It isn’t often that Himachal Pradesh stages high-profile cricket matches at the picturesque stadium in Dharamsala so the local officials are doing everything possible to make the three upcoming IPL matches there a success. There’s only one thing beyond their control – the weather. Last year’s game between the “home” side, Kings XI Punjab, and Chennai Super Kings and was preceded by thundershowers and the weathermen have forecast scattered rain in the area once again. So, ahead of Sunday’s game between Punjab and Delhi Daredevils, the HP cricket association has turned to greater powers to ensure a smooth match.

Apart from fire rituals to appease the weather gods the HPCA has also constructed a big concrete gate dedicated to Lord Indrunag [the rain god in the hills]. During last season the HPCA had organised a yajna [a fire-based religious ceremony] at the Indrunag temple that overlooks the stadium with over 2000 cricket fans participating in it. And there are plans to organise one more such ceremony before the May 15 game. But god helps those who help themselves, so the ground now boasts a more efficient drainage system, four water-sopping machines and a lightweight plastic sheet that can cover the entire ground in five minutes. Time for the cricketers to do their bit.

Rajasthan Royals have a new team member. No, they’ve not brought in an injury replacement, nor has Shane Warne unearthed another obscure talent and signed him up. The latest addition to the team is about a foot tall, wears pink and comes with a commemorative cap – her name’s Pinky and the plastic doll is Warne’s latest motivational tool – or an innovation to keep his team-mates on their toes. The punishment for anyone breaking a team rule – coming late for a team meeting, for example – is Pinky and a cap with the words ‘you banana’ splashed across the front. The offender then has to wear the cap and carry the doll with him – all the while following “doll rules” – at all times, be it at the ground, on the team bus or on a flight between games, until someone else goofs up.

Ross Taylor was the first to take charge of Pinky, and has been followed by Shaun Tait, Johan Botha and Warne himself. It’s not all bad news, though: Botha took charge of Pinky after refusing to participate in the team’s ‘dancing activities’ but churned out a Man-of-the-Match winning performance against Mumbai Indians while in possession of her. Not enough to convince his team-mate Amit Singh: “I’ve been lucky that I haven’t got Pinky,” he told Mumbai Mirror. “And I don’t want to commit mistakes.”

Considering the IPL has a team dressed in purple and orange, and cheerleaders wearing saris, it’s pretty amazing no one has thought of turning the whole hoopla into a comic strip before. Chennai Super Kings have finally clued in and have launched ‘Chennai Super Komics’, based on their team and players, available in stores in India for Rs 40 a copy. The books are aimed at fans under the age of 10 according to their head of marketing Rakesh Singh. In the inaugural edition, Lion of Chepauk, Dhoni rescues a street puppy that goes on to become the team’s lucky mascot.

Shane Warne’s routine of dishing out nicknames to his Rajasthan Royals team-mates continues with Ashok Menaria being christened ‘Doxy’. How did the name come about, you ask? It has everything to do with Warne’s fear of Malaria, and the anti-malarial drug he has stocked up on - Doxycycline. The story goes, Warne, who had trouble pronouncing Menaria’s name, called the allrounder Doxy, as his surname sounded like the mosquito-borne ailment.

“Since Shane is scared of Malaria, when he first met me he jokingly asked if it is Menaria or Malaria,” Menaria said. “When he came here, he brought a lot of medicines, mostly Doxycycline. So, I was named Doxy after the drug.”

Much like in the previous IPL seasons, Warne’s innovative team-building exercises also continue. “Like in the first edition of the IPL, he has nicknamed the players, and also formed groups of three with a leader for every team activity. This helps with infusing confidence, leadership qualities and sense of responsibility in players.”

It may enhance the viewing experience on television, but as far as some of the IPL’s players are concerned, the spider camera – a remote-controlled device suspended over the field from cables attached to floodlight towers – is a “distraction”. During the game between Mumbai Indians and Pune Warriors at the Wankhede, Sachin Tendulkar signalled for the camera to be moved away because it got too close a couple of times while he was batting.

“It was a distraction for Sachin for sure. When it is in front of you, it is definitely distracting because you are trying to concentrate on the ball,” Pune captain Yuvraj Singh said. “But when it is behind, it is fine. I don't think it should come in the way when you are batting or fielding. The one who is operating it should make it sure it doesn't come in front of the player. The guys organising the camera should be careful.”

