Mumbai : The cream of Australian cricketing talent, led by captain Ricky Ponting and vice captain Adam Gilchrist, together with eleven other Aussies and Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi and Loots Bosman of South Africa have signed on to participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which kicks off in April next year.

These players, along with 29 others from New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies who signed earlier, will participate in the league matches of the inaugural IPL Twenty20 championship, scheduled to commence from April next year, said a release here today.

Those who signed up today, apart from Australian captain Ricky Ponting and vice captain Adam Gilchrist, included Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi and South African batsman Loots Bosman.

The IPL will also witness a star-studded line up of Australians like Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Brett Lee, Mathew Hayden, Nathan Bracken, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Jhonson, Simon Katich, Jason Gilliseppe and Cameron White taking the total of international cricketers that have signed up to play in the IPL to 44.

IPL had already signed the likes of Shane Warne, Justin Langer and Glen McGarth of Australia; Stephen Fleming, Daniel Vettori, Scott Styris and Jacob Oram of New Zealand; Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka; Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, Ashwell Prince, Albie Morkel, A B deVilliers and Shaun Pollock of South Africa; Shivnarine Chanderpaul of West Indies; and Mohammed Yousuf and Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan for participation in the inaugural tournament.

Indian Premier League chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi said ”We have great pleasure in announcing today, the induction of some of the finest talent from the World One-Day Champions Team Australia. I am sure that the cricket loving public of India would cherish the opportunity to see the world champions turn out for their local teams. The induction of the prodigious Aussie talent, I am sure, will add a whole new dimension to the cricket that it played in the Indian Premier League.”

Melbourne, Oct 27 : Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie is the latest entrant to join the Indian Premier league (IPL), the professional Twenty20 league venture of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Gillespie is one of the Cricket Australia’s 25 contracted players, and said he was excited by the competition.

“I am at this stage of my career where I am looking forward to new challenges,” Gillespie said.

“I think this competition will be a lot of fun,” The Australian quoted Gillespie, as saying.

Gillespie also said that if he plays for Australia again, it would be in the longer version of the game.

“I have played my last one-day game for Australia, that is for sure, but I believe I can offer something at the Test level if that opportunity arises,” he said.

Gillespie, who has played 71 Tests and taken 259 wickets at an average of 26.13, thinks that the selectors would look at younger bowlers for the summer.

“When I was a young fast bowler, the Australian selectors persevered with me and I think they should do the same for whoever is picked,” he said.

“It takes a while to find your feet at Test level and I was grateful for the opportunities and I hope selectors do the same now.”

The IPL has so far signed 25 foreign players, including Gillespie’s former bowling partner Glenn McGrath.

The Twenty20 competition, consisting of teams under the BCCI, will be held in April 2008. The league has the prize money of three million dollars. (ANI)

NEW DELHI – India’s new-found fascination for Twenty20 cricket has turned into a tug-of-war as money, power and court battles overshadow the country’s most popular sport. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is determined to be the sole crusader of the lucrative crowd-pulling Twenty20 format in cricket-mad India despite its secretary Niranjan Shah earlier describing Twenty20 as a “waste of time.”

This apparent change of heart had nothing to do with Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s young Team India winning the inaugural Twenty20 world championships in South Africa in September, an event Indian officials once strongly opposed.

It had everything to do with the unveiling in May of the unofficial multi-million-dollar so-called rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), bankrolled by the country’s largest media group, Zee Telefilms.A rattled BCCI banned cricketers signing up to the ICL from representing the country, forcing the rebel body to file an ongoing case challenging the BCCI’s monopoly over the sport.

The BCCI also drew up its own three-million-dollar Indian Premier League (IPL) with the blessing of the International Cricket Council and supported by boards around the world.And so began a game of oneupmanship, lapped up greedily by the media and showing no signs of abating with no apparent concern for the effects it could have on players, their international commitments and the sport in India.

The Zee-backed ICL presented India’s only World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev as its chief executive, while the BCCI’s IPL paraded the country’s other legend, Sunil Gavaskar, and popular commentator Ravi Shastri as members of its governing council.At the moment the IPL is seemingly winning the battle in terms of getting star players to sign up.

