Chennai Kings

India Cements Limited, a franchisee of the Indian Premier League, on Monday christened its team 'Chennai Super Kings' and unveiled its logo at a glittering function in Chennai.
Former opener Krish Shrikkanth has been roped in as the team's brand ambassador, while his contemporary and state mate V B Chandrasekar, a former national selector, would be in-charge of picking the players.
Company vice-chairman and Managing Director N Srinivasan uveiled the team logo and said it is a red letter day for Tamil Nadu cricket.
"It is a red letter day in the annals of Tamil Nadu cricket. I am thrilled to announce the team name and unveil its logo in the midst of luminaries of the state who have played cricket with distinction," he said.
Srinivasan said there would be eight foreign players in the team with four of them in the playing eleven for a match.
"Like other franchisee holders, the Chennai team has to wait for the auction on Wednesday [to bid for foreign players] to be over to know the names of players," he said.
Since the IPL has made it mandatory for a team to have a minimum of 16 players and the maximum to be left to the team,
"We plan to have 23 players in 'Super Kings'," said Srinivasan, who is also the treasurer of the Cricket Board.
He said all seven home matches would be played at the MA Chidambaram stadium.

McCullum's banged Banglore

Inauguration of IPL match between Bangalore Royal Challengers v/s Kolkata Knight Riders at M Chinaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Friday

Inauguration of IPL match between Bangalore Royal Challengers v/s Kolkata Knight Riders at M Chinaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Friday.

Shilpa Shetty with Zayaed Khan during the opening ceremony of IPL between Bangalore Royal Challengers v/s Kolkata Knight Riders at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Friday

Actor Shah Rukh Khan with Arjun Rampal during the opening ceremony of IPL between Bangalore Royal Challengers v/s Kolkata Knight Riders at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Friday.

Crackers bursting during the opening ceremony of IPL between Bangalore Royal Challengers v/s Kolkata Knight Riders at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Friday.

Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Shane Warne, Yuvraj Singh and VVS Laxman during the inauguration of IPL T20 Championship at M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Friday.

Kolkata Knight Riders' Brendon McCullam raises his bat after his century against Bangalore Royal Challengers during the inaugural IPL T20 Championship match at M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Friday

Vijay Mallya waves at the crowd during the inauguration of IPL match at M Chinaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Friday

Brendon McCullum of Kolkatta Knight Riders on his way to 150 runs against Bangalore Royal Challengers of IPL cricket match at M Chinaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Friday.

Rahul Dravid of Bangalore Royal Challengers bowled out by Ishant Sharma of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL match at M Chinaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Friday

Kolkata Knight Riders' Captain Sourav Ganguly celebrates after the wicket of Bangalore Royal Challengers player Mark Boucher during the inaugural IPL T20 Championship match at M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Friday

Kolkata Knight Riders' Ashok Dinda celebrates the wicket of Bangalore Royal Challengers player Wasim Jaffer during the inaugural IPL T20 Championship match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Friday

Kolkata Knight Riders celebrate Rahul Dravid's wicket in IPL match at M Chinaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Friday.