And it’s not just batsmen who have an issue. Mumbai Indians allrounder Kieron Pollard reckoned the camera was a hindrance even for fielders. “Yes, it is a bit of a distraction. The camera is very closely placed and it comes in the peripheral vision of the fielders. It is important to take it away from the players at crucial times, especially when the situations are tight. It can be frustrating for players.”

Deccan Chargers' victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Hyderabad on Friday was more than just a win for the home team. Not only was it Deccan's first victory at home – they were on a 10-match losing streak in Hyderabad leading up to Friday’s game – it also helped in convincing the franchise owners that the venue was not jinxed for the home team. The team’s poor run of form at home was beginning to lead its management to believe that some Vaastu problem was responsible for their ill-luck. Vaastu Shaastra is an ancient Indian science of architecture and buildings which aims to harness the benefits of nature, its elements and energy fields within homes or workplaces for enhanced wealth, health, prosperity and happiness.

“After their loss against Rajasthan Royals [on April 9], there was a suggestion to drain the water in the swimming pool,” a Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) member told the Hindustan Times, “and fill it with sand since the pool is located in the south-west direction and a water body there is considered inauspicious.” Incidentally Deccan had conducted a hawan [sacred purifying ritual involving a fire ceremony] after the first IPL season in 2008 after the team lost all seven home games. “Had they not won now, we could have ended up spending a few lakhs on making a few changes in line with Vaastu Shaastra. Now we are saved of the expenditure,” the HCA official added.

Less is more. It’s taken three seasons of excesses and many heads rolling but finally the IPL bosses have realised the benefits of a stripped-down tournament, and we aren’t talking about the cheerleaders. The after-party’s over, the mid-over advertisements have been done away with and there are no more legions of commentators at each game. Now there are only three per match, who – as one of them tweeted – barely have time to get their laptops out. It’s yet another way the IPL has stamped its own identity as distinct from the World Cup, where the vast armies on duty meant that each commentator had little more than 15 minutes in the box. There is a downside, though, to the IPL’s three-man rule - more airtime per person means more chances of the dreaded product placement slipping in. But then we probably wouldn’t recognise the IPL, would we?

When was the last time the name “Indi Commandos” brought to mind the image of a cricket team? Never. So the Kochi IPL franchise must have had the novelty factor in mind when they bestowed their team with that strange choice for a name. In a league where the other franchises have stuck to city or state-based names to try and appeal to some sort of regional fan loyalty, Kochi’s queer combination of a pan-India identity and a combat unit hasn’t impressed many.

"Is this an indicator of a lack of identity or is it simply that the franchise owners' loyalties lie outside the state and the city for which the team was bought in the first place?" an irate fan posted on the team’s Facebook page. "Thumbs down for this ... omg …!! After all these months ... this is what you came up with ... shocking," another post said. Fans also aired their dismay on Twitter. One slammed the side by posting "IndiComman'Doomed" while another pointed out that "going commando is the practice of not wearing underwear under one's outer clothing".

The franchise had loftier intentions when they zeroed in on the name. "Indi stands for an independent Indian cricket team that will go ahead to win a billion hearts," their statement read. "Commandos stands for an elite fighting squad, renowned for attacking with speed, stealth and deadly power."

There might be more brickbats coming the Commandos’ way. Reports saying that they may play most of their matches outside Kochi, the city for which they won the team bid, have drawn flak from fans. But with the name they have, resisting the verbal missiles shouldn’t be an issue.

They seek him here, they seek him there. India’s police, customs, cricket administration and media seek Lalit Modi everywhere, with little success to date (even his Twitter status is “everywhere”). Yet on November 3 he will be at Twickenham, part of an elite group of sports administrators and entrepreneurs at the International Sports Event Management Conference. Modi – famously called ‘Moses’ by Ravi Shastri not so long ago - will be sharing space with, among others, the IOC’s executive director, the man who organized the 2010 football World Cup, the man who will run the 2012 London Olympics and the chief of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

It’s rich in irony: Modi is persona non grata in the world of cricket – just ask Kevin Pietersen – but gets top billing at the event, where he is introduced as “Founder, IPL and Champions League”. And the topic he will be speaking on: “cultural and structural issues raised by Delhi’s hosting of the recent Commonwealth Games”. For those who came in late, it was only the monumental chaos and alleged corruption of the CWG that pushed the monumental chaos and alleged corruption of the IPL off the front pages. It should be an interesting speech.

