All set for a successful IPL: Lalit Modi

MUMBAI: The continuing TV news channels boycott notwithstanding, Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi expects a successful third edition of the cash-rich Twenty20 event starting March 12.

"The preparations are in full swing and there are no hiccups. We all are ready to go. We have planned a very good opening night as well as opening ceremony with a spectacular laser and fireworks show," Modi said at a media conference to announce IPL's latest tie-up with Karbonn Mobiles.

Modi said the boycott by the TV news channels is continuing though they had accepted a new set of proposals two nights ago.

"Nantional Broadcasters' Association's is a strange case. The IPL Governing Council and their representatives had a meeting two nights ago and we had agreed to allow certain amount of flexibility in their programming and amount of video footage that can be shown," the IPL chief said.

But Modi explained that there was a change of heart on the broadcasters' end within 24 hours and last night a few of them came to ask for more concessions which, he said, cannot be granted.

"They agreed then but last night came back to say they needed more concessions which the Governing Council cannot agree. The boycott continues though I would like them to cover the event but not on the new terms," he said.

Modi said the bone of contention was post-match programmes with IPL footage rights of which were with official broadcasters Sony only.

But Modi was not too worried about IPL's stand-off with NBA and said he expected the TRP ratings of the IPL action to get boosted.

"People can see IPL action on Sony and YouTube (with whom the League has struck a deal to show complete 'live' action with a five-minute delay for India)," he said.

Modi said the cricket fans in India were eager to see action inside the stadium after missing it last year when the tournament had to be staged in South Africa because of security concerns as it was clashing with the general elections.

"People are waiting for IPL to start. We are going to stage it with lot of innovations. IPL will take a new avatar," he declared.

Modi also said that the central revenue pool will be doubled as compared to last year with so many new deals having been struck by the IPL.

Sachin named most influential person in Indian sports

MUMBAI: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has been named as the most influential person in Indian sports in the annual Sports Illustrated Power list.

The top 50 rates Tendulkar as the number one influencer in India, followed closely by IPL Chairman Lalit Modi at second spot and liquor baron Dr Vijay Mallya in third.

Union Agriculture Minister and President elect, ICC Sharad Pawar, Indian cricket team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and BCCI president Shashank Manohar are fourth, fifth and sixth on the list respectively.

Some of the names in 50 most influential people in Indian sports including Tendulkar, tennis ace Sania Mirza (50th on the list), Beijing Olympics gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra (41st), Churchill Brothers Team owner Churchill Alemao (48th), Dempo Sports Team owner Shrinivas Dempo (49) were felicitated during a function here late last night.

"I wanted to play cricket whole-heartedly for the country. I am living my dream and have played with two-three generations. I wanted to be a special member of the team and I have done it," Tendulkar said on the occasion.

Tendulkar added he was still receiving congratulatory messages for becoming first batsman in the history of one-day cricket to score a double hundred and that he was enjoying the good time.

"It has taken many years for a batsman to get a double-hundred (in ODIs). I am still getting great feedback. It feels terrific," he said.

Asked how he kept himself composed even after becoming the first Indian to win an individual gold medal in Olympics, Bindra said, "I have waited for it for the last 16 years."

Meanwhile, Sania, who had recently sustained a wrist injury said she was on the way to recovery and was preparing for the Commonwealth games.

"I am recovering from the injury. Should be back in a couple of weeks."

As a special gesture, Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta (the most powerful woman at 23 on the list) was presented with a diamond studded cricket ball.

Kapil Dev inducted in ICC Hall of Fame

DUBAI: Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, who led India to their only ODI World Cup triumph in 1983, was on Tuesday inducted into the International Cricket Council's Hall of Fame.

A commemorative cap was presented to Kapil by ICC President David Morgan, in front of fellow Hall of Famer Clive Lloyd, as well as an audience of ICC officials and other invited guests at the governing body's headquarters here.

The Hall of Fame, run in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA), recognises some of the legends of the game.

"I am proud and happy to have been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and it's amazing to think that I have been picked as one of the greats of Indian cricket," Kapil said.

