And now, a museum on Sachin

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Thursday announced that a museum on the career of Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar would soon be built in the state.

The museum will depict the life and cricket career of the master batsman, who recently became the first player in the history of the game to score a one-day international double hundred.

 
Sachin is also the first Indian sportsperson to have his wax statue erected at the famous Madame Tussauds wax museum in London.

The statue was erected last year on Sachin’s 36th birthday. The statue had been formally launched by Tendulkar in Mumbai, who had exclaimed “it was so real, it was fanastic! I’m glad it doesn’t breathe.”

 He became the first Indian sportsman to make the grade and joined cricket legends Brian Lara and Shane Warne.

 –zeenews

IPL will do billion-dollar business this year: Modi

In terms of brand value or valuation there could be bigger sports club in the West but most of those have negative cash flow, Mr. Modi said

Indian Premier League would generate a revenue of USD one billion this season, thanks to huge fan following across the globe, attracting a large number of advertisers, its Commissioner Lalit Modi said on Wednesday.

“The tournament is still on and we have not reached the final number… Yes, it will be more than a billion dollar (about Rs. 4,700 crore) this season … last season we did USD 450 dollar.

“Thereafter, we would double every year,” Mr. Modi said and asserted that as long as the fans keep coming to IPL, the league’s brand value would increase and hence the revenue.

Revenue for Sony, the official broadcaster, alone would be about Rs. 700 crore to Rs. 800 crore, he said brushing aside the criticism that the advertising rates for the IPL’s third season were very high.

“There may be some advertisers who feel that way but there are lot many others who are willing to join us,” he said pointing out that the huge success of the tournament in terms of TV viewership would certainly entice the advertisers.

“There is no other sporting event across the world generating more eyeballs than the IPL,” he said, adding that the league was virtually in every part of the world through either broadcasters of through the Internet — via YouTube.

Asked about an independent brand consultancy valuing Brand IPL at USD 4.13 billion, more than double from last year, Mr. Modi said that it was not done by the organisation and .

“It is indeed valuation given to us by outsiders.”

Brand Finance, which came out with IPL brand’s latest valuation, said that the brand alone has risen significantly, providing tremendous economic value to its owner — BCCI.

It said this demonstrates the exponential value of IPL and the Brand potential in a cricket loving country like India and other global cricketing countries. Although the English Premier League is valued much higher at USD 12 billion, the IPL’s valuation has risen above USD four billion in just three years, Brand Finance pointed out.

In terms of brand value or valuation there could be bigger sports club in the West but most of those have negative cash flow, Mr. Modi said and pointed out that the English Premier League, though it commands a very high brand value, was facing a USD 800 million deficit.

“Here, we are talking about cash flow and it is growing to grow in future at IPL,” he said, while detailing the dynamics of financing of IPL franchises.

Mr. Modi said that the IPL teams had no load on them and “we are providing infrastructure and stadium free of cost.”

Asked about predictions that IPL could not sustain, Mr. Modi retorted: “Let them (cynics) say anything. I know the numbers. I know the game. I have delivered. We will continue to deliver.”

The success of IPL hinged on the capacity to draw huge crowds, a fact that need not be proven again and again, he said, adding that other factors included that teams were equally placed in terms of finances and capacity to buy the players.

“The level playing field between the teams would make the event more interesting,” he said and added that another factor for the success was that the revenue would be proportionate to the number of matches that are played.

This season there are 60 matches and the number would go to 90 by next year and, therefore, the revenue would increase on a pro-rata basis, he said

Aussies accused of racially abusing Indian players

A cricket tribunal in Australia’s Geelong city is looking into an accusation that 10 local cricketers racially abused a team with six players of Indian descent, a media report said on Thursday.

The Geelong Cricket Association discussed the accusations till early Thursday morning after learning that players from the Thomson club racially abused members of the Waurn Ponds team during a fourth grade qualifying final on Saturday, The Age reported.

Waurn Ponds team has up to six players of Indian descent.

Cricket Victoria has sent its code of conduct commissioner Ron Beazley to speak to the players before the hearing officially started in Geelong.

Geelong Cricket Association president Ron Dew said it was the first time the association had heard such charges. The association, he said, had been glad to accept Beazley’s expertise.

“He is the most experienced person in Australia to deal with this sort of issue,” he was quoted as saying.

There have been a string of attacks on Indians in Australia since May last year. One of the assaults proved fatal. Nitin Garg was fatally stabbed Jan 2 while walking to his place of work.

