Kolkata Knight Riders are leading the points table of the DLF IPL tournament with two wins from two matches.

The Knight Riders team is confident of maintaining their winning momentum to win the DLF IPL tournament.

According to Kolkata captain Sourav Ganguly, “We have started well and hope to continue this trend.” Owner Shah Rukh Khan is also of the same opinion. He says, “We have to continue to do well in the coming matches.”

In the opening match of the DLF  IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders squashed Bangalore Royal Challengers by handing them a 140 runs defeat in the match played at Bangalore. Bangalore Royal Challengers is owned by liquor barron Dr Vijay Mallya, who is also the owner of Force Indian F1 team. Bangalore Royal Challengers is led by Rahul Dravid, who is absent from the Indian one day team at the moment. Royal Challengers came back into the tournament with a win over Mumbai Indians on Sunday, I am sure much to the relief of poor Rahul Dravid.

In the second match of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers had to bite the dust, the Hyderabad franchisee owned by the Deccan Chronicle on Sunday. Okay, it was not an easy victory for Kolkata, but they won it in the end. The two victories are keeping the team up in high spirits.

Shah Rukh Khan said, “Our coach has told the players that they have to deliver the best to succeed in the tournament. The team has to work hard.”

Looking at the matches so far, the only team which seemed to have a considerable advantage over their opponents is the Chennai Super Kings led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is having a good run of luck. One can say the same about Shah Rukh Khan. It will be interesting to watch whose luck holds out.

Shah Rukh Khan, the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, is much worried because the ticket sales are not going as well as expected.

Now Shah Rukh Khan doubts the decision he has taken to enter business world of Indian Premier League (IPL). Today, he is a bit upset according to media reports. However, the Indian media being what they are, don’t take them at face value. If they say that SRK was angry, for all you know, he might just have been in an introspective mood.

Ticket sales on the opening day – only 237 at the counter – is one issue that worried SRK. PCB banning Shoaib Akhtar, and IPL following suit, is another major issue.

“I never thought so many problems would crop up when I bought Knight Riders. I was not prepared for these circumstances. I do not want to blame any organisation or association. But, a rosy picture, removed from reality, was painted to me,” said Shah Rukh Khan, according to a reported that appeared in the DNA newspaper.

“I’m quite disappointed with ticket sales of the first day. I was really surprised that only 237 tickets had been sold at the counter. I am truly finding it difficult to accept this. I have never, till date, requested my fans to go and see my films. I am a bit surprised as to why, despite keeping the ticket prices low, people are not showing any interest,” a disappointed Shah Rukh Khan said.

The Bollywod superstar is finally aware of the fact that the cricket is a completely different game.

King Khan admits that his IPL entry is giving him sleepless nights.

SRK had planned a small entertainment programme at the stadium before the matches would start. The West Bengal Government has not given him any entertainment tax exemption. Shahrukh Khan is not pleased with this. “Tax has been exempted at all other centres except in Kolkata. I am very worried about that. How can I do it unless the entertainment tax is waived? Others get 120 per cent exemption whereas I come under the tax net.

The entertainment program, which again would have given a lot of media attention, to the matches and Kolkata Knight Rides , is now not possible. Shah Rukh said that if he went ahead with it, he would stand to lose Rs 1 crore – and he would not be able to cope with it.

Note: 237 tickets on the first day of sales at the counter? That is shocking, considering the amount of hype around IPL and the Kolkata Knight Riders. The amount of publicity garnered by the team, just because Shah Rukh Khan is the owner of the team, could perhaps be valued in crores. Add to the the Kolkata Prince Sourav Ganguly. And 237 after all that? Time to worry?

Bangalore Royal Challengers take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural DLF IPL Twenty20 tournament’s opening match in Bangalore on April 18, the clash will be between two former India skippers and two flamboyant personalities also — Rahul Dravd captains Bangalore Royal challengers promoted by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, while Sourav Ganguly is the skipper of Kolkata Knight Riders, promoted by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

Pointer: At least on paper, the Kolkata Knight Riders are seen as having an advantage, partly due to the mix of the opposition team.

Bangalore Royal Challengers

The Bangalore Royal Challengers are seen more as a bunch of solid batsmen in the mould of skipper Rahul Dravid, with sound technique, but are not known as big hitters, with the exception of Jacques Kallis and Misabah-Ul-haq, their late catch, bagged in the second auction for $125,000. For starters, the big hitting Pakistani had almost snatched the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup trophy from the Indian Team in South Africa.

