IPL 2011 Is Upcoming Fixture and It's Auction List Of Top Most Expensive Players

IPL 2011 Add New Two Team and It's Rules-Regulation For Players-

 

 

2 new teams (Pune and Kochi) will play in IPL 2011. 10 teams will play 94 matches over 2 months in IPL 2011. Maharashtra is the only state that owns 2.

Rendezvous buys IPL Kochi Team | New IPL Teams for 2011

Breaking News of the moment comes from chennai, where Latil Modi has just now announced that Sahara Group have successfully bought IPL Pune Team.

Next highest bid was from Rendezvous who bought IPL Kochi Team
 

"New IPL rules a bit confusing. Two new teams added (good). All players should go into pool to make it fair for everyone. Simple & straight," Shah Rukh wrote on his twitter page. With the inclusion of two new teams in the IPL -- Sahara Pune Warriors and Kochi team, the IPL Governing Council proposed a revised structure but it has not gone down too well with some of the franchise owners voicing their concerns publicly.

The new rules state that the 10 teams will be divided into two groups and there would be 74 matches in the next three IPL seasons.

The eight original franchises will be allowed to retain four players, including a foreigner. Besides the four players, the rest of the squad would be selected through open bidding.       

 Top Most Expensive IPL 4 Players in 2011-

Below is the list of most expensive players in Indian Premier League season 4 this year in 2011. This list is based on IPL 4 Auction Price. In this Top 10 List, Top 7 Expensive Players are from India only. Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan and Rohit Sharma these are the 4 players whose Auction Price are twice than 1 million. All are getting more(equal) than 2 Million USD for their best performance.

1. Gautam Gambhir 2.4 Million USD.
2. Robin Uthappa 2.1 Million USD.
3. Yusuf Pathan 2.1 Million USD.
4. Rohit Sharma 2.0 Million USD.
5. Irfan Pathan 1.9 Million USD.
6. Yuvraj Singh 1.8 Million USD.
7. Saurabh Tiwary 1.6 Million USD.
8. Mahela Jayawardene 1.5 Million USD.
9. David Hussey 1.4 Million USD
10. Dale Steyn 1.2 Million USD.

 

Pune, Kochi unveiled as new IPL franchises-

Two new teams, four fielding substitutes instead of the lone 12th man, pink balls in practice matches and abolishing the Icon player status are some of the innovations which the Indian Premier League would embrace from its 2011 edition.Pune, Kochi – New IPL Franchises for 2011 Pune, Kochi win bid for franchises‎. The IPL unveiled the two new teams at the ITC Park Sheraton in Chennai, with 5 bidders reportedly in the fray. 

Pune and Kochi were unveiled as the two new IPL Franchises for the 4th edition of the Indian Premier League on Sunday, March 21st 2010. Pune was bought by Sahara Adventure Sports Group for a price of 370 million dollars equivalent to Rs 1,702 crore for a period of ten years. The Kochi franchise was bought by Rendezvous Sports World Limited for a price of 333.33 million dollars, equivalent to Rs 1533.32 crore. Ahmedabad misses IPL franchise again‎. Now we would see 10 Teams playing for the tournament i.e. a total of 94 games. Addressing the media after the bidding process Modi said, “The IPL to be limited to ten teams only in near future. Also there are no plans to hold IPL aboard in future.”




It has been decided that teams would be allowed four fielding substitutes, rather than the lone 12th man.

Any ball bowled above waist height, regardless of the speed, will be declared a no-ball, while pink balls would be used in practice matches.

Apart from availing ACSU service, IPL will follow the BCCI Anti-Doping policy for season 2010.

Another issue that the IPL Governing Council plans to take up is non-availability of players after signing of contracts.

"Measures discussed revolved around the initiation of stringent action including termination of player contracts and barring from future participation in the IPL, of players that have signed contracts, but fail to make themselves available for playing in the IPL," the organisers said.

"It was agreed that in the event any of the Member Boards not issuing an NOC to their players for participation in the IPL - on pretext of domestic engagements - IPL could make a representation to the Governing Council of the Champions League for taking appropriate action against the members boards participation in the League," the organisers said.

 On the decision to expand the league, they said, "A discussion for the addition of two new franchises in Season 4 was held with the same being adopted with 7 of the 8 Franchises being in favour of increasing the number of Teams to 10."

Among other things, it was finalised that trading of players will be permitted between franchisees for the season 2010 onwards.

