IPL franchises race to get a base
Monday, 30 March 2009
With just three weeks left for the IPL to begin in South Africa, the eight teams have begun a race against time to get their player combinations and practice bases in place.
Rajasthan Royals, the IPL champions, were the first off the blocks and have tied up with Cape Cobras and Western Province to use Newlands in Cape Town as their practice location.
Kolkata Knight Riders are eyeing Bloemfontein, and Mumbai Indians are hoping to cash in on the Asian support base in Durban, which is hosting 16 IPL matches.
In fact, there was such a rush among the franchises to be based in prime locations like Durban and Pretoria, which also has a sizeable Asian fan base, that Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, told a TV channel in South Africa: "The franchises are fighting with me to get a base to organise their camps and that is our priority."
Most of the teams have also confirmed that they will be holding preparatory camps in South Africa from the first week of April.
Shaun Pollock, mentor to the Mumbai Indians, told Cricinfo the camp will begin on April 8 in Durban. But Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils are taking a different route.
"We will have a 10-day camp starting March 31 or April 1 in Chennai," Rakesh Singh, the marketing head of India Cements, which owns Chennai Super Kings, said.
"We are having a preparatory camp for Indian players in Delhi from April 1 and we will leave for South Africa on April 7," T A Sekhar, who heads the cricketing operations for Delhi Daredevils, said.
Franchise officials are looking through the tournament schedule that was officially released on Friday and also engaged in commercial meetings with the IPL in Mumbai and Delhi. Most of them are also approaching a final decision on how many players they can take to South Africa , 20-29 in many cases.
The franchises hope the event will be well worth the extra effort but they admitted that the absence of the home-and-away concept, which was such a success in India last time, might take some sheen off the contests.
— Cricinfo
Rajasthan Royals, the IPL champions, were the first off the blocks and have tied up with Cape Cobras and Western Province to use Newlands in Cape Town as their practice location.
Kolkata Knight Riders are eyeing Bloemfontein, and Mumbai Indians are hoping to cash in on the Asian support base in Durban, which is hosting 16 IPL matches.
In fact, there was such a rush among the franchises to be based in prime locations like Durban and Pretoria, which also has a sizeable Asian fan base, that Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, told a TV channel in South Africa: "The franchises are fighting with me to get a base to organise their camps and that is our priority."
Most of the teams have also confirmed that they will be holding preparatory camps in South Africa from the first week of April.
Shaun Pollock, mentor to the Mumbai Indians, told Cricinfo the camp will begin on April 8 in Durban. But Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils are taking a different route.
"We will have a 10-day camp starting March 31 or April 1 in Chennai," Rakesh Singh, the marketing head of India Cements, which owns Chennai Super Kings, said.
"We are having a preparatory camp for Indian players in Delhi from April 1 and we will leave for South Africa on April 7," T A Sekhar, who heads the cricketing operations for Delhi Daredevils, said.
Franchise officials are looking through the tournament schedule that was officially released on Friday and also engaged in commercial meetings with the IPL in Mumbai and Delhi. Most of them are also approaching a final decision on how many players they can take to South Africa , 20-29 in many cases.
The franchises hope the event will be well worth the extra effort but they admitted that the absence of the home-and-away concept, which was such a success in India last time, might take some sheen off the contests.
— Cricinfo