He wasn’t a player, nor was he an administrator, nor even a journalist. The Fake IPL Player, the anonymous blogger whose account of the 2009 IPL season created a media storm – and one within the league as well – has been revealed as Anupam Mukherji, a Bangalore-based techie. Mukherji told the TV channel Times Now that, contrary to speculation at the time, he had no source in any of the IPL teams and relied on the internet for information on teams, matches and the weather in South Africa – the tournament host.

Mukherji’s posts, which centred on a fictionalized version of Kolkata Knight Riders, were accurate enough in their “predictions” to provoke statements of denial from the Kolkata franchise, though he now says some of those predictions were “no-brainers”. The inspiration for the blog, he says, was a spoof Steve Jobs blog; it gained popularity once the media reported and commented on it and legitimacy from officials’ statements and generated enough buzz to prompt a book, The Gamechangers, earlier this year. He hasn’t revealed why he chose this moment to disclose his identity; indeed, there remains enough mystery round the Fake IPL Player’s real identity to suspect that the revelation itself may be a double bluff. Or wait - is he winding us up again?

Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections were held on Thursday but one rookie candidate was allowed to cast his vote a day early. Sanath Jayasuriya – a candidate of President Mahinda Rajapakse’s United People’s Freedom Alliance - cast his vote on Wednesday, to allow him to rejoin the Mumbai Indians for their game on Friday against Kings XI Punjab. They will welcome him back after the shock loss to Chennai on Tuesday and it’s a good opportunity for Jayasuriya, if he plays, to get among the runs. Which leaves one question: Was Jayasuriya’s early-bird vote due to his being in the ruling party or is it another example of the IPL’s all-powerful reach?

Before you go also read Andrew Fernado's piece on what it would be like if cricketers became politicians.

Life can get tough for the 50-odd IPL cheerleaders with the heat, cheering crowds and a whole lot of attention. But they take the good with the bad. And the good, for them, is Bangalore, according to a straw poll of their favourite centres conducted ahead of Wednesday’s game between Rajasthan and Delhi. Hindustan Times reported that Bangalore was rated their favourite city while Mohali, the suburb of Chandigarh, ranked at the bottom. “The Mohali crowds get very crude and nasty,” one of the cheerleaders told the paper, “they look as if they’ll get violent.” The atmosphere in Bangalore was described as “excellent” and Mumbai was voted their second favourite city. Another north Indian city, Delhi, was deemed as just “okay” by the cheerleaders. So could there be any connection to the fact that Mumbai and Bangalore are currently the top two teams in the IPL?

We’ve heard of cricket bridging boundaries between countries – remember India vs Pakistan, Jaipur 1987 and Chennai 1999? – but has had limited opportunities in India’s bitterly fractious national politics. Step up the IPL. According to the Telegraph, Shashi Tharoor, the junior – but very high-profile – foreign affairs minister, sought the help of Arun Jaitley, one of the senior-most members of the opposition BJP, ahead of the bidding for the two new IPL franchises. Tharoor is a known cricket fan and helped Rendezvous Sports World to win the Kochi bid; Jaitley heads the Delhi cricket association.

The Telegraph quoted “sources” as saying Tharoor sounded out Jaitley for some informal advice on the IPL’s bidding process – the sort of reachout he would harp on during his days at the UN. Jaitley , though, has denied that Tharoor ever approached him “He did not ask me,” Jaitley told the paper. “He is a very good friend of mine and I knew he was speaking to various people but I was certainly not one of them.”

Can the money, glitz, glamour (and the cricket of course) of the IPL entice 40-year-old Brian Lara out of retirement? The fourth IPL player auction is in a few months and, in the middle of a few laughs during a television appearance ahead of the Kolkata-Bangalore match, Lalit Modi told Lara that he should make himself available for sale. “Lara was always our first choice,’’ Modi said, ‘‘He was the first one I had approached when the IPL was conceived. Unfortunately, he was not available then (because of his ICL connections).”

Later, on Twitter, Modi said: "Spent the last 24 hours with Brian Lara in Kolkata. He is excited of the prospect to be available for IPL 4. Told him to get into training."

