1,342 cricket teams in fray for Himachal’s T-20 league
The second edition of the Jaypee Twenty20 ‘Mahasangram’, a local version of Twenty20 league and billed as the world’s largest cricket tournament, began in Himachal Pradesh Monday, an organiser said here.

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Cricket TV – The Mongoose bat has been at the forefront of the 2010 Indian Premier League (IPL), with it being used to good effect by the likes of Andrew Symonds (Deccan Chargers) and Matthew Hayden (Chennai Super Kings). Already over 200 runs and 15 sixes have been hit. Here, Cricket World® TV takes a closer look at the bats and interviews the inventor of the bat. Jim White presents.

Mumbai bats first versus Redbacks in Champs League
Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar has won the toss and chosen to bat first in the Group B game against South Australia Redbacks in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament. Mumbai made two changes for Tuesday’s match at Kingsmead from the team’s surprise loss in the tournament opener against Highveld Lions on Friday.

Read more on AP via Yahoo! Sports

SACHIN RELISHING CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CHALLENGE
Sachin Tendulkar is relishing a rare new experience in his career ahead of the start of cricket’s Champions League Twenty20 on Friday. The 37-year-old, one of the greatest players of all time, has achieved almost everything the game has to offer.

Read more on Sporting Life

Fresh off its settlement with Konami over internationally traded Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards which Upper Deck admitted it counterfeited, the trading card giant is up to its neck in legal battles again. Major League Baseball, which dropped UD from its stable of trading card makers last year, is suing the company for millions of dollars in damages plus a punitive award in the US District Court in New York,. The allegation is trademark infringement. MLB licenses and very strongly protects its various team trademarks. Baseball claims Upper Deck is using those trademarks despite the fact it does not have the rights to do it as licensed by MLB, nor has it been given permission to proceed with MLB licensed trading cards.

“Upper Deck’s current conduct is reflective of a pattern of utter disrespect for the contractual and intellectual property rights of those from whom it licenses valuable trademarks,” the complaint said.

So far a spokesman for Upper Deck has no comment.

Upper Deck, based in Carlsbad, CA started making licensed trading cards of major league baseball players in 1989 when it burst on the scene as the card of the collector. The relationship was a good one and UD was credited with pushing kids trading cards into a new realm of real life collectibles. The industry, led by UD, reached over $2 billion in retail sales in the early 1990′s. Problems began surfacing in the latter part of the decade and now MLB now says UD still owes it $2.4 million in back royalties. Last year MLB and the Players Union began not renewing licenses due to the vast over production which led the category down a path of near non-existence. Topps is once again the only trading card maker of licensed baseball cards.

It is the logos and trademarks which are in question here for the most part when it comes to this lawsuit. The NFL, NBA and NHL as well as other leagues have similar restrictions. This week the NFL, which owns the rights to the New Orleans Saints’ familiar slogan “Who Dat” is using its muscle to try to halt the sale of knock off tee shirts and other items at the Super Bowl which carry the “Who Dat” statement. The NBA for years has raided swap meets and flea markets confiscating and shutting down dealers who print shirts and caps with their official logos as well.

One of the aspects in question is Upper Deck recently released both the high end Ultimate Collection and Signature Stars Baseball products. MLB says UD released these 2010 products (they were released in 2010) but on the packaging UD states these are 2009 products.

“They did put a disclaimer on the box saying the product is not affiliated with Major League Baseball,” said Dave Rodriguez of Sports Source, a baseball card shop in Burbank, CA. “It is confusing to the collector certainly and the product was solicited during 2009.”

Several distributors have also halted distribution of UD trading cards which are under question with the law suit. Usually card makers solicit their products four to six months in advance of release. Upper Deck did have a license in 2009. Whether this will be part of UD’s defense or not will remain to be seen. Upper Deck had been the leader in distributing trading cards world wide including World Cup Soccer beginning in 1993. It even printed basketball in foreign languages for Asia and Europe.

