I am getting younger: Sourav Ganguly

After first proving those who said he couldn't score runs in the T20 format wrong, Ganguly proceeded to baffle fans and critics alike by throwing himself about in the field with the alertness of a 20 year old. Dada, as he is lovingly known, had never made headlines for his fielding, but in a crucial match for the Kolkata Knight Riders against the Delhi Daredevils, he was brilliant in the field.

"As far as my fielding is concerned, I'm getting younger!" said Ganguly.

He was happy with the win, which saw KKR remain in strife for a semi-final spot. Throwing light on the team selection, Ganguly discovered that the decision to play Ajantha Mendis instead of Shane Bond was taken at the ground itself.

"It was a good game and it was good to win. It is always a difficult decision to leave Shane Bond out. I wasn't sure whom to play, Bond or Mendis, when we reached the ground. But then on seeing the wicket, I thought Mendis would do well. Even Iqbal Abdulla bowled well. He is a youngster and all time he gets an opportunity, he proves himself."

Sourav Ganguly praised Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, and said their wickets turned the match for KKR.

"I think we should have got 190 today. We're a bit stuck during the middle overs. Till the time Sehwag was around, I thought they were very much in the match. He is a champion batsman and when he bats, anything is possible. So Sehwag, along with Gambhir, kept them in the match. It was only when Sehwag was dismissed that we began to sense victory. Everyone thinks they know how to bowl to Sehwag but he keeps pumping them into the stands! He is a champion batsman. Both Sehwag and Gambhir are really fine players.

"We have been playing well for quite sometime now. Hopefully, we will be able to win the next match. Every time we win one, we lose the very next game."

Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir gave credit to Kolkata for the win, and said that he should have ensured he stayed till the end to finish the match for Delhi. Gambhir was run-out by a direct hit via his opposite number, Sourav Ganguly.

Kolkata bowling coach, Wasim Akram was delighted with his wards' show in front of a packed Eden Garden and heaped praises on faster Ashok Dinda, who packed off the dangerous David Warner in the first over, and was denied another wicket when Sehwag nicked a ball behind to the keeper.

"I am very happy with the way he bowled. He runs in straightaway, right from the first ball. I have always maintained that there aren't any warm-up deliveries in this format and you need to warm up before the match, which is what he does."

Lalit Modi offers 5000 passes for IPL 2010 semis and finals to MCA

Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) chief Sharad Pawar said that IPL Chairman Lalit Modi has clarified the locate over the non-issue of passes for league matches to the MCA and offered 5,000 passes for semifinal and final of the IPL Twenty20 event.

"I had a talk on this issue with the BCCI President and IPL Chairman. Lalit Modi has cleared a few things," Pawar said at MCA's Annual General Meeting.

"The opening match did not belong to Navi Mumbai but to Deccan Chargers as it was originally scheduled at Hyderabad and was shifted here only due to the Telangana violence.

"Hence, the IPL could not provide passes on time as they themselves an established the passes late," he said.

"The IPL and the Board have taken this issue fatally and Modi has offered to provide our members with 5,000 passes in advance for the semifinal and the final matches," Pawar said.

On matches hosted by the Mumbai Indians, Pawar said that the IPL franchisee had straight approached the Cricket Club of India and hence MCA could not get the 20 per cent passes reserved for the host association.

"This has happened because we do not have our stadium as it is under-construction. The phase is fleeting and for this year only as once we have our stadium, nobody can deny us our share of 20 per cent seats," he added.

Meanwhile, addressing the AGM, MCA treasurer Ratnakar Shetty said that the court has refused relief to petitioners of a PIL which contended that permission for revamping of the Wankhede Stadium has been given without considering the environmental issues.

"Recently, the judges visited the site and said that MCA was not wrong in construction and refused to grant relief to the petitioners. Besides, the judges have also asked the Railways to issue an NOC. We are expecting an NOC from Railways in a week," he said.