Dhoni ruled out of IPL for 10 days

Chennai Super Kings captain M.S. Dhoni will miss IPL action for the next 10 days due to the elbow injury he sustained during a match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday

 Chennai Super Kings’ Indian Premier League campaign received a huge blow on Wednesday with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni being ruled out of action for the next 10 days because of an elbow injury.

“Dhoni will be out of action for the next 10 days and the exact nature of his injury is being examined by the doctors at a private hospital here,” a team management source told PTI.

Dhoni underwent an x-ray test after being hit by a rising Shane Bond delivery in yesterday’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens even though Coach Stephen Fleming ruled out any major injury to the India skipper.

The source, however, said that Dhoni will be travelling with the team to Delhi, where the Chennai side will take on Delhi Daredevils at Ferozeshah Kotla on Friday.

“He will be travelling with the team to Delhi,” the source said.

“An official announcement will be made once the nature of the injury is determined by the doctors,” he added.

Apart from the match against the Daredevils, the injury also rules Dhoni out of Chennai Super Kings’ matches against Kings XI Punjab (March 21), Royal Challengers Bangalore (March 23) and Mumbai Indians (March 25).

IPL cricket: Why is Sachin Tendulkar so harshly judged as captain of Mumbai Indians?

The most revered cricketer in the world is Sachin Tendulkar and if anybody tells you differently, he (or she) should be lowered head first from the top of the Eiffel Tower, have his (or her) ears tweaked, nose tickled with a feather and  knuckles rapped with a sledgehammer.

Usually, there is more tortuous punishment for heresy, but since India was born out of non-violence (never mind Harbhajan Singh planting his palm smack on Sreesanth’s chubby cheek in the first edition of the IPL), the offender could be let off after that and fed a purgative to cleanse his system of such outrageous thoughts.

In India, of course, Tendulkar is not only revered but deified. He is master, lord, master-blaster, god, little master… you can choose the most euphemistic description without fear of reproach or dissent. Everything fits right. Yet, there remains one area where his stupendous record falls short: when it comes to captaincy, god becomes all too mortal and questions are occasionally asked, even if in furtive tones.

It is borne out by Wisden, and from anecdotes real and apocryphal, about how some of the game’s greatest players were somehow never brilliant captains. Hammond, Sobers, Richards, Lara, Botham are a few names that come readily to mind: their captaincy record pales in comparison to their other feats. Is it because they expect every player to perform to the same high degree that comes so easily to them, and are therefore impatient of lesser mortals?

But while I agree that Tendulkar’s record as Test captain falls short of the extraordinary standards he has set otherwise, I think this assessment is also a tad unfair because he is also judged by a different yardstick from other players. For instance, in Saturday’s match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, Shane Warne, considered the Wizard of Oz in matters of tactics and man-management, conceded 212 runs to Mumbai and even lost the match, but came out unscathed as captain; Tendulkar, having won the game, however narrowly, had darts of doubt thrown at him.

Life’s not fair, even for the world’s best, best-known, most loved, richest cricketer. I doubt any captain on Saturday could have done much to thwart Yusuf Pathan’s onslaught at the magnificent Cricket Club of India. When a batsman scores 100 runs off just 37 deliveries, a captain can at best wring his hands in despair and pray.  Tendulkar did more: he ran to his bowlers to guide them, cajoled his fielders to put in more effort — did so much work in fact that he ended up being fined for slowing down the over-rate.

None of this could faze Pathan however. With four wickets down for very little, and chasing a daunting 213, Rajasthan looked down for the count till the tall and strong Pathan opened his powerful, imposing shoulders and started hitting the ball with such frequency and such long distances that it seemed the parameters of a cricket field needed serious and rapid revision.

In the end, Mumbai won by a whisker, a mere four runs, but Pathan it was who won the awe and admiration of everybody, including the mighty Tendulkar. He has come nowhere near a Test match and last year lost his place in the one-day side. His batsmanship still appears one-dimensional. Make that two: slam-bang. But in the Twenty20 firmament, Pathan is the game’s fastest rising superstar.

In 2008, when the IPL began, he came cheap; at a little more than $100,000. Come next year, when all players will be up for sale again, the buzz already is that he will be a Multi-Million Dollar Baby. Want to know more why the IPL holds so much fascination for almost every cricketer in the world?

Tendulkar, Gambhir fined $20,000

Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar, his Delhi Daredevils counterpart Gautam Gambhir and Kings XI Punjab skipper Kumar Sangakkara have been fined $20,000 each for their teams’ slow overrate in the Indian Premier League matches played on Saturday.

An IPL release said Tendulkar was fined after the Mumbai Indians “were assessed to be two overs behind their required rate” during their four-run win against Rajasthan Royals at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium.