Lara, who quit international cricket after the 2007 World Cup, did not refuse. ‘‘Maybe it’s time for me to hit the gym again,” he said light-heartedly. ‘‘Maybe in four months I’ll be in a position to decide. It all depends on how my body reacts.”

IPL 2010 is only two days and three matches old and already four captains have been fined because their teams maintained a slow over-rate. The first to cop the whopping $20,000 fine was Sourav Ganguly, in the tournament opener between Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers on Friday. Ganguly’s team was found to be three overs behind the over-rate.

On Saturday, Mumbai Indians were assessed to be two overs behind against Rajasthan Royals, and Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils only one over each in their match in Mohali, but all three captains – Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Kumar Sangakkara – was slapped with a $20,000 fine.

By Osman Samiuddin

Geo Super, Pakistan’s only local sports channel, is not broadcasting this year’s IPL after cable operators in Pakistan threatened to boycott any channel showing the league.

The channel signed a three-year contract last season to broadcast the IPL – having also shown the inaugural season – and was preparing to do so this year as well but had to shelve their plans a few days ago in light of the boycott threat.

“There was a press release and circular from the Cable Association of Pakistan saying that any channel showing it would be boycotted by them,” Mohammad Ali, the channel head, told Cricinfo. “Their decision is due to no Pakistani players being signed up this year at the auction.”

The decision has hit the channel hard, not only its revenue streams, but also in depriving them of content for the next 45 days. “We are an events-based channel and when a situation like this happens, that hurts us as much as the revenue streams hit. We had content for a month and a half and now we have to reschedule it,” Ali said.

Generally, the urban TV viewer has a number of alternatives to choose from as far as sports are concerned. Most cable operators have a wide range of international sports channels on offer, often illegally shown. But even those channels, such as the South African SuperSports network, on which IPL games would be normally available are currently not available.

There are reports, however, that in cities such as Rawalpindi and Lahore, and other areas of Punjab, the IPL is being shown by some cable operators.

Over the years, Matthew Hayden has gained the reputation for using the long handle to good effect, and at IPL 2010, he will literally be doing just that. The former Australia star is set to use the innovative Mongoose bat, with a blade that is 33% shorter and a handle 43% longer than the conventional bat. Despite the modifications, the bat’s dimensions are within ICC’s weight and size stipulations. Hayden will not be the first batsmen to wield the Mongoose – Dwayne Smith, Azhar Mahmood, Stuart Law and Lou Vincent have used the radical blade in domestic tournaments, though it is yet to feature in international cricket or the IPL.

Despite its radical dimensions, the Mongoose is said to generate more power and speed than the normal bat. Hayden has been working with the manufacturer to customize the bat to his requirements, and early signs are that he has taken a liking to it – he was clearing the ground effortlessly on Chennai Super Kings’ first day of practice at their home-base. In particular, Hayden was pleased with the big sweet spot and the thicker edges that meant a higher chance of hitting boundaries.

Controversy and the IPL are never too far apart. The latest one is to do with the 2010 season’s promotional film, which shows a large spool of red carpet being rolled through India as a welcoming gesture. However, this ad is reportedly strikingly similar to Coca Cola's campaign during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Officials at SET Max, the official broadcaster of the IPL weren't too perturbed. "It's pure coincidence that our ad film looks similar to the Coke Olympic campaign of 2008," said Gaurav Seth, vice-president (marketing), SET Max. The IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, too, tweeted his support: "The campaign (is) the best I have seen in a long time. Max (is) doing an outstanding job, as usual". "Even we are surprised by the similarity,'' said Debu Purkayastha, senior creative director at JWT Mumbai, the advertising agency that conceptualised the campaign, "everything, however, was completely unintentional."

Move over Bollywood, the IPL might soon be coming to a multiplex near you. The Twenty20 league had invited tenders for its theatrical telecast rights for matches beginning next season until 2019. The reserve price for the bid has been set at US$ 2 million per year. Going to a theatre to watch a Twenty20 game is all very well but hearing the commentators yell “That’s a DLF maximum” and “Citi moment of success” in Dolby Digital sound could get trying very quickly.