An NOC is required from the Railways for the building of the stadium as construction is not allowed within 30 metres of the railway track, he said.

IPL Team Preview: Kolkata Knight Riders

When Shahrukh Khan - India's leading movie star - co-purchased the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise, the country couldn't help but feel an similarity with the side. And when Brendon McCullum stormed into the competition with a whirlwind 158*, it drew a group gasp of admiration from fans of the sport across the world. If Ganguly helmed the side, then there was John Buchanan who powered the think-tank. But the team could not live up to potential.

In the 2nd season, suggestions of a multiple-captain approach drew a lot of argue but as it turned out, McCullum ended up captaining the side throughout. But the side's prospects did not improve. KKR ended the event pretty close to the bottom of the table. Ricky Ponting and Morne van Wyk have been bought out ahead of Season IPL 2010, while NZ Shane Bond has been bought at USD 750,000. U-19 player Harpreet Singh has also been picked for the tournament.

Sourav Ganguly (C), Wriddhiman Saha, Varun Aaron, Owais Shah, Iqbal Abdulla, Ishant Sharma, Ajit Agarkar, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Eklakh Ahmed, Manoj Tiwary, Ashoke Dinda, Ganapathi Vignesh, Rohan Gavaskar, Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge, Harshad Khadiwale, Charl Langeveldt, Angelo Mathews, Brendon McCullum, Ajantha Mendis, Murali Kartik, Chirag Pathak, Cheteshwar Pujara

Leading Batsmen
	Mts	Avg	S/R	Runs
BJ Hodge	12	40.55	117.74	365
B McCullum	13	23.75	119.24	285
Leading Bowlers
	Mts	Wkts	S/R	Economy
I Sharma	11	11	23.4	6.9
BJ Hodge	12	7	17.1	8.05