“Under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over rate offences, Tendulkar was fined $20,000 by match referee Andy Pycroft,” the statement said.

In the game at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium at Mohali, both the Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils were each assessed to be one over behind the required rate.

Fines were slapped on both the captains by match referee Srinivas Venkataraghavan.

With Gambhir leading from the front with a knock of 72, Delhi Daredevils beat Kings XI by five wickets.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly was fined an identical amount for his side’s slow over rate during the tournament opener against defending champions Deccan Chargers at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai Friday.

Ganguly fined USD 20,000 for slow over rate

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Sourav Ganguly has been fined USD 20,000 by the IPL for maintaining slow over rate during their 11-run triumph over defending champions Deccan Chargers at the D Y Patil Stadium here.

The Knight Riders were adjudged to be three overs behind the required rate during their last night’s IPL opener against Chargers and under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over rate offences, match referee Andy Pycroft fined Ganguly.

The Knight Riders upset the defending champions thanks to a 130-run partnership between Owais Shah and Angelo Matthews which allowed Ganguly’s side to claw their way back onto the game after losing two early wickets.

Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist’s breezy 35-ball 54 went in vain as Ganguly-led side restricted Deccan to 150 for seven.

Indian Premier League 2010 scoreboard/live/websites

*Watch IPL live here www.youtube.com/ipl

*Follow India’s premier cricket league on Google

http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/landing/ipl2010/
* http://indiatoday.intoday.in/scorecard.php?type=livematch&url=http://cricketlive.intoday.in/data/2010/2010_IPL/HYD_KOL_MAR12/gen_commentary.html

*Follow IPL On yahoo:

http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/livematch?mid=3480
http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net/match_zone/overview.php

*http://www.action8cricket.com/watch_live_cricket_score.htm

10 Ways To Watch IPL 3 2010 Cricket Series Online

We have previously shared the YouTube link to watch IPL 3 online. Below are few more links to watch IPL 3 streaming video online for free.

#1 YouTube: YouTube is the official broadcaster of IPL 3 2010 cricket series. You can watch streaming video online on YouTube without any subscription required.

#2 IPL Website: IPL official website will also be broadcasting online cricket matches so you can watch easily without any trouble. You can visit their website to see previous matches streaming as well as live streaming cricket matches.

#3 Ustream.tv: Ustream TV is one of the best place to watch cricket online. There are many streaming links available on Ustream to watch cricket online. Visit this link

#4 Justin.tv: Justin TV is also similar to Ustream TV. It provides many streaming links to watch cricket online. You can find various online TV links to watch IPl 3 cricket matches.

#5 Willow.tv: Willow.tv will also broadcast IPl 3 matches on their websites. It is easy to find streaming cricket links here compared to Ustream and Justin TV channels.

#6 Freecric.info: Freecrick.info will provide you match by match live cricket video. As soon as the cricket match starts you can watch it online on freecric.info. One of my favorite place to watch cricket online.

#7 Freedocast: You can search for various cricket matches links here. They will be providing live streaming as well. Although I have not tested this website, it seems pretty good enough to watch IPL 3 cricket matches online.

#8 Crictime: Crictime will also be broadcastion IPL 3 live cricket matches on its website. You can enjoy unlimited cricket on crictime. They also have bunch of old cricket matches available to watch offline.

#9 Livesportsonline: One of the best source to watch any sports events live online. They will be broadcasting IPL 3 2010 cricket matches as well.

#10 Watch IPL 3 2010 on TVU player

Bonus Live Cricket Steaming Links

#11 Live cricket match: Live cricket match website provide live streaming of cricket matches. You can watch all your favorite cricket matches online here.

#12 Cric24: Cric24 also provides continuous 24 hours cricket matches to watch online.

IPL 2010 Schedule

Indian Premier League 3 Fixtures (IPL 2010 Schedules)

