Tag Archive for ‘Shane Warne’ at Asian Window

Tag Archive for 'Shane Warne'

Cricket’s new revolution

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on June 2, 2008

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It’s official. The first IPL tournament is a hit and hosannas have been pouring in on how cricket will never be the same again. Mihir Bose in BBC

Twenty20 cricket may teach us very little on the field of play but, off it, the Indians have built a model which will undoubtedly change world cricket.

I must confess that a week ago when I arrived in India I was sceptical as to what the Indian Premier League meant – but its impact soon became clear.

The Indians have now got a tournament that, even before the semi-finals, had been watched by more than 100 million on television, while the final alone was expected to attract some 30 million.

Crowds have packed out stadiums and the final saw 55,000 fill a new stadium two hours’ drive from Mumbai.

And in IHT, Huw Richards on frugal Rajasthan’s big win

The Rajasthan Royals, which had already proved itself the best team over the length of the qualifying tournament, showed that it was also the best in the clutch as it took the inaugural Indian Premier League title in Mumbai.

It beat the Chennai Super Kings in a desperately tense final on Sunday, reaching its target of 164 to win from the final ball of its innings of 20 six-ball overs when Sohail Tanvir struck the single run it needed.

As in last year’s first-ever World Cup in the Twenty20 format – when India’s victory created the excitement that led to the creation of, first, the rebel India Cricket League, and then the officially backed the IPL – the organizers were treated to a final that was everything they could have asked for. Chennai battled to its limit. Rajasthan won because Tanvir and its captain, Shane Warne, both chiefly bowlers, kept their nerve when asked to score the final 21 runs from 14 balls.

IPL final: visionaries rejoice as T20 is a hit

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on June 1, 2008

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The stage is set for the grand blockbuster finale tonight as two of cricket’s biggest superstars, M.S. Dhoni and Shane Warne face off tonight in Mumbai. Stephen Brenkley in The Independent says IPL has changed cricket forever.

The inaugural Indian Premier League reaches its climax today. But it had long ago changed the face of cricket forever. Like it or loathe it (the former considerably outnumber the latter) the tournament is not only here to stay, it seems ready to grow and grow.

Its progenitors have been bowled over by the dramatic events, the sceptics apparently knocked for six. Live crowds and television audiences have both met targets, albeit with caveats.

The IPL has regularly had the biggest audience share on Indian cable television. Attendances approached capacity in almost every franchise. It has also been a hit on TV worldwide, including the UK, despite the lack of English players.

And for details on tonight’s match, CricInfo has the dope here.

Meanwhile at IPL, yet another controversy: it’s Warne v Ganguly

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on May 2, 2008

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Cheerleaders, slapgate and, now, a showdown between Shane Warne and Sourav Ganguly. Will the controversties at IPL never cease? CricInfo has both sides of the story.

First, Warne is upset at Ganguly’s refusal to walk

The Indian Premier League feels increasingly like the Shane Warne Show. Tonight, after his Rajasthan Royals side made it four wins in a row in front of a partisan crowd at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur, Warne launched into a stinging attack on Sourav Ganguly, the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, for what he perceived to be a blatant disregard for the spirit of the game. He seemed to have a point, but right now Warne could probably tell you the earth was flat and you’d believe him.

Then, Ganguly says, ‘I just want to laugh at what Warne is saying’.

Sourav Ganguly, captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, has dismissed Shane Warne’s criticism of his on-field behaviour, even questioning his moral right to comment about the spirit of the game. Warne, leading the Rajasthan Royals, first slammed Ganguly for taking too long to come out to bat and then condemned his attitude towards the IPL’s Spirit of Cricket agreement when he questioned a catch taken by Graeme Smith.

Half the battle

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on March 20, 2008

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Soumya Bhattacharya in Cricinfo says cricket is perhaps unique among team sports in that individual face-offs within the larger contests matter almost as much as the main event. Tendulkar v Lee, anyone?

In the buffet that is Cricinfo Magazine, there is, tucked away like a garnish or a bottle of extra virgin Tuscan olive oil, a section called Golden Pairs. Here, a writer imagines which two batsmen he/she would like to see up against which two bowlers. You have the history of the game to choose from. Anything goes. The more improbable the matchings-up, perhaps the better. It’s a fantasist’s delight. It’s a fan’s delight. If you have missed it, you ought to look it up now.

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Inspirational Sachin

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on March 5, 2008

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Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald says Sachin Tendulkar inspires a new world order with his immaculate innings

A MATCH jam-packed with desperate action has brought a pulsating summer to an appropriately dramatic conclusion.

It was a contest full of thrills and spills, first Sachin Tendulkar seemed to have won the series for his team. Then the Indian lower order faltered. Australia collapsed again but as the crowd roared, so James Hopes restored hope for his overheated side. And then, with two cricketing countries agog, a mighty visiting captain tossed the ball to his most vulnerable bowler and the deed was done. It was enormous. Might have been a changing of the guard.

Apart from the frenzied finish and the curious outbreak of tackles on the field, the abiding memory of the match came from Tendulkar’s bat. The first final, in Sydney, had produced one of the game’s finest chasing innings. Alas, the hullabaloo distracted attention from Tendulkar’s hundred. Accordingly, reporters hoped for a second helping from the maestro. Happily he obliged with a superb effort in the second final.

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Let the bidding begin

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on February 20, 2008

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Seventy nine cricketers to eight franchises in the Indian Premier League go under the hammer today. The Times has the story:

The last time Richard Madley was in the newspapers for a cricket auction, he was handling the sale of a collection of ties and saucy seaside postcards once owned by Brian Johnston. Today’s auction is rather less frivolous. When Madley, a lifelong Glamorgan supporter, starts work in the ballroom of the Oberoi Hilton in Bombay, $40million (about £20million) will be at stake.

Madley, an auctioneer with Dreweatts, the British firm, will handle today’s sale of 79 cricketers to the eight franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the new Twenty20 competition that will start on April 18, and anticipation has become feverish.

“I’ve just been mobbed outside the hotel,” Madley said yesterday. “They say that cricket is a religion here, but it appears to be a bit more than that.”

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And for all the dope on IPL, Hindustan Times has a dummies guide:

What is the IPL ?
The Indian Premier League is a professional twenty20 cricket league created and promoted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and backed by the International Cricket Council.

Franchises
The IPL works on a franchise-system based on the American style of hiring players and transfers. These franchises were put for auction, where the highest bidder won the rights to own the team, representing each city. The auction took place on January 24, 2008 and the total base price for the auction was $400 million. The auction went on to fetch $723.59 million.

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