Bangalore: New Zealander Brendon McCullum hammered Twenty20 cricket's highest ever score, an unbeaten 158, as Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed Bangalore Royal Challengers by 140 runs in the opening Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Friday night.
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McCullum was adjudged the Man of the Match for his breathtaking innings, during which he cracked 10 boundaries and 13 sixes in front of a boisterous crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Also present to cheer teams were their owners - Vijay Mallya of the United Breweries group for the home team and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan for the Koklata squad.
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After being put into bat by Bangalore captain Rahul Dravid, Kolkata Knight Riders posted 222 for three wickets in 20 overs and then bowled out the hosts for 82 in just 15.1 overs.
It was a lucky day for McCullum, who also keeps wickets for New Zealand. He might not have opened the innings had the hard-hitting West Indian Chris Gayle arrived for the lung opener. But the 26-year-old right-hander grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he opened the innings with Ganguly (10) and raised 61.
McCullum was, in fact, involved in four successive 50-plus partnerships. He also added 51 for the second wicket with Australia captain Ricky Ponting (20), 60 for the third with David Hussey (12), also an Australian, and an unbeaten 50 for the fourth with Pakistani Mohammed Hafeez (5 not out).
All six Bangalore Royal Challengers bowlers got hammered badly by a rampaging McCullum.
And when the host batted, Kolkata Knight Riders simply pinned their batsmen down with their sharp bowling and sharp fielding. The Kolkata side took almost all the catches offered, except for the one dropped by Ponting.
Bangalore's miserable performance was evident from the fact that pacer Praveen Kumar, who had earlier in the evening bowled the first ball of the lucrative tournament, was the only batsman to reach double figures. He remained unbeaten on 18 (15 balls, 1x4, 2x6s). 'Extras' was the highest contributor with 19.
India discard Ajit Agarkar bagged three wickets for 25 while debutant pacer Ashok Dinda and Ganguly captured two wickets apiece.
The IPL has brought together some of the fiercest players from the world over. It was, for instance, unimaginable to have Ganguly and Ponting, who have contested many a battle for their countries and also the 2003 World Cup final, hug and embrace each other when Bangalore batted.
When Ganguly bowled Zaheer Khan, Ponting ran in and gave the former India captain a warm hug, sporting a big smile, while Shah Rukh Khan danced in the stands.
The match was preceded by a glamorous opening ceremony that contained fabulous fireworks.
The 45-day tournament will have 59 matches, with the final slated for June 1 in Mumbai