Sr	Day / Dt	IST	GMT	Team vs Team	Venue
March -2010
1	Fri-12March-2010	20:00	14:30	Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Navi Mumbai
2	Sat-13March-2010	15:00	9:30	Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals	Mumbai
3	Sat-13March-2010	20:00	14:30	Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils	PCA – Mohali
4	Sun-14March-2010	16:00	10:30	Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers	MAC – Chennai
5	Sun-14March-2010	20:00	14:30	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Bangalore Royal Challengers	Eden – Kolkata
6	Mon-15March-2010	20:00	14:30	Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils	SMS – Ahmedabad
7	Tue-16March-2010	16:00	10:30	Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kings XI Punjab	MCS – Bangalore
8	Tue-16March-2010	20:00	14:30	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings	Eden – Kolkata
9	Wed-17March-2010	20:00	14:30	Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians	FSK – Delhi
10	Thu-18March-2010	20:00	14:30	Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals	MCS – Bangalore
11	Fri-19March-2010	20:00	14:30	Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab	Cuttack
12	Fri-19March-2010	16:00	10:30	Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings	Delhi
13	Sat-20March-2010	16:00	10:30	Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Ahmedabad
14	Sat-20March-2010	20:00	14:30	Mumbai Indians vs Bangalore Royal Challengers	Mumbai
15	Sun-21March-2010	20:00	14:30	Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab	MAC – Chennai
16	Sun-21March-2010	16:00	10:30	Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers	Cuttack
17	Mon-22March-2010	20:00	14:30	Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders	Mumbai
18	Tue-23March-2010	20:00	14:30	Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Chennai Super Kings	MCS – Bangalore
19	Wed-24March-2010	20:00	14:30	Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals	PCA – Mohali
20	Thu-25March-2010	20:00	14:30	Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings	Mumbai
21	Fri-26March-2010	20:00	14:30	Rajasthan Royals vs Deccan Chargers	Ahmedabad
22	Sat-27March-2010	20:00	14:30	Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Delhi Daredevils	MCS – Bangalore
23	Sat-27March-2010	16:00	10:30	Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders	PCA – Mohali
24	Sun-28March-2010	16:00	10:30	Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings	Ahmedabad
25	Sun-28March-2010	20:00	14:30	Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians	Navi Mumbai
26	Mon-29March-2010	20:00	14:30	Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders	FSK – Delhi
27	Tue-30March-2010	20:00	14:30	Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab	Mumbai
28	Wed-31March-2010	16:00	10:30	Chennai Super Kings vs Bangalore Royal Challengers	MAC – Chennai
29	Wed-31March-2010	20:00	14:30	Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals	FSK – Delhi
Apr-2010
30	Thu-01April-2010	20:00	14:30	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers	Eden – Kolkata
31	Fri-02April-2010	20:00	14:30	Kings XI Punjab vs Bangalore Royal Challengers	PCA – Mohali
32	Sat-03April-2010	16:00	10:30	Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals	MAC – Chennai
33	Sat-03April-2010	20:00	14:30	Mumbai Indians vs Deccan Chargers	Mumbai
34	Sun-04April-2010	20:00	14:30	Delhi Daredevils vs Bangalore Royal Challengers	FSK – Delhi
35	Sun-04April-2010	16:00	10:30	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab	Eden – Kolkata
36	Mon-05April-2010	20:00	14:30	Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals	Nagpur
37	Tue-06April-2010	20:00	14:30	Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings	Chennai
38	Wed-07April-2010	16:00	10:30	Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab	Jaipur
39	Wed-07April-2010	20:00	10:30	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils	Kolkata
40	Thu-08April-2010	20:00	14:30	Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers	MCS – Bangalore
41	Fri-09April-2010	20:00	14:30	Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians	PCA – Mohali
42	Sat-10April-2010	20:00	14:30	Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders	MCS – Bangalore
43	Sat-10April-2010	16:00	10:30	Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super Kings	Nagpur
44	Sun-11April-2010	20:00	14:30	Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians	SMS – Jaipur
45	Sun-11April-2010	16:00	10:30	Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab	FSK – Delhi
46	Mon-12April-2010	20:00	14:30	Deccan Chargers vs Bangalore Royal Challengers	Nagpur
47	Tue-13April-2010	20:00	14:30	Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders	MAC – Chennai
48	Wed-13April-2010	16:00	10:30	Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils	Mumbai
49	Thu-14April-2010	20:00	14:30	Rajasthan Royals vs Bangalore Royal Challengers	SMS – Jaipur
50	Thu-15April-2010	20:00	14:30	Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils	Chennai
51	Fri-16April-2010	20:00	14:30	Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers	Dharamsala
52	Sat-17April-2010	16:00	10:30	Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Mumbai Indians	MCS – Bangalore
53	Sat-17April-2010	20:00	14:30	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals	Eden – Kolkata
54	Sun-18April-2010	20:00	14:30	Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils	Delhi
55	Sun-18April-2010	16:00	10:30	Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings	Dharmasala
56	Mon-19April-2010	20:00	14:30	Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians	Eden – Kolkata
57	Wed-21April-2010	20:00	14:30	1st Semi-Final – Team 1 vs Team 2	Bengaluru
58	Thu-22April-2010	20:00	14:30	2nd Semi-Final – Team 3 vs Team 4	Bengaluru
59	Sat-24April-2010	20:00	14:30	Play-off for 3rd Place – Team A vs Team B	Navi Mumbai
60	Sun-25April-2010	20:00	14:30	Final of IPL 2010 – Team 1 vs Team 2	Navi Mumbai

Ponting completes 8000 runs as captain

Hamilton: RT Ponting became the first captain in the history of one day games to completed 8000 runs as captain.

