[andy4u]

@ Divine ->

The Rashid-Raman issue had nothing to do with any kind of West-North rivalry.It was just a hot-head maverick running into some1 who may have irked him.I think Rashid Patel would have done the same to even his teammates.

BTW,IPL'S USP is not the inter-city rivalry,which as rightly said by you,doesn't exist
It's primary USP is getting the best players of the world lined up in a single team and locking it's horns with with another competitive team.Just think,wouldn't it be fun to see Jayasurya opening the batting with Gilchrist and Mcgrath and Steyn trying to get them out.

[Suneer]

Originally Posted by andy4u

.. :huh:
All the best to any1 from this thread who participates.Let us know the questions later on.

Where are the IPL matches going to be held and what will be the format.Any idea?

Where: home and away basis, so, Mumbai play all their home matches at either Brabourne or Wankhede(this ones getting renovated, so mebbe Brabourne) n away matches in all the remaining venues, i.e Eden Gardens vs Kolkata n so on...

Format: as I said, home and away, 7 home matches + 7 away matches = 14 matches per team. 56 league matches + 2 semis + 1 final.

Apparently, final day in Mumbai in first week of June. Have they taken into account Mumbai rains?

[Suneer]

Originally Posted by andy4u

@ Divine ->

The Rashid-Raman issue had nothing to do with any kind of West-North rivalry.It was just a hot-head maverick running into some1 who may have irked him.I think Rashid Patel would have done the same to even his teammates.

BTW,IPL'S USP is not the inter-city rivalry,which as rightly said by you,doesn't exist
It's primary USP is getting the best players of the world lined up in a single team and locking it's horns with with another competitive team.Just think,wouldn't it be fun to see Jayasurya opening the batting with Gilchrist and Mcgrath and Steyn trying to get them out.

Hey Andy,

I think I would have to differ on both these points here. The Raman - Rashid issue may have been triggered off due to what you mentioned, but the things had been boiling for some time. West and North...more specifically, Delhi and Mumbai have had this history - although Rashid Patel was not from Mumbai, there was always a sense of bitter rivalry between the sides. I am not too much into hockey, but there is a huge rivalry between the states from North - especially Punjab - and some down South. In cricket it is Delhi and Mumbai, and it needed a trigger to explode, which it got that day. Anyways, here, it is just my point of view versus urs, so, cannot really be debated

The second point that you made about what would make the IPL sell. See, I think I would not be too off the mark if I said that the Wankhede/Eden Garden crowd is a sample space of the population that watches cricket in India, which includes people like you and me and Brij...but it also includes more than 90% of the people, who do not go to watch a Lara bat or a Warne bowl. They want their team - India, or any other city they represent - to win, and even if their team loses, their player to score a 100.

if the concept of IPL is to woo these masses, I have no doubt in my mind, the strongest reason why they would get attracted is the inter city rivalry, and not because they want to watch a Warne or a McGrath bowl, or Ponting or Fleming bat. There would be people who would fall in this category - the category u mention - but they would be outnumbered by the people who would want THEIR side to win. These are not guys who want to watch Warne take wickets or Ponting score runs...! And hence, most of the promotion would have to border on hard core selling of your city to you.

Coming back to the sample space of a Wankhede or Eden, you may know, the crowds support only one thing, Team India or say a Tendulkar or Ganguly century. I dont think most of them - more than 90% - would want to see a classic hundred by any opponent. Same would be with IPL - most of the masses would go to support their teams and not the players they like. Unless ofcourse, one is going to watch a match as a neutral - i.e. as a Mumbaite, one watches a match between Kolkata and Chennai, one may end up supporting a team that has his/her favourite cricketer.

I fully agree with you that it would be fun to watch the locking of horns between the players u mentioned, that however would not entice more than 10% of the crowd.

[andy4u]

Originally Posted by Suneer

Where: home and away basis, so, Mumbai play all their home matches at either Brabourne or Wankhede(this ones getting renovated, so mebbe Brabourne) n away matches in all the remaining venues, i.e Eden Gardens vs Kolkata n so on...

Format: as I said, home and away, 7 home matches + 7 away matches = 14 matches per team. 56 league matches + 2 semis + 1 final.

Apparently, final day in Mumbai in first week of June. Have they taken into account Mumbai rains?

Before anything else..

Brabourne,Wankhede se yaad aaya...

Hey what happened to the Gymkhana stadium in Bombay where the first Test Match in India was held.Never heard anything about it.Does it still exist?

I don't know of any other city in India which has hosted test matches in 3 different venues.If I am not wrong the record should still be with Colombo.They had 4 I think,Premadasa,Sinhalese,Khetarama and 1 more..can't remember right now(Sarvanamattu was it?).

[andy4u]

Originally Posted by andy4u

Before anything else..

Brabourne,Wankhede se yaad aaya...

Hey what happened to the Gymkhana stadium in Bombay where the first Test Match in India was held.Never heard anything about it.Does it still exist?