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2008

Hyderabad stitches in the best team. Chennai comes a close second even as Kolkata squanders a good opportunity to rival the best. At the end of nine rounds of bidding for the 75 players, here is how the teams in the Indian Premier League stand, in order of the moey spent.
Hyderabad:
Hyderabad, which ended up as the highest spenders has the most balanced and dangerous looking team. At least on paper. The move to forgo the so-called iconic status to VVS Laxman seems to have paid off. It enabled the Deccan Chronicle-owned team to go ahead and invest big.
The team went ahead and secured what is easily the most destructive top order by rounding off Adam Gilchrist [Images], Herschelle Gibbs [Images] and Shahid Afridi. It also has some mean hands in VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma and Chamara Silva, making it the best batting line up in the league.
That doesn't mean it neglected the bowling department. It got for itself the left-arm seam trio of Chaminda Vaas [Images], RP Singh and Nuwan Zoysa. All-rounders Scott Styris and star buy Andrew Symonds [Images] perfectly round it off for the team, lending a much wanted balance.
The fact that this was the only team that did not dip its fingers in the reserve pie, speaks volumes about the planning and timing that had gone behind assembling the best mix. If we are to stick our neck out and guess the champion, we would put our money on Hyderabad.
Spent: $5.885 milllionOn: 11 playersAdam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi [Images], Scott Styris, Rohit Sharma, VVS Laxman, Chamara Silva, Nuwan Zoysa, Chaminda Vaas, RP Singh.
Chennai:
Chennai, which spent only a few hundred thousand dollars less than Hyderabad, also has a very strong line-up.
Though nowhere close to the Hyderabad line-up, Stephen Fleming [Images], Matthew Hayden [Images] and Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] can nevertheless destroy any attack on their given day. Suresh Raina's potential and the all-rounder duo of Jacob Oram [Images] and Albie Morkel, who can turn a match on its head with either bat or ball, lend stability to the team.
Makhaya Ntini [Images] and Muttiah Muralitharan can be a handful for any batting line up and Joginder Singh brings in all his luck, charm and guile that were instrumental in India's Twenty20 World Cup win.
They also managed to poach Mike Hussey, who surprisingly no one wanted in the initial round.
Spent: $5.825 millionFor: 11 playersMS Dhoni, Muttiah Muralitharan, Matthew Hayden, Jacob Oram, Stephen Fleming, Mike Hussey, Parthiv Patel, Albie Morkel, Joginder Singh, Suresh Raina, Makhaya Ntini
Kolkata:
All was going well for Kolkata and SRK [Images].
And then he went and bought Ajit Agarkar [Images]. His subsequent buys -- Umar Gul, David Hussey and Murali Kartik [Images] � somehow seem to have skewed his side's balance. And add to it, the erratic Shoaib Akthar and things do not look well at all for the team.
However, a line up reading Saurav Ganguly [Images], Chris Gayle, Ricky Ponting [Images], Brendon McCullum can leave even the deadliest bowling attacks licking their wounds. And then there is the latest kid on the block Ishant Sharma. But what will he be able to do on a day when Akthar decides to wander off?
Spent: $5.05 millionFor: 11 players (Saurav Ganguly not counted)Shoaib Akthar, Ricky Ponting, Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Ajit Agarkar, David Hussey, Ishant Sharma, Umar Gul, Murali Kartik, Ramnaresh Sarwan [Images], Tatenda Taibu
Delhi:
Delhi, who seemed to be taking increasingly long toilet breaks as each round of bidding went past them, are left with a team that is neither here nor there.
Yes, Gautam Gambhir [Images] is a proven Twenty20 match winner. Yes, they have the maverick Virender Sehwag [Images] and the classy AB de Villiers. But beyond that and the presence of Daniel Vettori [Images] and Glenn McGrath, there is nothing to show for a core assembled at $4.8 million.
Spent: 4.825For: 9 (minus Virender Sehwag)Daniel Vettori, Shoaib Malik [Images], Mohammad Asif [Images], Dinesh Karthik [Images], AB de Villiers, Ferveez Maharoof, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwary, Glenn McGrath.
Mohali:
There was something about the way Mohali went about selecting their team.
They had Yuvraj Singh [Images] to start with. Then they picked Mahela Jayawardene [Images] and Kumara Sangakkara. They spiced it up with S Sreesanth [Images] and Brett Lee [Images]. They brought in balance with Irfan Pathan [Images], though it will remain to be seen if he is worth almost a million.
But after that, they put their feet up and went to sleep as the rest of the teams went berserk in the bowlers round. They could have picked better support bowlers instead of Piyush Chawla and Romesh Powar. One positive though. This might be the best-looking team of them all.
Spent: 4.62For: 9 players (Yuvraj not included)Mahela Jayawardene, Kumara Sangakkara, Brett Lee, S Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Romesh Powar, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Simon Katich.
Mumbai:
The most expensive franchise to lay hands on also happens to be the most insipid among the heavyweights. An opening combination reading Sachin Tendulkar [Images] - Sanath Jayasuriya is sure mouthwatering. But what after that.
Robin Uthappa is the only exciting prospect. And, with all due respect to Shaun Pollock [Images], this bowling attack is not going to skittle out a bully batting line up like Hyderabad's or Chennai's. Though Lasith Malinga is definitely one player to watch out for.
Spent: 3.825For: 7 players + (Sachin not included)Robin Uthappa, Shaun Pollock, Harbhajan Singh [Images], Sanath Jayasurya, Lasith Malinga [Images], Dilhara Fernando, Loots Bosman.
Bangalore:
For a meager 3.6 million, this is a real good deal in terms of value for money. Dr Vijay Mallya [Images] has lined up a bowling attack best suited for Twenty20.
And then there is the exciting Mark Boucher [Images]. But there is just one glitch here. A very serious one. If a few early wickets fall, the last pair of names we want to see flashing on the giant electronic scoreboard in a Twenty20 match is Rahul Dravid [Images] - Jacques Kallis [Images].
And then, in a cunning move, the team went ahead and bought Aussie discard Cameron White for five times his base price.
Spent: 3.8 For: 9 (Dravid not included)Anil Kumble [Images], Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan [Images], Shivnarine Chanderpaul [Images], Mark Boucher, Cameron White, Wasim Jaffer [Images], Nathan Bracken [Images], Dale Steyn.
Jaipur:
Before bidding began, this was the least of the teams. Eight labourious hours and $2.5 million later, it still is the least of the teams.
Shane Warne [Images], past his prime, was pouched for his base price in the very first round. But that was about it. And oh, just what must have went through the mind of the person who bid for kaif at $675,000 (base price: $175,000) when the hammer fell!
2.7 million7 playersShane Warne, Graeme Smith [Images], Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Kaif, Munaf Patel [Images], Justin Langer