Meanwhile, Pakistani players' participation will have to be confirmed by their Cricket Board through an NOC and clearance from their government.

On January 19 next year, IPL would conduct an auction, adding new players into the league and a fresh purse of $750,000 will be available to each franchisee.

The League will also have a cap on the maximum players in a squad while all franchises agreed to do away with the Icon Player status.


Pune and Kochi to join 2011 Indian Premier League-

 

As the IPL gears up for the mammoth two-day auction over the weekend, there are rumblings of dissatisfaction among five of its franchises regarding the rules governing players who will not be part of the auction - the "uncapped" Indians, who form the base of any IPL squad. The problem stems from a rule change in December that, the franchises believe, has tilted the balance in favour of the wealthier and influential teams in the competition, a charge the IPL denies. 

The players who come under this rule include Manish Pandey, the IPL's first Indian centurion, former India under-19 captain Ambati Rayadu and Ranji Trophy performers Sidharth Trivedi, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and R Satish. 

In September 2010, it was decided that domestic players who had played 75% of their teams' matches in IPL 3 would be part of the auction, along with their senior colleagues and overseas players. In November, however, the IPL governing council received a list of suggestions from Mumbai Indians, which included the contentious issue of retaining uncapped players and not putting them in the auction. It was confirmed by an IPL governing council member that, after some deliberation, the league had finally altered the original conditions set for uncapped players and, following a council meeting, formally changed the rule in December. The new rule removed uncapped players from the auction and allowed franchises to sign players of their choice through a three-way agreement involving player, franchise and the IPL. In late December, franchises were instructed to not approach the uncapped players until notified to do so by the Board. 

The issue has raised the alarm among some franchises who, in mails to the IPL, said they believed the new rules would leave the uncapped player 'market' open to under-the-table deals. "It is a simple problem, the quality of uncapped domestic players is limited," a franchise insider said, "these are rules that are just encouraging illegality." 

The squad rules state that franchises can sign a minimum of 20 Indians and no more than 10 foreign players. That's 200 Indian players who need to be on board. The auction list features only 48 Indians while seven others have been retained by their franchises, leaving 145 players who have to be signed up by the franchises from the list of uncapped players. That's what sparked fear among some franchises, who believe players like Pandey and Rayudu will be most sought after and thus open to being offered unofficial 'perks' of signing up with a particular franchise. 

In their mails seeking a change in the rules about uncapped India players, the franchises had offered the IPL several solutions: to either put the uncapped players into the auction (with the excess amount outside their salary slab being given to the BCCI) or to have franchises make a bid for them and draw lots to decide who gets the most sought-after player or restrict the players to their catchment areas. All options were turned down. 

The system is fair, BCCI president Shashank Manohar told ESPNcricinfo. "Those [uncapped] players can only be taken after the auction. Before the auction nobody can enter an agreement with the uncapped players. It will have to be a tripartite agreement between the player, the franchise and the board." 

The decision to keep the cricketers who had not represented India out of the auction was, Manohar said, logistical given the large numbers involved. "We can't put all the uncapped players in the auction because that would mean having more than 1000 players in the auction". The most sought after players Manohar said, "can be approached by everyone." 

Manohar, whose term as BCCI chief ends in September 2011 after which N Srinivasan - the owner of the Chennai franchise - will take over, said the unbalanced supply-demand equation among the uncapped players was not an issue. "There would be seven to eight capped players in every team, and the balance remaining is 10-11 players. So that is how it would work. According to me, nobody would pay huge amounts to uncapped players. Which capped player would be paid a large sum? Everyone is a capped player ... Saurabh Tiwary, Cheteshwar Pujara, they are also capped players. Even Abhishek Nayar has become a capped player." 

The IPL chief executive, Sundar Raman, told ESPNcricinfo that the argument that it was only the wealthier clubs who would be able to promise more and that too outside the system was, "not valid." Raman said, "All uncapped players have been out of the auction even in the past. They get a fixed fee of Rs 30, 20 or 10 lakhs and the contract process is managed by BCCI." 

The system, Manohar said, could not benefit any franchise on the basis of either money or influence. "Finally it depends on how much money you have at the end of the auction. Mumbai and Chennai have lost half their purse due to the retention rule. At the bidding process they are going to face problems. Because a total of $9m is for everyone, capped, uncapped, everyone." The pressures on players from the bigger franchises would mean little he said, "because likewise others can also approach them." He said the BCCI would look into any complaints about illegality in the signing process. 

