Kolkata Knight Riders went first for the Super Over. KKR would bat – their assigned three batsmen would be Chris Gayle, Brendan McCullum and Sourav Ganguly.

Chris Gayle was the hero of the super-over for Kolkata Knight Riders. He hit three fours, bringing up a total of 15 runs for KKR.

Rajasthan Royals would need 16 runs to win the super over and the match.

Rajasthan Royal’s Yusuf Pathan managed a six off the first ball bowled by Ajantha Mendis. A better start to their over than KKR for sure. Will they manage to sustain it? It looks like the choice o Ajantha Mendis, a spinner, backfired.

But there was no stopping Yusuf Pathan, and Rajasthan Royals carried IPL’s first super over and the game.

John Buchchanan and Shah Rukh Khan would be hopping mad!

There you have it guys – IPL’s first spectacular success: The Super Over! Nothing has brought people such edge-of-the-seat entertainment than the first ever Super Over. Lalit Modi would laugh himself to sleep tonight.

However, most cricket fans expected Indian heroes such as Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, M S Dhoni and Wasim Jaffer failed sympathetically in the first three matches of the IPL.

Meanwhile, these matches saw tremendous performance by three foreign players such as New Zealand’s Brendan McCullum, Australian star batsman Michael Hussey and Australian paceman Glenn McGrath.

Brendan McCullum has given a terrific start for the Indian Premier League by smashing a world record-high 158 not out for Kolkata in the opening Twenty20 shootout in Banglalore. This gave Kolkata Night Riders a comfortable victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers.

The team owned by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan has many foreign players as its members. After a lavish ceremony to mark the launch of the league all eyes were on this opening fixture all eyes were on the performance of Kolakta Knight Riders.

The New Zealand wicketkeeper had scored 158 not out for just 73 balls, including 13 sixes – the highest individual score in the first match of IPL extravaganza. Unfortunately his teammate and captain of the team Sourav Ganguly could not thrill his fans as he managed to score only 10 runs in the opening match.

In comparison, team-mates Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting managed just ten and 20 runs respectively, but Brendan McCullum’s efforts were enough to give the visitors a comfortable and ultimately unassailable lead.

However for the Bangalore Royal Challengers, most of the stars including Captain Rahul Dravid and foreign players such as Mark Boucher, Jacaues Kallis and White disappointed 55,000 odd people assembled in the ground expecting home side victory. The Bangalore local hero and former Indian team captain Rahul Dravid managed only two runs in the opening match.

It was a superb century from Australia’s Michael Hussey, which has helped star-studded Chennai Super Kings to a 33-run victory in their match against Punjab. Hussey, the world’s top-ranked Test batsman, produced a stunning innings of 116 not out from just 54 deliveries in their opening match. Another Chennai star, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakara has scored a 54 in a thrilling smash. However Chennai Super King’s captain and Indian cricket team captain M S Dhoni failed and was able to take only two runs in the opening match.

Whether all that was worth it, we will know soon as the match is going to take another hour to end one way or the other. Bangalore Royal Challengers would try hard; they are still smarting from their collapse to the Kolkata Knight riders.

Yesterday, Robin Uthappa said that the youngsters in the side would benefit a lot by playing alongside the likes of greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Shaun Pollock and Sanath Jayasurya in the DLF IPL which kickstarted on Friday April 18. Uthappa had contributed a lot with his bat and was very useful in the lower middle over in India’s T20 World Cup win this year.

Robin Uthappa said, “It will be exciting and a lot of fun. We will learn a lot from the top international players of the team. Sachin and Sanath can also bowl well and we have a lot of all rounders. At the moment I don’t see any weaknesses in the team.”

Mumbai Indians would be led by Sachin Tendulkar itself and had been bought by Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries for an astronomical figure, thus making it the most expensive IPL team among all the franchisees. Mumbai Indians will also have Master Card as the team’s founding sponsor.

Ashish Nehra, who had been out of the Indian team for a while, is also looking for making a comeback. “It’s good to be back after 18 months after not having played much cricket (during the period). I am pretty excited.”

Mumbai Indians will face off the Royal Challengers team, the IPL franchisee of Bangalore which is led by Rahul Dravid and owned by businessman Vijay Mallya, at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, today.

Sachin Tendulkar unlikley to play, in which case Harbhajan Singh will lead Mumbai Indians 

Another battle between two former Indian skippers is on the cards when the Reliance owned Mumbai Indians captained by Sachin Tendulkar takes on battered Bangalore Royal Challengers led by Rahul Dravid.

Only this time, Sachin’s presence is not guaranteed as he is fighting injuries. A decision on whether or not Sachin will play will be taken just before the match, but odds are that he will sit out.

But that does not give any breather to Rahul Dravid’s Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Explosive batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, who can tear apart any bowling attack, will most certainly open with Robin Uthappa, the Bangalore lad whom Dravid and Mallya would have rued not to get in the player auction.

