Lanka orders Indian Premier League players back home

MUMBAI: The club versus country row has flared up again. Sri Lankan cricketers who are involved in the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League have been ordered back home for training ahead of next month's tour of England. Sri Lanka will be touring the UK for a 63-day tour involving three Tests and five ODIs in England and an ODI each against Scotland and Ireland in Edinburgh. 

Sports minister Mahinadananda Althugamage said he wanted team members to prioritize the national side over the IPL. "In future, national cricket players can participate in foreign tournaments only in a manner that will not affect practices of the Sri Lankan national team," the ministry said. 

Eleven Lankan players are involved in the IPL at the moment, including two captains - Kumar Sangakkara (Deccan Chargers) and Mahela Jayawardene (Kochi Tuskers Kerala). 

"All the players will have to report to Colombo by May 5. That is when we start the camp for the England tour. The team will depart for England on May 11," DS De Silva, chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), told TOI from Colombo. 

SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga, brother of 1996 World Cup winning skipper Arjuna, too confirmed the development. "The conditions in England will be completely different to those that prevail in Lanka. The selectors have issued a directive to have the players ready for the camp by May 5. The team for England will be selected in a week's time. All those selected will have to be here," he told TOI. 

When asked if the players were aware, Ranatunga said, "Yes, they have been kept in the loop." To the more tricky question as to whether the players were happy or not to forgo the greenbacks for the matches they will miss, Ranatunga was more guarded. "I don't know if they are happy or not. In any case they have to be here." He also denied that SLC and the players were on a collision course and played down the possibility of action being taken on the players who will miss the camp. "I'm sure they will toe the line," was his terse reply. 

Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi had been clamouring hard for a separate window for IPL, a sentiment echoed by Rajasthan Royals skipper and former Aussie leg-spin legend Shane Warne to save the players the dilemma of choosing between club and country. This latest episode highlights the need for it even more.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/ipl-2011/news/Lanka-orders-Indian-Premier-League-players-back-home/articleshow/7967444.cms

After World Cup win, brands pad up to score high in IPL

MUMBAI: It may not be the American Super Bowl, famous for being a huge platform for marketers to break their high-octane advertising campaigns, but our very own Indian Premier League (IPL) has got a bevy of brands creating tailor-made communication for the upcoming cricketing extravaganza. Starting April 8, consumers will see a slew of new brand activation programmes, product launches and an overall buzz created by sponsors associated with IPL-4. 

While mobile services brand, Tata Docomo is learnt to have roped in Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor to launch its campaign at the start of tournament, others like Canon, Godrej, Cadbury and LG will either introduce new products or start fresh communication during the 50-day-long tournament. 

The main sponsors on SET Max, the official broadcaster of the IPL, have spent anywhere between Rs 30 crore and Rs 40 crore each from their marketing budgets to leverage this high-reach tournament during the crucial summer months. 

"If brands are spending huge money on getting IPL sponsorship, it only makes sense for them to tap this media window to launch new products and innovate around the property," says Punitha Arumugam, group CEO, Madison Media, a media agency. Madison's client the Godrej group, which has been on board SET Max since the first edition of the IPL in 2008, has rolled out a group loyalty programme 'Godrej Power Play' to gather traction via the IPL platform. "The IPL is a great way to showcase a mammoth brand activity like this. The thought is to get our existing consumers to widen their portfolio of Godrej products," says Ashutosh Tiwari, executive VP, strategic marketing, Godrej. The group will launch new products in the appliances and hair colour categories during the IPL. 

Others like consumer durable major LG plans to launch a series of LCDs during the middle of the tournament, along with advertising for its other products like air-conditioners. The Korean brand, which kept away from advertising during the recently concluded cricket World Cup, will spend Rs 30 crore on the IPL. 

"We feel this is a great way of pushing our new products keeping in mind the summer months," says L K Gupta, CMO, LG India. 

Traditionally, come April and marketers in categories like white goods, soft drinks and ice creams up their ante to increase their seasonal sales. For instance, Cadbury too will launch a campaign for its powdered beverage brand, Tang, which is apt for the summer. 

Keeping in mind the viewership profile, with females forming a big chunk, this year has seen a lot of first-time FMCG brands hop onto the IPL bandwagon, including L'oreal, Johnson & Johnson and ITC. 

Canon, a photographic and digital imaging solutions brand which was till recently evaluating pulling out of the IPL due to the crisis in Japan, is now going ahead with its original plan. It will launch a range of low-light technology cameras and a series of printers on the back of the IPL and push it with a campaign featuring its brand ambassador Sachin Tendulkar. "In view of it being a long-term investment behind the brand building in India, we decided to stay put with our plans. We have taken care of the supply-side issues," says Alok Bharadwaj, senior VP, Canon India. Canon says the new launches are perfectly timed considering that families go on vacation during the summer and that this communication will help push sales.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/After-World-Cup-win-brands-pad-up-to-score-high-in-IPL/articleshow/7890808.cms

Was IPL auction fair? Mumbai Indians raise questions

MUMBAI: Until now, there were just rumours. Now, it seems that the IPL players' auction on January 8 and 9 could well have been rigged. Or so it would seem if you look at the angry letter that Mumbai Indians have shot off to every member of the IPL's governing council, demanding an explanation for the last-minute changes to the auction process. They have categorically stated that the changes were not only unjustified but also unacceptable.