Members of the franchises who had protested about the auction rules were not willing to speak on record, while others like Kochi, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals had spent the last few months caught in legal disputes with the BCCI. A King's XI Punjab spokesman told EPSNcricinfo said his team had not raised the issue of uncapped players because, "we did not belong in the IPL at the time. Right now we are happy to live with whatever is there. We cannot possibly comment on who can or who can't be in the auction." He also confirmed that the franchise had paid up all their dues to their players. 

by-Sharda Ugra is senior editor at Cricinfo

Pune and Kochi have been announced as the two new franchises in the Indian Premier League.

Pune was bought by Sahara Adventure Sports Group for $370m (£246m) and Kochi went to Rendezvous Sports World Limited for $333m at a Chennai auction. 

The two new franchises will join the IPL from 2011, taking the total number of teams to 10.

Earlier this month, the MCC scrapped plans to buy into an IPL franchise and host matches at Lord's. 

The new teams were originally due to be unveiled on 7 March but the process was delayed by two weeks after a dispute over financial clauses. 

Sahara and Rendezvous were competing with three other companies, including the Adani Group and VC Digital Solution.

606: DEBATE Give your reaction to this story

Sahara made bids for Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Pune, before deciding to host its team in the latter. 

"The IPL is undoubtedly the most ground-breaking international sports development in living memory," said Sahara spokesman Abhijit Sarkar. "I can promise the people of Pune a team they will be proud of." 

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi added: "We are absolutely delighted by the overwhelming response to our global Franchise Invitation to Tender process. 

"I am also certain that the IPL fans in Kochi and Pune would be particularly excited with an IPL franchise for their respective cities. 

"Given the high quality of franchises that we have selected, we are certain that both the new franchises will do everything in their power to ensure good competitive teams for next year."

Competition to buy the teams reflects the success of the world's richest cricket league, whose third season is currently underway.

Some of India's richest men are desperate to be part of India's first ever successful domestic sports league   BBC India correspondent Rahul Tandon

"It's fantastic that two new teams have come in, it will give more youngsters an opportunity to show their talent and that's only going to be good for Indian cricket," said former India captain Sunil Gavaskar. 

"The youngsters will not only come into national focus but international focus as well." 

BBC correspondent Rahul Tandon in Kolkata says the IPL has become a multi-billion dollar industry, which attracts some of the country's wealthiest businessman. 

The games feature some of the world's biggest stars and are played out against a backdrop of razzmatazz, including Bollywood music and cheerleaders for the teams. 

"Some of India's richest men are desperate to be part of India's first ever successful domestic sports league," said Tandon. 

"It's not because they love the game.

"It is to get access to the millions of young Indians who every evening watch the IPL at home on their television sets. 

"Cricket is big business in one of the world's fastest growing economies."

 IPL adds two more teams and new rules for 2011-

Two New Teams For IPL 2011:

The upcoming IPL tournament has many surprises waiting, somewhat it going to transform into a big Bollywood sports parade. Many of the new features will be included like the use of pink color ball and four fielding substitutes are to be used instead of lone 12th man. And the most amusing part of this session is going to be the entry of two more new teams are likely to enter this tournament and the best part is the ownership dealing.

Rumors is spreading that Salman Khan is also taking a keen interest in buying a team and also on the other hand Ajay Devgan and Sanjay Dutt are also interested in buying a team. These new trends not only transform the phase of Indian but will mix cricket with Bollywood. IPL chief Lalit Modi has made official statement regarding the inclusion of two more new teams. The likely position of these teams is that of Ahmedabad and Lucknow respectively.

And not only that the base price of these new teams is to start at as huge as $225 million! The league is also likely to expand the number of matches to 94 matches in the upcoming session.

IPL has gained the highest viewership last year even beating NHL Super Bowl and English Premier League.

The new auction rules governing player retention, which have been criticized by the franchises, allow a team to keep up to four players but at a steep price. The first player retained will cost a team $1.8 million against the salary cap of $9 million; regardless of the amount the player is actually paid. The second player will cost $1.3 million, the third $900,000 and the fourth $500,000.

 Salman may buy IPL franchise-

 

 

The auctions for this IPL 2011 season are scheduled to be held on January 8 and 9 in Mumbai.

