Chennai Superstars - Anything is Possible

In complete Rajnikant style...!
This ones the best of the lot.....YENJOY!!!

Hyderabad Heroes - Cricket Ke Ustaad

This one could have been made funnier....

Kolkata Tigers - Humse Bachke Rehna

They show a herd of people running behind the bowler and you can actually get a feel of the Communist nature of the Kolkatans. These guys are always ready for a strike and hadtaal!

Delhi Jets - Dum Hai Toh Aao

Hmm....no emphasis on the Delhi Jets squad at all....!
Rather humiliating for the Pune Gymkhana lads..

Chandigarh Lions - Khelo Te Tashan Naal

Ridiculous ad! But Chandigarh Lions will have the maximum support since they are the home team...

Mumbai Champs - Bole Toh Number ONE!

I'll be supporting Mumbai Champs of course! What about you?

Here's a cool video of the champs:

Mumbai Champs

Mumbai Champs


Squad:

Coach: Sandip Patil

Captain: Brian Lara (West Indies)
Vikram Solanki (England)
Robin Morris (Mumbai)
Nathan Astle (New Zealand)
Kiran Powar (Mumbai)
Shreyas Khanolkar (Mumbai)
J. Van der Wath (South Africa)
Rakesh Patel (Gujarat)
Avinash Yadav (Mumbai)
Nantie Hayward (South Africa)
Subhojit Paul (Kolkata)
Dheeraj Jadhav (Pune)
Anupam Sanklecha (Mumbai)
Ranjeet Kirid (Pune)
Pushkaraj Joshi (Pune)
Suyash Burkul (Maharashtra)
Raviraj Patil (Maharashtra)
Nikhil Mandale (Mumbai)
Sridher Iyer

The city that never sleeps has produced some of the finest cricketers in the history of Indian cricket. The Mumbai Champs will aspire to replicate these achievements and live up to tradition. They will be coached by Sandeep Patil and will be led by West Indian great Brian Lara when they compete for the coveted inaugural ICL Twenty20 Championships.

The Champs also have in their lineup New Zealand great Nathan Astle, who is one of the Black Caps’ most successful batsman of all-time, especially in the shorter version of the game. They also have the destructive English opening batsman Vikram Solanki and South African all-rounder Johan van der Wath in their star studded assemble.

Prolific run-scorers like Robin Morris and Dheeraj Jadhav are also an integral component of the Champs team. Jadhav has in the past come desperately close to representing the national team on a few occasions. Rakesh Patel, Anupam Sanklecha and South Africa’s Nantie Hayward will comprise of the pace battery.

Kolkata Tigers

Kolkata Tigers


Squad:

Coach: Darryl Cullinan

Captain: Craig McMillan (New Zealand)
Parviz Aziz (Assam)
Darren Maddy (England)
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (Kolkata)
Lance Klusener (South Africa)
Rohan Gavaskar (Bengal)
Upul Chandana (Sri Lanka)
Deep Dasgupta (Bengal)
Abu Nechim (Assam)
Shiv Sagar Singh (Bengal)
Boyd Rankin (Ireland)
Mihir Diwakar (Jharkhand)
Rajiv Kumar (Kolkata)
Sayed Akhlakh Ahmed (Kolkata)
Subhomoy Das (Kolkata)
Sujay Tarafdar (Assam)
Pritam Das (Assam)
Anshu Jain
Ali H. Zaidi

The Kolkata Tigers will be a force to reckon with during the introductory season of the Indian Cricket League. They have a cluster of versatile all-rounders and hard-hitting batsmen. The Tigers will be captained by former New Zealand batsman Craig McMillan.

T20 specialist and opening batsman Darren Maddy will open the batting and will have alongside him former India opener Deep Dasgupta. The Kolkata Tigers possess one of the biggest draws of the league – 1999 World Cup hero Lance Klusener, whose abilities the cricketing fraternity is very aware of. ‘Zulu’ is capable of single handedly taking the Kolkata Tigers to sensation.

The Tigers also have in their ranks former Sri Lanka all-rounder and leg spinner Upul Chandana, former India batsman Rohan Gavaskar and talented middle-order batsman Abishek JhunJhunwala. Ireland Boyd Rankin will lead the pace attack and will be supported by Abu Nacheem, Sayed Ahmed and Sujoy Tarafder.

Hyderabad Heroes

Hyderabad Heroes

Squad:

Coach: Moin Khan

Captain: Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
Anirudh Singh (Hyderabad)
Ambati Rayudu (Hyderabad)
Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan)
Azhar Mahmood (Pakistan)
Syed Shahubuddin (Hyderabad)
Chris Harris (New Zealand)
Nicky Boje (South Africa)
Stuart Binny (Karnataka)
Inder Shekhar Reddy (Hyderabad)
Vinay Kumar (Hyderabad)
Ibrahim Khaleel (Hyderabad)
Kaushik Reddy (Hyderabad)
Bheema Rao
Alfred Absolom (Hyderabad)
Shashank Nag (Hyderabad)
P.S. Niranjan (Hyderabad)
Baburao Yadav
Zakaria Zuffri (Assam/Railways)

The city of the Nawabs, the flush architecture and multilingual culture has produced some fine cricketers in the times gone by. A strong faction of players will embody the Hyderabad Heroes during the foundational Indian Cricket League.

