Mumbai Indians vs. Chennai Super Kings - 12.30 - Saturday, April 18
The opening game of the IPL 2009 will see Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians, take on IPL 2008 finalists, the Chennai Super Kings, at Newlands in Cape Town.
The Chennai Super Kings, under the leadership of wicketkeeper/batsman MS Dhoni, are entering this year's IPL as one of the bookmaker’s favourite.
Big hitting all-rounders Andrew Flintoff and Albie Morkel will be at the forefront of the Super Kings attack this coming Saturday.
They will try to be tamed by the Mumbai Indian's bowlers, consisting of Zaheer Khan, Lasith ‘Slinga’ Malinga and Harbhajan Singh, who have the knowledge of Shaun Pollock (the Mumbai Indians' mentor) on their side, when taking on the often tricky Newlands pitch.
All eyes will be on Mumbai's Sanath Jayasuria, to see if he can entertain the sold-out Newlands crowd, as he tries follow up his record as IPL’s greatest six hitter (31 sixes in IPL 2008).
Other Mumbai batsmen to watch will be the "Maestro" Sachin Tendulkar, "Million-Dollar Kid" JP Duminy (on his home ground), and West Indian Dwayne Bravo.
They'll try to be unsettled by Chennai's Makhaya Ntini, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Lakshmipathy Balaji.
Watson, Symonds, Lee all Aussies missing from IPL
With last year's player of the tournament absent due to national commitments, and two others who're among the highest-paid stars also missing, Australia's contingent at the start of the second IPL season will be more notable for who's not playing than those who make the trip to South Africa
There'll still be retired spin bowling great Shane Warne leading the way as captain and coach of the defending champion Rajasthan Royals, but Warne will be missing a key ingredient from last year, player of the inaugural Indian Premier League Twenty20 season Shane Watson.
The 26-year-old Watson, who scored 472 runs at an average of 42 in the IPL last year, has returned from injury and was named in the Australian limited-overs squad for a series against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi beginning next Wednesday _ four days after the IPL starts.
Also missing will be troubled allrounder Andrew Symonds, who was been out of the Australian lineup for several months until his recall for the Pakistan series, and fast bowler Brett Lee, who was initially named in squad to play Pakistan but was later ruled out and replaced by Doug Bollinger.
Lee, at least, will continue to train in South Africa with his Indian Premier League franchise, Kings XI Punjab, to further his rehabilitation from ankle and foot operations. But if he's cleared to play, it's expected that will be for Australia before he sees any action for his IPL franchise.
Symonds would have been the fourth-highest salary earner at $1.35 million with Deccan Chargers in the IPL this season (behind England's Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff and India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni).
Lee was set to make $900,000, which would have put him at No. 10 in the 2009 earnings list.
Salaries are paid on a pro-rata basis for the foreign stars, so the more matches they play, the more they earn. The Australians on national team duties will get a chance to return to the IPL later in the tournament.
Also among the absent Australians is test skipper Ricky Ponting, who is being rested to prepare for the Ashes campaign against England in two months.
Australian Michael Hussey will also not play in this year's IPL in order to rest for the Ashes. Hussey would have been available for only the final two weeks of the IPL, which ends with the final on May 24 in Johannesburg.
Michael Clarke, who will captain Australia in Ponting's absence against Pakistan _ that series ends May 7 _ and pace bowler Mitchell Johnson, will also miss this year's IPL. Clarke and Johnson did not play in the inaugural IPL and did not nominate for the player auction earlier this year.
Ponting is expected back as skipper for Twenty20 World Cup in June and the Ashes.
"Right at the moment I feel like I need to get away and have a bit of a break, so that's the way it is," said Ponting, who was given a release for the 2009 season by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise which is coached by ex-Australia coach John Buchanan.
Lee, a 76-test veteran, is pushing to reclaim his place in the Australian attack for the Ashes series. So IPL's loss might be Australia's gain for the crucial series against England. He joined the Kings XI Punjab squad in South Africa to practice because wet whether in Sydney was limiting his time in the nets.
"Now that he's here in South Africa with his IPL team, when he is ready to bowl again there'll be no excuses for weather or anything," Ponting said of Lee. "He should be able to get a lot of bowling done and when he's fit enough and ready to play, hopefully he'll be playing for us because that's what he wants. We need to see him back in Australian colors."
The eight-team, 59-match IPL tournament, switched to South Africa from India due to security concerns because of clashing dates with the general elections, begins Saturday.
Bollywood meets Cape Town in IPL parade
The opening game of the IPL 2009 will see Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians, take on IPL 2008 finalists, the Chennai Super Kings, at Newlands in Cape Town.
The Chennai Super Kings, under the leadership of wicketkeeper/batsman MS Dhoni, are entering this year's IPL as one of the bookmaker’s favourite.
