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The reigning champions Chennai Super Kings(CSK) have once again won the title as Champions of IPL 2011.

Chasing a mammoth victory target of 206 runs, Bangalore could manage 147/8 as Ravichandran Ashwin took three wickets.

Ashwin had Chris Gayle caught behind by MS Dhoni for a duck as Bangalore got off to a disastrous start.

Ashwin struck on the fourth ball of the RCB innings to give CSK the first breakthrough.

Ashwin struck again in his next over when he clean bowled Mayank Agarwal by a carom ball.

Shadab Jakati then dismissed AB de Villiers and Luke Pomersbach in his successive overs.

Jakati first trapped de Villiers plumb in front of the wicket and in his next over took an easy return catch to dismiss Pomersbach.

Virat Kohli hit a six and a four in his 32-ball 35 before he was trapped plumb in front of the wicket by Suresh Raina.

Ashwin then took his third wicket by taking a return catch to dismiss RCB captain Daniel Vettori for a first ball duck.

Earlier, Murali Vijay’s 52-ball 95 and Michael Hussey’s 45-ball 63 powered Chennai to 205/5.

Sreenath Aravind dismissed Vijay and MS Dhoni off successive deliveries but that was little consolation for RCB as the damage had already been done.

Vijay’s knock was studded with 6 sixes and 4 fours and he was caught by RCB captain Daniel Vettori at mid-off.

On the next delivery, Aravind had Dhoni caught by Virat Kohli at long-on. Dhoni, who came in at number three, hit 2 sixes in his 13-ball 22 before falling to Aravind.

Chris Gayle dismissed Albie Morkel and Suresh Raina off successive deliveries to place CSK at 199/4 but Dwayne Bravo hit the last delivery for a six to take CSK to 205/5.

Hussey put up a 159-run stand with Vijay before Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad had him caught by Abhimanyu Mithun at long-on off a full toss.

The Vijay-Hussey stand is the highest partnership for any wicket for CSK in IPL.

Hussey hit 3 sixes and 3 fours in his 45-ball 63 before falling to Syed.

Hussey reached his fifty off 40 balls and alongwith Vijay brought up CSK’s 150 in 14.2 overs.

Vijay hit a 29-ball fifty and alongwith Hussey brought up CSK’s 100 in 10.3 overs.

Vijay’s 50 is the second fastest half-century by a CSK batsman.

Vijay and Hussey brought up Chennai 50 in the fifth over and apart from the big shots, the highlight of their partnership was their superb running between the wickets.

The start came after Chennai captain MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat.

Chennai are unchanged for the sixth game on the trot and Bangalore have also retained the eleven that beat Mumbai Indians on Friday.

Sri Lankan Fast Bowler Lasith Malinga has announced his retirement from Test Cricket.

Malinga,who is well known for his unique slinging round-arm action announced his retirement on Friday in order to prolong his limited overs career.

In a statement Malinga said he had sustained a chronic knee injury in Australia in February, 2008, which prevented him from playing one-day cricket for 16 months.

“The injury was a career-threatening injury and my orthopaedic surgeon was of the opinion that given his experience with other professional athletes in Australia I was very fortunate to play again,” he said.

“I have since been advised by the national team physiotherapist and my orthopaedic consultant that my condition will deteriorate when fielding or bowling for prolonged periods.

“I did try to return to test cricket after a three-year absence last year following requests from the team management and the selectors, but it left me unfit and nursing severe knee pain for two months.”

Malinga said he had realised that the heavy workload of test cricket could lead to permanent injury and his decision to retire would help him achieve his goal of representing Sri Lanka in next year’s Twenty20 World Cup and the 2015 50 overs World Cup.

Has Malinga chosen IPL over Test Cricket? Share your views with us via comments.

The fourth edition of Indian Premier League,shortly known as IPL, for the year 2011 has been revised thanks to the assembly elections that is to be held in 5 states of India.

The league organisers, in a statement, said they have made some changes in the 2011 IPL original schedule taking into account the assembly elections in the states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry.

Keeping in mind the revised schedule, the organisers have also extended the deadline for media accreditation and said new forms will soon be made available.