It says it has on board Test captains Graeme Smith of South Africa, Daniel Vettori of New Zealand, Shoaib Malik of Pakistan and the entire Team India.The IPL also persuaded ICL’s main draw, Pakistani star batsman Mohammad Yousuf, to break his contract with the rebel league and sign up with the official body, prompting the ICL to serve legal papers on the player.

The best the ICL has managed so far are retired international stars, headed by West Indian great Brian Lara and Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq, along with a slew of domestic has-beens.Both leagues — despite obvious deep pockets — have found it easier to sign up big names than finalise start dates and other details of the events they plan to stage.

The only real concrete fact is that both leagues will feature Twenty20 matches between franchised teams made up of international players and young promising Indians.The ICL may begin in November and the BCCI is looking to start the IPL in April next year, although like much in this saga, nothing is certain.

The beleaguered Asia Cup limited-overs tournament, already put off twice before and now scheduled to be held in Pakistan in April-May, faces an uncertain future if the IPL is held at the same time and there are concerns the players may end up playing too much cricket.Unsurprisingly, not everyone is impressed at the potential impact the leagues could have on cricket.

“If the proto-typical young cricketer is happy signing up for IPL franchises and making his money there, is he going to bother playing five-day cricket?”, veteran columnist Ashok Malik said.Cricinfo, the game’s leading website, said: “Money could make Twenty20 the most lucrative form of cricket any aspiring cricketer wants to play.

“So what that would do to cricket skills and talent pools for longer versions of the game is anyone’s guess.“Also, it could change the way we look at cricket. Teams based on regional affiliations will be replaced by teams based on commerce, players playing not for local pride but for top dollar.

“That’s how football has grown in the last 20 years — and not everyone’s happy with the shape it’s in today.”

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and team mates Younis Khan and Mohammad Asif have signed up for the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL), organisers said on Thursday.

New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum has also joined, taking to 29 the number of foreign players who have committed to the lucrative Twenty20 event which starts in April.

The 44-day tournament will feature eight franchises, the IPL said in a statement, with each squad containing 16 players.

The $3 million (1.46 million pound) IPL was launched by the Indian cricket board in September, with support from other national boards to counter an unofficial version planned next month.

Those already signed up include international captains Graeme Smith of South Africa and Mahela Jayawardene of Sri Lanka and Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf.

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik along with fellow batsman Younus Khan and fast bowler Mohammad Asif have joined the official Indian Premier League (IPL).

New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum is also the IPL’s latest signing.

“Malik, Khan, Asif and McCullum signed up with the IPL, taking the number of international cricketers to 29,” BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi was quoted as saying to espnstar.com.

South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock, New Zealand paceman Jacob Oram and Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar have also agreed to play in the league.

The Indian Premier League has secured the services of South Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock and Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar.

The Twenty20 format league, which is due to get underway in April, was set up by the India Cricket Board to counter the rebel Indian Cricket League that is to feature West Indian legend Brian Lara. 

And, with the backing of the Australian, England, South African and Pakistan boards, the IPL has attracted some top names from the world of cricket. 

In addition to Pollock and Shoaib, international skippers Graeme Smith, Mahela Jayawardene and Daniel Vettori are also among 25 foreign stars to sign up. 

The debut IPL season will start with eight teams, while organisers hope to double the field by 2010. 

Brendon McCullum has joined a growing number of New Zealand test cricketers signing up to play in the Indian Premeir League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament.

The Black Caps wicketkeeper was unveiled among the latest signings for the International Cricket Council (ICC) competition – establishment’s answer to the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) venture. The acquisition of McCullum comes hard on the heels of allrounder Jacob Oram’s signing this week.

Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, his successor Daniel Vettori and middle order batsmen Scott Styris have already joined a host of current internationals to spearhead the $4.5 million tournament. Current Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and two of his teammates Younis Khan and Mohd Asif were also signed up today along with McCullum.

The quartet increase the number of internationals contracted to the franchise-based competition to 29. More signings are expected next week, with New Zealand’s premier fast bowler Shane Bond a potential target.

The inaugural tournament is scheduled for April and will comprise 59 matches over 44 days. Players would be spread among eight franchises featuring Indian players.

The BCCI on Wednesday declined that it has received any request from the Pakistan Cricket Board to accommodate a one-off Twenty20 international during the series against the arch-rivals starting next month.

“Where’s the question? We have not received any request from the PCB on the issue,” BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said.

