There is no doubt that IPL 2009 if nothing will be a better version of what we saw in last year.

The ongoing economic crisis may have tempered the enthusiasm a bit. But IPL title sponsor DLF assured that their commitment with the IPL is resolute for the next five years. DLF is a real estate major, an sector that has been hit hard by the economic slowdown. Rajeev Talwar, the group executive director of DLF said, “DLF will continue to play an integral part in helping develop the league into a truly world – class platform for showcasing and developing cricketing talent globally.”

As the league becomes older so do the teams. At least three franchisees have decided to pare their teams down to their essential requirements, and hence reduce the number of players they would have on their roster in 2009. What was it that made the teams take such measure? Recession would be an obvious answer, but no. With the second season of the IPL, teams have just become more mature and wiser. It seems these teams are working to a target, and know exactly what kind of team composition would help them achieve it.

With the player trade window open for one month, IPL teams are planning player transfers and new signings. The Bangalore Royal Challengers are eager to have the Karnataka captain Robin Uthappa in their team. In return, they are willing to give up the services of the left-arm seemer Zaheer Khan to the Mumbai Indians who would appreciate his inclusion in the team.

Sources say there could be a possible captaincy switch between Rahul Dravid to Robin Uthappa, if the later makes it into the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Meanwhile Mumbai Indians have already made a trade by swapping left-arm seemer Ahish Nehra with the left handed opener Shikhar Dhawan of Delhi Daredevils with no money exchanged.

Deccan Chargers are all set to have a contract with the U P bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar after his amazing performance in the Ranji trophy, who also managed to take the wicket of Sachin Tendukar on a duck, the little master’s first in the Ranji trophy.

The IPL 2009 season might also see players from England taking part with different IPL franchisees. England Captain Andrew Strauss said that he and his players can afford to participate in the upcoming IPL season without having to compromise with their national duties. Negotiations are on between The ECB and PCA and players are eagerly waiting for things to get sorted out before the deadline of February 4 set by the IPL board. Meanwhile talks are going on between IPL and ECB for having a stable cricketing calendar. Chennai Super Kings have already started their talks with the flamboyant English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff. Reports say they are eager to buy him.

On the other hand, Cricket Australia has allowed the players to play in the IPL and will not ban any of the top players. However, they also made it clear that the players who are unfit or carry any injuries will be barred. The CA public affairs manager Peter Young thinks that the two month outing in India could be a good platform for the players to prepare for the upcoming Ashes series, despite the list of injured players they have that includes Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Peter Siddle and Shane Watson.

All together, the IPL 2009 tournament seems to be sumptuous and promises more breathtaking encounters. The IPL 2009 is scheduled to commence on April 10, for an absorbing two months of cricketing action till May 24.

The T20 Super Series is being lined up to follow the T20 Champions Trophy matches and Cricket South Africa (CSA) has been oozing confidence on its conduct. However, it may have to clear a few hurdles before actually taking off.

India, Australia and South Africa are the three countries which would participate in the T20 Super Series. The cricket boards of the countries have already begun discussions for the series.

The Indian IPL series has already been useful in making T20 a very popular game in the cricketing world. The legions of foreign players in IPL teams – often as captains – and complaints from international players who could not make it into IPL have all served its cause well.

Cricketing enthusiasts believe that it will indeed have to clear several hurdles, including finding a window in an already crowded international calendar and negotiating the ICC ruling of maximum seven T20 matches a year.

A top Cricket South Africa official has said that it will be happening next year, and the T20 Super Series matches will be held in South Africa and Australia. The tournament is in fact being designed in such a way as to resemble the Tri-Nations Rugby Series. The proposed T20 Super Series, which was finalised by the three boards during discussions in Dubai recently on the sidelines of ICC chief executives meetings is being positioned as a tournament with a distinct identity of its own .

There are so many formalities to be attended to before final announcement could come through. The organisers are yet to finalise a window for the tournament next year considering the fact that the calendar is overcrowded already. The international calendar for the coming season already has the Ashes, the World Twenty20 Championship in England, the Champions Twenty20 League, the one-day series between India and Australia, and the Champions Trophy. It is quite unclear as to where the Super Series could be placed in such a tightly packed year.

Besides, many an aspect such as venues, dates, prize money and sponsorship for the T20 Super Series are yet to be even discussed on a serious note.

Fouty seven percent of the national players said yes to this query , while 93 percent of state level players also had the same answer.

The survey revaled players dissatisfaction over the way the game is being run in the country by Cricket Australia.

Before we in India start making all those noises about the lack of patriotism of the Australian players, consider a few things.

1. They are the world champions in two forms of the game, and still have a very good chance in the Twenty20 format.

2. Australians are ruthless in team selection. So if you are good but there is someone just a little better, you will remain on the bench or outside the team.

3. Their careers are shorter.

4. Australia probably has enough players who are being groomed to replace the current players – so a few of them moving to IPL may not make any difference to the team or their ability to win against countries such as India.

The Bangladesh team is touring Pakistan from April 8- 19. Their schedule five one day matches. It is expected that some of the Pakistan players would skip the first few IPL matches due to their hectic international schedule. There is also uncertainty that players like Mohammad Yousuf would be allowed to play in IPL or not following a case filed by the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL). They have approached the arbitration panel to block Yousuf from participating in the IPL. The verdict will come only after April 30.