The Heroes will be led by Pakistan living legend Inzamam-ul-Haq and coached by former Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Moin Khan. They will also have in their regime versatile all-rounders of the caliber of Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood. Both Pakistani players are well known for their big hitting and abilities to swing the new ball.

One of the finest outfielders of the contemporary era, Chris Harris, will add more potency to the Heroes outfit. Harris has played some match-winning knocks for New Zealand over the years and his 'dibbly dobby' seamers can never be underestimated.

Nicky Boje, a fine left-arm orthodox bowler and belligerent lower-order batsman is another crucial member of the team that will vie to capture the inaugural ICL Twenty20 championship.

Talented young batsmen Ambati Rayudu and Anirudh Singh will add more firepower to the batting. Stuart Binny, son of former India all-rounder Roger Binny, will hope that the ICL is the perfect launching pad to exhibit his skills. Kaushik Reddy and Alfred Absolam will partner with Razzaq and Mahmood to comprise of the fast bowling attack.

(Info via: IndianCricketLeague.in)

Delhi Jets

Delhi Jets


Squad:

Coach: Madan Lal

Captain: Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka)
Niall O'Brien (Ireland)
Mohnish Mishra (Madhya Pradesh)
Taufeeq Umar (Pakistan)
Abbas Ali (Madhya Pradesh)
Paul Nixon (England)
Dale Benkenstein (South Africa)
J.P. Yadav (Railways)
Ali Murtaza (Uttar Pradesh)
T. Sudhindra (Madhya Pradesh)
Abid Nabi Ahanger (Jammu and Kashmir)
Sachin Dholpure (Madhya Pradesh)
Abhishek Tamrakar (Madhya Pradesh)
Shalabh Srivastav (Uttar Pradesh)
Abhishek Sharma (Uttar Pradesh)
Dishant Yagnik (Udaipur)
Dhruv Mahajan (Jammu and Kashmir)
Abhinav Bali
Raghav Sachdev

On behalf of the capital of the nation, the Delhi Jets will bring to the ICL plenty of priceless experience from high profile international and domestic players. They will be captained by former Sri Lankan skipper Marvan Atapattu - who has amassed plenty of runs in all Test playing nations and will bring to the Jets all his know-how.

He will be competently supported by Pakistan opener Taufiq Umar, South African veteran Dale Benkenstein and Irish batsman Niall O'Brien. The Jets will be coached by former India all-rounder and national coach Madan Lal.

Yashpal Singh and Abbas Ali, two of the most prolific run-getters in the domestic circuit will put on view their talent in a superior stage, the new face of Indian cricket, the ICL. England old hand and wicket-keeper batsman Paul Nixon will bring his Twenty20 expertise into the team and will be supported by former India all-rounder JP Yadav to strengthen the lower-middle order.

Abhishek T and Shalabh Srivastav will share the new ball and will be supported by the spin duo of Abishek Sharma and Abhinav Bali.

(Info via: IndianCricketLeague.in)

Chennai Superstars

Chennai Superstars


Squad:

Coach: Michael Bevan

Captain: Stuart Law (Australia)
Ian Harvey (Australia)
V. Devendran (Chennai)
R. Sathish (Chennai)
Hemang Badani (Chennai)
Chris Read (England)
Tamil Kumaran (Chennai)
Hemant Kumar (Chennai)
Russel Arnold (Sri Lanka)
Sriram Sridharan (Chennai)
Syed Mohammed (Chennai)
Shabbir Ahmed (Pakistan)
Thiru Kumaran (Chennai)
J. Hareish (Chennai)
Vasanth Sarvanan (Tamil Nadu)
R. Jesuraj (Tamil Nadu)
Sanjeev Martin
G. Vignesh (Chennai)
P. Vivek

The Chennai Superstars possess perhaps the most compelling batting lineup in the tournament. Captain Stuart Law, a former Australian player and seasoned campaigner who has scored heaps of runs in England and Australia, was one of the pioneers of the Twenty20 format when it first began half a decade ago. The Superstars will be coached by former Australian great Michael Bevan – who is a connoisseur of the shorter version of the sport. Bevan will look to pass on his credible skills to his teammates.

Law will be ably supported by another T20 adept Aussie superstar Ian Harvey. The all-rounder was an integral component of the Australian teams which won the World Cup in 1999 and 2003. Harvey has reaped affluent success in England’s domestic T20 tournament, with both bat and ball.

The Superstars will also have in their outfit three solid left-handed batsmen in the middle order – Sri Lankan veteran Russel Arnold, former Indian batsmen Sridharan Sriram and Hemang Badani.

