bollywood actresses Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone, and Sandalwood film stars Ramya and Upendra are the brand ambassadors of the team.

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JP Duminy, the South Africa batsman, has admitted he is still pinching himself to make sure he has been bought by an IPL franchise for US$ 950,000, and says he is now looking forward to pick up some tips this month from Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya, his Mumbai Indians team-mates, who he looked up to as a young boy.

The IPL opens on April 18 in Cape Town’s Newlands, Duminy’s home ground, with a match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. And Duminy, who will turn 25 four days before the tournament starts, knows he could possibly become the first South African player to take the field for the Indian Twenty20 league in South Africa.

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Pravin Amre, the former Indian batsman, has been appointed assistant coach of the Mumbai Indians for the second season of the IPL. Amre fills in the breach left after the departure of Lalchand Rajput, who stepped down for “personal” reasons, walking out of his three-year contract. Amre’s signing is part of the ongoing hiring process at the Mumbai franchise, which recently appointed the former South African captain Shaun Pollock as a mentor.

Amre, who coached the Mumbai Ranji team to two trophy victories in the last three years, said he took the offer from Mumbai Indians because it would offer him international exposure. “With my experience as the Mumbai coach I will be acting as the bridge between the domestic players and the coaching staff, mainly Pollock,” Amre said.

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FMCG majors Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) and the Godrej Group have jumped on to the IPL (season 2) bandwagon, even as Bajaj Allianz and realty major HDIL are terminating their deals with IPL teams.

The Godrej Group has just signed up as one of the co-sponsors for IPL (Season 2). HUL has joined the list of sponsors of the much-hyped sports event, scheduled for April 2009.

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Kolkata Knight Riders will announce their captain and squad for the IPL’s second season in South Africa and not in India.

“I don’t want to disclose the names of the players who would be going to South Africa now as we want to keep all options open,” Joy Bhattacharya, Kolkata’s team director, said after the conclusion of a six-day training camp at the Eden Gardens. “We might take the whole squad which took part in the conditioning camp to South Africa. Nothing has been finalised right now. The final team for KKR would be announced in South Africa.”

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“Kudos to the South African government and South Africa cricket body who have welcomed us with open arms and I am really hopeful after attending the Australia vs South Africa Pro T20 Match on Friday, seeing the huge cricket fan base there, I am sure that the IPL will be hugely successful,” Shilpa posted on her blog shilpashettylive.com/blog Sunday on board a flight to Cape Town.

The second edition of IPL is taking place in South Africa. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to shift the Twenty20 tournament outside the country after state governments failed to assure security for the event that clashed with general elections.

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