Champions League 2009 to have 12 teams

Even as the second edition of the Indian Premier League was being played, the governing council for the IPL came out with the announcement that the Champions League of cricket will have 12 teams in place of the earlier planned eight, and will be played between October 8 to 23. The chairman of IPL , Lalit Modi, also said that the prize money for the tournament will be $6million.

Last year, the tournament was supposed to be held between 3rd and 10th December, but the attacks on Mumbai had ensured its cancellation. There were plans for eight teams in the tournament, which included two each from India, Australia and South Africa, and one from Pakistan and England. This time around, there will be three teams from India, two each from Australia, England, South Africa, and one from Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand. And apart from the couple of sides from England, the remaining slots have already been decided. England’s domestic T20 tournament is currently in progress.

India will represented by the two finalists of the IPL, Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers, along with the Delhi Daredevils, who had topped the group. Next edition of the IPL will also see a play-off for the third slot. The other teams in the competition will be Victoria and New South Wales from Australia, Eagles and Cobra from South Africa, Wayamba from Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago from the West Indies and Otago from New Zealand.

All the twelve teams will be divided into four groups of three teams each, with the top two teams from each group progressing into the second round. Out of the eight sides in the second round, the top four will make it to the semi-finals

Lalit Modi also said that the Pakistan government hadn’t given any team from Pakistan to travel to India and hence there will be no team from there. He also added that the 2011 edition of the Indian Premier League will see 10 teams instead of the eight that there are currently.

Fantasy Preview of West Indies v Sri Lanka

The 11th game of the ICC World T20 will be an inconsequential match-up between West Indies and Sri Lanka, after both the teams have already qualified for the Super Eights ahead of Australia.

For the Sports Pundit Fantasy experts though, it does not lose its importance, because both the teams will play at least three more games after this one, essentially meaning that the players that they transfer for this encounter can be used for a total of four matches.

West Indies look to be a rather one dimensional team, with Chris Gayle providing with most of the runs, and Fidel Edwards inflicting most damage on to the opposition batsmen. There is a Dwayne Bravo who does a bit of both, but beyond that, this format of the game hasn’t seen too much that has come out in this format of the game.

Andre Fletcher had an impressive first game against the Aussies, and the best part about him was his ability to match Gayle stroke-for-stroke unlike some of the others who have had no role in partnerships with the West Indian captains for the simple reason that they haven’t been as good!

Yet, this also meant that the West Indian middle-order wasn’t tested too much in that game, and if one is looking to get in players from the West Indian team for the Sports Pundit Fantasy, then it is the top-order that they should be looking at.

From the Lankan perspective, Ajantha Mendis seems to have smelt blood with a rousing performance in the previous game against the mighty Aussies and I have no doubt that he will have a huge role to play in the future. But, the Sports Pundit Fantasy experts need to be cautious before getting him on for the next game. Sri Lankan captains have been known to drop such mystery batsmen or bowlers for inconsequential games in order not to allow oppositions to be able to read the bowler! Choose Mendis in the game at your own risk!

M.Muralitharan may be a better option for this game given that the West Indians do not play spinners as well as some of the others and Murali would want to get into the wickets after an average first game. Nuwan Kulasekera was dropped in the first game, and even though he may be given a game, one cannot be sure of his future prospects in the tournament!

2011 Cricket World Cup itinerary altered

The ICC has concluded that there is an uncertain political situation in Pakistan and due to this it is not possible to have a safe, secure and successful Cricket World Cup event in Pakistan. So, it has eliminated Pakistan from the list of hosts. The 14 matches that were allotted to be played in Pakistan are now redistributed amongst the other hosts.

The itinerary
On 18th February 2011, the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cricket World Cup would be held in Bangladesh. Overall, 49 matches have been planned. Out of these, Bangladesh would host 8 matches in 2 venues. Sri Lanka has 3 venues where 12 matches would be held. India has been allotted 29 games that would be played at 8 venues. Of the 14 matches that were planned in Pakistan, 2 were given to Bangladesh, 4 for Sri Lanka and 8 to India. The quarter finals are divided as follows – 2 in Bangladesh, 1 in Sri Lanka and 1 in India. The semi finals have been assigned 1 each to India and Sri Lanka. The host of the final match would be India.

The organizing committee of the tournament opted to move the tournament secretariat from Lahore to Mumbai. Previously, the Pakistani banker, Salman Butt was the managing director of the event. Now, he has been substituted by BCCIs chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty. The chief executive of the ICC, Haroon Lorgat disclosed that the key person in the management of the World Cup would be IS Bindra, the special adviser to the ICC