The dazzling Uthappa can be as dangerous or even better than Sanath Jayasuriya and therein starts the woes of Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Luke Ronchi is another prolific big hitter that they would have to contend with in the batting line up. Ronchi’s larger than life exploits in Australian league had earned him a call from none other than Sachin Tendulkar, an honour that he will look to repay with the willow at Wankhade stadium on Sunday.

South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock comes with a vast array of experience and the immaculate ability to bowl on the spot. This means that he have the opportunity to trouble Bangalore Royal Challengers with the bat as well the ball.

Dilhardo Fernando and Ashish Nehra would ably back Pollock as they try and check the run flow and take wickets.

And the man who would lead them all in the probable absence of Sachin Tendulkar is Harbhajan Singh, who was bagged by the Mumbai Indians for a whopping $850,000. Harbhajan’s experience in volatile, high-profile contests would come to the fore as Mumbai Indians’ coach Lalchand Rajput knits his strategy to tame the Bangalore Royal challengers.

The pressure clearly is on Vijay Mallya promoted Bangalore Royal Challengers and its skipper Rahul Dravid.

Lasith Malinga has been ruled out due to injuries, but Mumbai Indians have roped in Dwayne Bravo to replace him. The West Indian, however, is not likely to play the match against Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians’s second match against Chennai Super Kings is likely to see Bravo taking the field.

Rahul Dravid has been at the receiving end of a barrage of criticism for selecting a team, which resembles more of a test side than even a one day side, while the requirements of Twenty20 is clearly more unique than even ODIs. The Bangalore skipper has his own logic and game plan and a sound cricketing brain, but that needs to be converted into a win at any cost to settle down in the tournament.

Bangalore Royal Challengers has a formidable bowling attack, but its is yet to take off in the absence of Anil Kumble and pace spearhead Dale Steyn.

Shivnaraine Chanderpaul, fresh from his last over exploits against Sri Lanka, has arrived but he is unlikely to play in the Mumbai match.

Zaheer Khan, who would have a better idea about the Wankhade stadium pitch, would have to ensure that he doesn’t get hit initially.

Many think a wayward Zaheer’s first over cost India the world cup final against Australia and also Bangalore Royal Challengers first match against Kolkata Knight Riders. But if he gets into the groove, Zaheer can be menacing.

Misabah-ul-Haq’s absence is a major issue for Bangalore Royal Challengers, as there aren’t many who can hit the red cherry out of the ground in the Team.

A pitch favouring the batsmen makes Bangalore’s Royal Challengers’ task more difficult. Jacques Kallis will have to cut loose if they are to put up a decent total. Mark Boucher can be deployed to tackle Harbhajan Singh as the South African is a able player of spin.

Praveen Kumar emerged as the best bet for Bangalore Royal Challengers in both batting and bowling. Praveen Kumar was the only one to reach double digits in the mach against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Virat Kohli would have another opportunity to show that his Under-19 skills can be elevated to the international level.

Mumbai Indians are the clear favourites and Bangalore Royal Challengers would have to come up with some astonishing performance to lift their own spirits and bury the ghost of Brendon McCullum.

Teams

Mumbai Indians

Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Sanath Jayasuriya, Robin Uthappa, Shaun Pollock, Dilhara Fernando, Luke Ronchi, Abhishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rahane, Dominic Thornley, Musavir Khote, Dhaval Kulkarni, Pinal Shah, Sorah Tiwary, Siddarth Chitnis, Swapnil Singh, Vikrant Yelligeti.

Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Rahul Dravid, Wasim Jaffer, Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul, Zaheer Khan, Cameron White, Ashley Noffke, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Sunil Joshi, Ross Taylor, Sunil Joshi, K P Appanna, Sreevats Goswami, J Arunkumar.   

The Mumbai Wankhede stadium will witness the first home match of the Mumbai Indians, being led by none other than the icon player of the team Sachin Tendulkar lock horns with the Bangalore Royal Challengers led by Rahul Dravid.

The main problem which is still facing the Mumbai Indians is the fitness of their star batsman Sachin Tendulkar. It’s still not known as to whether Sachin would play in the inaugural match of the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Royal Challengers skipper Rahul Dravid would be a worried man after their disappoint loss against the Knight Riders. The match saw one of the most exciting batting performances in the history of the game with Aussie Brendon McCullum blistering his way to a mammoth 158 and thus handling an easy win to his Knight Riders team. The same thing would repeat if Rahul Dravid fails a way to send back the Lankan marauder Sanath Jayasurya, who is bound to open the Mumbai Indians batting alongside Sachin Tendulkar. Jayasurya is well know for his aggressive batting and he would surely be a menace for the Royal Challengers if allowed to settle.