Jacques Kallis has played three international matches in Twenty20, scoring just 39 runs, but his strike rate, which counts most in this version of the game, is an astounding 108.33 — that means if Jacques Kallis can stay put in 3-4 overs in the crease, the opposition in in trouble. The other South African in the pack, Mark Boucher has played 9 matches, but his strike rate is a shade less at 89.93. But Boucher makes up for that by doubling as the man behind the stumps.

Skipper Rahul Dravid does not even figure in India’s Twenty20 squad, but the Indian batting mainstay is the only Indian apart from Sachin Tendulkar to have scored 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs — the message is that experience counts.

Rahul Dravid scored 1761 in calendar year 1999. That is the third highest by a batsman in a calendar year after Sachin Tendulkar (1894 runs in 1998) and Sourav Ganguly ( 1767 in 1999).

Rahul Dravid has an astonishing career ODI record — 329 matches, 304 innings, 39 not outs and 10,464 runs, with a highest score of 153, an average of 39.48 and a strike rate of 71.16. Twelve hundreds and 80 half centuries have been recorded in his name.

Pakistan’s latest find Misbah-ul-haq,31, has played only 27 ODIs for his country and scored 727 runs at an average of 36.35 with a strike rate of 77.84, figures which mask his utility as a match winner.

But when it comes to the nine matches he has played in Twenty20, his average shoots up to 50.20, scoring 251 runs. The key, however, is his phenomenal strike rate of 127.41, a pointer to the fact that this Pakistani can turnaround matches.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Sourav Ganguly’s Kolkata Knight Riders’ definite advantage is their explosive batting line-up starting from icon player Sourav himself. Sourav Ganguly, like Dravid, is not part of Indian twenty20 and is a former ODI skipper. In M S Dhoni’s scheme of things, Ganguly does not figure much, and hence been ignored from ODI and twenty20 versions of the national squad.

But Sourav Ganguly is among India’s most successful captains. In the 302 ODI matches he has played for the country, the Bengal southpaw has scored 11046 runs, which includes 22 hundreds and seventy half-centuries. His strike rate is 73.60, a tad better than rival Rahul Dravid. Sourav Ganguly can also chip in as a change bowler – he has taken 99 wickets in ODIs at an average of 37.65.

Kolkata Knight Riders have two formidable explosive bats in West Indian Chris Gayle and Australian skipper Ricky Ponting. Christopher Henry Gayle is another batsman who can just shatter any bowling attack and also do a bit of bowling.

In 173 ODI matches Chris Gayle has revelled with the willow, his average is just below 50 but his strike rate is a phenomenal 80.16. The point to note, however, is his Twenty20 strike rate, which is a hundred percent jump – 164.96 in five matches in which he scored 193 runs, including a Twenty20 best 127.

Punter Ricky Ponting is among the most hated figures as far as Indian cricket fans are concerned but his record as a player is par excellence. Ricky Thomas Ponting has scored 11,096 runs in 297 ODIs, and is just 24 short of the 10,000 mark in Tests. Ponting’s strike rate is exactly 50 in ODIs, which jumps to 138.16 in Twenty20. But Ponting hasn’t been that successful in Twenty20, scoring just 98 runs in ten matches. But his massive utility would be as a scheming and thinking cricketer, which Sourav Ganguly should be able to exploit.

Mindgames

With former Aussie coach John Buchanan donning the role of Kolkata Knight Riders’ coach, it is a sure bet that Kolkata Knight Riders would have five strategies lined up for the match, but New Zealander Martin Crowe would not be found wanting in strategic pitches for Bangalore Knight Riders.

Key players, issues and forecast

South African pace sensation Dale Steyn, who was instrumental in handing India a drubbing in the Ahmedabad Test, would be the key bowler in the match as Kolkata Knight Riders Shoaib Akhtar is unlikely to be included in the Kolkata Team following as ban imposed by Pakistan Cricket Board.

Steyn’s menacing pace and nagging line would be difficult to tackle for Kolkata Knight Riders. He would be ably backed by Indian test skipper Anil Kumble. The key for Sourav Ganguly would be to come down the order and display his prowess to throw spinners out of gear and safeguard himself from Steyn’s promised chin music. Gayle and Ponting should be left to tackle Steyn and create some chaos in Bangalore Royal Challengers famed bowling attack, which also has stingy Aussie bowler Nathan Bracken.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ another issue is that Ricky Ponting would be available only for two weeks as he has to report to the Australian training camp by the first week of May, but that wouldn’t be an issue in the first match against Bangalore Royal Challengers. Indian pace sensation Ishant Sharma can be a dangerous bowler to tackle for Bangalore Royal Challengers. Despite being a quality Twenty20 side, Kolkata Knight Riders have now only a slight edge in the initial match against Bangalore Royal Challengers on April 18. Chances of a win for Kolkata Knight Riders against Bangalore Royal Challengers are 51:49 and the margin of error in a Twenty20 match is anybody’s guess.