What a difference a year can make. Last year, the Deccan Chargers finished at the bottom of the barrel at the IPL and were the league’s laughing stock; this year, the players are laughing all the way to the bank. For fashioning the mother-of-all-turnarounds and winning IPL Season 2, the team also took home an incentive bonus of just over $83,000 – and that’s on top of the $1.2 million prize money and the big, pre-recession salaries. And there’s more to come – franchise chairman V Shankar has promised the players stock options in the company when it goes public. He was delivering on a pre-tournament promise that hinged on the Chargers climbing from bottom to top. The Chargers, Shankar said, would wait for the valuation of the two new teams to be included in the IPL from 2011 before going public. The recession is likely to be done by then, so the wait will surely be worthwhile.

	Salman Khan could become the fifth Bollywood celebrity to have a stake in the IPL © AFP

Move over Shahrukh Khan – Salman Khan is all set to throw his hat (and considerable muscle) into the cricket ring. The Bollywood star, known more in recent times for controversy than critical acclaim, is reported to have shown an interest in bidding for a franchise when the next lot goes up for auction in 2011. He met Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman and commissioner, on Wednesday after several months of discussions and was given the low-down on buying a team. First up, the price tag: $200-300 million per franchise. If he can manage that, and beat off other bidders, Salman could become Bollywood's fifth IPL stakeholder after Shahrukh, Preity Zinta, Juhi Chawla and Shilpa Shetty. If that's a bit too glam-heavy for you, it isn't for Modi. "It [having a film star on board] does add to the spark of the event," he said.

It appears the IPL is to Indian movie stars what commentary is to retired cricketers. They all want a piece of it. The latest to turn franchise-hopefuls are two filmmakers from southern India who are keen to nurture local talent and have approached the Kerala Cricket Association to take their proposal to the BCCI.

Priyadarsan, a noted movie director, and Mohanlal, a superstar in regional films in south India, sent some young players for selection trials to the Kolkata Knight Riders and though none of their players were picked, Priyadarsan said the exposure to international players certainly helped.

“We’re trying to nurture local talent, as the most successful IPL players this year have been little known guys like Manish Pandey, Pragyan Ojha, and Kamran Khan,” Mohanlal told the Times of India. “There are a lot of youngsters in the small towns of Kerala and Tamil Nadu waiting to get a break. They have the talent, but lack exposure and world-class training facilities.”

Priyadarsan said the state association will approach the BCCI with their proposal. However the IPL does not plan to add teams to the existing eight next year. So the Malayali Marauders/Kerala Crusaders will have to make do with talent-spotting for now.

Matthew Hayden striding down the pitch to smash bowlers during the IPL is an ominous sight from afar and one can empathise with Daryl Harper for wanting to wear a helmet while officiating in Twenty20 games.

“In one of the games Sanath’s [Jayasuriya] shot hit me so hard that I was feeling breathless for a while. And Hayden’s hits have brushed my ears a few times as well,” Harper told Times of India. "I was talking about this to some of the other umpires and they were also of the same opinion. Given the pace with which some of the players hit those shots, it's becoming really dangerous for us. I guess it's just a matter of time before you see us using those [baseball helmets].”

And what do the umpires do during the strategy breaks? "Well, that's a sock for us,” Harper says. “We can discuss where we would dine."

Shane Warne walks on water but is famously partial to beer – even in the middle of an IPL game. Leading his Rajasthan Royals back on to the field after a strategic time-out against Bangalore at Centurion on Thursday, Warne was walking along the boundary when he spotted a spectator holding a glass of beer. He reached out, the beer was proffered, a quick swig ensued, a few drops were spilled and one spectator was left with a glass he probably will keep forever. It was all over in a few seconds and, though captured live by the TV cameras, was studiously ignored by the commentators. Warne, typically unfazed by the potential for controversy, carried on from where he’d been interrupted by the break: leading Rajasthan to yet another win and, by the end of the night, to second spot in the table.

Which IPL team opens with the ‘Rock at the top’ and the ‘Cannon’? If you guessed Rajasthan Royals you’d be right, but bonus points if you said ‘Desert Roses’ for those are the nick names Shane Warne (aka ‘King’) has given to Graeme Smith, Swapnil Asnodkar and his team.

The rest of the players also have fitting aliases. Rajasthan’s hard-hitting match-winner Yusuf Pathan goes by the name of ‘Lethal weapon’, while the ‘Terminator’ (although he hasn’t terminated much as yet) is Dimitri Mascarenhas, the Times of India reported. Abhishek Raut is the ‘Young gun’, wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat is ‘Reliability, while the team’s ‘Rockstar’ is allrounder Ravindra Jadeja.

