May 13
Yes, it is official now. Rahul Sharad Dravid, the ace Indian cricketer has officially changed his name to Drahul Dravid. Drahul called a media conference yesterday and announced this to the world. A few days back, Rahul Dravid and his family had gone to their native temple in Indore, Madhya Pradesh for this name-changing ceremony.
Rahul was very emotional about this ceremony and he wanted to attend the function in his Indian cricket wear. As seen in the picture above, the moment the priest confirmed that the name had been changed, Drahul burst into tears. Few of his Indian cricket team colleagues (who wanted to remain unnamed) also attended the ceremony. When asked on why he started crying after this ceremony, Drahul said that the thing that worried him the most was the expense that his fans have to go through to purchase posters of him with the new name. Drahul also said that once the IPL was finished, Drahul would personally add the D to all his posters owned by his fans, as he felt that he would anyway have nothing else to do after the IPL finishes.
Drahul also said that numerological or astrological reasons were not behind this name change. He said that he had to change the name to indicate clearly his style of cricket. He didn’t want his name to be just because selectors thought that he could play an aggressive style of cricket. Drahul also said that he had always learnt batting as an art form where the face of the bat should point towards the pitch such that the ball, on hitting the bat, falls within the pitch (and within half a metre of the batsman) and rolls to a stop within a metre. (Given below is a photo where Rahul Dravid was expressing his frustration because of Sachin Tendulkar’s inability to understand this concept)
He said that this talent was limited to very few cricketers around the world and this is the talent required to produce a draw in test cricket. So, by changing his name from Rahul to Drahul, he was clearly communicating that he should be included in the squad only if the required result was a draw. He also added that his dad had recognised this talent in him the moment he was born and hence put Dravid as his last name. But the world had failed to see the draw in dravid and that is why he had to change his first name to drahul to double-emphasize. Drahul felt that this name change would bring about a change in his image.
Technorati Tags: rahul dravid IPL Bangalore royal challengers
written by Rajaram S
May 05
Why do i conclude so? Because i “feel” so. When Chennai Super Kings lost their matches, i felt bad and was wondering as to what they could have done better. When the Chennai team gets a wicket, i applaud and feel happy, though that wicket might be a player whom i would love to watch any other day.
This was what the organisers of IPL wanted, this was what Lalit Modi would have hoped for and it has happened. IPL has become an addiction. I spend seven hours both days of the weekend watching both the matches. Somehow, my earlier argument that 20-20 matches are just 3 hrs long doesn’t seem to hold good with Vidhya any longer and i get admonished every time i put on the channel to watch IPL.
No, I was never a cricket-crazed person. I love to play cricket and given an opportunity, i don’t mind playing it all day. But, watching cricket for extended periods not for me. I consistently used to fall asleep on the sofa between the 15th and the 40th overs of an innings.
I was never a fan of test cricket with the exception of Ashes. Getting up at odd hours of the night to watch the first ball being bowled in the boxing day test match, that is something only a true cricket fan would understand! Maybe it is the green grounds, maybe it is the telecast quality, maybe it is the commentary team, i don’t know the reason, but i can watch the entire three sessions of an ashes test match without taking a break. The other test matches, i care a damn. An india-sri lanka match happening in Jaipur, chennai wherever, I just hear about it from friends. At the other end, there are people (there are!) who watch the ball-by-ball commentary on cricinfo of even Ranji trophy matches! I wouldn’t even recognise the names of most of the guys on the team.
But, IPL is different. The cricket is entertaining (not just the cheerleaders), it is fast and furious. The new talent knocking on the national team would surely give the jitters to the experienced indian players. I am addicted to IPL. What about you ?
and …Chennai Super Kings rock!
written by Rajaram S
Apr 26
An exclusive sneak peek at the new costume that the cheerleaders would wear at the Mumbai indians – deccan chargers match today in Mumbai. These costumes were designed by the famous gay (oops, guy) Karan Johar.
written by Rajaram S
Feb 19
The auctions for the players to play in the different teams of the Indian Premier Legue (IPL) will be done today. It is expected to start at 11 am today (Feb 20). The auction is under the observation of many international auctioneers also, as it has an interesting format with various limitations.
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There are a total of 77 players to be auctioned off.
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Each owner has to spend a minimum of 3.3 Million USD and a maximum of 5 million USD on his/her team. This maximum cap is what that makes this auction interesting. You have to get into a lot of permutations and combinations to compose your team, much like playing fantasy cricket online.
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bids up to $100,000 – in increments of $5,000, bids from $100,000 to $250,000 – in increments of $10,000, bids from $250,000 to $500,000 – in increments of $25,000, after this, no set increments.
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Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Yuvraj will not be auctioned as they are icon players for their respective areas.
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Each squad must have a minimum of 16 players per squad. This will include a maximum of 8 currently available foreign players per squad. Each team can have a maximum of 4 foreign players in the playing XI for each match.
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The squad will also have to consist of a minimum 4 under 22 players from that area.
I shall keep updating as soon as the news come out!
The teams so far:
| Anil Kumble |
Bangalore |
USD 500000 |
| Jacques Kallis |
Bangalore |
USD 900000 |
| Zaheer Khan |
Bangalore |
USD 450000 |
| MS Dhoni |
Chennai |
USD 1,500,000 |
| Muttiah Muralitharan |
Chennai |
USD 600,000 |
| Jacob Oram |
Chennai |
USD 675000 |
| Matthew Hayden |
Chennai |
USD 375000 |
| Stephen Fleming |
Chennai |
USD 350000 |
| Daniel Vettori |
Delhi |
USD 625000 |
| Chris Gayle |
Delhi |
USD 800000 |
| Shoaib Malik |
Delhi |
USD 500000 |
| Mohammad Asif |
Delhi |
USD 650000 |
| Adam Gilchrist |
Hyderabad |
USD 700,000 |
| Andrew Symonds |
Hyderabad |
USD 1,300,000 |
| Herschelle Gibbs |
Hyderabad |
USD 575000 |
| Shahid Afridi |
Hyderabad |
USD 675000 |
| Shane Warne |
Jaipur |
USD 450,000 |
| Grame Smith |
Jaipur |
USD 455000 |
| Younis Khan |
Jaipur |
USD 225000 |
| Shoaib Akhtar |
Kolkata |
USD 425,000 |
| Brendon McCullim |
Kolkata |
USD 700000 |
| Ricky Ponting |
Kolkata |
USD 400000 |
| Mahela Jayawardene |
Mohali |
USD 475,000 |
| Kumar Sangakkara |
Mohali |
USD 750000 |
| Brett Lee |
Mohali |
USD 900000 |
| Sreesanth |
Mohali |
USD 625000 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya |
Mumbai |
USD 975000 |
| Harbhajan Singh |
Mumbai |
USD 850000 |
Technorati Tags: IPL cricket indian premier league cricket ICL player auction
written by Rajaram S