The three-page letter, a copy of which is with TOI, points out that most franchises were taken by surprise when they were told about a change in the rules in the January 6 briefings, a day before the auction.

In the first briefing on December 17, the franchises were told that the players would be arranged in pre-defined sets. The plan, they were informed, would be to start with the marquee players and then move to sets of same specialization (meaning: batsmen, bowlers, allrounders etc).

Critically, they were told that "the order of all these sets will be determined by (a) random draw that will take place in the auction room."

At 5 pm on the eve of the auctions, though, the franchises received another email - just two hours before the GC was to take them through another briefing. It said: "An updated version of the auction briefing (has been sent). The only changes are in paragraphs 37 and 38. Please read as paragraph 38 will impact your strategy."

The MI letter says "the so called updated version of the auction briefing reads as follows: The final sentence of paragraph 18 is to be deleted. The sets will be presented to the Auction in order of the auction list (which need not have same speciality players in the same set)".

MI claim that the 'amended' rule resulted in a fundamental change to the auction process as "selection of sets at random" was substituted by a 'pre-decided order of the auction list'."

The primary purpose of deciding the order of auction (whether for subsequent sets or players within sets) through a random draw in the auction room in presence of bidders was to ensure transparency and a level-playing field. In the changed scenario, certain individuals or franchises could have been privy to the exact sequence of the auction which would have allowed them to plan better. More significantly, if they got this information earlier, they could have waited for the right moment to bid for the right player.

Therefore, MI says "Any last-minute change can have justification if, and only if, strong justifiable and emergent reasons can be demonstrated to be present" and adds further "we see a complete absence of such reason or justification. Kindly let us know how and whose instance these changes were introduced."

It should be mentioned here that Chennai Super Kings owner N Srinivasan sat as a member of the GC at the auctions even as his team bid for players and, as TOI had reported on January 10, franchises had already started murmuring that they were unhappy about last-minute changes.

Srinivasan's family owns the franchise even as he happens to be a GC member, BCCI secretary, its president-elect and president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA). Interestingly, CSK successfully managed to bid for all premier Tamil Nadu cricketers.

TOI had also questioned GC chairman Chirayu Amin about the same on January 10, to which the answer was a meek one: "We always ensure complete transparency. If any franchise feels otherwise, they are free to mention it."

The agenda of the meetings were approved, the quorum and minutes were recorded, the basis - if any - on which order of sets in auction list was determined. Then, MI's question to the GC is "Who authorized to amend these rules and what was the source of such authority?"

If Amin says there was complete transparency, then why are these questions coming out of the closet now?

Source:-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/was-ipl-auction-fair-mumbai-indians-raises-questions/iplarticleshow/7375330.cms

Will Kolkata's Prince be Kochi king?

KOLKATA: Eleven days after the auctioneer brought down his hammer for the last time at IPL players' auction in Bangalore, a ray of hope has emerged for Sourav Ganguly, who was ignored by all the 10 franchises.

Team Kochi, which will be making its IPL debut in the ensuing T20 event, have belatedly realised their folly and are keen to take Ganguly on board. The Kochi management, who clearly showed no aptitude for team composition and failed to net a single capped Indian batsman other than VVS Laxman, have approached the Governing Council to allow them to sign the former India captain. However, they can do so only if the other nine franchises raise no objection to this out-of-auction deal.

The BCCI, on its part, has no objection. "If the franchises have no objection, why should we stand in any player's way to play in the IPL? However, there is no question of bending the rule or making an exception," said a Governing Council member.

IPL rules state that capped players put up for auction, can only be bought through an open bidding process. Ganguly, along with Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer and Punjab pacer VRV Singh were the only three Indian players to remain unsold at the end of the two-day auction.

The onus is clearly now on Kochi bosses to convince the other franchises to let them take Ganguly on board. Having rejected the southpaw outright at the auction, it is hard to fathom why the other franchises would object to Kochi hiring Ganguly - unless, of course, they are bent upon keeping Dada away from IPL.

If the Kochi deal works out, Sourav can look forward to joining forces with his old KKR mates Brendon McCullum, Brad Hodge and Owais Shah and one-time Sri Lankan foes of Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralitharan.

For the moment, though, Ganguly is keeping his fingers crossed.

Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/Will-Kolkatas-Prince-be-Kochi-king/iplarticleshow/7329908.cms