I don't know of any other city in India which has hosted test matches in 3 different venues.If I am not wrong the record should still be with Colombo.They had 4 I think,Premadasa,Sinhalese,Khetarama and 1 more..can't remember right now(Sarvanamattu was it?).

Well,had an inkling of something,researched it.
India happens to be the only Test playing nation which never again played a Test Match at the venue where it all started for them in their country.

Australia - MCG
England - The Oval
Soth Africa - Port Elizabeth
New Zealand - Jade,Christchurch
West Indies - Kensigton Oval
India - Gymkhana Stadium
Pakistan - Bangabandhu
Sri Lanka - Sarvanamattu
Zimbabwe - Harare
Bangladesh - Bangabandhu

Apart from Gymkhana,all other venues hosted more test matches after that.The only trap is that,actually speaking the first match in today's Pakistan was played in Bahawal Stadium at Bahwalpur and it never hosted a test match again!

Trivia - Other than London,where else will you find a Test Venue by the name of Lords'

[Suneer]

Originally Posted by andy4u

Well,had an inkling of something,researched it.
India happens to be the only Test playing nation which never again played a Test Match at the venue where it all started for them in their country.

Australia - MCG
England - The Oval
Soth Africa - Port Elizabeth
New Zealand - Jade,Christchurch
West Indies - Kensigton Oval
India - Gymkhana Stadium
Pakistan - Bangabandhu
Sri Lanka - Sarvanamattu
Zimbabwe - Harare
Bangladesh - Bangabandhu

Apart from Gymkhana,all other venues hosted more test matches after that.The only trap is that,actually speaking the first match in today's Pakistan was played in Bahawal Stadium at Bahwalpur and it never hosted a test match again!

that is brialliant trivia...Yeah, only India and Pakistan have 'retired' their debut grounds!

Originally Posted by andy4u

Trivia - Other than London,where else will you find a Test Venue by the name of Lords'

I didnt know this and my search tells me of a Lords stadium in SA. Is that the one you looking for?

A question from my side:
I made my debut in an India-WI ODI match in WI in the 1989 tour and later made my Test debut in that series as well. After that, I went on to be a part of World Cup cricket, and have been embroiled in controversies throughout my career. Who am I?

[fringant]

Originally Posted by Suneer

that is brialliant trivia...Yeah, only India and Pakistan have 'retired' their debut grounds!



I didnt know this and my search tells me of a Lords stadium in SA. Is that the one you looking for?

A question from my side:
I made my debut in an India-WI ODI match in WI in the 1989 tour and later made my Test debut in that series as well. After that, I went on to be a part of World Cup cricket, and have been embroiled in controversies throughout my career. Who am I?

is the answer ajay sharma,the batsmen who made tons of runs in domestic cricket but failed to deliver at the big stage
he was later involved in the mtach fixing scandal

[andy4u]

Originally Posted by Suneer

that is brialliant trivia...Yeah, only India and Pakistan have 'retired' their debut grounds!



I didnt know this and my search tells me of a Lords stadium in SA. Is that the one you looking for?

A question from my side:
I made my debut in an India-WI ODI match in WI in the 1989 tour and later made my Test debut in that series as well. After that, I went on to be a part of World Cup cricket, and have been embroiled in controversies throughout my career. Who am I?

Not Prabhakar rt..? :huh:

The other Lords´ is/was at Durban

Okie this 1 may be difficult - Name 1 Indian pacer(not sure if there are more) who took 5 wickets in his last Test Innings yet never got to represent India again in tests.

[Suneer]

Originally Posted by Suneer

A question from my side:
I made my debut in an India-WI ODI match in WI in the 1989 tour and later made my Test debut in that series as well. After that, I went on to be a part of World Cup cricket, and have been embroiled in controversies throughout my career. Who am I?

The answer is Steve Bucknor...thoda googly ho gaya.

[andy4u]

I am loving this entire activity of IPL.Can hardly wait for it to start

Cricinfo - Franchises try team-building of a different kind

I think..BCCI has actually messed up things by introducing the auctioning of players.Suppose Preity Zinta's franchise offers the highest bid for Joginder Sharma but Joginder Sharma doesn't want to join her team,will he still have to join it?If yes,it's cruel.Don't know about a de-facto Aussie team,but we may someday end up having a de-facto Mumbai team playing against an ipso-facto Mumbai team.How ridiculous will that be?

When the format of Duleep trophy was changed from zonal system to increase the standard of play some 6-7 years,it had to be reverted back soon enough as the players complained of not having any sense of belonging.

Perhaps BCCI can take up a cue from it and tighten up the rules before it comes to that in subsequent editions.

Or better still,learn the lessons from Football where a Heinze can't join Liverpool even if he wants to.

And oh yes,what is the worst thing about this entire matter of IPL,ICL?
Allowing so many foreign players.But that I believe is a natural progression. Alas,doesn't matter you like it or not,nothing doing.