“The revised media accreditation form will be sent out to the media soon. The mediapersons who have already applied for accreditation, will be contacted separately by IPL”s accreditation team,” IPL chairman Chirayu Amin said in the statement.

“The deadline for submission has been extended by two days — 6:00 pm on Friday, 25 March 2011,” it added.

Absolutely shocking decision taken by BCCI and IPL governing council today to terminate the franchise contract given to Kings XI Punjab and Rajastan Royals team.

The decision was taken after BCCI legal team found the Kings XI Punjab and Rajastan Royals owners breach the code. Both the teams, failed to provide the correct details of franchise ownership and besides that both the teams have been in the center of controversy regarding tax issues, that the Indian Government found out last IPL.

Now, this decision opens the auction with all the Rajastan Royals players and Kings XI punjab players out in the open.

The 2 team reduction means we have only  8 teams. The 8 teams already have sufficient international as well as local players. That makes the situation interesting as other teams would love to have international players like Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Watson, Sangakkara, Bret Lee,etc.,..

Kochi Franchise have been spared by the BCCI and have been asked to give correct company and ownership details sooner.

The players auction has been shifted to January 2011.

Image source thehindubusinessline.com

Here is the list of IPL players auctioned on Tuesday in Mumbai.

Kieron Pollard (West Indies) was bought by Mumbai Indians for $750,000 (base price, $200,000).

Wayne Parnell (South Africa) was bought by Delhi Daredevils for $610,000 (base price, $200,000).

Shane Bond (New Zealand) was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for $750,000 (base price, $100,000).

Kemar Roach (West Indies) was bought by Deccan Chargers for $720,000 (base price, $100,00).

Eoin Morgan (England) was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $220,000 (base price, $200,00).

Mohammad Kaif (India) was bought by Kings XI Punjab for $250,000 (base price $100,000)

Damien Martyn (Australia) was bought by Rajasthan Royals for the base price $100,000.

Thissara Perera (Sri Lanka) was bought by Chennai Super Kings for the base price$50,000.

Justin Kemp (South Africa) bought by Chennai Super Kings for the base price $100,000.

Adam Voges (Australia) bought by Rajasthan Royals for the base price $50,000.

Most of his compatriots have developed cold feet about playing in the Indian Premier League in the wake of Shiv Sena’s threat but retired opener Matthew Hayden said he is very much looking forward to be part of the third edition of the Twenty20 extravaganza. Hayden, who represents Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, said he never had problems in India and the country meant a lot for him and his family.

“I can say that I have been welcomed in all parts of India as a brother and friend of the country, which is a great privilege and I’m humble about it. Over a long period of time, I acknowledge, what India meant to me, individually and to my family as well. I’m looking forward with great confidence to playing in IPL,” the towering Australian said.

“In every tour, generally what happens that it is in player’s discretion to decide whether he wants to play or pull out because of personal reasons or other reasons. Obviously the matter now rests in the players’ hands,” Hayden said.

He conceded the players and the Australian Cricketers’ Association were concerned but felt the Aussies would be part of the tournament if the franchisees keep them updated about the security issue.

Australian players’ IPL participation became uncertain after Shiv Sena said they would not allow any Aussie cricketer to play here unless the attack on the Indians did not stop Down Under.

Source : Yahoo! News

Former Indian cricketer  Sunil Gavaskar warned the youngsters that money and fame are not always what a true cricketer plays for. He stressed that, there are things that money and fame cant give and that is Pride achieved by playing for the country.

After the huge success of IPL, many young cricketers are even skipping domestic cricket to prepare for IPL. Gavaskar warned this as very bad and dangerous sign for future Indian cricket. He said players should learn to avoid the ego and selfishness that comes from such a large temptation of money that IPL provides.

He recalls his earlier cricketing days saying, it was an honor to play for India and wear the cap for India.He delivered the speech in the function of  inaugural Dilip Sardesai Memorial lecture at the Cricket Club of India.

“Today, there are many players in the IPL who are not in the India frame but are still making a career out of cricket. The parents are encouraging their kids to take the sport as a career option. But the worry is that the IPL could become the be all and end all for them,” Gavaskar said.