Terming the IPL Twenty20 tournament as more "intense" than Tests or one-dayers, high profile Australian coach John Buchanan has confessed that he found his job with the Kolkata Knight Riders as the toughest assignment of his career.

"The intensity of it is higher than any one-day or Test series I have been involved in," said Buchanan, who is credited to having propelled Australia to dizzy heights during his nine-year tenure but failed to taste even mediocre success with the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise.

"The thing with Test and one-day series is that you usually play a few of them a year, but for pure intensity, the IPL is far higher than anything I encountered," he was quoted as saying by the 'Cricinfo'.

"There is a durability required in international cricket - sometimes you are playing nine months or more a year - but for intensity it doesn't come close. (And) From the time the tournament starts to the time it ends, you never stop with the constant traveling and the busy schedule," he added.

Buchanan, who proposed the much-debated multiple-captain theory before the start of the tournament, so far failed to help the Knight Riders taste any success with the Kolkata outfit languishing at the bottom of the points table in the on-going IPL. He, however, sought to clarify the reasons for the team's poor show.

"It isn't skill, ability or character that's held us back, but for whatever reason - some out of our control, some not - it has been pretty evident that some of the players have been tense.

"We obviously have a high expectation of ourselves, and when things don't go your way players can start to play with less freedom. Last night we copped a hammering, so we thought rather than dwell on it we would look to lighten things up a bit," he added.

Bollywood and Cricket, especially IPL, are becoming practically synonymous! Actors that own the teams speak so highly of them and spend so much time making ads and such for their respective teams. It is not only that .. the actors are also interested in the movies and the idiot box . I just watched a Hindi Comedy show called Comedy Circuis 20 / 20 , starring former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja as a judge alongside the actor turned politician Shekhar Suman , it's not something he's particularly good at. Anyways that's a topic for a different article. This just made me wonder about a few other well known cricketers that have tried to make it big in the movie/T.V. business. Here's a list of what I could find:



1. Mentioned above the infamous Ajay Jadeja, an amazing cricketer who fell out of favour with the BCCI and the public with his apparent involvement in the match-fixing scandal to rock Indian cricket. He recently made his debut with the film Khel, and if some of the articles in newspapers are to be believed, it isn't going to be his last. He is not a judge in a TV show called Comedy Circuis 20 - 20 .

2. Vinod Kambli is another that quickly springs to mind, childhood friend of Sachin Tendulkar's, somehow never managed to get his career going regardless of the fact that he was an immensely talented cricketer. He tried his hand in a movie called Annarth, again not something he would be particularly proud of as the movie failed to make any impact. A wonderful character though, I myself would have loved to have seen him fulfill his talent in cricket. He is one of the participants in TV show called Comedy Circuis 20 - 20 .

3. As cricinfo tells me Salim Durani, the very famous Indian cricketer born in Afganistan (remember that for trivia night guys) was one of the very first ones to start this trend. He acted in a movie called Charitra, the movie bombed at the box office. Seems to me to be a common trend here in this list.

4. Salil Ankola a former Indian fast bowler, I think goes against the trend of cricketers failing as actors. From memory I think he has acted in a few movies, but he went into acting in TV series and has since done really well as an actor on the smaller screen.

5. One of the very best allrounders of all time Kapil Dev has ventured into movies too. He has acted in not one but two feature films, though not full blown lead character roles. The movies he's acted in are Iqbal the Rampur Express, and Chain Kulli ki Main Kulli.

6. Sandeep Patil and Syed Kirmani were both part of India's World Cup winning team of '83, acted together in a movie called Kabhi Ajnabi The. Kirmani played a negative role and was actually pretty good at it too.

7. A recent movie named Victory though involve a few cricketers in the one movie. From what I've read we have Brett Lee, Mike Hussey, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Jayasuriya, Ajantha Mendis, Harbhajan Singh, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh all involved in bit parts in the movie.

8. Brett Lee apart from his cameo role in the above mentioned movie Victory, has also sung a song and shot a music video with one of Indias leading singers. The song is called 'You are the one for me'. The song according to me was pretty average and the media was kind enough to advise Brett on not giving up his day job. In any case here's a link to the music video on youtube, if anyone wants a laugh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48eHkZfnGug

9. The very talented Pakistani opening batsman Mohsin Khan, who is known for being the first from his country to score a double century at Lords, departed from cricket to pursue a career in Indian movies.He married a famous Indian actress Reena Roy, had a relatively short career, featuring in movies such as Gunehgar Kaun, Laatsaab, Pratikaar, Fateh, Saathi, etc. He later divorced his wife and returned back to live in Pakistan.

A fair few cricketers have now tried their hand at dancing on the small screen too in Ek Khiladi, Ek Haseena; a reality TV show. It had the likes of Harbhajan Singh, S. Sreesanth all trying to out dance each other, while Wasim Akram was there judging their performances.