At the start of the third one day game of the Chappell-Hadlee series at Hamilton on 09.03.10, Ponting had an aggregate of 7976 runs as captain and required 24 more runs to aggregate 8000 runs. At the end of this game, his aggregate stood at 8045 runs.

He reached the milestone when on 24 during the course of his knock of 69 in the third one day game at Hamilton on 09.03.10.

His 24th run came of the fourth delivery of 22nd over of New Zealand’s innings when he drove DL Vettori uppishly to long on.

Ponting’s 8000 runs came in his 212th match as captain, 203 innings. He has scored 21 hundreds and 49 half centuries as captain.

Tendulkar climbs to third place

Sachin Tendulkar has jumped three places to third in the International Cricket Council ODI batsmen rankings after his record-breaking double century against South Africa in the second ODI at Gwalior on Wednesday
Tendulkar (766 points), who returned undefeated on 200 in his 442nd appearance, now trails second-placed Mike Hussey (809) of Australia by 43 points with India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (827) strengthening his position at the top of the rankings after his 35-ball 68 not out in the second one-dayer on Wednesday.
It is Tendulkar’s highest ranking in two years after he had reached second place following an unbeaten 117 against Australia in Sydney. While Tendulkar has vaulted to third, fellow opener Virender Sehwag has dropped one place to 10th position.
After missing a few matches, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir also slipped one and two places respectively to be 13th and 21st.
A player loses one per cent of his ratings points for every match missed. In the bowlers’ list headed by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, Harbhajan Singh is the only Indian at top 20 and the off-spinner retained his fifth place.
In the ODI team rankings, India have all but cemented second position after taking an unassailable 2-0 lead against South Africa. They are now on 123 ratings points while South Africa have slipped to 115 ratings points.
The only way India can finish third at the annual cut-off date of 1 April is if they lose Saturday’s match at Ahmedabad and New Zealand make a clean sweep of the five-ODI series against Australia starting in Napier on March 3.

British media heaps praise on Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar’s stupendous feat of becoming the first cricketer to score a double century in one-dayer was on Thursday hailed by the British media, which described the little master as the “finest batsman” ever.

“Tendulkar underlined his sensational class with a double century in Gwalior. To have reached such a landmark, with a single in the final over, only serves to underline his class and add to the legacy that already surrounds arguably the finest batsman to have played the game,” BBC Sports said.

“His innings, the 46th one—day century of his career, was typified by wristy strokes, trademark boundary shots and, above all, stamina as he batted through the entire innings,” the report read.

Meanwhile, The Times tried to anticipate whether the Indian can complete a century of centuries in international cricket by the end of this year.

“All kneel down and praise whatever god you fancy for the mighty Sachin Tendulkar. This could just be turning into the greatest year of his international career, more than 20 years after it began,” the report said.

“Tendulkar now has 93 hundreds in international cricket — 47 in Tests and 46 in ODIs — which is 25 more than the next best man, Ricky Ponting. At the age of 36 and in such great form, he could reach 100 hundreds by the end of the year,” it added.

Tendroolkar!

Gwalior: It was Sachin Tendulkar at his very best by a long mile — his divine knock at Sharjah, 14 years ago, included. On Wednesday at Gwalior in front of a packed Captain Roop Singh Stadium, the Master Blaster officially penned his name on a truly unique batting record, becoming the first batsman to hit the 200-run-mark.

Sachin carried his bat, facing 147 balls for his colossal 200 not out (25×4, 3 x6) in India’s 401/3 in 50 overs. He added 194 with Dinesh Karthik (79) for the second wicket and an unbeaten 101 for the fourth wicket with Dhoni (68 n.o.)

In reply, South Africa managed 248 in 43 overs this time, falling to a 153-run loss as AB de Villiers’ played a lone hand with a fighting 114 not out.

Speaking after the match, Sachin said he sensed he could be the first batsman to hit an ODI double century only after he had reached 175 in the second one dayer against South Africa. “In the first half an hour, I was striking the ball well and timing well. The ball was coming nicely on to the bat,” Sachin said.

“I was not thinking about it all along. It was only when I crossed 175 and realised that it was still the 42nd over, I felt I have an opportunity. So I decided to take singles and give strike to Dhoni who was hitting so well,” Sachin said.

On his epic knock, Sachin said, “I don’t know how to react. I’d like to dedicate this double-hundred to the people of India for standing behind me for the last 20 years, come what may.”

