Chak de IPL!: Owner's Pride in Indian Premier League

By John Cheeran
Now without Googling, can you tell me who owns the Rajasthan Royals?
Or for that matter who owns the Chennai Super Kings?
Answers are slow to come forth, I guess.
Compared to Vijay Mallyas, Preity Zintas and Shah Rukh Khans of the Indian Premier League franchise world, these owners (Chennai and Rajasthan) are less visible and that may have contributed to their teams’ invincible streak in the IPL.
Rajasthan Royals, incidentally, are owned by Emerging Media under Lachlan Murdoch and Suresh Chellaram. Have you seen these guys on television during the IPL or basking in the glory of Shane Warne, Swapnil Asnodkar, Yousuf Pathan and Shane Watson?
No, right?
And what about Chennai Super Kings?
Yes, N. Srinivasan is the treasurer of the BCCI and he also runs the Chennai-based firm India Cements. Srinivasan is the vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements.
Srinivasan, though having close links with the BCCI, never flaunted his position and proved the cultural contrast between an austere Chennai and a brash Bangalore.
Murdoch and Srinivasan treated their players in a professional manner and gave them the freedom to think cricket instead of jumping themselves on the attention bandwagon. Such management ethics are ideal in any environment; whether you are producing cement or running a cricket franchise.
The inaugural IPL has proved that Twenty 20 is not driven by gimmicks. No sloganeering or cheer leading could influence the outcome of a cricket match. Had it been so, the IPL final should have been played between Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders and Preity Zinta’s King’s XI Punjab.
And for all his love of cricket where was SRK on the night of IPL final?
At least television screens did not show his face; neither that of Preity Zinta.
It was a pity that the man who flew to Johannesburg to cheer the Indian team during the Twenty20 World Cup final against Pakistan stayed away from the Dr Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
How lucky we are that Aamir Khan did not buy the IPL franchise rights and name the side Lagaan!
Chak De IPL!

A to Z of Indian Premier League (IPL)

By John Cheeran
The Indian Premier League is in its last stretch. Here is an A-Z about the IPL.

A for Aussies

(John Buchanan, Tom Moody, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Shane Warne, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Dareen Lehmann, Justin Langer, Brad Hodge, Cameron White, Brett Lee, James Hopes, Luke Pomersbach, Simon Katich -- these Aussies have dominated the IPL than any other mercenaries)

B for Ban, Bhajji and Bangalored!
C for Cheerleaders
D for Dugout, dotball, dollars
E for Extras
F for Franchise, freehit, fantastic (the most abused word during the IPL), foreigners
G for Glamour, girls
H for Hotheads (Harbhajan, Sreesanth, Yuvi); hit wicket
I for IPL
J for Jab We Met (Charu Sharma meeting Vijay Mallya)
K for Kingfisher; King Khan and all other Kings in IPL
L for Lekha Washington; last ball dramas
M for Modi (Lalit); Money and Mind It!
N for Nightlife; not out, net run rate
O for Orange cap
P for Purple cap, partnerships
Q for Queen of IPL- Preity Zinta
R for Rajasthan Royals, Run outs, Run Rate and reverse sweep
S for Sixer, Shah Rukh, Slapgate
T for Twenty20, teen brigade
U for Unsung heroes (*Yousuf Pathan, Swapnil Asnodkar); upper cut
V for Vijay Mallya
W for Warne
X for Xenophobia of Mukesh Ambani (Ambani, when asked about his team's early defeats, said "just wait for these Aussies to go home, then we will know who is winning"), Xtra Innings
Y for Youth power
Z for zeroes (Challengers and Chargers)

Shah Rukh in IPL Country: King without boundaries

By John Cheeran
What a difference a single player can make to a team’s fortunes?
Shoaib Akhtar again proved that he deserves the marquee status the cricket world has accorded him despite his tantrums. On Tuesday night, Akhtar first gave hope and then a resounding victory for Kolkata Knight Riders against a strong Delhi Dare Devils squad in the BCCI-led Indian Premier League Twenty20 Championship.
If someone can recognize such star value, then he must be none other than Shah Rukh Khan. It is not surprising that Shah Rukh has brought in Akhtar to be the Knight in Shining Armour for his Kolkata outfit.
SRK did better than his cheerleader girls to rouse the crowd at Eden Gardens. It seems to me that SRK, as the one who writes the pay checks, has usurped the chair of coach John Buchanan. How can Kabir Khan of Chak de India just watch from the sidelines?
But Shah Rukh knows that his tactical prodding alone is not enough to lift his team when the batters post a below part total. To move on to winning positions you need to have impact players such as Akhtar.
Well, Vijay Mallya must be watching the Knight Riders.
Shah Rukh is the King, the king of good times, at least for the time being.
The beer baron may be fuc-King his good times!