Well this is just a short list of what I knew off hand and with a little help of cricinfo.com. I would love to know of any other cricketers that have ventured into Movies or TV, would love to know if cricketers from other countries have ventured on the same path as well.

At the time of writing, there are only two teams still undefeated in IPL 2, Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers. And while it's still early days, and there are a lot of matches left to be played, I wouldn't be surprised if these two teams eventually clash in the final. Of the two, I think the Daredevils are a stronger outfit.


They were, in any case, one of the hot favourites before the tournament began, not least because they have the most feared opening pair in world cricket - Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. But even when the two fail, Delhi can still rely on Dilshan, de Villiers and Mithun Manhas. Indeed, so heavily packed is Delhi's top order that they haven't managed to find a spot in the XI for David Warner, Owais Shah or Paul Collingwood - all of whom are very handy in T20.

The Daredevils' bowling isn't as intimidating, but can still boast of arguably IPL’s best spin pair in Daniel Vettori and Amit Mishra - a crucial factor given that spinners are having such a massive impact on this competition. I must confess, though, that it's completely beyond me why the team management insists on playing Dirk Nannes ahead of Glenn McGrath.

The Chargers, in contrast to Delhi, finished at the bottom of last year's IPL and weren't given much of a chance when IPL 2 kicked off. Ironically, they did poorly last year when they were expected to do well, but are now finally beginning to live up to their original reputation. They don't have two of their biggest stars, Andrew Symonds (who should become available after the Australia-Pakistan series ends) and Shahid Afridi, but aren't really missing them, thanks to the outstanding form of Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs and Rohit Sharma.

Their bowling, too, has been a revelation. Fidel Edwards has generated genuine pace and movement, and it's good to see R P Singh back among the wickets. After his matchwinning spells in England and Australia, RP should have been a regular in the Indian XI by now. Unfortunately, he suffered injury and loss of form. But a good show in South Africa should, hopefully, earn him a recall to Team India. Finally, Pragyan Ojha is once again showing that he's under-rated but highly effective. He manfully filled in for the injured Harbhajan Singh when India toured Lanka, comfortably outbowling his far more famous Lankan counterparts, and is doing a superb job for the Chargers.

Given the form of these two teams, they should at least make the semi-finals, after which it really boils down to who keeps his nerve better and gets the lucky beaks when they count. Who will be the other two teams in the final four? Well, mathematically every team still has a chance, but some are clearly better placed than others.

Mumbai Indians will have been stung by their loss to Chargers, but remain a well-balanced side, boasting Tendulkar, Jayasuriya, Duminy, Zaheer, Harbhajan and Malinga in their ranks. Chennai Super Kings have lost two hard-fought matches but are still a strong outfit though -- as skipper M S Dhoni has repeatedly pointed out -- they are being let down by their bowling at the death. It remains to be seen how Chennai will be affected by the abrupt exit of Andrew Flintoff, though sometimes the forced absence of an underperforming big name can actually help teams. Incidentally, one or two explosive knocks by Dhoni would certainly help the Super Kings, who are right now depending heavily on Hayden.

Rajasthan Royals have looked scratchy, but can't be ruled out as long as Warne keeps inspiring his team mates to punch well above their weight. Knight Riders have shown flashes of brilliance, but I wonder how much they're being affected by all the off-field controversies that have unfortunately surrounded the team this season. Punjab Kings XI are good enough to beat any team on their day, but seem to lack the bowling firepower to piece together a string of victories, and that could go against them in a format that puts a premium on consistency.

Finally, Royal Challengers. They began on a high note, thrashing the defending champs, but things have gone rapidly downhill from there. There were high hopes from Jesse Ryder and Kevin Pietersen, but Ryder has failed abjectly while Pietersen hasn't really done enough to justify his humungous paycheque. Also, happily for Rahul Dravid -- but unhappily for his team -- the Wall is about to become a father for the second time and will be absent for an indeterminate period. The irony of Royal Challengers depending so heavily on a man who was so viciously criticised last year is poignant, to put it mildly.

As I said at the start, there's still a lot of cricket left. And there's an additional factor worth considering. How will teams be affected when players start leaving (for the England-West Indies series) and start returning (from the Australia-Pakistan series)? Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab must definitely be looking forward to the return of Shane Watson and Brett Lee, respectively. Will they make a huge difference to their struggling teams? Watch this space!

Let me give you a clue . This Superstar was carted by Abhishek Nayar for three sixes in an over before AB de Villiers tore him apart in their Daredevils match .You guessed it right
Will Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, IPL’s two most expensive players, ever think of paying back 2 cents from their fat paychecks by performing for their teams ? Is it the weight of expectations or the mountain of money they will make from the league that has grounded them? Or has the can’t-be-away-from-my-wife-for-long bug struck Pietersen again like it did in the West Indies earlier this year?