"I am delighted to have been named alongside so many great players of the game but for me, when I was growing up, the man I always looked up to was Sunil Gavaskar from the moment I started playing cricket. Now to be named also alongside greats of the game such as Clive Lloyd, Richard Hadlee and Wasim Akram it truly fantastic," he said.

Born on January 6, 1959 in Chandigarh, Kapil played in 131 Test matches and 225 ODIs in an international career that spanned 16 years.

He made his ODI debut in 1978 against Pakistan in Quetta while his Test debut came two weeks later in Faisalabad against the same opposition.

Kapil is considered one of the greatest pace bowlers India has produced besides being the country's finest bowling all-rounder. He took a remarkable 434 Test wickets and 253 ODI wickets.

In 1994, he became the leading wicket-taker in Tests when he overtook Richard Hadlee, a record that was eventually broken by West Indies pacer Courtney Walsh.

In 1988 he leapfrogged another West Indies fast bowler, Joel Garner, to become the most successful bowler in ODIs, a record he held until 1994 when his tally of 253 wickets was passed by Wasim Akram.

Kapil's best bowling figures in a Test match were 11-146 against Pakistan in Chennai in 1980 while in ODIs his best match figures came in the group stage of the 1983 ICC Cricket World Cup when he took 5-43 against Australia.

With the bat Kapil made 5,248 Test runs, including eight centuries and 27 fifties, at an average of 31.05. He also scored 3,783 ODI runs.

ICC President David Morgan, who presented Kapil with his hand-crafted Hall of Fame cap, praised the latest inductee.

"Kapil was an all-time great player. He did everything. He batted, bowled and he was a fine fielder. I remember the great catch he took to dismiss Viv Richards in the 1983 World Cup final - he was on the run and the ball came over his shoulder, possibly the most difficult of catches," Morgan said.

Bond all set to play in IPL-3

WELLINGTON: New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond is all set to declare himself available for the Indian Premier League, starting on March 12.

New Zealand Cricket Players Association boss Heath Mills' said Bond will declare himself available for the upcoming IPL-3.

Al Qaeda had threatened to target players during the IPL, but Bond, Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Jacob Oram (if fit) are now more likely to attend than when the terror warning was first issued.

"They're going of their own accord; New Zealand Cricket isn't involved so it comes down to an individual decision at the end of the day.

"Bondy will be the first one to go, so he's probably getting close to making a decision and all I'm going to do is keep relaying information to him from our security adviser, Reg Dickason," Mills said.

"The measures they've put in place have got a lot better so they (the players) are getting more confident. Certainly more confident than they were two weeks ago," Mills said.

"I'd say they'd be of a mind to go at the moment, but that's their call and obviously I wouldn't want to be seen to say that they're definitely going," Stuff.co.nz quoted Bond, as saying.

Mills said that security strategies around the 12 venues and host cities in India had shown marked improvement in recent days and he felt they would improve again in the lead-up to the tournament.

Desperate India aim to end losing streak against South Africa

NEW DELHI: Out of contention for a top-five finish after three consecutive defeats, India would be desperate to end their losing streak when they take on lowly but spirited South Africa in their last pool B match of the hockey World Cup on Monday.

A win against South Africa will not only give the ardent hockey fans something to cheer about but also secure India's place in the seventh-eighth place play-off match, which would definitely be a considerable improvement from their 11th place finish in the 2006 World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany.

However, achieving it won't be a cake-walk as South Africa are on a high after registering their first-ever victory in the World Cup.

After stunning Pakistan 4-3 in their last match, the Proteas would be looking for another upset and going by their performance in the last encounter, the possibility is not a distant dream.

The Indians don't seem to have learnt from their past mistakes as for the third consecutive match, the home team committed the same blunders in the tournament.

The Indian defence yet again crumbled under pressure and on more than one occasion found itself in a hole. Like in the earlier two games, the home team was on the back-foot from the beginning after conceding early soft goals.

