The Indian Premier league has said that the two new franchises for the 2011 edition of the tournament will be announced before the start of this year’s IPL. Talking about the next edition, he said that there were 12 cities which in contention for winning the rights of the tournament and will be chosen by the end of the month.
The Indian Premier League governing council has decided that there would be two extra teams for the 2011 edition of the IPL from the existing eight sides. However, what is more surprising is the fact that the base price for the bidding has been increased to $225 million. This is more than four times the base price that was set for the first edition of the IPL and more than twice the price of the costliest team in the previous IPL – the $100 plus for Mumbai Indians.
Good news for all the Indian fans! Team India has gone on the top of the test match rankings by beating the Sri Lankans rather easily in the third and the final test match at Mumbai. In the process they have also managed to win the series 2-0.
As if to prove that the Green Park wicket in Kanpur will not be left behind to Motera in Ahmedabad, in dishing out tracks that afford nothing to the bowlers, and conversely everything for the batsmen, more than 400 runs were scored on the first day of the second test match between India and Sri Lanka. That Sri Lanka managed to scalp two wickets was a big enough relief but there was nothing more for the fielding side to cheer for.
India will play Sri Lanka in the second test match at the Green Park in Kanpur after a dull and a rather dreary draw at the Motera in Ahmedabad. The Green Park in Kanpur is one of the older venues in India, and had hosted its first test match in 1952.
India will go into the fifth and the final day of the first test match against Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad, 144 runs behind and with eight wickets still standing. And with the pitch playing the manner in which it is, the prospects of a result look very remote.
Rahul Dravid scored an unbeaten 177 on the first day of the first Ahmedabad test match against Sri Lanka, as India recovered to post 385/6 by the time the stumps were drawn. MS Dhoni was the other centurion in the innings, as Indians recovered from their abysmal start of 32/4 and got to the realms of safety.