Bangalore Royal Challengers is worried by the absence of two exciting bowlers Dale Steyn and Nathan Bracken. While Dale Steyn is playing domestic cricket in South Africa, Aussie Nathan Bracken is nursing an injury. Without the presence of these two promising bowlers, the bowling line-up of Bangalore Royal Challengers lacked sharpness during their match against the Kolkata Knight Riders and this would be a major concern for the Royal Challengers. They have to find some way to strengthen their bowling line-up especially, and also the batting line-up does not look too good with Indian test player Wasim Jaffer opening the batting.

Just like Mumbai Indians is worried over the fitness of Sachin, Bangalore Royal Challengers also has a reason to worry – Indian test captain Anil Kumble’s fitness. It is unlikely that Anil Kumble would be ready for the match against Mumbai Indians on Sunday.

Brendon McCullum hit 13 sixes, smashed 158 in 73 balls and demolished Bangalore Royal Challengers in front of Vijay Mallya’s home crowd to guide Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders the first victory in the first match of the inaugural match of the DLF IPL Twenty20 championship.

So much was the domination of Brendon McCullum in the match that no other player from either sided is worthy of mention in the score card.

No player from Bangalore Royal Challengers crossed double digits with the exception of Praveen Kumar, who scored 18.

Brendon McCullum who had a Twenty20 strike rate of more than 121 finished the match with a strike rate of 216.43. Brendon McCullum was bought for $700,000 and that seems to be a modest sum given his heroics, showing scant respect for Bangalore Knight Riders attack.

The man who has had the worst time of his life – Rahul Dravid, captain, Bangalore Royal Challengers. And probably Vijay Mallya, the team owner.

Brendan McCullum put on the show of his life when he attacked with fours and sixes, ending with the best Twenty20 score ever. Compare that to Bangalore Challengers, where no one even managed to cross into the double digits. Team captain Sourav Ganguly and teammate Ricky Ponting were barely noticed as McCullum’s onslaught was on.

Rahul Dravid, from the beginning, looked nervous – but the he always looks nervous. He was scalped by Ishant Sharma who seemed to enjoy great camaraderie with his arch enemy from Australia, Ricky Ponting. Agarkar too put on a spectacular performance.

Between these two, the demolition of the Bangalore Royal Challengers was complete.
All is not lost, thankfully it is a league, and there are more matches to come for the Bangalore Royal Challengers. Great show today, and great start, Kolkata!

The petitioner had made an urgent request before a bench consisting of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran. As per the petitioner,  illegal promotion of liquor is going on, with the aid of Twenty20 tournament. This will make harmful effects on society. The person who filed the petition is one Mr Y Kapoor.

According to Indian law, surrogate marketing of alcohol products is not allowed. Vijay Mallya, the chairman of United Beverages (UB) Group is the owner of the Banglore’s IPL team. Mallya had named the team ‘Royal Challengers’ which is also the brand name of a whisky manufactured by the UB Group.

The petitioner said that it should not allow to promote a liquor brand under the name of cricket tournament. He immediately wants to prohibit the illegal promotion of the liquor. He also demands the change of name of the iPL team, Royal Challengers.

According to the court, this case does not have any special importantance. So it does not require any urgent hearing. Like the other normal cases, the hearing of this case will also take some time, the court said.

Chennai Super Kings led by Indian ODI and Twenty 20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will miss the two star foreign players Makhaya Ntini and Albie Morkel in their inaugural match against Kings X Punjab in Chandigarh on Saturday.

Makhaya Ntini and Albie Morkel of South Africa are expected to join the team only for the match against Bangalore Royal Challengers on April 26, it is reliably learnt.

This means M S Dhoni’s side would also miss the services of Makhaya Ntini and Albie Morkel for their match against Mumbai Indians on April 23.

But Chennai Super Kings have a battery of foreign players to make up for this : Stephen Fleming and Jacob Oram of New Zealand, Michael Hussey and Matthew Hayden of Australia and spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka can make up for this.

This is exactly why they took on so many foreign players on board, despite criticism. Only four foreign players can be part of the playing eleven as per IPL rules. A key recruit, Laxmipathi Balaji, may also be ruled out following injuries.

This, however, makes Chennai Super Kings’ bowling look a tad weaker than it should have been, with options getting limited.

Kolkata Knight Riders captain and icon player Sourav Ganguly has formed a core team to plot the strategy for his team’s success in IPL. Kolkata Knight Riders IPL team is owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment. Shah Rukh Khan just a few days admitted that the IPL is giving him sleepless nights.

Sourav’s core team reportedly includes Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and former Aussie coach John Buchanan, one of the astute cricketing minds in the world today. John Buchanan is now the coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders team.

Sourav Ganguly has kept mum on the final eleven for the inaugural match against Bangalore on April 18.
Sourav Ganguly will join the nets at Eden gardens on Wednesday.

The Knight Riders also reportedly played a practice match at the behest of Buchanan. The key worry of Kolkata Knight Riders is the inability of Pak speedster Shoaib Akhtar to participate following a 5-year ban slapped on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board.