The tournament will begin a week after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 ends. And, it will feature 8 teams, playing 60 matches, and run from April 8 to May 22. Each side will play 14 matches, adding up to 56 matches, the same as in previous IPL editions. The top two from the league rounds will then contest a play-off match, with the winner qualifying for the “Grand Final.” The teams that finish third and fourth in the league stage will contest the other play-off and the winner of that game will play the defeated team from the first play-off to decide the second finalist.

The auction is likely to be on the same lines as the first one which was held in 2008. The teams will be mostly starting from scratch, and will be held under rules framed in September. But, the icon player concept will no longer be followed. Earlier, five franchises had one player each named as its icon.

 

"Kochi IPL 2011 Team Logo "

IPL 4 Team Kochi Teams Players List is placed here. The second new team in the auction this year was Team Kochi and rather surprisingly, they went on to spend a million and a half dollars on Mahela Jayawardene.

Muthiah Muralitharan was also fought for keenly by them against Chennai and won him over for a $1.1 million but the biggest shock came when they decided to bid for Ravindra Jadeja for $950,000.

The one expected selection was that of S Sreesanth who was bought over for $900,000. Sreesanth is from the state of Kerala, the state where the team is from as well. RP Singh will also play for Kochi after being bought for half a million while Brendon McCullum was a surprise low buy-out for $475,000.

One interesting purchase is Brad Hodge, who has been one of the most consistent performers in recent times at the domestic T20 level and he was bought for $425,000. Some of the others were VVS Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Steven Smith and Ramesh Powar.

Kochi looked to be going for an all-bowling team despite needing some good batsmen in their side. Thisara Perera ($80,000) was followed by Indian Vinay Kumar ($475,000), Australia left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe ($20,000) before the batsmen made their presence felt.

Owais Shah ($200,000) and South Australian Michael Kilnger ($75,000) were selected for the side. Team Kochi IPL Auction 2011 Results is placed below.

IPL Team Kochi Players Squad List-

• Michael Klinger – 75000 USD (Rs 34.5 lakh)
• John Hastings – 20000 USD
• Mahela Jayawardhane – 1.5 Million USD (6.80 Crore INR)
• Muttiah Muralitharan – 1.1 Million USD (5.06 Crore INR)
• Ravindra Jadeja – 0.95 Million USD (4.30 Crore INR)
• Sreesanth – 0.9 Million USD (4.08 Crore INR)
• RP Singh – 0.5 Million USD (2.26 Crore INR)
• Brendon McCullum – 0.475 Million USD (2.15 Crore INR)
• R Vinakumar – 0.475 Million USD
• Brad Hodge – 0.425 Million USD (1.92 Crore INR)
• VVS Laxman – 0.4 Million USD (1.81 Crore INR)
• Parthiv Patel – 0.29 Million USD (1.31 Crore INR)
• Steven Smith – 0.2 Million USD (90 Lacs INR)
• Owais Shah – 0.2 Million USD
• Ramesh Powar – 0.18 Million USD (86 Lacs INR)
• Thisara Perera – 0.08 Million USD
• Steven O’Keefe – 0.02 Million USD

 

Dutt, Devgan interested in owning IPL teams?

 Not only interested Devgan but also other stars interested in owing IPL teams. Davgan Dutt also head IPL way?

IPL 2011 Schedule and Fixtures-

Match No. 1, March 12, 20:00 IST, Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai.

Match No. 2, March 13, 16:00 IST, Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.

Match No. 3, March 13, 20:00 IST, Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Match No. 4, March 14, 16:00 IST, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Bangalore Royal Challengers at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Match No. 5, March 14, 20:00 IST, Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers at MA Chidambaram, Chepauk, Chennai.

Match No. 6, March 15, 20:00 IST, Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad.

Match No. 7, March 16, 16:00 IST, Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kings XI Punjab at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Match No. 8, March 16, 20:00 IST, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Match No. 9, March 17, 20:00 IST, Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Match No. 10, March 18, 20:00 IST, Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Match No. 11, March 19, 20:00 IST, Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Match No. 12, March 19, 16:00 IST, Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab at Andhra Cricket Association-Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association Stadium, Visakhapatnam.

Match No. 13, March 20, 20:00 IST, Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad.

Match No. 14, March 20, 16:00 IST, Mumbai Indians vs Bangalore Royal Challengers at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.

Match No. 15, March 21, 20:00 IST, Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils at Andhra Cricket Association-Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association Stadium, Visakhapatnam.

Match No. 16, March 21, 20:00 IST, Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

Match No. 17, March 22, 20:00 IST, Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.