Modi said, “His contract is still valid and has not been cancelled. He is still contracted to the IPL and through it to the Kolkata Knight Riders”. According to the rules of the BCCI, a player who has been suspended by his country’s cricket board would not be allowed to play in the IPL tournament, Modi said.

On Thursday, BCCI officials had said that Shoaib Akhtar, who has been banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on charges of indiscipline for five years, would not be allowed to play in the IPL.

“We cannot have the situation where a player banned for any reason is harboured by the IPL. Currently his contract stands since he is in the appeal process… We hope it will be resolved at the earliest. His contract is not being cancelled presently,” Modi said.

Kolkata Kinght Riders team, the Kolkata IPL team owned by Shah Rukh Khan, had bought the Pakistani speedster during the player auction. Yesterday, Khan openly came out in support of Akhtar saying he was an important member of his team. Khan had also said that he would speak to Modi on this issue.

Shoaib Akhtar, who virtually faces the end of his cricketing career with a five year ban, is expected to appeal this week before an Pakistan Appellate Tribunal.

This would be the most highly anticipated match being the inaugural one. Red Chillies is actually fronted by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan – just by being the owner, he has ensured millions of rupees worth of publicity for the Kolkata Knight Riders. The Knight Riders team is being captained by the Prince of Kolkata Sourav Ganguly.

Here is the Kolkata team players list. Remember that only four foreign players can be part of the playing eleven – so we do not know who will actually feature in the match.

Batsmen

David Hussey
Ricky Ponting
Salman Butt
Akash Chopra
Cheteshwar Pujara
Rohan Banerjee
Yashpal Singh
Debabrata Das

All rounders
Sourav Ganguly (Captain)
Tatenda Taibu
Wriddhiman Saha
Brendon McCullum
Chris Gayle
Ajit Agarkar
Mohammad Hafeez
Iqbal Abdulla
Laxmi Ratan Shukla

Bowlers

Ishant Sharma
Shoaib Akhtar
Murali Kartik
Umar Gul
Siddarth Kaul
Ranadeb Bose
Sourashish Lahiri

The Bangalore Royal Challengers is owned by liquor baron, airline owner and Formula One team owner Vijay mallya. The team is captained by former India captain Rahul Dravid.

Rahul Dravid (Captain)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Wasim Jaffer
Misbah-ul-Haq
Ross Taylor
Arun Kumar J.
Appanna K. P.
Bharat Chipli

Mark Boucher
Shreevats Goswami
Devraj Patil
Jacques Kallis
Cameron White
Sunil Joshi
Akhil B.
Virat Kohli

Anil Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Nathan Bracken
Dale Steyn
Praveen Kumar
Abdur Razzak
Vinay Kumar R.

There has been criticism that the Bangalore Royal Challengers team looks more like a test team rather than an aggressive Twenty20 side. Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble (the current Indian test captain) have both rubbished the cirticism, and emphasized that the team can take on any of the other contendors.

We shall see at the inaugural match between Knight Riders and Royal Challengers in just a couple of weeks from now.

IPL boss Lalit Modi has said till the PCB ban is lifted Shoaib cannot play in IPL. Shah Rukh Khan has said he will ask the BCCI to permit Shoaib Akhtar to play in IPL. Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders had bagged Shoaib Akhtar for Rs 1.8 crore.Shah Rukh Khan’s contention is that IPL matches does not have international status.But IPL is not likely to budge as it doesnt want to antagonise cricket boards. IPL may give Kolkata Knight Riders
an option to replace Shoaib Akhtar with another player.

Shoaib Akhtarwas banned by PCB’s disciplinary panel for repeated violation of discipline.But the issue is spiralling out of control, with Shoaib Akhtar accusing the PCB chief, Nasim Ashraf tried to “extract money” from him.

Shoaib Akhtar also said he was offered money to throw away matches. An angry PCB has now demanded Rs 20 crore as damages.The ICC anti-corruption wing will now summon Shoaib Akhtar to investigate his charges.

The IPL’s Governing Council Chairman Lalit Modi told reporters that Akhtar cannot take part in the high-profile Twenty20 competition till the Pakistan Cricket Board lifts the ban on him.

Meanwhile, Shoaib Akhtar ifnds some support from Shah Rukh Khan:

“We believe Shoaib should play. It is a sad incident that Shoaib has been banned from IPL as well. We will talk to IPL authorities.

The Shah Rukh Khan-owned IPL Team Kolkata Knight Riders can now relax. Though the Pakistan Cricket Board has imposed a five-year ban on the Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar from playing international cricket, he has been cleared for the multi-million dollar Twenty20 IPL League.