IPL 2010 Schedule

No.	Date & Time(IST)	Teams	Venue
1	12 - Mar, 20:00	Deccan Chargers vs KolkataKnight Riders KKR won by 11 runs	Navi Mumbai
2	13 - Mar, 15:00	Mumbai Indians vs Rajastan Royals MI won by 4 runs	Mumbai
3	13 - Mar, 20:00	Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils DD won by 5 wickets	Mohali
4	14 - Mar, 16:00	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Bangalore KKR won by 7 wickets	Kolkata
5	14 - Mar, 20:00	Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers DC won by 31 runs	Chennai
6	15 - Mar, 20:00	Rajastan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils DD won by 6 wickets	Ahmedabad
7	16 - Mar, 16:00	Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab RCB won by 8 wickets	Bengaluru
8	16 - Mar, 20:00	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings CSK won by 55 runs	Kolkata
9	17 - Mar, 20:00	Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians MI won by 98 runs	Delhi Delhi
10	18 - Mar, 20:00	RCB vs Rajastan Royals RCB won by 10 wickets	Bengaluru
11	19 - Mar, 16:00	Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings CSK won by 5 wickets	Delhi
12	19 - Mar, 20:00	Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab DC won by 6 runs	Cuttack
13	20 - Mar, 16:00	Rajastan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders RR won by 34 runs	Ahmedabad
14	20 - Mar, 20:00	Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore RCB won by 7 wickets	Mumbai
15	21 - Mar, 16:00	Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils DC won by 10 runs	Cuttack
16	21 - Mar, 20:00	Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab Punjab win in super over	Chennai
17	22 - Mar, 20:00	Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders MI won by 7 wickets	Mumbai
18	23 - Mar, 20:00	RCB vs Chennai Super Kings RCB won by 36 runs	Bengaluru
19	24 - Mar, 20:00	Kings XI Punjab vs Rajastan Royals RR won by 31 runs	Mohali
20	25 - Mar, 20:00	Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings	Mumbai
21	26 - Mar, 20:00	Rajas -an Royals vs Deccan Chargers	Ahmedabad
22	27 - Mar, 16:00	Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Mohali
23	27 - Mar, 20:00	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Daredevils	Bengaluru
24	28 - Mar, 16:00	Rajas -an Royals vs Chennai Super Kings	Ahmedabad
25	28 - Mar, 20:00	Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians	Navi Mumbai
26	29 - Mar, 20:00	Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Delhi
27	30 - Mar, 20:00	Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab	Mumbai
28	31 - Mar, 16:00	Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore	Chennai
29	31 - Mar, 20:00	Delhi Daredevils vs Rajas -an Royals	Delhi
30	1 - Apr, 20:00	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers	Kolkata
31	2 - Apr, 20:00	Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore	Mohali
32	3 - Apr, 16:00	Chennai Super Kings vs Rajas -an Royals	Chennai
33	3 - Apr, 20:00	Mumbai Indians vs Deccan Chargers	Mumbai
34	4 - Apr, 16:00	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab	Kolkata
35	4 - Apr, 20:00	Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers Bangalore	Delhi
36	5 - Apr, 20:00	Deccan Chargers vs Rajas -an Royals	Nagpur
37	6 - Apr, 20:00	Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians	Chennai
38	7 - Apr, 16:00	Rajas -an Royals vs Kings XI Punjab	Jaipur
39	7 - Apr, 20:00	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils	Kolkata
40	8 - Apr, 20:00	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Deccan Chargers	Bengaluru
41	9 - Apr, 20:00	Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians	Mohali
42	10 - Apr, 16:00	Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super Kings	Nagpur
43	10 - Apr, 20:00	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Bengaluru
44	11 - Apr, 16:00	Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab	Delhi
45	11 - Apr, 20:00	Rajas -an Royals vs Mumbai Indians	Jaipur
46	12 - Apr, 20:00	Deccan Chargers vs Royal Challengers Bangalore	Nagpur
47	13 - Apr, 16:00	Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils	Mumbai
48	13 - Apr, 20:00	Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Chennai
49	14 - Apr, 20:00	Rajas -an Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore	Jaipur
50	15 - Apr, 20:00	Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils	Chennai
51	16 - Apr, 20:00	Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers	Dharamsala
52	17 - Apr, 16:00	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians	Bengaluru
53	17 - Apr, 20:00	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajas -an Royals	Kolkata
54	18 - Apr, 16:00	Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings	Dharamsala
55	18 - Apr, 20:00	Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers	Delhi
56	19 - Apr, 20:00	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians	Kolkata
57	21 - Apr, 20:00	Semi-Final – TBC v TBC	Bengaluru
58	22 - Apr, 20:00	Semi-Final – TBC v TBC	Bengaluru
59	24 - Apr, 20:00	3rd Place Play-off – TBC v TBC	Navi Mumbai
60	25 - Apr, 20:00	Final – TBC v TBC	Mumbai

IPL Team Preview: Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings, owned by India Cements, managed to get the prized services of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the inaugural edition of IPL. Quite understandably, the Indian captain commanded the highest price at the player auctions - a whopping USD 1.5 million. Australia's batting tour de force Matthew Hayden was roped in to give the batting a destructive edge - and he played his role to perfection in two successive seasons.

Stephen Fleming, who doubled as coach in the second season; the wily Muralidaran; batsman Suresh Raina; and all-rounder Albie Morkel helped Chennai reach the final. When the second round of auctions took place, Andrew Flintoff joined as one of the highest-paid players. In 2009, Hayden scored prolifically while his team entered the semi-final, only to be pipped at the post by RCB. Fleming has now been bought out by the side and is just the coach. At the 2010 auction, the team bought South African Justin Kemp, they also brought in Sri Lankan Thisara Perera for a sum of USD 50,000.