Upper Deck was one of the first companies to take the printing of cards with retired players to another level. Pacific, Topps and Fleer had previously printed cards with retired players as far back as 1960. Upper Deck with it’s SP Legendary Cuts Series however actually put autographs and pieces of jerseys the players wore in the cards. For the most part teams have two jerseys they wear. The home jersey and the away jersey each normally feature either the name of the team across the front or the name of the city. If a company uses the name of the team a license is required and royalties paid but if the city only is used in most cases it is a freebie.

In a previous Examiner article we correctly identified the fact five UD employees pleaded the Fifth Amendment against self incrimination in the Konami case, however CEO Richard McWilliam was not one of them which was incorrectly stated. In the story UD settled out of court with Konami after admitting it counterfeited over 600,000 YGO trading cards.

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England or South Africa, the finalization of the venue of much discussed and delayed event of Indian Premier League (IPL) is still in doldrums. The security threat was not at all ignorable when the world witnessed the traumatic situation faced by Sri Lankans in Lahore, Pakistan. Cricket is really the soft target for the terrorists in the Sub Continent.

The Chief of IPL Mr. Modi although wise enough to export the event to save his reputation and of course the future of this multi billion dollar event, but his dreams seem to be almost shattering. Shifting of IPL to England or South Africa was a unilateral decision taken by the BCCI the Cricket Board of India and this decision was taken without seeking any sort of consent or guarantee from the Cricket Boards of the expected venues. Obviously, it was a matter of shock for ECB and Cricket South Africa. Such kind of event requires long term planning and taking into account all the aspects of management which include boarding, lodging, TV rights, availability of stadiums and above all the existence of fool proof security plan. Mr. Modi is now in a twisted and cramped situation and is reaching the point of no return.

Just recently the news floated around the world that Terrorists inside India had a very dangerous plan to kidnap their premier cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly. The news was enough to run the chill through the spines of many Cricket lovers in and outside India. In these circumstances, it can clearly be said that BCCI has dragged England and South Africa into a very dangerous situation. IPL is a very costly event and many International Players would be participating in that tournament. No matter Indian Government is giving the excuse of ongoing Elections which is causing the Government to declare their inability to handle the security requirements of the tournament, but inside story would not be very good. Why this event needs extra security? Surely the news of kidnapping plot is the key instrument which has forced the Government to indirectly halt the event or unofficially cancel it to be held on Indian soil.

Though the above mentioned facts are increasing difficulties for India, but the shifting of event most likely to England or South Africa could make the matters more difficult for the nations to be hosting IPL now. Recently, Mr. Gordon Brown the Prime Minister of Great Britain clearly mentioned that security threats are always alive in the United Kingdom and Al Qaeda is planning to initiate a very dangerous action this time. The UK Government may have taken all necessary measures but the question is, those forces that made the staging of IPL impossible inside India, can’t they hit this event even more badly inside UK? This is a million dollar question, all because, if any thing unexpected happens inside UK then it will badly hurt the future of sporting events inside UK too.

The Governments of the countries likely to host the IPL should not take this matter as a birthday party. After 26/11 in Mumbai and Lahore attacks on Sri Lankan team, cricket has become extremely dangerous event for the people of the Sub Continent. Handling a Test Series or a one day series with any country has different sort of security requirements. However the event of IPL’s size need a detailed and most efficient security plan and requires huge sum of money to be spent to execute those plans. Although IPL management has shown their willingness to overcome all budgetary constraints regarding the security, but still it is not at all necessary that South Africa or UK may welcome IPL’s event on their soil.

Things may turn more worst because IPL’s management has decided not to include Pakistani players in this edition which will flare up the Pakistani community inside UK and South Africa. The issue is very serious and must be taken into account. Every body knows that Indo Pak tensions are on a high wave these days, excluding Pakistani players from IPL is also making this event a target for disturbance and disruption.

Eventually, Indian Government should not allow IPL to be exported outside the territory of India. It is better to cancel the event this year to avoid all sorts of complications and embarrassments. The matter is now highly politicized inside India and is being used as an instrument to defame each other during election campaign. The best solution left now is to forcefully cancel the event which is a much better option now.