The Board of Cricket Control of India Vice President and Chairman of Indian Premier League Lalit Modi on Wednesday said the Pakistan fast bowler could participate in the Twenty20 IPL match despite the PCB ban. Signalling what could be the end of Shoib Akhtar’s international career, the Pakistan Cricket Board had on Thursday served a five-year ban for his repeated indiscipline.

The PCB imposed the ban on Shoaib Akhtar as it felt that his presence in the team would damage the image of the Pakistan cricket team. The ban prohibits him from playing in his home land for five years. The board was compelled to take the extreme step following repeated violation of the players’ code of conduct by Akhtar. The latest violation came when he openly criticized the PCB after he lost a place in the national team. The PCB has said they lost confidence in Akhtar. The player was on two-year probation for attacking team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat in 2007.

The Saurav Ganguly-led Kolkata Knight Riders has signed a contract with Shoaib Akhtar for a sum of US$4.25 lakh for playing in the coming IPL Twenty20 matches. The IPL player policy says that the players participating in the tournament has to submit a No Objection Certificate from the Cricket Board of the respective country for joining the team. The home country could either give permission or deny it. IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi said the PCB has not denied the NOC to Shoaib Akhtar. Akhtar, though, is now planning to file an appeal against the PCB ban.

After announcing the ban, the PCB disciplinary committee said the Akthar could not play for Pakistan or in Pakistan for next five years. They said he could play for IPL as it is not under their jurisdiction.

Indian football skipper Baichung had kicked up a row by refusing to take part in the torch-run ceremony to express solidarity with the Tibetan cause.

But Ganguly thankfully has a reason good enough to keep the overlords in West Bengal’s CPI (M) happy. Baichung Bhutia’s decision was described by the Marxists as ‘embarrassing’. (Embarrassing, because it exposed India as a non-Communist country. The Chinese must be shocked!)

The Indian film fraternity is being actively woed by the franchises as the Indian Premier League (IPL) dates approach. The latest to join the crowd is Akshay Kumar, who has just been appointed brand ambassador for Delhi Daredevils captained by Virender Sehwag.

In a bid to give new vigour for the parting teams, the owners of IPL franchises have already appointed high- paid film stars to endorse their brands. The owner of the Chennai Super Kings, India Cements started the trend by roping in south Indian matinee idols Vijay and the sexy Nayanthara as their brand ambassadors. These stars are now in the frame to popularise the Indian one day team captain Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings. The stars were heavily paid by the India Cements for endorsing the team.

The other IPL teams are also thinking about roping in big personal brands in film field to popularise the game and promote themselves. There is news that actors Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone might endorse the Bangalore IPL team, Royal Challengers.  Rahul Dravid, former Indian captain, is the captain of Bangalore Royal Challengers.

The Delhi Daredevils team is owned by infrastructure developer GMR Group. Akshay Kumar belongs to Delhi and has big star value in the Hindi heart land. The Virender Sehwag-led Delhi team will now get a new face to promote their brand in the coming Twenty20 matches. Gautum Gambhir, Mohammed Asif and Shoaib Malik are also members of the Delhi IPL team.

Shah Rukh Khan’s ownership of Kolkata Knight Riders automatically lends it publicity. Preity Zinta on the other hand has given a new face to her Mohali IPL team by appointing Daler Mehndi, and music duo Sajid-Wajid to endorse the team. They will come out with a new album promoting the Mohali team. SRK’s Kolkata Knight Riders has signed up Vishal-Shekar and dance master Ganesh Hegde for its promotional activities.

It is expected that IPL will become a big business and additional revenue source for film stars as the cricket war enters the next phase. Different companies and individuals owning IPL franchises are ready to spend as much as money possible to popularise the IPL tournament and reap the financial rewards.

Cricket Members Forum of Bengal has filed a case in a Kolkata court challenging the authority of Cricket Association of Bengal to distribute tickets for the tournament.

The forum wants free tickets to all its members for matches in Eden Gardens. The forum claimed in the suit that as per Rule 15 (ii) of Cricket Association of Bengal forum members were eligible for free tickets. The court is hearing the matter on Wednesday.

“According to Rule-15 of CAB constitution all life members, associate members and affiliated members are supposed to get free tickets for all matches organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. We are 31,000 members and this match is not for any benevolent cause or charity. So, there is no reason why we will not get our free tickets,” Cricket Members’ Forum of Bengal Convener, Abhijit Sarkar said.

SRK, feeling a little panicky? You should have remembered you are amongst Bengalis – not the best of people to have around for a business, eh? We are sure you will find a way around this somehow!