HYDERABAD: Deccan Chargers’ skipper Adam Gilchrist is very excited and keen to do well in IPL-3. The defending champions begin their campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai on March 12. In an exclusive chat with ToI on Tuesday, Gilchrist affirmed his team’s commitment to play an exciting brand of cricket. Excerpts.

You’re probably the best advertisement for a wicketkeeper-captain, leading the defending champions…

Thank you. Wicketkeeping brings with it an involvement throughout. You’re involved in every ball, perhaps more than anyone else. So it helps you have a better understanding of the game and what’s going on. I think that helps the team when it needs attention or direction.

It was tough going in IPL-I. How difficult was it for you to face the situation after getting used to the Australian way?

It just confirmed to me that losing, the feeling of losing, is the same no matter who you play for. It’s not that we never lost a game for Australia. We had lost and I had experienced it before. I was very lucky to play in a successful era for Australia. But that (DC) was a great challenge for me and everyone in Deccan Chargers.

Did you veer off track in trying to adapt to local conditions than forging a separate DC identity?

Without doubt. Every team would have been looking to understand and appreciate each other’s cultures, especially when most teams had nearly six different nationalities. We were the same. Perhaps we overdid it early but since no success came we probably neglected it towards the end. What we realised was that we needed to create our own environment and culture.

Given the clout T20 wields what do you reckon are the major areas due to change because of the new format?

In terms of cricket, the mindset of the players: that anything is achievable. It’s really creating a new style of cricket. Brendon McCullum showed last week and (Tillakaratne) Dilshan is doing it. I read with interest McCullum saying the bowlers are getting better so we need to open up new areas on the ground so that we get more scoring options. It’s fascinating to watch that happen.

Source : Times of India

MUMBAI: After performing below par in the first two editions, Kolkata Knight Riders are hoping a change in attitude would do the trick in the third season of the Indian Premier League that commences on March 12.

“We have made many changes and one of those is the change in attitude. You will see that when we play in the IPL,” said team owner and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan at a promotional event for the team on Tuesday.

KKR commence their campaign in the 45-day event on the opening night with a clash against defending champions Deccan Chargers at the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Team skipper and former India captain Sourav Ganguly also echoed Shah Rukh’s views, saying that the T20 format of the game called for a different outlook.

“We want to play this format freely. This is what this format demands. We should all enjoy what we do. We will keep it simple. Whoever hits the white ball better will win,” he remarked when the new team purple-coloured jersey was also unveiled.

Shah Rukh conceded the team did not have a good run in the first two editions.

“We have had the nicest of runs as far as the economics of the team are concerned. Yes, we had not performed (on the field) to the extent that we can. We would put our best foot forward. We will gauge our success from the way we play the game. It would be nice if we could win the IPL,” he said.

Shah Rukh was stumped for an answer when asked about the continued stand-off between television news channels and the IPL authorities over covering the event.

“I don’t understand it, it’s too complicated and convoluted. NBA (National Broadcasters Association) is a fantastic unit. Lalit Modi (IPL chief) and his team are also a fantastic unit. I hope the issue will be resolved,” he said.

New chief coach Dav Whatmore and bowling coach Wasim Akram conceded they were new to the job in the IPL.

“It’s a new experience for me. It’s a challenge for us to get act together in six weeks. We will do everything possible we can,” Australia-born Whatmore said.

Former Pakistan captain Akram said, “It’s a new experience to me too. The team is very talented. The boys are working hard and I have the belief we will do well.”

Source : Times of India

Two new franchises are set to be added next season but despite the increased number of matches, the Indian Premier League will not run beyond seven weeks as extending it would “hurt other forms of cricket”, says IPL chairman Lalit Modi.

“We are going to have the current limitation (in the IPL’s duration), and we are happy to live with that. Then (if we make it a longer tournament) you are going to starting to hurt the other forms of the game,” Modi said.

“We chose the window specifically to be off-season in India, April-May are typically off season in India … I don’t think we are going to be able to change that,” he added.

The IPL will have 94 matches in the 2011 season but Modi said the tournament will only be 51 days long. More »

CHENNAI: Indian Premier League works as a good platform to find and groom talented youngsters, who may go on to play in the national team, according to India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

“I want to make more players for ourselves. We are grooming Indian players from under-19 or players on the verge of making debut for India. All those individuals rubbing their shoulders with international cricketers from India and overseas help them in learning cricketing skills,” Dhoni said.

Citing an example, Dhoni said players who made a mark in the first edition went on to play for the country.

“We had Manpreet Goni, Murali Vijay and S Badrinath coming into the side. And Suresh Raina is becoming a great player. We are contributing a lot towards Indian cricket. Overall, we are trying to groom the Indian cricketers for the betterment of the game in India,” Dhoni, who leads Chennai Super Kings, said.

Dhoni said that the current rule of having a limited number of foreign players in the side gives them a chance to try youngsters and was in favour of continuing with it.

“If the overseas players want to find a place in the playing eleven, they have to fight among themselves and not against Indian stock. It is perfect right now and I am quite happy with the system of only four players finding place in the final eleven,” he said. More »

NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s slender hopes of playing the Indian Premier League went up in smoke after the IPL governing council turned down his appeal against a one-year ban for violating the Twenty20 event’s terms and conditions.

Jadeja was banned for negotiating outside his contract with the Rajasthan Royals.

In his appeal, the all-rounder claimed that he had taken the BCCI’s permission to look for other teams after the Royals gave no indication of renewing his contract which ended in December last year. More »