Big hitting all-rounders Andrew Flintoff and Albie Morkel will be at the forefront of the Super Kings attack this coming Saturday.
They will try to be tamed by the Mumbai Indian's bowlers, consisting of Zaheer Khan, Lasith ‘Slinga’ Malinga and Harbhajan Singh, who have the knowledge of Shaun Pollock (the Mumbai Indians' mentor) on their side, when taking on the often tricky Newlands pitch.
All eyes will be on Mumbai's Sanath Jayasuria, to see if he can entertain the sold-out Newlands crowd, as he tries follow up his record as IPL’s greatest six hitter (31 sixes in IPL 2008).
Other Mumbai batsmen to watch will be the "Maestro" Sachin Tendulkar, "Million-Dollar Kid" JP Duminy (on his home ground), and West Indian Dwayne Bravo.
They'll try to be unsettled by Chennai's Makhaya Ntini, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Lakshmipathy Balaji.
Watson, Symonds, Lee all Aussies missing from IPL
With last year's player of the tournament absent due to national commitments, and two others who're among the highest-paid stars also missing, Australia's contingent at the start of the second IPL season will be more notable for who's not playing than those who make the trip to South Africa
There'll still be retired spin bowling great Shane Warne leading the way as captain and coach of the defending champion Rajasthan Royals, but Warne will be missing a key ingredient from last year, player of the inaugural Indian Premier League Twenty20 season Shane Watson.
The 26-year-old Watson, who scored 472 runs at an average of 42 in the IPL last year, has returned from injury and was named in the Australian limited-overs squad for a series against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi beginning next Wednesday _ four days after the IPL starts.
Also missing will be troubled allrounder Andrew Symonds, who was been out of the Australian lineup for several months until his recall for the Pakistan series, and fast bowler Brett Lee, who was initially named in squad to play Pakistan but was later ruled out and replaced by Doug Bollinger.
Lee, at least, will continue to train in South Africa with his Indian Premier League franchise, Kings XI Punjab, to further his rehabilitation from ankle and foot operations. But if he's cleared to play, it's expected that will be for Australia before he sees any action for his IPL franchise.
Symonds would have been the fourth-highest salary earner at $1.35 million with Deccan Chargers in the IPL this season (behind England's Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff and India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni).
Lee was set to make $900,000, which would have put him at No. 10 in the 2009 earnings list.
Salaries are paid on a pro-rata basis for the foreign stars, so the more matches they play, the more they earn. The Australians on national team duties will get a chance to return to the IPL later in the tournament.
Also among the absent Australians is test skipper Ricky Ponting, who is being rested to prepare for the Ashes campaign against England in two months.
Australian Michael Hussey will also not play in this year's IPL in order to rest for the Ashes. Hussey would have been available for only the final two weeks of the IPL, which ends with the final on May 24 in Johannesburg.
Michael Clarke, who will captain Australia in Ponting's absence against Pakistan _ that series ends May 7 _ and pace bowler Mitchell Johnson, will also miss this year's IPL. Clarke and Johnson did not play in the inaugural IPL and did not nominate for the player auction earlier this year.
Ponting is expected back as skipper for Twenty20 World Cup in June and the Ashes.
"Right at the moment I feel like I need to get away and have a bit of a break, so that's the way it is," said Ponting, who was given a release for the 2009 season by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise which is coached by ex-Australia coach John Buchanan.
Lee, a 76-test veteran, is pushing to reclaim his place in the Australian attack for the Ashes series. So IPL's loss might be Australia's gain for the crucial series against England. He joined the Kings XI Punjab squad in South Africa to practice because wet whether in Sydney was limiting his time in the nets.
"Now that he's here in South Africa with his IPL team, when he is ready to bowl again there'll be no excuses for weather or anything," Ponting said of Lee. "He should be able to get a lot of bowling done and when he's fit enough and ready to play, hopefully he'll be playing for us because that's what he wants. We need to see him back in Australian colors."
The eight-team, 59-match IPL tournament, switched to South Africa from India due to security concerns because of clashing dates with the general elections, begins Saturday.
Bollywood meets Cape Town in IPL parade
Bollywood glitz and cricket razzmatazz combined in a colourful, star-studded parade through Cape Town on
Thursday as the 2009 Indian Premier League made its high-profile brash entrance.Nine floats, one for each of the eight teams plus one for the IPL, made their way along one of the main streets, accompanied by energetic Indian dancers and brass bands drawn from the local community.
More than 150 cricketers were in attendance, as were Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty, part-owners of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals respectively.
Hundreds of people lined the streets to watch the parade, which launched festivities that will run until the grand final in Johannesburg on May 24.
One of the tournament's initiatives aimed at maintaining the buoyant atmosphere is the introduction of a Miss Bollywood South Africa competition with contestants drawn from fans attending matches.