There are a couple of natural disasters as well, ‘Tornado’ and ‘Cyclone’ (Kamran Khan and Shane Harwood respectively) which would fit right into an X-Men movie. ‘Home run’ and ‘Big fury’ refer to Tyron Henderson and Munaf Patel while Darren Berry is the team’s ‘General’.

Rajasthan also have a ‘Secret weapon’ which they deployed in the last game against Deccan Chargers. It fired as well with Lee Carseldine contributing important runs towards the victory.

The sight of a sibling celebrating your misfortune can be heartbreaking, but what Jacques Kallis had to endure was much worse. Adding to the frustration of being caught off a beautifully executed cover-drive during Bangalore Royal Challengers' loss to Chennai Super Kings, Kallis had to bear the unsettling sight of his sister dancing as he trudged back to his team’s dugout.

"I hit one beautifully but it went straight to cover. A couple of feet either side of him and it was four, so I was feeling pretty fed up," Kallis said. "Then, as I started walking off, I looked around at the scoreboard and there was my sister Janine dancing to celebrate my wicket!"

However, it was all taken in good spirit, as Janine was signed up as a cheerleader for Chennai and just doing what she was expected to. Though Kallis still felt, that she could have made a bit of an exception in his case. "The Bangalore girls actually come from America so there was no chance of Janine being with us. I don't mind really...except she really did seem to be doing her job very well when I was out. She didn't have to look so pleased...!"

The mystery of the "fake IPL player" deepens. Kolkata Knight Riders coach Matthew Mott confirmed the anonymous, eponymous blog has been a talking point within the team, although stopped well short of describing the matter as a distraction.

The blogger, whose online following has expanded with each of his 25 entries, insists his work has created a maelstrom within the Knight Riders squad, culminating in a team-wide witch-hunt and a confiscation of laptops. But while admitting to curiosity as to whether the blogger is, as claimed, a member of the team, Mott said the postings were being viewed light-heartedly by the Knight Riders.

"It's a bit of a joke in the squad," Mott told Cricinfo. "There is something going on, but I have only read a bit of one (blog entry) on someone else's laptop, so I can't say whether it's close to the mark or just someone making good guesses. It has been raised but at this stage we're treating it with humour. I'd still be interested to know who it is, though."

Reports of the IPL’s dwindling popularity in Season 2 are grossly untrue - just ask the prisoners in Kolkata’s Alipore Central Jail, who have gone on a hunger strike in protest against not being allowed to watch the tournament. The protest by the 500 prisoners began after guards rejected their demands, on the grounds that the matches are being broadcast on a private channel - security concerns allow only state-run television to be shown in Indian jails. In the gloom there is good news, though: The prisoners can count themselves lucky they missed Kolkata Knight Riders’ abysmal performance on Sunday. And as for the IPL suits, they now know whom to tap if the ratings fall.

The IPL is clearly making its presence felt in South Africa, sometimes in unconventional ways, as a local businessman found out to his utter surprise. When Stephen Blewett checked into his hotel room in Port Elizabeth, he found a stash of R450,000 in the locker. It emerged that the room had been previously used by the Kings XI Punjab team, which had camped in the city to train. The money was meant to cover day-to-day expenses. "It is not common for us to carry that amount of money but we have a lot of costs and the money was not yet distributed to the players," the team's liaison officer, Arvinder Singh, told the Times. For a country that normally attracts negative headlines over crime rates, this was a refreshing change indeed.

The best thing that happened to the Rajasthan Royals, the inaugural IPL champions, might have occurred by chance. They never intended to buy Shane Warne at the auction but ended up with him because he was the first player on sale - or so say the authors of an upcoming book 'IPL - an inside story'.

The book has what it says is an eye-witness account of the first auction by the CEO of a franchise. "Warne's was the first name that came up as the 78 players' names were picked up. But no one was willing to pick him up at the reserve price. The auction was headed for disaster within the first few minutes.

"Since [Lalit] Modi has some interest in the Jaipur team, he made eye contact with [Manoj] Badale and Co. and nudged them to start bidding. Jaipur raised the placard, hoping other teams would jump into the fray. But no other team bid for Warne. Jaipur, it seemed, was saddled with Warne." Less than four months later Jaipur had the last laugh, and the others were left looking foolish, as Warne reinvented himself with spectacular success.