News reports from Pakistan have said that the PCB wanted the one-off T20 tie to raise funds for former coach Bob Woolmer’s dream project — a cricket academy in South Africa.

The BCCI has always maintained that it would be difficult to accommodate the T20 tie because of the tight schedule of the Indian team.

On the proposed Indian Premier League, Shah said that the first meeting of IPL Governing Council will be held tomorrow.

“Lalit Modi (match commissioner and chairman of the league) will give the latest details about the IPL during the meeting,” Shah said.

Controversial Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, South African pacer Shaun Pollock and New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram have joined the $3 million Indian Premier League (IPL), taking the total number of players who have signed for April’s first edition to 25.

‘To have ‘Rawalpindi Express’ (Akhtar) play for an India club team, together with a cricketer as talented as Pollock will be a dream-come-true for the cricket loving Indian fans,’ said IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi here Tuesday.

‘It also once again reiterates our commitment to create a tournament that will showcase some of the best talent in the world. I am very excited about the inaugural season of the IPL, which now looks all set to kick off in April 2008,’ said Modi, who is also a vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) and president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association.

The players who have earlier signed to play in IPL include Shane Warne, Glen McGarth, Justin Langer, Mahela Jayawardene, Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, A.B. de Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Albie Morkel, Mohammed Yousuf, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas, Daniel Vettori, Stephen Fleming and Scott Styris.

IPL will feature eight teams in the first season, with each team playing seven home and away games against one another, taking the total number of matches to 56.

This will be followed by the semi-finals between the top four teams and the final.

The matches will be played between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., which is expected to bring in lots of crowds.

Interest is bound to grow in IPL as India recently won the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa last month.

Besides Modi, the IPL governing council has former BCCI president I.S. Bindra, BCCI vice-presidents Chirayu Amin and Rajeev Shukla, Delhi and District Cricket Association president Arun Jaitely and former India captains Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri.

All BCCI office bearers are ex-officio members of the IPL.

The governing council, which has been initially appointed for five years, will run and operate the IPL as a virtual company. The IPL hopes to grow the number of teams to 16 by 2010. It expects each team to operate as a franchise.

While cricket enthusiasts in the country are closely following the ongoing recruitment war between the Indian Premeir League (IPL) and the Indian Cricket League (ICL), the latter’s coach Pranab Roy reckons that the BCCI’s counter-initiative is starting to give ICL a few worries. After the Zee-backed rebel project was launched amidst aplomb months back, the Indian Board came up with the IPL to counter Subhash Chandra’s rebel league. The IPL may be seen by many as no more than just a reactionary move, but Pranab feels that with the IPL, the BCCI could be biting into ICL’s targeted share of players.

“We are quite happy with the way the ICL is progressing so far. We have had two rounds of camps already, we have a good pool of talented players. Our only worry at this stage is the IPL’s rise. That is something that is a worry for us,” Pranab said.

The former Bengal batsman was recruited by the ICL as spotter-cum-coach for east zone. In fact, Pranab was in the news a few months back after some officials of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) allegedly misbehaved with him at the Eden Gardens and later debarred him from entering the CAB’s premises.

Pranab’s fears of the IPL giving the ICL some stiff competition comes amidst speculation in the cricketing community that the BCCI is using everything in its considerable powers to make things difficult for the Zee-backed rebel project.

The former Bengal stalwart however is not taking the ICL’s current roadblock too seriously. “There are some problems right now, the whole launch has been postponed for the time being. But it’s not going to be a big issue. The main point is, we have a solid pool of players. It’s now just a matter of time,” Pranab said.

The player-turned-coach pointed out that after a season or two of Twenty20 events, the ICL will try out three-dayers and four-dayers as well. He also made it clear that the ICL is not going to approach domestic players on a random basis anymore. “The needs are now specific.

Earlier, the management went for singing in as many players as possible. But now that we have a big pool, with enough players to split them into three teams, we are zeroing in on seeking specific needs, like left-arm spinners etc,” Pranab explained.The coach, who will go over for the ICL’s second round of camp in Chennai next week, countered popular belief that the new league only comprises BCCI discards.

“It’s wrong to assume that our pool of players includes ageing players only. There are many players who are quite promising and young.

Even if you take the example of the experienced players in the ICL, like Dinesh Mongia, you can’t call them ageing players or discards in any sense,” Pranab asserted.