English wicket-keeper and Chris Read will feature as a useful lower-order batsman alongside all-rounder R Satish. Pakistan’s Shabbir Ahmed, former Indian bowler Thiru Kumaran and Jesurj will formulate the fast bowling attack.

(Info via: IndianCricketLeague.in)

Chandigarh Lions

Chandigarh Lions


Squad:

Coach: Balwinder Sandhu

Captain: Chris Cairns (New Zealand)
Sarabjeet Singh (Punjab)
Imran Farhat (Pakistan)
Dinesh Mongia (Punjab)
Hamish Marshall (New Zealand)
T.P. Singh (Punjab)
Andrew Hall (South Africa)
Reetinder Singh Sodhi (Punjab)
Rajesh Sharma (Punjab)
Ishan Malhotra (Punjab)
Daryl Tuffey (New Zealand)
Sumit Kalia (Punjab)
Chetan Sharma (Punjab)
Manish Sharma (Punjab)
Love Ablish (Punjab)
Bipul Sharma (Punjab)
Karanveer Singh (Punjab)
Amit Uniyal (Punjab)
Gaurav Gupta (Jammu and Kashmir)
Harpreet Singh (Punjab)

"Expect the Chandigarh Lions to gain the maximum amount of props, since the tournament is being played in the province of Panchkula, which is a neighbour to the great city of Chandigarh. A power-packed team will take to the field and offer terrific amusement to the crowds.

Their captain Chris Cairns - one of the most exhilarating cricketers of the 90s will look to lead from the front and pass on his proficiency to the talented young players in the team. The Kiwi all-rounder held the record for the maximum sixes in Test cricket for a long time, which clearly indicates the extent of his capability

Former India batsman Dinesh Mongia, one of the star batsmen of the team will help his team with his familiarity of the local conditions. New Zealand batsman Hamish Marshall will look to give his team the early impetus alongside former Pakistan opener Imran Farhat. The Lions have a couple of resourceful all-rounders in their team - South African Andrew Hall and Reetinder Singh Sodhi.

Kiwi fast bowler Daryll Tuffey will spearhead the bowling attack alongside Love Ablish and Gaurav Gupta. Hall, Cairns and Sodhi are also more than capable of sharing the new ball. Former India fast bowler Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who played a vital role for the national team during the 1983 World Cup triumph, will coach the Chandigarh Lions."

(Info via IndianCricketLeague.in)

ICL TEAMS

The inaugural season for the Indian Cricket League will kick-off with 6 club teams.

These are:

Mumbai Champs:


Chennai Superstars:


Chandigarh Lions:


Hyderabad Heroes:


Kolkata Tigers:


Delhi Jets:

ICL 20:20 Indian Championship

Via: IndianCricketLeague.in


The inaugural season of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) will host a 20:20 tournament. Fans will brace the exciting competition which will comprise of twenty matches, with the final on December 16.

What is 20:20?

It is a trimmed down version of One Day Internationals in which each team bats for a maximum of only 20 overs. This type of game has been popular in English amateur cricket since 1960s.

A 20:20 game is completed in about three hours. Each innings lasts approximately 75 minutes. This format brings a cricket match closer to the time span of other immensely popular team sports such as football.

20:20 tournaments make cricket more lively and increase the attraction of the spectators at the ground and viewers on television towards the sport. Initial response to this format of the game has been very successful. The 20:20 format is not intended to replace other forms of the game like Test cricket and One Day Internationals and these will continue to coexist side by side

History of ICL

The ICL has not even started but already commands a fair share of history.
So how did it all start?


Zee Telefilms (part of Subhash Chandra promoted Essel Group) bid for the telecast rights of the 2003 World Cup and even though their bid was the highest, it was unsuccessful. Mainly because Zee didn't have a televised Sports channel at that time. Thus was born - Zee Sports.

Zee Telefilms again bid for the telecast rights in 2004 and the whole thing ended up in a never-ending court battle. Subhash Chandra was not to be bogged down and last March he bid again for the 2006-10 rights and once again lost.

Thus was conceived the Indian Cricket League.
'If you can't buy content....create your own content' - was the mantra.

Zee Telefilms partnered with IL&FS to create this new league which would have a prize money of $1 million for the winner.

ICL was set up with a Rs 100 crore budget and would initially comprise of six teams and would be expanded to 16 in three years. This might be a little difficult with IPL slated for a massive launch next year.

For more: Wikipedia

Welcome to WWW.ICL2008.COM

Welcome to ICL2008.com!

This should be your one stop destination for Live Scores, Live Commentary, Match Previews and Reviews and a hell lot of fun!

Well what is ICL?

Over the next few posts we'll be introducing the basic format and teams to you.

The Indian Cricket League (ICL) is a proposed private cricket league that will run parallel to the existing cricket league managed by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The format of ICL is currently Twenty20.

Venue:
Tau Devi Lal stadium in Panchkula, a place near Chandigarh will be hosting the ICL for this season. This stadium has 20,000 seating capacity and ICL is planning to lease this stadium for 10 years.