Sachin said he expected India to score in the vicinity of 340-350 but it was the big-hitting spree of Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan which took the team to 401/3. “If you look at the partnerships, every over there played big shots. Yusuf changed the momentum and MS finished well,” Sachin said.

Scoreboard

india

Sehwag c Steyn b Parnell 9, Tendulkar n.o. 200, Karthik c Gibbs b Parnell 79, Pathan c de Villiers b Van der Merwe 36, Dhoni n.o. 68.

Extras (lb-3, w-5, nb-1) 9

Total (in 50 overs) 401/3

FoW: 1-25, 2-219, 3-300.

Bowling: Steyn 10-0-89-0, Parnell 10-0-95-2, van der Merwe 10-0-62-1, Langeveldt 10-0-70-0, Duminy 5-0-38-0, Kallis 5-0-44-0.

South Africa

Amla c Nehra b Sreesanth 34, Gibbs b Praveen 7, R. van der Merwe c Raina b Sreesanth 12, Kallis b Nehra 11, de Villiers n.o. 114, Petersen b Jadeja 9, Duminy lbw Yusuf 0, Boucher lbw Yusuf 14, Parnell b Nehra 18, Steyn b Sreesanth 0, Langeveldt c Nehra b Jadeja 12.

Extras (nb-4, lb-5, w-8) 17

Total (in 42.5 overs) 248/10

FoW: 1-17, 2-47, 3-61, 4-83, 5-102, 6-103, 7-134, 8-211, 9-216, 10-248.

Bowling: Praveen 5-0-31-1, Nehra 8-0-60-2, Sreesanth 7-0-49-3, Jadeja 8.5-0-41-2, Yusuf 9-1-37-2, Sehwag 5-0-25-0.

What they said

* Sachin Tendulkar has yet again re-written the record books of cricket, by climbing yet another Mt Everest of the game.

President Pratibha Patil

* Magnificent knock. You have led by example and all Indians are proud of your achievement.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

* My heartiest congratulations to Sachin the world’s greatest sportsman. We can see him only rise. Inspiration to us all. I salute Sachin.

Lalit Modi on Twitter

* He is the greatest batsman the game has ever seen. Who else has got 90-plus centuries, 17000-plus runs in ODIs and 13000-plus runs in Test cricket?

Sunil Gavaskar

* Yes yes yes!!!!!! Well done Sachin my friend … congrats !!!! Awesome …

Shane Warne on Twitter

* Records are there to be broken but it makes you happy when someone like Tendulkar does it. I think he thoroughly deserves this record and many more in days to come

Javed Miandad

* Congratulations Sachin:) proud to be Indian and a sports person in his era! Wooww!

Sania Mirza on Twitter

Top knocks

* 200 not out: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) vs South Africa in Gwalior on February 24, 2010.

* 194 not out: Charles Coventry (Zim) vs Bangladesh in Bulawayo on August 16, 2009.

* 194: Saeed Anwar (Pak) vs India in Chennai on May 21, 1997

* 189 not out: Viv Richards (WI) vs England in Manchester on May 31, 1984.

* 189: Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) vs India in Sharjah on October 29, 2000.

Upset over media policy, news broadcasters won’t cover IPL

Adding to the controversies surrounding the third season of Indian Premier League (IPL), the news broadcasters on Tuesday said they will not cover the event in the light of the stringent media policy that the IPL authorities have come up with this year.

The broadcasters, under the aegis of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), have issued a statement saying they have taken this decision after their meeting on Tuesday with IPL authorities and SET MAX, the official partner channel for the live broadcast of the matches.

“In 2008, the IPL/SETMAX had drawn up a set of norms for use of cricket footage of IPL matches, in negotiation and agreement with the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), which has been followed ever since. However, the NBA regrets that at a meeting held on February 16, 2010, the IPL/SETMAX arbitrarily refused to abide by their commitment as contained in the 2008 norms,” NBA Secretary General Annie Joseph said in a statement.

The IPL authorities have specified stiff timelimits for the live coverage of the matches as well as archival footage.

The NBA has said, “In view of this position unilaterally taken by IPL/SETMAX, members of the NBA are unable to offer to their viewers any coverage in relation to IPL or its proposed matches.”

Incidentally, the Indian Broadcasting Federation had also last week called for immediate intervention by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to resolve the situation. They had recalled that while a similar situation had erupted in 2008 as well, the Ministry had then intervened to help effect a compromise and help develop media guidelines. The broadcasters are saying that unless the IPL authorities revert to the 2008 media guidelines, they will not cover the IPL series.