Each team had a pool of 16 players, with a maximum of eight overseas players and a min of four U-22 players. The first “Players Auction” was held on the Feb. 20, 2008, giving the iconic status to Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag, great Indian Cricket Icons. All 8 teams played each other 2 times in the round robin system, the top four ranking sides’ progressed to the semi-finals. IPL is all set this year and ready to rock the Cricket fraternity with its glorious and glamorous series to be held within few days.

The 8 franchises of the IPL, with their business tycoons, Bollywood stars and media magnets this year shall include:
Rajasthan Royals: Owned by Emerging India, Lachlan Murdoch, Shilpa Shetty (Winner Big Brother UK) and Raj Kundra.
Mumbai Indians: Owned by business tycoon Mukesh Ambani.
Royal Challenge Bangalore: Owned by Vijay Mallaya of UB Group.
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers: Owned by Deccan Chargers Sporting Venture.
Chennai Super Kings: Owned by Indian Cements (N Srinivasan).
Delhi Daredevils: Owned by GMR Holdings (Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao)
Kings XI Punjab: Owned by Ness Wadia (Bombay Dyeing), Priety Zinta (Bollywood Actress), Dabur and Karan Paul.
Kolkatta Knight Riders: Owned by Red Chillies Entertainment (Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Jai Mehta.

Indian premier league is expected to bring about US $1 billion over the period of 5-10 years. This revenue will be distributed as 50% will go back to IPL, Franchises 45% and prize money 5%. In the first season, no one was expected to break even, but the success of the first season was so phenomenal that some of the franchises are already profitable from the season 1. Kolkatta knight riders though, did not qualify for the semi finals, made the net profit of 13 Crores due to the successful marketing strategy by its owner Shahrukh Khan, while the Rajasthan royals, the underdogs, who also were the last year winners, made net profit of 6 Crores.

After the highly successful first season, it is reported that 4 new franchises will join the IPL in the season 2010-2011.The new confirmed franchises are Ahmadabad, with Anil Ambani’s name associated wit it, and Kanpur with Sahara group; associated with it. The tentative dates for the second season of the DLF Indian Premier League, had been announced by the Chairman & League Commissioner, Lalit Modi. It has been set from April 10th, 2009 to May 29th, 2009.

The formats of the season will remain the same as the first season. The auction of the players will begin in Goa on 6th. There are 114 players up for grabs in this auction. Indian premier league which was formed on the on the lines of English premier league and national basketball league has also become a Mega Major Sporting event. Will the much hyped T20 championship league be able to continue its success run, or its bubble will burst in the coming years? We shall find out as the series unfolds.

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Cricket is considered to be more like a religion in India than just a sport. People have their passion with this game and passion is one virtue where everything else takes a backseat. The sports world is starting to provide us more thrills off-the field than on-the field. The fast blurring line between the showbiz industry and sports has made T20 cricket look like just another prime-time reality show.

Cricket started with test matches and went till one day and now, its brand new format is twenty20. With the victory in Twenty20 World Cup Cricket Tournament in South Africa, this format has become India’s beloved game. After seeing so much praise, BCCI has taken the support from cricket boards of various countries and players from different countries have been allowed to play in the IPL Cricket League and they are being paid heavy sums for doing so. Amounts so large are involved in both these ventures that using the word “enormous” will be underestimating them. Auctions of the players and the state teams in the IPL have attracted big business houses, Bollywood actors, millionaires from all over the world. It is the big names that are paying that have made all the difference in the IPL. As is evident, IPL T20 has given a new meaning to cricket. But this only indicates the commercialization of cricket.

Players are being auctioned at unbelievable prices to the extent that they are skipping schedules in their own countries to participate in the IPL matches. Some like Brett Lee have “retired” from the test matches to concentrate on the new format. The flip side of this phenomenon is that it has extended the career of some cricketers. Obviously, more than the format it is the ‘money’ that is luring these players of International repute.