The Indians left plenty of open spaces in the field, man-to-man marking seemed to have gone for a toss. To add to it, horrible trapping, mindless passing and unnecessary dribbling continued unabated. And if they continue the same, a rude shock may await them on Monday in the form of South Africa.

"We did not learn from the past mistakes against Spain. The first goal we conceded was similar to the one Spain scored against us. If you commit these kind of mistakes at the top level competitions you have to pay for it.

"But all these cannot be changed in a short time. We need many more matches at the top level to rectify all these mistakes. We did not have that in the build-up to the World Cup. Seven months is too short to sort out those things and without playing international matches," India coach Jose Brasa had said.

However, there are some positives that India can draw from the England encounter.

The Indian mid-field yet again dished out a fine performance with Gurbaz Singh being outstanding on the right and giving him due support were Arjun Halappa and Sardar Singh.

The forward-line also picked up their pieces and looked menacing against the English but what they lacked was finishing. But the most notable thing, which the Indians have earned in this tournament, is their fighting spirit.

"We are improving with every match. In every match, the boys fought till the last breath," Brasa said.

On the other hand, by virtue of their victory over Pakistan, South Africa on Saturday proved that they are not here just to add up the numbers.

With the win against Pakistan, the South Africans have already achieved what they aimed for in this tournament.

They have nothing to lose and only to gain from the India encounter, which would definitely be more than enough motivation for them to come out full throttle against the Indians.

India coach Brasa too admitted that the Proteas would be a tough team to compete against.

"South Africa is a very good side. They played very well against Pakistan, Spain and England. It will not be an easy match for us against them," he said.

Australia's triumphant season masks games' ills

SYDNEY: The Australian team's unconquered march through their home international season raised more questions than provided answers for cricket amid dwindling crowds and television ratings.

Ricky Ponting's team swept aside lowly-ranked Pakistan and West Indies in Test, one-dayer and Twenty20 matches for Australia's first unbeaten domestic summer since the Steve Waugh-led side of 2000/01.

The lopsided contests left plenty of cricket fans feeling empty, many staying away from matches and tuning out of televised cricket.

One dismayed fan derisively labelled the vanquished: 'Panicstan' and the 'Worst Indies'.

While Ponting, rehabilitating his captaincy after leading a second failed Ashes series in England last year, was proud of Australia's unbeaten achievement and upbeat about the unearthing of fresh young talent, there is an unease about the state of the game.

Fans stayed away from the one-day internationals in droves, preferring the pyrotechnics of the abbreviated T20 form of the game.

The massive Melbourne Cricket Ground took on a funereal feel when just 15,538 fans watched the fifth ODI against the West Indies, just 15 percent of its 100,000 capacity.

Adelaide Oval's smallest-ever crowd of 8,378 for an international one-dayer watched the second match of the series and Brisbane's Gabba ground was half-full with 20,088 fans for the fourth game.

Worrying still was the fall-off in television ratings for cricket this summer with the audience of long-term broadcaster, the Nine Network, plummeting 40 percent for the ODIs on the previous year's figures.

Media analyst Steve Allen of Fusion Strategy said that cricket television ratings were down across the board, with Tests the most affected and the game suffering something of a "disconnect" with the public.

"The result was a bit of a shocker," he said. "They were off 40 percent. That's a big drop, about the most severe we've seen."

Nine Network chief executive David Gyngell said he was prepared to wait until the tour here later this year of traditional rivals England to gauge the actual health of the Australian game.

"We have a very dominant Australian side, which is good news against weak opposition (Pakistan and the West Indies) this year, but we won't really get an understanding until we see the Ashes summer," he said.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland sees nothing to be alarmed about.

"Australian cricket operates in four-year cycles, with some ups and downs depending on who we are playing and when," he said.

"The trend line for public interest, as measured by attendance, TV and radio ratings and research, has being going up consistently for many years.

"The strong Australian programme for the next few years, starting with the Ashes next summer, will see this continue."

Despite the apparent loss of public appetite for the ODIs, Cricket Australia has scheduled seven 50-over games for England's tour later this year despite some misgivings from Ponting.