M S Dhoni (Captain), M Muralidaran, M Vijay, Manpreet Gony, Sudeep Tyagi, Shadab Jakati, R Ashwin, K B Arun Karthik, Justin Kemp, Thisara Perera, Hemang Badani, L Balaji, S Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Jacob Oram, Thilan Thushara, George Bailey, Parthiv Patel, Ganapathy Chandrasekhar

Leading Batsmen - IPL 2009
	Mts	Avg	S/R	Runs
ML Hayden	12	52	144.81	572
SK Raina	14	31	116.98	434
MS Dhoni	14	41.50	127.20	332
Leading Bowlers
	Mts	Wkts	S/R	Economy
M Muralidaran	13	14	21.4	5.22
SB Jakati	9	13	13.3	7.48
Albie Morkel	12	13	18.4	8.20

IPL Auctions: Pollard and Bond were sold for maximum price

The auction for the 3rd edition of the IPL began with a bash but ended with a whimper. As it progressed, it became clear that the franchisees had come out with precise plans and strategies for what loopholes they needed to plug.

There was none of the excitement neither of the inaugural auction, when every player was up for grabs, nor of the auction 2009, where Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff and Mashrafe Mortaza created headlines.

At this auction, there was only one universal choice - the flamboyant Kieron Pollard, who was bid for by nearly all team. Some of the pace bowlers saw fiercely contested bids, with Shane Bond's bid going the distance, while Kemar Roach and Wayne Parnell were sold for heavy sums. Pollard finally went to the Mumbai Indians after four teams. Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai - were all fixed on the maximum bid of USD 750,000. Mumbai Indians got him via the silent bid method.

The main talking point was the complete lack of interest in the Pakistani players, with none of them getting a single bid. The Pakistan players had come into the auction with fine rare breed and several franchisees could have been predictable to be interested in the likes of Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal and Mohammad Aamer.

The Auction Details:

Chennai Super Kings:

• Thissara Perera (USD 50,000)
• Justin Kemp (USD 100,000)

Deccan Chargers:

• Kemar Roach (USD 720,000)
• Harmeet Singh (U-19, INR 800,000)

Delhi Daredevils:

• Wayne Parnell (USD 610,000)

Kings XI Punjab:

• Mohammad Kaif (USD 250,000)
• Yusuf Abdulla (USD 50,000)

Kolkata Knight Riders:

• Shane Bond (USD 750,000)

Mumbai Indians:

• Kieron Pollard (USD 750,000)
• Harshal Patel (U-19, INR 800,000)

Rajasthan Royals:

• Damien Martyn (USD 100,000)
• Adam Voges (USD 50,000)

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

• Eoin Morgan (USD 220,000)
• Ashok Meenaria (U-19, INR 800,000)

KKR in good shape: Wasim Akram

Former Pakistan skipper and Kolkata Knight Riders bowling coach Wasim Akram said the team is in good shape and would perform well in the 3rd season of the Indian Premiere League beginning in March 2010.

"KKR is in good shape and has a high morale," Wasim Akram said while cooperating with mediapersons at the Eden Gardens after a practice session of the team.

He said even though the team could not perform well last year, he expects that it will be able to live up to the expectations this time.

Stating that the team has a number of talented players, Akram said, "I have worked with Manoj Tiwari and Lakshmi Ratan Shukla earlier. They are still very impressive. Everybody in the team knows his work."

When asked whether he has trained reverse swing to KKR bowlers, Akram, known as the 'Sultan of swing', said, "I have given them some tips. I hope they will be able to adopt them by March 12."

KKR are line up to play their first IPL-3 match against the Deccan Chargers on March 12.

According to Akram, Sri Lankan Ajantha Mendis is a little down on confidence. "He is experienced, but his confidence has to be boosted up."

Speaking on KKR skipper Saurav Ganguly, he said, "He is a very successful skipper and a great motivator. He is very committed to the game. The juniors should learn from him."

"I am happy to be able to work with him," he said adding Dave Whatmore is a great coach.

According to the former Pakistan skipper, Ishant Sharma should not be judged only from his performance in the subcontinent.

"We should not judge him only on his performance on the wickets of the subcontinent," he added.