Even though, this is shortest form of cricket which has given tallest of height to cricket, too much money is getting into the game. Somewhere the whole game is turning out to be a theme based entertainment and the real essence of the game is being lost!!

Nevertheless, if you wish to have your part of this game also referred to as ‘the Gentleman’s game’, register at www.biggsport.com. It is the top few sites which has fantasy games as well as sports news portal.

Biggsport.com as a sports website offers free score updates, free article features written by cricket writers. It gives free news and also biggsport.com is planning to have ball to ball free telecast. Biggsport.com is and will always be thriving to reach the entire sports fan via news or online games.

Indian Premier League has been launched by the BCCI in the April 2008, with eight teams with the minimum of 16 players each. Indian Premier League is actually a new name in the Twenty 20 world. Its format is basically of  twenty overs for each innings. As the Twenty 20 cricket format is getting fame between the lovers of cricket. Some says cricket is no more boring. This twenty 20 cricket format also attracting new fans for cricket.

The IPL basically works on franchising system like American style. These franchises actually put auction for the players of cricket, and highest bidder results to own the team. In the beginning of IPL this auction starts from 200 million $, goes up to723.5 million $.  Some celebrities of Bollywood also takes interest in IPL, because in there view this is a very good opportunity to invest, as this IPL event is a new concept in the twenty 20 world and off course it gonna happens to be huge famous for twenty 20 lovers.
As now a days life is comparatively more busy and everyone is busy in his schedule, for that they cannot spend much time to continue watch their favorite cricket sports of 8-9 hours, they need the same thrill of cricket in short time. So i guess it is also an important factor for the IPL to become renowned among cricket fans. Cricket fans specially the Indian fans just got a fresh entertainment in the twenty 20 world to enjoy their favorite sports. And today everyone know that IPL is becoming famous among the twenty 20 lovers. One reason could be the money as much much money involved in the IPL for cricket players.

http://www.protwenty20cricket.com

IPL or the Indian Premier League is the new revolution in the field of sports. It has been the major upheaval to the game of cricket, which no one has ever witnessed. In a country like India, cricket is worshiped like a religion. It is the shortest game format until now, which has been reduced from the earlier format of test matches to one dayers and finally to the 20 over game, better known for its power packed entertainment, energy and excitement. It is situation when Indians will be praying for their extreme rivals, a great way to unite the entire world.

With the empire striking back in full force, the third season of IPL is also expected to rock like the previous ones. One who keeps regular updates of this rippled game format will surely be aware of the current situation of cricket. But the signs of recessions too can be seen on IPL with all the biggies associated with this game format decide to tighten their belt by saving huge bucks by not going for new promotional activities like the promotional video known to attract millions of eyeballs.

But with all the corporate honchos on the side as sponsors, it has to be a grand affair. Through the investment of huge amount of money into this venture, the attention of media will always be on this sport. As cricket is more than an obsession for the Indian crowd, this factor is utilized by coupling it with the support of the rich and famous along with those who are into the show business and the result is what you see throughout these matches.

With giant companies like DLF sponsoring this event for US$50 million for the title rights of IPL for 5 years, you can only expect some of the most biggest and sought after cricket players around the world who are been roped in like Sourav Ganguly, Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar, Andrew Symonds, Sanath Jayasurya, Shane Bond, Adam Gilchrist, M. S. Dhoni and many more. With teams like Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers, Delhi Daredevils, Kings-XII Punjab from central India, Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians, every Indian would relate themselves to this unique game format creating Great Spirit across the country.

The 2010 season started with a striking game between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Deccan Chargers. This year KKR is showing great potential with two back-to-back wins. However, Rajasthan Royals and the Deccan Chargers are among the top contenders, expectations also remain with Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians for their swashbuckling performances last year. Some of the most awaited matches are on the board when these teams clash against each other. IPL fans looking to support and cheer their team can buy IPL jerseys, caps etc.