Match No. 18, March 23, 20:00 IST, Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Chennai Super Kings at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Match No. 19, March 24, 20:00 IST, Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Match No. 20 March 25, 16:00 IST, Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Delhi Daredevils at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Match No. 21, March 25, 20:00 IST, Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.

Match No. 22, March 26, 20:00 IST, Rajasthan Royals vs Deccan Chargers at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad.

Match No. 23, March 27, 20:00 IST, Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Match No. 24, March 28, 16:00 IST, Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad.

Match No. 25, March 28, 20:00 IST, Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai.

Match No. 26, March 29, 20:00 IST, Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight at Riders Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Match No. 27, March 30, 20:00 IST, Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.

Match No. 28, March 31, 16:00 IST, Chennai Super Kings vs Bangalore Royal Challengers at MA Chidambaram, Chepauk, Chennai.

Match No. 29, March 31, 20:00 IST, Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Match No. 30, April 01, 20:00 IST, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Match No. 31, April 02, 20:00 IST, Kings XI Punjab vs Bangalore Royal Challengers at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Match No. 32, April 03, 16:00 IST, Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals at MA Chidambaram, Chepauk, Chennai.

Match No. 33, April 03, 20:00 IST, Mumbai Indians vs Deccan Chargers at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur.

Match No. 34, April 04, 16:00 IST, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Match No. 35, April 04, 20:00 IST, Delhi Daredevils vs Bangalore Royal Challengers at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Match No. 36, April 05, 20:00 IST, Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad.

Match No. 37, April 06, 20:00 IST, Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians at MA Chidambaram, Chepauk, Chennai.

Match No. 38, April 07, 20:00 IST, Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad.

Match No. 39, April 07, 16:00 IST, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Match No. 40, April 08,20:00 IST, Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers at MA Chidambaram, Chepauk, Chennai.

Match No. 41, April 09, 20:00 IST, Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Match No. 42, April 10, 16:00 IST, Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super Kings at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad.

Match No. 43, April 10, 20:00 IST, Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Match No. 44, April 11, 16:00 IST, Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Match No. 45, April 11, 20:00 IST, Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad.

Match No. 46, April 12, 20:00 IST, Deccan Chargers vs Bangalore Royal Challengers at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad.

Match No. 47, April 13, 20:00 IST, Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur.

Match No. 48, April 13, 20:00 IST, Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders at MA Chidambaram, Chepauk, Chennai.

Match No. 49, April 14, 16:00 IST, Rajasthan Royals vs Bangalore Royal Challengers at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad.

Match No. 50, April 15, 20:00 IST, Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils at MA Chidambaram, Chepauk, Chennai.

Match No. 51, April 16, 20:00 IST, Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharmasala.

Match No. 52, April 17, 16:00 IST, Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Mumbai Indians at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Match No. 53, April 17, 20:00 IST, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Match No. 54, April 18, 16:00 IST, Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharmasala.

Match No. 55, April 18, 20:00 IST, Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Match No. 56, April 19, 20:00 IST, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Match No. 57, April 21, 20:00 IST, 1st Semi Final – TBC vs TBC at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Match No. 58, April 22, 20:00 IST, 2nd Semi Final – TBC vs TBC at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Match No. 59, April 24, 20:00 IST, 3rd Place Play-off – TBC vs TBC at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai.

Match No. 60, April 25, 20:00 IST, IPL 2010 Final – TBC vs TBC at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai.

Unruffled composure over two decades, in the face of the world’s most hostile attacks and the frenzied demands of a celebrity-fixated society, confirms the true greatness of Sachin Tendulkar.

For a man in his 38th year, Tendulkar’s appetite for runs remains unsated and his unrelenting determination to keep wringing the utmost out of the gifts so lavishly bestowed on him at birth is phenomenal.

So, too, is his ability to remain unaffected either on or off the field by the relentless glare of public adulation which makes a private life impossible in his native India.

No hint of scandal has touched the man who last weekend became the first person to pass 14,000 Test runs in the second Test against Australia and he remains the complete team player.

“It is about what I want to do for my team,” he said after scoring his sixth Test double-hundred in 171 Tests and his 11th century against the team who have dominated cricket during his career. “And I will not compromise on that.”

Tendulkar has shown unqualified commitment to his team and his sport since Pakistan’s Waqar Younis bloodied his mouth with a short-pitched delivery in his debut Test in 1990 at the age of 16.