Express News Service

‘Sachin is very special’

 

South African coach Corrie van Zyl

South African coach Corrie van Zyl conceded that Virender Sehwag’s almost run-a-ball 165 unsettled his side but said the three quick Indian wickets at the fag end had brought the visitors back into the game in the second Test here.

Van Zyl said the Proteas failed to execute their plans against Sehwag and another centurion Sachin Tendulkar (106) but felt his side are still in the game.

“I think Sehwag’s innings was unsettling to everybody. The fact that he scores very quickly and obviously he gets the crowd behind him, all of that is unsettling. That is the time when you got to stick to game plans and get back to the basics. I thought sometimes we didn’t do that and that is the strength of Sehwag,” he said.

“It was a very hard day for us. Some really good batting but also we didn’t execute our game plans well. But I think those last two wickets out of which two were really big it has set us up for a good day tomorrow,” van Zyl said.

The visiting coach felt the Indians got to a 46-run lead because of the impatience of his bowlers.

“I think our patience was definitely lacking. We did apply patience at times in Nagpur. That is one thing as a team we can improve upon and that is patience as a bowling attack.

I won’t say we panicked. We need to go and understand we why didn’t execute according to our game plans,” he reasoned.

“We are happy with three wickets we took. That brought back balance to the game. We need to look at few things, set up in a few areas,” added van Zyl.

Van Zyl also hailed Tendulkar’s century — the Indian’s 47th in Tests and 91st international hundred.

“He (Tendulkar) is a special. Those are two different innings, both of them are very important. Sachin is very special, the way he plays, a workman like innings, nothing different today,” said van Zyl.

In the final session when Sehwag was on 128, replacement wicketkeeper AB de Villiers missed an easy stumping and the coach said his side missed the services of Mark Boucher.

“(Mark) Boucher is a crucial player. It is a real pity that he is not available due to his back injury. I thought AB was good, he obviously missed an opportunity and he is very unhappy about that miss because he knows what it means for the team,” said the visiting coach.

Van Zyl defended his bowlers bowling consistently outside the leg when Tendulkar and Sehwag were going strong, saying that since there was hardly any help for spinners they were exploiting the rough areas.

“You can see it as a negative line. The umpire did think so too so called it wide. Tactically there wasn’t much as turn as there was in Nagpur for Paul Harris and that is what he needed to contend with.

“Some of them did turn from the rough, some of them didn’t. You got to take the rough with the smooth, some days it works some days it doesn’t. But I still think Harris did a good job for the team but it was tougher than it was in Nagpur, where there was some assistance.”

British football club keen to buy IPL team

A Premier League football club of Britain has shown interest in buying one of the two Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket franchises to be sold at a base price of $225 million, a media report said.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said that a Premier League club had expressed an interest in buying one of the two franchises to be sold over the coming weeks.

“There is a very famous football club in the UK very interested in bidding,” The Telegraph quoted Modi as saying.

“(They are) probably one of the most famous football clubs — probably top three. They are interested in taking a stake.”

A spokesman for Manchester United rejected any interest, while Modi denied Chelsea were keen.

The media report said that with Liverpool and Arsenal’s long-term ownership uncertain, Manchester City would be favourites to make a move. Their Gulf-based owners have the financial strength, but a club official Monday night rejected suggestions Modi was referring to them.

The Abu Dhabi Cricket Association had recently signed a partnership deal with the MCC, who have also been approached about fronting a bid for an IPL franchise.

IPL-2010 to hit theatres across the country

The third edition of the Indian Premier League is all set to make its debut in theatres in around 1000 screens across the country, where the matches will be telecast live.

UFO Moviez, a digital satellite cinema network, has entered into a strategic alliance with multiplex chains like Cinemax, INOX, Fame and many single screen theatres across the country to show the Twenty20 matches.

In collaboration with Crown Infotainment, which holds the distribution rights for introducing IPL-III matches to theatres, UFO has signed over 550 screens so far, out of which about 200 are multiplexes.

“IPL is one of the most popular events in the world, but only few people can be a part of it as it is hosted in only nine cities in India. So our aim is to take it to a wide range of audience, giving them a stadium-like experience,” Kapil Aggarwal, Joint managing Director, UFO Moviez India Ltd said.

“To provide the audience a carnival like experience, each of these theatres will have gifts, multi-cuisine food stalls, cricket-related merchandise etc.

“The matches will be screened in high definition format, which will provide 33 per cent extra than what is screened on television and without any commercial breaks,” he added.

“During the IPL, the theatres incurs loses as no movie is released at that time. So this will serve a profitable revenue generating content for the exhibitors too.”