Sri Lanka’s West Indian tour already started. It will conclude on April 14.  West Indian and Sri Lankan players won’t get much time to relax before they set out to play in the IPL matches. It is expected that the first few matches of IPL would not have a lot of celebrity players on the field.

Cricket enthusiasts are also eagerly waiting to know which New Zealand, England, West Indian and Australian players would be available for the last lap of IPL matches.

New Zealand is touring England from April to July. Five New Zealand players have been allowed to participate in Twenty20 games in IPL. The New Zealand Cricket Assocaition has given permission to Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Ross Taylor and Kyle Mills to skip warm up matches during the English tour. The players, who are part of different IPL teams, at are expected to join the team only by May 1.

Meanwhile, the Australian team’s West Indian tour starts on May 16. The team will play two tests, five ODIs and one Twenty20 match against West Indies. It is now clear that Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan would not play the first two tests due to their pre occupation with the Indian Premier League. These players have already signed with different IPL teams.

Cricket lovers world over are worried over the impact of the IPL on the international cricket. There are also reports that some of the Australian cricket stars participating in IPL matches may miss the training camp before their tour in West Indies.

Many small cricket playing nations such as Zimbabwe, West Indies and New Zealand are very much disappointed over the present schedule of IPL as they fear big revenue losses. Their cricket season coincides with the IPL tournament and the cricket boards in these countries are worried that their income would dwindle this season.

The West Indies cricket chief had only recently expressed his fears that the biggets threat to Australia’s tour of West Indies would be the IPL in April 2008.

Skipper Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan may take part in IPL skipping Australia’s tour of West Indies, media reports said. IPL has hinted at plans to include teams based overseas also in the Twenty20 tournament in later stages. This would mean there would be more overseas signings. Currently only four overseas players can be a part of the playing eleven in Indian Premier League matches.

First and the foremost reason why the BCCI could launch a third IPL auction is that Australia has now postponed their tour of Pakistan; and a number of players who were not available for round 1 and round 2 could turn up for the auction.

The second reason for a potential third round of IPL auction is that as the popularity of IPL has increased and the tournament has attained a reputation, many foreign players are now likely to ditch their cricket boards and knock on the doors of IPL. Cricket boards like the England cricket board could see an increasing pressure from the players to join IPL.

Former Australian fast bowler and Pakistan team coach Geff Lawson has said Cricket Australia’s decision not to tour Pakistan as scheduled this month was unfair.

The Pakistan tour was called off in the aftermath of the twin Lahore blasts yesterday.

Geff Lawson says it was more annoying that Pakistan would not be taking on Australia since the Australians are “now beatable”. India beat Australia to win the Commonwealth Bank series 2-0.

But many players in the Australian team would be happy with the decision as they would get a chance to play in DLF IPL Twenty20 to begin on April 18. Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and James Hopes are among the Australian stars who have been contracted to play IPL along with retired stars Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

Mike Hussey is yet to sign any IPL contract, but has expressed interest in playing depending on his availability.

Any amount of money won’t be sufficient for players to skip their responsibilities for national sides, Mike Hussey told a news agency.

There has been criticism in Australia that the IPL is turning out to be a welcome relief for ageing players, who are approaching the fag end of their careers, tempting them to retire to make good the riches.

We don’t see what’s the big deal, though. If a player wants to make money playing only IPL, let him. If a player wants to retire early and play in IPL, let him. It is not like any country is seriously suffering from a lack of players who want to play for the national side. Those who want to play for money should play for money. Those who want to play for fun should play for fun and those who want to play for the national side and patriotism, should play for that. To those who complain that players are trying to make some money – don’t be such communists.

Cricket Australia and Pakistan Cricket Board chairmen will meet in Dubai later this month to discuss the new fixtures.

There have been allegations that the boards were conspiring to enable players take part in the IPL, reportedly under pressure from the BCCI.

Almost a dozen people were feared killed on Tuesday at Lahore’s when a bomb ripped through the office of Pakistan’s premier investigation agency, underscoring Cricket Australia’s security concerns about the tour

The announcement came on the same day there was a lethal bombing in the Pakistan city of Lahore.

Australia’s last tour of Pakistan was in 1998.

Seven New Zealand players, four Aussies, three Pakistanis, two Bangladeshis and one player each from Sri Lanka and South Africa will be auctioned on March 11.
There are no English players.

Apart from these players, 13 players have expressed interest to be part of auction process, according to the BCCI.

Many team owners have money left to be spent on players, which is a reason why a second auction is being held.

The teams will have to inform IPL about players outside the list of 18 announced now, if they are interested.

The IPL would then contact the respective boards.

IPL orgainsers have said this would be the last auction this season.Each team can spend $5 million for players.

The expenditure for picking up players who were not available in the initial auction is not included in the $5 million cap. Expenditure for Indian players not in the auction would also be not included in the cap.

Teams would have to be finalised 30 days before April 18, when the Twenty20 tournament kicks off.

Players for second auction:

New Zealand
Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Jamie How, Jeetan Patel, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills, James Franklin

Pakistan
Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez

Australia
Brad Hodge, Shane Watson, James Hopes, Luke Pomersbach

Bangladesh
Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafe Mortaza.

South Africa
Ashwell Prince

Sri Lanka
Prasanna Jayawardene