Eight days later he became the youngest man to score a Test half-century and 20 years on he holds the records for most Test and one-day runs and the most Test and one-day centuries, a scarcely believable 95 in total.

"Pune Warriors IPL-2011 Team Logo"

Pune Team IPL 4 Squad Players Auction Details

1. Robin Uthappa USD 2.1 Million
2. Yuvraj Singh USD 1.8 Million
3. Angelo Mathews USD950,000
4. Asish Nehra USD 850,000
5. Graeme Smith USD 500,000
6. Murali Kartik USD 400,000
7. Callum Ferguson USD 300,000
8. Mitchell Marsh USD 290,000
9. Tim Paine USD 270,000
10. Wayne Parnell USD 160,000
11. Jesse Ryder USD 150,000
12. Alfonso Thomas USD 100,000
13. Jerome Taylor USD 100,00
14. Nathan McCullum USD 100,000

Finally, a decision has been taken for the new IPL format for the IPL next year in 2011. With 10 cricket teams overall, the format will look like this.

Two groups, with 5 teams each. Each team will play its groups teams twice, i.e. home and away. Then every team in one group will play the 4 teams in the other group once, which will be either home or away. Also, every team in one group will play 1 team in the other group, but home and away. Which team plays the other team twice will be decided by a draw. Then, the top two teams from both groups, will play the semi finals across groups, the winners advancing to the finals.

This way, every team will play the original 14 matches, as has been the case in the previous IPLs. If every team was to play each other both home and away, then a total 94 matches would have been played. Now, the format is limited to only 74 matches, 70 of which will be in the league phase.

Regarding the player retention it has been decided that every team is allowed to retain 4 players, which can be a maximum of 3 Indian players. The players that can be retained must be a registered player of the 2010 squad of the team. The auctions for the next year’s IPL will be taking place in this year November. The franchise and players must both agree on the retention agreement. As far as the two new franchises go, i.e. Pune and Kochi, both of these franchises can retain 4 players, which were not part of any of any of the original 10 teams in the 2010 season. The total number of players in a squad can be no more than 30.

Regarding the foreign players, a franchise can now have up to 10 foreign players in their squads, and can have now up to 4 foreign players field at same time. The limit initially was 3 players, which was a lot debated upon.

The franchises are allowed to spend a total of $9 Million on its 30 players. If, a franchise decides to retain 4 players, it must spend $4.5 million on them. This would lead such a franchise to have $4.5 Million to be spent on the other 26 players.

IPL 2011, will begin on April 7th, i.e. 5 days after the 2011 cricket world cup gets over. The IPL 2011 format has been reserved for the next 3 years of this cricket competition.

The auction in Bangalore got off to an eye-popping start Saturday as Gautam Gambhir, who captained Delhi Daredevils last year, was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for $2.4 million, more than a quarter of the entire squad budget. The big spending continued throughout the weekend, but nobody matched the record price paid for Gambhir, the very first name in the 350-strong auction list.

Within minutes of paying for Mr. Gambhir, Kolkata stumped up another $2.1 million for Yusuf Pathan, but the franchise, co-owned by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, saw no need to bid for last year’s captain and local hero Sourav Ganguly, or Dada (big brother) as he is affectionately known in his home town.

None of the other franchises were tempted by his reserve price of $400,000 either, and the reassuring crack of an auctioneer’s gavel was replaced by the thud of a hammer driving another nail into the coffin of Dada’s fine career.

He was soon joined on the unwanted pile by West Indies skipper Chris Gayle and other veterans such as South Africa’s Mark Boucher and Herschelle Gibbs. Young Indian players were raking in huge bids, while elder statesmen of the game like Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya were missing out. Further evidence that the IPL is uninterested in sentimentality came when cricketing legend Brian Lara failed to attract a bid.

Indian players are appealing because they’re familiar with the pitches and conditions and because franchises can’t have more than 10 foreigners in their squads. They’re also available to play throughout the tournament, which was an issue that helped scupper the chances of English cricketers in particular. Ashes winners including Jimmy Anderson, Graeme Swann and Matt Prior failed to fetch any bids, though Kevin Pieterson and Stuart Broad were picked up by Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab, respectively.

“We went for the most attractive proposition. One dampener was the unavailability of English players” for the whole tournament, said Royal Challengers Bangalore owner, Kingfisher beer-to-airlines billionaire Vijay Mallya, at a televised press conference after the auction.

From Wikipedia-