Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi says he wants to enter into a partnership with an English premier league in order to enable star England players to compete in the Indian championship.

“Our players are contracted only to the IPL, but as long as an English premier league was not played at the same time as ours, then I see no problem with partnership. I think it’s a good idea,” he said in an interview on Sunday. His comments came amid reports that the three men running cricket in England will be visiting India at the start of the IPL championship next week.

Unlike football, there is no English premier league for cricket. However, the formation of the billion-dollar IPL, which has thrown domestic cricket in England into a state of crisis, has led to suggestions that England should set up a cricket league modeled on that of the IPL.

An England premier league would allow the IPL to field such star England players as Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff.The England and Wales Cricket Board has banned all players contracted to it from playing in the IPL, saying the schedule of the Indian championship – running for six weeks from the second half of April – clashes with the English domestic season.

Meanwhile, a top ECB delegation will be in India to watch the IPL championship, which kicks off in Bangalore with a tie between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers.The delegation will comprise chief executive David Collier, chairman, Giles Clarke and commercial director John Perera, the Sunday Times reported.They are to be followed by teams of county cricket administrators who also plan to witness the IPL in action.

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com

Lasith Malinga,Sri Lankan fast bowler is confident about his fitness and said that he would be fully fit to participate in the Indian Premier League campaign (DLF- IPL).

He said: “I am very confident that I will be able to play in the IPL.”He added: “I wasn’t sure when I returned from Australia due to the injury which forced me to miss the West Indies trip.But I feel fine after working hard on my recovery process and I am looking forward to playing in the IPL.”

Australian Cricketer Symonds says: “I must thank the owners for bidding for me in such a big way. It came as a surprise. But now my ambition is to win the tournament. Money is definitely a factor. I think IPL is a new frontier in cricket”

Just few days are left before the Indian Premier League – DLF-IPL becomes reality. There is enthusiasm for it all over but the common man seems to be less interested.In an interview given to Kolkata-based Anand Bazaar Patrika, KingKhan said that he was very very disappointed to see the response to the ticket sales. “The first day, when I heard this, I was really surprised that only 237 tickets had been sold at the counter,” Khan told the Kolkata paper. “I am truly finding it difficult to accept this. I have never, till date, requested my fans to go and see my films. Never ever done it. I am a bit surprised as to why, despite keeping the ticket prices low, people are not showing any interest.”

Khan said he is “very tired” by the IPL experience. “I never thought so many problems would crop up when I bought the Knight Riders. I was not prepared for these circumstances. A rosy picture, removed from reality, was painted to me,” he said.

“I think that AV presentation went off very well and I’m hoping that my latest association is just as successful. I’d like the fans to turn out in huge numbers and, even if we aren’t the best team, their support will make us into one,” a grinning Shah Rukh told The Telegraph.

DLF IPL franchisee Deccan Chargers on Thursday announced that the sale of tickets for the Twenty20 matches in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, Vijayawada, Vishakapatnam and Bhubaneswar from April 12.

The cricket-loving fans would now be able to buy tickets to witness the grand high octane league matches at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket stadium. In the first match in Hyderabad on April 22 when Deccan Chargers will face Delhi Daredevils.

Tickets would also be made available online, a release said here on Thursday. Tickets were priced between a range of Rs 250 and Rs 2,500 per match. Deccan Chargers have also announced a novel lucky draw scheme.

Each ticket is eligible for a lucky draw coupon and has a chance to win fabulous prizes – one Mercedes Benz (C Class), seven Maruti Swifts, 35 Yamaha motorbikes and 35 colour TVs.

Source: Sify

There are news that the media organizations may boycott the prestigious Indian Premier League after the two sides failed to resolve a row over digital rights.As per IPL guidelines,news agencies cannot supply any images to the websites or for any other online operation.This is resented strongly by media.The legendary Cricketer Kapil Dev even advised media to boycott IPL due to the stringent accreditation conditions.

Indian Premier League ( IPL ) is reported to have sold the media rights of the matches to a US web company for a whopping $50 million and therefore they had sticked to this approach says a media expert.Reacting strongly to this Bahubali Shah said”The accreditation terms failed to address the issues of intellectual property rights belonging to media as well as issues of press freedom,In the absence of remedial action by the Indian Premier League, members of the Indian Newspaper Society will be forced to take an adverse view on the question of coverage of IPL matches.”

Willow TV acquired the exclusive rights for broadband, radio, internet and television for the prestigious Indian Premier League- IPL for North America, Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean The company has acquired exclusive rights from World Sport Group (WSG) for a period of five years.

“BCCI-IPL would like to welcome Willow TV, as its broadcast licensee, and is pleased to be working with Willow TV on the broadcast of the DLF Indian Premier League in the Americas and is confident that this will be a successful working partnership,” Lalit Modi, IPL Governing Council Chairman, said in a statement.