The celebrity quotient during the opening ceremony of the inaugural IPL may have been provided by biggies from Bollywood but the tournament's shift to South Africa could lend it an international flavour this time around.

Reports suggest Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman - who are working on the Human Factor, a film on how Nelson Mandela used the 1995 rugby World Cup win to help heal post-apartheid race relations - are among the headliners at this year’s ceremony. If true, one of the organisers’ tasks will be to stop them from doing a Groucho Marx (asking “When does the game itself begin?” while watching the match). Pop star George Michael and alternative rock band Snow Patrol are other names being bandied about - though curiously no mention has been made of cricket's biggest rockstar fans, Mick Jagger and his fellow Rolling Stones. Ah well, you can't always get what you want...

It’s only natural for millions of Indians to feel upset about moving the IPL out of India, and it seemed only a matter of time before someone took action. Rather surprisingly, the All India Karate Federation was so irked by the move that they have gone to the extent of filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Rajasthan High Court. The petition, filed by its president Rameshwar Nirvan, said it was a national shame to shift the tournament and that it only exposes the incompetence of the government in providing security. It added that the general elections shouldn’t disrupt all other activities in the country. By taking the legal route, the karate men have shown they can use non-violent methods to fight for a cause.

As a captain Sourav Ganguly was never shy of expressing himself. Now he claims to be fighting for the rights of others to express themselves – namely a group of 24 young female cheerleaders. Ganguly is the judge of ‘Knights and Angels’, a reality show that will whittle down the competition to six lucky ladies who will cheer the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

Asked if cheerleaders distracted players, Ganguly rejected the claim adamantly. When one of the journalists checked if his new role wouldn’t embarrass his daughter back home in Kolkata, Ganguly hit back, asking, “What is so bad with dancing?” Even if it isn’t a career choice, Ganguly said the girls were just doing something they liked and he even compared them to gymnasts. “Would you call gymnastics a bad sport then?”

Ganguly said the girls need to be knowledgeable on cricket and understand the match situations better so that they can pump up the energy levels of the crowd and support the team. He did much of that during his captaincy years, though without having to shake a leg.

The war between the cola majors has found a new turf, the IPL. After Pepsi ended its ten-year association with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Coca Cola has swooped in to sign a two-year deal to associate its popular Sprite brand with the team. It is learnt that Coca Cola will be involved in sponsorship of merchandise and serve beverages at Knight Rider stadia.

Pepsi, who shifted its focus to younger consumers, had earlier dropped Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly (the KKR captain) as brand ambassadors. Shah Rukh’s contract which expired in 2008 was also not renewed, though he may now be signed up by Coca Cola. “I am now perhaps too old for Pepsi,’’ he told the Times of India

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is Pepsi’s new face but in a twist that could add fizz to the cola wars, Ishant Sharma, who will spearhead the KKR pace attack, features in Pepsi’s mini-campaigns. Did someone mention ambush marketing?

When in India, go to the movies. And when you get there, don’t watch one. Put on your face paint, throw on that snazzy jersey, and root for your favourite cricketers.

Perhaps borrowing from the USA where, in 2003, certain cinema chains telecast Boston Red Sox baseball games as the team surged toward the World Series, the IPL has decided to try something new and exciting.

Following an increase in requests from cinema owners in India, the IPL has decided to float tenders to sell these rights for the 2009 season. "We have decided to issue tenders for selling these rights for one year or so," said IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi. "We will decide on continuing this after seeing how it goes on."

Come to think of it, a Twenty20 game lasts about three hours, which is the average length of a Hindi feature. In India the concept of a ten-minute interval is still there, which is almost the equivalent of an innings break. And India loves movies and cricket. Who'd a thunk it?

Cinemas aren’t just about movies anymore. Seems like they are more like entertainment destinations.
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An email plopped into our inboxes this afternoon from the Indian Premier League, excitedly announcing no less than 114 players for the forthcoming auction. But which names have been included?

Well, alongside the expected ones – Michael Clarke, Andrew Flintoff, JP Duminy and the like – were the lesser-known Kevin Peterson, that nobody from Australia, Doug Bowler, and the South African Neil McKanzee.

England’s lot included the ageless Dominic Cork and, err, Tyron Henderson. Woops.