"I have said for quite a while now that those seven-match series are pretty hard to be a part of, but you understand the reasons behind it," he said.

"One-day cricket brings in a lot of money to the game ... but it's just important for one-day cricket's sake that you don't get to a stage where you are just playing meaningless games."

Lynton Taylor, Kerry Packer's consultant in the days of World Series Cricket of the 1970s, warns against cricket overkill.

"I think there has been too much cricket this summer and taking it deeply into February was a mistake," he said.

While ODIs and Tests have tailored off, T20 has attracted a large and in most instances, a younger audience to their games in line with overseas events.

The Boxing Day Test at the MCG draws traditionally the biggest crowd on Australia's cricketing calendar.

This season the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan attracted 59,206 fans. Just over a month later the T20 game between the same two teams at the same arena drew 60,054, the biggest crowd of the season.

India hope to maintain winning momentum against Australia

NEW DELHI: After a virtuoso performance in an emotionally charged campaign-opener against arch-rivals Pakistan, India will have to maintain the attacking form when they take on Australia in their second Pool B match of the hockey World Cup on Tuesday.

India produced one of the finest performances in long time in front of a capacity crowd at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium to beat Pakistan 4-1 on Sunday and now would want to overcome Australia to brighten their chances for semi-finals.

Pumped up by a cheering home crowd, everything clicked for India against Pakistan with the midfield, defence and upfront spot on.

The defence of Sandeep Singh, Diwakar Ram and Dhananjay Mahdik were able to keep at check the dangerous strike duo of Rehan Butt and Shakeel Abbasi throughout the match.

The upfront led by Prabhjot Singh, Shivendra Singh and Rajpal Singh created havoc with their fast-paced interchanges, but the difference was the midfield with an outstanding Sardar Singh.

On the other hand, Australia would be an altogether different side with their one-touched fast-paced hit and run style of play and India will have to be extra vigilant as the Kookaburras are now like a wounded tiger after their 2-3 loss to England on Sunday.

Having won 51 of their 72 World Cup matches, Australia boast a winning percentage of 71 - higher than any other team. They finished runners-up in the last two editions (2002 and 2006).

Rightly for India, coach Jose Brasa has advised his boys to remain grounded on their feet and not being carried away by the triumph against Pakistan.

For Ric Charlesworth's side, it will be a must-win match against India and any hiccup would make it difficult for Australia to qualify for the semi-finals.

Charlesworth himself has acknowledged that it would be a must-win match for them.

"It is a must-win situation now," he said. The last match between the two teams was in Champions Trophy in Chennai five years ago when Australia won it 4-1.

Australia have come into the tournament at the back of their Champions Trophy triumph at home last year and they have been one of the title contenders though that tag has been dented by their loss to England.

They are the second-ranked side in the world but Olympic and World Cup records (just one gold medal each) do not match with their formidable prowess.

Australia, however, are the favourites as far as history goes with the Indians having won just one of the six matches the two sides have played in World Cup since 1975.

The Australians committed mistakes in the defence and also was poor in converting the penalties against England. Specially, Australia need to improve penalty corner conversion rate as they could score just once from the 12 they got on Sunday.

In the two other Pool B matches on Tuesday, South Africa take on England while Pakistan play Spain.

Teams (from):

India: Rajpal Singh (C), Adrian D'Souza, Sandeep Singh, Arjun Halappa, Prabhjot Singh, Sardar Singh, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Deepak Thakur, Sarvanjit Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Tushar Khandker, Sreejesh Raveendran, Shivendra Singh, Bharat Chikara, Dhananjay Mahadik, Vikram Pillay, Danish Mujtaba, Diwakar Ram.

Australia: Jamie Dwyer (C), Liam De Young, Simon Orchard, Glenn Turner, Robert Hammond, Matthew Butturini, Mark Knowles, Edward Ockenden, Luke Doerner, Grant Schubert, Matthew Swann, Nathan Burgers, George Bazeley, Kieran Govers, Kiel Brown, Graeme Beg bie, Fergus Kavanagh, Desmond Abbott.