IPL Season 4 T20 Cricket Latest News Updates

MEGA STAR Amitabh Bachchan has been roped in by ESPN for endorsing the Champions League T20 tournament that will kick start in September. The matches of the league will be held in South Africa.

According to reports, Big B completed the shooting, dubbing and all the necessary things for the advertisement well before the specified time period due to time constraints. Bachchan has posted the details on his profile on Twitter, which he usually does.

The tournament will start from September 10, 2010 and will be held across venues like Durban, Port Elizabeth, Centurion and Johannesburg. In the past, South Africa had successfully hosted IPL in 2009 and FIFA World Cup in 2010.

Champions League T20 will be held at some of the famous venues that also includes Wanderers Stadium. Now, with all the ten participating teams have been finalised, the teams have been divided into two groups. From India, teams playing in the Champions League T20 include, Mumbai Indians headed by Sachin Tendulkar, Royal Challengers Bangalore headed by Anil Kumble and Chennai Super Kings headed by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Cricket and Bollywood sure go hand in hand. The latest evidence to the above is the roping in of Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan to endorse ESPN Star Sports for the Champions League T20 tournament, to be held later this year.

The tournament, to be held in South Africa will feature 10 teams who'll play 23 matches across 4 venues. Scheduled to start on 10th September 2010, the Airtel Champions League T20 will bring together domestic leagues from seven nations as they vie for the top spot with the winner taking home close to USD 2.5 million dollars.

While this isn't the first time Bollywood blends with cricket (anyone following the IPL is sure to know this), it surely is the first time for Big B, the 67 year old Bollywood veteran actor. On a recent post in his blog, Amitabh announces his deal with ESPN and talks about the "rush and the speed" with which the shooting for his endorsement commenced.

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With less than seven months to go before the beginning of the ICC World Cup 2011, its mascot has been unveiled in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo today. The event mascot's name was unveiled in a simple but impressive ceremony at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo on Monday ahead of the third Test between Sri Lanka and India with the presence of all stars including India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar and Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena.

The mascot, an elephant, has been named 'Stumpy' after an online selection process that drew proposals from thousands of cricket fans around the world, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said. The lucky winner is to receive a cricket bat signed by the all-star quartet of Dhoni, Tendulkar, Sangakkara and Jayawardena. Stumpy was represented by a real life elephant at the launch in Colombo.

ICC CWC 2011 Tournament Director Prof Shetty who was in Colombo for the launch has said that, with 200 days to go before the opening match, plans in all three host countries, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh were on track.  "The preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 are on course and I'm happy with the progress we have been making," he has said.  At the launch Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has said that winning the Cricket World Cup was his childhood dream.

"The World Cup means everything to us. It is the one point of the cricketing calendar everyone looks forward to and wants to win it. We just have to make sure that we understand how privileged we are to be in that position and carry the hopes and aspirations of so many people," Sangakkara has said.  Sri Lanka is scheduled to hold 12 matches including a semi final at three venues.

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THE TEAMS participating in the recently concluded Champions League, though not national sides reflect a lot on the way the game is played in their nations. The Australians (read New South Wales) won the inaugural tournament and outplayed Trinidad & Tobago in the crunch game.

South Africa was aptly represented by the Cape Cobras, who despite being very good, ‘choked’ in the semi-final. The county sides from England lacked teeth, more of a reflection on the England’s international performance in the shorter versions of the game. The Indian sides did not capitalize on the home advantage and failed to even make it to the semi-finals.

This article is about the way the game is played, it is not the technique of batting or bowling that matters, it is the temperament, style and the approach towards the game. Let us look at the countries first. South Africa and New Zealand are two teams with exceptional fielding ability, above average individuals and great teamwork. It is said that in South Africa, a young cricketer is first taught the basics of fielding and he then moves on to learn batting or bowling. No wonder some of the best fielders come from the rainbow nation.
New Zealand is a team known to make up for their average lineups or team injuries by intelligent tactics, fielding abilities and simply good game sense. The teams from the Caribbean have their own style of playing - cool, hard-hitting but their unpredictable and hard to read expressions always make them a threat and so they were. The Australians play their cricket in a style of their own but they stick to it. They understand that their best cricket comes out when they sledge and admit it openly; prime examples, Shane Warne encouraging his team to sledge during their recent Ashes defeat or Mitchell Johnson sledging to get back in form. Though, probably not the cleanest way to play a sport but they play tough and have their basics in place. They always play the crucial games and the big moments well having already been tried, tested and well groomed in their domestic arena.

Big matches call for big players and Australians have always risen to the occasion. Shane Watson in the business end of Champions Trophy, Adam Gilchrist in WC 2007 final, Ponting and Co. in 2003 WC final are some examples.

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COME SECOND week of September, 2010 and all the cricket crazy fans and people of South Africa will once again witness one of the most awaited championships, ICC Champions League 2010. The championship will begin on September 10^th has Sachin Tendulkar led Mumbai Indians opening against Alviro Petersen led Highveld Lions at Wanderers, Johannesburg.

The 10 teams which have been chosen to play in this tournament will be divided in two groups of 5 each for which they will have to battle it out to reach the finals. Wanderer stadium, one of the best cricket stadiums in the world will also hold the final match. Apart from Wanderers, Durban and Centurion are slated to hold the semi finals on 24^th and 25^th respectively. Wanderers will hold the finals on 26^th September.

The 2010 IPL Champions Chennai Super Kings have been slotted in Group A along with the champions from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. In Group B, our very own, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore will fight it out along with Redback's from South Australia and West Indies, whose representative will be declared in late July.

Prior to the match, BCCI President and Airtel CLT20 Chairman, Shashank Manohar said, “ With 100 international stars qualified to participate through one or more of their Twenty20 teams, fans will be treated to daily battle between the world's best cricketers”.

Incidentally, two or more players have qualified for two or more teams. Some of the players include, Jacques Kallis (Warriors and Royal Challengers Bangalore), Mark Boucher (Warriors and Royal Challengers Bangalore), Makhaya Ntini (Warriors and Chennai Super Kings), Kieron Pollard (South Australian Redbacks and Mumbai Indian), Dwayne Bravo (Victorian Bushrangers and Mumbai Indian) and Cameron White (Victorian Bushrangers and Royal Challengers Bangalore).

Ross Taylor of New Zealand became the first man in the history of CLT20 for having being selected in three teams, Central Stags, Victorian Bushrangers and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

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