Well, whatever might be the reason, the high-flying South African – err Englishman – needs to deliver fast, for we all know Vijay Mallya’s penchant for chopping and changing at the drop of a hat. The boss, as coach Ray Jennings calls him, was simply over the moon after the team won their first game. “Can the critics who ran down my team as the ‘Test’ squad now explain the success of Dravid and Kumble,” he asked? Never mind the fact that he himself wasn’t happy with the ‘Test’ squad.

Anyway, Mallya was terribly sure that the team is surely on it glorious path of the IPL DOOSRA unlike the test team last year . Alas, that wasn’t to be.

Pietersen’s compatriot and friend Flintoff (I assume they are still friends) is in no better situation, though he has fewer excuses than KP for his below-par performance. He is neither captaining the side, nor the pangs of homesickness get to him as quickly. Yet, he’s being taken to the cleaners by just about by anyone.

The management was even thinking of benching Flintoff (before he he helped himself with an injury ) for it would surely hurt to pay the kind of money Flintoff is getting for just warming the bench. They would rather make him sweat a little, if nothing else, to earn the fat purse.

Time is running out for the English stalwarts. They have just a few more matches before they head for national duties to actually earn the money they would be taking home.

If cricket is a religion, Sachin is God, a book is released on Sachin’s 36th birthday. The book is authored by two graduates of IIM-Ahmedabad, Vijay Santhanam and Shyam Balasubramaniam.


The book was unveiled in Mumbai by billiards ace Geet Sethi and former India Test skipper Nari Contractor today.

On this occasion, Geet Sethi said, “No need to ask, cricket is a religion in our country and Tendulkar is the epitome of it. There’s a huge visibility to Sachin, but I look beyond visibility. I look at his character and hunger (for the game)”.


Sethi paid glorious tributes to Tendulkar and questioned the title of the book itself.

In the mean time, Sachin celebrated his this day in Durban, South Africa with his IPL team. Chief of Indian selectors Krishnamachari Srikanth was also present on this occasion.

Image: Vijay Santhanam and Shyam Balasubramaniam's book If Cricket Is a Religion, Sachin Is God, which was released at Tendulkar's restaurant in Mumbai on Friday.

KP failed again to live up to the aura created around his name . His lesser know fellowmate Ravi Bopara blasted the Kings XI Punjab to a seven-wicket win over the Bangalore Royal Challengers in their IPL match at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead in Durban on Friday.


Bopara carved his way to 84 off 59 balls with four fours and five sixes as Punjab scored 173 for three to win the match with six balls remaining.

Bopara, who had opened the innings for his team, initially played a circumspect innings as he used up 46 balls to reach his half-century but the right-hander cut loose after reaching his landmark before being caught at midwicket by Jesse Ryder off the bowling of Jacques Kallis to leave Punjab needing 11 runs off 11 balls and in sight of victory.

Bopara shared in a third-wicket stand of 66 off 34 balls with Yuvraj Singh and fittingly it was Yuvraj who ended the match in some style by belting a Kallis delivery over long-off for six as Yuvraj ended unbeaten on 30 off 17 balls.

Punjab had made a steady start to their innings as Bopara and Karan Goel (19) put on 52 runs off 40 balls before Goel was run-out attempting a second run after a fine throw from Vinay Kumar at third-man.

Kumar Sangakkara chipped in with 26 off 18 balls before Bopara and Yuvraj took control of the match.

Earlier, Kallis brought up a half-century of his own before Yusuf Abdulla snared four wickets as the Bangalore posted 168 for nine.

Kallis was aggressive from the start of his innings and he reached his fifty off 28 balls before he was caught at deep midwicket off the bowling of left-arm swing bowler Abdulla for 62 off 46 balls with five fours and two sixes. Abdulla finished the innings with figures of four for 31 off four overs.

Kallis shared in a fifth-wicket stand worth 61 off 37 balls with Ross Taylor, who scored 35 runs off 22 balls, which gave the Bangalore innings some substance after Abdulla had made early inroads into their batting line-up.

Bangalore’s decision to bat after winning the toss looked a good one as they raced to 48 for one after 5.1 overs thanks to 32 off 21 balls from opening batsman Ryder.

Abdulla then initiated a Bangalore mini-collapse when he removed Ryder and Kevin Pietersen in the space of three balls to reduce Bangalore to 48 for three before Kallis and Taylor’s rescue act.

Abdulla added Taylor’s wicket to his match haul, when he had the batsman caught at deep square-leg, as Abdulla captured career-best twenty20 figures.

Left-arm paceman Irfan Pathan took two wickets in the last over of Bangalore’s innings as he finished with figures of three for 35 from four overs.