India’s number one Test ranking at stake in SA series

A series triumph over South Africa will not just consolidate India’s number one status in the ICC rankings, but will also win the team USD 175,000 as prize money and the coveted Test Championship mace.

“Whoever finishes top will win the annual USD 175,000 prize while Australia could yet finish second by the annual cut-off date (April 1) and pocket USD 75,000,” the ICC said in a statement.

Apart from this, Indian opener Gautam Gambhir and South Africa captain Graeme Smith will battle out for the number one batting position.

India lead South Africa by four ratings points and the home side will drop to second if the Proteas win the series by 1-0 or better margin.

India though need to draw the series to retain the number one position and the mace, which it had snatched from South Africa on December 6 after defeating Sri Lanka 2-0.

Although Bangladesh will host England and Australia will travel to New Zealand for two Tests series before the April 1 cut-off date, the result of these two series will have no impact on the number one position.

If South Africa beats India 1-0, it will go to 123 ratings points and India will drop to 122 ratings points. In case of a 2-0 win, the Proteas will rise to 125 ratings points and India will drop to 120 ratings points.

On the other hand, if India wins the series 1-0 or better, it will not only finish on top of the table but also bring Australia in contention for a cash award of USD 75,000 which will be presented to side that finishes second on the table.

While a 1-0 win will lift India to 127 ratings points and push South Africa to 118 ratings points, the Proteas will drop to 116 ratings points if they lose both Tests.

As such, South Africa’s series loss by whatever margin will give Australia a sniff of the number two position. Ricky Ponting’s side currently sits on 116 ratings points and will rise to 117 ratings points if it beats the Blackcaps 1-0, but will jump to 119 ratings points if it wins both matches.

While India and South Africa will be fighting hard for top spot, there are a few very interesting individual battles on the cards as well.

In the player rankings for batsman, if Gambhir struggles for runs and Smith manages to shine with the bat, there is a strong possibility that there’ll be a change at the top.

However, if Gambhir succeeds in showing glimpses of his 2009 form which won him the ICC Test Player of the Year award in Johannesburg last year, he could well become the 25th batsman overall to reach the 900-point mark which, in ranking terms, is the benchmark for top batsmen.

Sachin Tendulkar is the other batsmen who will be keeping an eye on a place in the top five. He currently occupies the ninth position but there are just 33 points separating him from fifth-placed Michael Clarke of Australia.

Sanjay Dutt buys a T-10 cricket team

After Shahrukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta, actor Sanjay Dutt has become the latest Bollywood star to venture into cricket, though he has gone for a shorter format known as T-10 Gully Cricket.

The 51-year-old actor has become the proud team owner of ‘Sirsa Gullies’ for the T—10 gully cricket season 2 ‘Ab Har Koi Khelega’

A mega night cricket tournament, T-10 Gully Cricket, will feature non-first class cricketers in the age group of 15-24 years.

“I am genuinely delighted to be an owner of this promising and talented team. I will be personally involved in all the aspects of my team and appeal to corporates, institutions and society as a whole to extend their co-operation and support for this social cause,” Dutt said in a statement.

Actor Ritesh Deshmukh is the brand ambassador of the tournament while Jimmy Shergill, Rajpal Yadav, Divya Dutta and Prachi Desai have also signed as the owners of teams from Jalandhar, Kanpur, Ludhiana and Surat respectively.

The tournament with a total of 39 games will be telecast live on DD Sports, starting on January 19 and ending on February 3.

“There are some extremely brilliant players who play in the gullies of our country, and in the process have sharpened their skills continuously bettering their performances. Its time that their skills are projected in front of the country and they get their credit,” Dutt said.

2010 World Cup T20 tickets go on sale worldwide

Tickets for next year’s ICC World Cup Twenty20 cricket tournament, which would be held from April 30 to May 16 in the West Indies, are now on sale worldwide.

Having already been available to supporters based in the Caribbean nations for the past two weeks, tickets for next year’s ICC World T20 in the West Indies are now on sale around the world, ICC announced today.

Entry would be free of cost for spectators below the age of 16 for all group stage matches, while the age group would also enjoy significant discounts for all the other fixtures, an ICC release said.

Besides, entry to the group matches in the women’s version, which would be held simultaneously, in St Kitts also have been made free to all.

“In line with the past three major ICC events, we have ensured the ICC World Twenty20 2010 will be accessible and affordable. We believe the pricing structure in place is very fair and gives great access to this wonderful spectacle for the people of the Caribbean as well as visiting supporters,” ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said.

“We want this event to be a celebration of cricket with all the atmosphere, fun and excitement traditionally associated with the game in the West Indies,” Lorgat added.