The idea came from IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, who has employed the help of the three Bollywood idols associated with the tournament.
"We're looking for someone who has the star quality to stand out in a crowd, probably without even trying that hard," Modi explained at the launch of the concept in Cape Town.
"It's that special, almost indefinable, quality that makes someone a star more than a beauty queen that we are looking for.
"IPL matches with their mix of fun and excitement are an excellent environment to identify the kind of person who is a natural stand-out in a big crowd."
One Miss Bollywood of the Day will be found at each of the 56 round-robin matches and stands a chance of winning a trip to India, a role in a Bollywood film and 5,590 dollars.
"Star searches like this are a really great way to find people who may never even have thought that they have what it takes to really make it big," said Khan, the so-called 'King of Bollywood'.
"The heart of our idea is to search the crowd at IPL matches for someone who has the attitude and appearance that automatically draws the eye.
"It will be the kind of person who is not necessarily showing off for the camera, but who can mesmerise even total strangers.
"The announcement of the winner will be shown during a 'strategy break' and will be declared Miss Bollywood of the Day."
Rajasthan Royals face tough IPL opener
When the glitz and the glamour of the build-up to the Indian Premier League makes way for cricket action Saturday, past form will not count for much.
Defending champions the Rajasthan Royals could find it tough this time around, starting with their opening clash against Bangalore Royal Challengers in the second match of a double header which gets the five-week, 2009 tournament underway.
Mumbai Indians meet Chennai Super Kings, who were runners-up last year, in the early match.
The relocation of the world's richest cricket league from India to South Africa means that conditions will be different, with seam bowlers likely to get far more assistance than they did in the inaugural tournament in India last year.
The Royals had an early taste of the Newlands pitch in a warm-up match last weekend when batsmen struggled to play the sort of dominating innings that marked the first IPL.
It is a major blow for the champions will be without all-rounder Shane Watson and left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir, two of the main match-winners for the underdogs who spent the least money on players but carried away the 1.2-million-dollar prize money.
The Royals, who will again be led by veteran Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne, will hope that Indian fast bowler Munaf Patel and South Africa's Morne Morkel can compensate for the loss of the two stars.
In contrast to the Royals, the Challengers spent big but achieved little in the first IPL, finishing seventh of the eight teams.
They are likely to be an improved side, however, with star English signing Kevin Pietersen leading the team in the only stages of the tournament and tough South African Ray Jennings cracking the whip as coach.
The Bangalore team will be boosted by the signing of Indian batsman Robin Uthappa, while South African fast bowler Dale Steyn is likely to be more effective on his home country pitches than he was in India.
South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis and leading Indian batsman Rahul Dravid will be expected to improve on mediocre performances last time.
The battle between the Mumbai and Chennai franchises should get the tournament off to a cracking start.
Mumbai Indians will be led by Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar, who missed most of the first series because of injury.
Their squad had a pre-season training camp in South Africa under the direction of Shaun Pollock, appointed as team mentor, and fielding ace Jonty Rhodes.
With teams only able to field four non-Indian players, Mumbai have a stronger core of Indian stars than some of their rivals, with Tendulkar and Test bowlers Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh in their squad.
Overseas aces include Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya, West Indian Dwayne Bravo and South Africa's JP Duminy.
Chennai Super Kings were runners-up last year and will again provide a formidable challenge.
Led by the dynamic Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, they have been strengthened by the signing of England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who joins Australian batsman Matthew Hayden, South African all-rounder Albie Morkel and Sri Lankan spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in what looks a powerful squad.
Venue and team snapshots
Venues
Kingsmead, Durban
Kingsmead is known to be influenced by tidal movements because of its close proximity to the sea. It was the venue where Yuvraj memorably clouted Stuart Broad for six sixers in an over, the first-ever time the feat was accomplished in a T20 match.
Seating capacity: 25,000
Pitch: Kingsmead used be known traditionally as a seamer's wicket and has witnessed many batting collapses. The pitch has since been redesigned to ensue a fair contest between bat and ball. Number of IPL matches to be played: 16
St George's Park, Port Elizabeth
The St George's Park is home to one of the oldest cricket clubs in South Africa, the Port Elizabeth Cricket Club. The ground hosted its first Test in March 1889.
Seating Capacity: 19,000
Pitch: The windy conditions at the St George's Park generally tends to favour the seamers at the start. However, batsmen have found the conditions easy once they get their feet moving.
Number of IPL matches to be played: 7
Newlands, Capetown
Nestled in the backdrop of the Table Mountains and the Devil's Peak, Newlands is also called the "Lord's" of South Africa.Seating capacity: 25,000
Pitch: Generally on the slower side, the Newlands pitch tends to favour the spinners more than any other venue.
Number of IPL matches to be played: 8
