I recently heard this from the chairmain of PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board), Dr. Nasim Ashraf. He told the media that Pakistan and West Indies will play a Twenty20 event in Canada. This event will be a series of Twenty20 matches which will be played in Canada. According to the reports, both cricket boards have agreed to play in this event to amaze the cricket fans in Canada.

Pakistan batsman Faisal Iqbal wants to “be part of the Pakistan team in all forms of the game” despite being overlooked for one-day selection and only being included in Pakistan’s Test squad in recent times.

 

Iqbal, the nephew of former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad, played his last one-day international against West Indies in 2006 and his last Test against India in 2007. Pakistan will not play a Test in 2008, since Australia postponed their tour, giving Iqbal no opportunities with the national squad unless he is considered for one-dayers.

 

“As a professional cricketer I feel that they [the selectors] should consider me for the shorter version of the game,” Iqbal told Dawn. “With no Test series to look forward to in the near future, I want to have a fair crack at one-day cricket.

 

Iqbal has played only 18 one-day internationals and 21 Tests since making his international debut in 2000. “For some reasons I’ve been always looked upon as a ‘replacement’ player by different selection committees,” Iqbal said. “I can’t remember the number of times I was picked to make a comeback. The only way I got a chance was if someone got injured as Inzamam-ul-Haq did when I marked my Test comeback with a series-winning century against India in January 2006.

 

“And again it was an injury to Inzamam that gave me a chance to play in my first one-dayer for more than three years. I scored 30 runs in a difficult situation in the match we lost. Since then I have been overlooked for ODI selection. I feel that unless a player gets a proper run, it’s extremely difficult to cement one’s place in the playing XI because inevitably, one is generally playing under pressure. The fear of failure creeps in your mind when playing opportunities are so few.

 

“I always believe that there is nothing more satisfying than playing for Pakistan. For this very reason, I turned down a lucrative offer from the Indian Cricket League (ICL) because I didn’t want to jeopardise my future with Pakistan.”

 

Iqbal is due to leave for Florida to take part in Twenty20 matches organised by Cricket Council USA between May 23 and 25.

Source: http://www.cricinfo.com/

This match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians was not at all exciting. Kolkata Knight Riders batted first and were bowled out for 67. So they’ve set a new record…. how shameful! Mumbai Indians chased it easily in just 5.3 overs scoring 68 runs for 2 wickets. That didn’t take a long time so congratulations to Mumbai Indians.

We have seen two (2) hatricks in this tournament so far.

The first IPL T20 hatrick was taken by L.Balaji (Chennai Super Kings) in a match against Kings IX Punjab. The batsmen who were dismissed in this hatrick were Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla and VRV Singh.

The second hatrick was taken by A.Mishra (Delhi Daredevils) in a match against Deccan Chargers. The batsmen who were dismissed in this hatrick were Ravi Teja, P.Ojha and Chetan Sharma.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
Rajasthan	9	7	2	0	0	14	+0.592	1361/164.4	1307/170.2
Punjab	9	6	3	0	0	12	+0.458	1496/172.2	1465/178.1
Chennai	10	6	4	0	0	12	-0.203	1725/197.0	1659/185.1
Kolkata	9	5	4	0	0	10	+0.619	1404/175.0	1271/171.4
Delhi	10	5	5	0	0	10	+0.331	1576/187.1	1607/198.4
Mumbai	8	4	4	0	0	8	-0.056	1199/147.4	1240/151.4
Deccan	10	2	8	0	0	4	-0.380	1589/190.0	1632/186.4
Bangalore	9	2	7	0	0	4	-1.381	1278/175.4	1447/167.1

 

Source: http://www.cricinfo.com/

This match was amazing. The reaction of the crowd towards the Kolkata Knight Riders was great. I was watching it on TV and it was great fun to watch this match. Although we didn’t see good batting performances from both sides, but we saw some great bowling attack especially from Shoaib Akhtar who took 4 wickets in just 3 overs yesterday in his IPL T20 debut.

Kolkata won the toss, elected to bat, scored 133 for 6 wickets in 20 overs, which wasn’t a satisfying total. Delhi Daredevils had a very good chance to win, but Shoaib Akhtar with his extra pace in bowling, ruined the top order of the Daredevils, and then th lower order was ruined by Laxmi Shukla who took 3 wickets in his only over.

Daredevils were gone for 110 in 17.5 overs. Shoaib Akhtar was awarded the man of the match award. The match was played at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
Rajasthan	9	7	2	0	0	14	+0.592	1361/164.4	1307/170.2
Punjab	9	6	3	0	0	12	+0.458	1496/172.2	1465/178.1
Chennai	9	6	3	0	0	12	+0.104	1569/177.0	1501/171.2
Kolkata	8	4	4	0	0	8	+0.545	1271/155.0	1161/151.4
Delhi	8	4	4	0	0	8	+0.500	1272/147.1	1292/158.4
Mumbai	7	3	4	0	0	6	-0.455	1041/133.5	1084/131.4
Deccan	9	2	7	0	0	4	-0.352	1407/170.0	1438/166.4
Bangalore	9	2	7	0	0	4	-1.381	1278/175.4	1447/167.1

 

This is the current points table of IPL teams.

Source: http://www.cricinfo.com/

This match also proved to be very difficult for Bangalore Royal Challengers when they batted first and could score only 143 runs in 20 overs for 8 wickets. Their highest scorer was Mark Boucher who scored 39 runs.

In return, Kings IX Punjab chased this target easily in just 15.4 overs, scoring 144 runs for just 1 wicket. Shawn Marsh scored 74 runs in just 51 balls.

So in the end, Kings IX Punjab won by 9 wickets with 26 balls remaining.

The Pakistan Cricket Board will launch its franchised version of the Champions League Twenty20 in 2008, according to Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the board.

The Pakistan Premier League (PPL), as it will be called, will consist of six franchised teams belonging to corporate groups who have shown interest in it and will be launched immediately after the Champions Trophy that is scheduled to take place in the country in September 2008.

“PPL is part of the International Champions League which is approved by the ICC and will be run by five boards,” Ashraf said. “Each of the six teams will feature four foreign players, four local players of the region and Under-21 players whose services can be obtained for a fees. The six teams will also be franchised by corporates.”

Ashraf dismissed links that the league was being formed to counter the threats posed by the Indian Cricket League (ICL) that has picked up the Pakistani quartet of Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Imran Farhat and Abdul Razzak. He was hopeful that PPL would attract these players and would allow them to associate themselves with the new league which is approved by all the national cricket boards.

“At the moment I invite all the players, those who have joined the ICL and those who have not, to join the Premier League as it offers a lot of benefits. I am hopeful that the rebel players will come back keeping in view the national interests.”

The Twenty20 Champions League is an international tournament featuring the best teams of the domestic Twenty20 tournaments in various nations and will be run by the cricket boards of India, Australia, South Africa, and England.

Source: http://www.cricinfo.com/

Rajasthan Royals won another match against Delhi Daredevils proving to be the best team of the IPL under Shane Warne’s captaincy. Delhi Daredevils were the first to bat and they scored 156 runs for 7 wickets. Mascarenhas of Rajasthan Royals played at the place of Sohail Tanvir and took 2 wickets. Rajasthan Royals started their innings slowly but were able to chase the target easily in 19.1 overs scoring 159 runs for 7 wickets at 8.29 runs per over. Shane Watson scored 74 before he was run out by Karthik, the wicket keeper of Daredevils. So Royals won by 3 wickets with 5 balls remaining.