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The Great Indian Premier League

Billed as the biggest-ever cricketing extravaganza, the Indian Premier League is all set to kick off on April 18 in Bangalore.

The 44-day tournament, to be played on a home and away basis, will see the world’s top umpires and other officials too in action. All the 59 matches will be telecast at prime-time television for Indian audiences.
The IPL, considered to be BCCI's counter to the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), has gained tremendous momentum as organisers lured top international players with hefty pay packages.

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IPL auction changes Ishant's life for ever

Sydney: The morning after the Indian Premier League auction, when their phones did not stop ringing, most Indian cricketers stayed put in their hotel rooms and reflected on the seismic event which has changed their lives forever.

For long, they hankered with their board about suitable gradations and now an open market has reflected their true worth.

Or has it? For young Ishant Sharma fetched a price in the auction ($950,000) which outstripped the likes of Anil Kumble and Muthiah Muralitharan; Chaminda Vaas and Brett Lee; Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

Sharma, all of 6'4" and still growing, is not yet 20 and in five Tests and seven One-day internationals, has only 12 and eight wickets to boast. Yet his $950,000 is nearly twice the amount which his captain Anil Kumble has commanded.

Kumble has spent as many summers in the field as Sharma has seen in his young life. It is the brand value and saleability among youth, rather than quality and longevity, which has dictated the market.

Sharma, the success story of the present tour, is reaping beyond his wildest dreams. A destiny's child, he cooled his heels in the Melbourne Test despite picking a five-wicket haul in the previous game for India. Injury to Zaheer Khan marked his return in Sydney.

Kumble's words "Ek Aur Over Karega" in Perth when he clearly already had over bowled an over or two, was the cataclysmic moment of his life.

He kept getting the big wickets, Ricky Ponting all the time, and reviews only got better.

Javagal Srinath has no doubt Sharma was better than him at his age. He predicted the young Delhi fast bowler could be the best in the world in due course. Australian Damien Fleming had a similar refrain on the young beanpole of a bowler. Steve Waugh, Terry Alderman, Kapil Dev - everyone kept gushing and it seems all such praise was adding those extra thousands of dollars to his worth.

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The IPL schedule

The much-awaited Indian Premier League will kick off on April 18 in Bangalore with the match between Bangalore and Kolkata. Mumbai will host the semifinals and the final, which is scheduled for June 1.

April 18: Bangalore v Kolkata at Bangalore

April 19: Mohali v Chennai at Mohali and Delhi v Jaipur at Delhi

April 20: Mumbai v Bangalore at Mumbai; Kolkata v Hyderabad at Kolkata

April 21: Jaipur v Mohali at Jaipur

April 22: Hyderabad v Delhi at Hyderabad

April 23: Chennai v Mumbai at Chennai

April 24: Hyderabad v Jaipur at Hyderabad

April 25: Mohali v Mumbai at Mohali

April 26: Bangalore v Jaipur at Bangalore; Chennai v Kolkata at Chennai

April 27: Mumbai v Hyderabad at Mumbai; Mohali v Delhi at Mohali

April 28: Bangalore v Chennai at Bangalore

April 29: Kolkata v Mumbai at Kolkata

April 30: Delhi v Bangalore at Delhi.

May 1: Hyderabad v Mohali at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Kolkata at Jaipur

May 2: Chennai v Delhi at Chennai.

May 3: Hyderabad at Bangalore at Hyderabad; Mohali v Kolkata at Mohali

May 4: Mumbai v Delhi at Mumbai; Jaipur v Chennai at Jaipur

May 5: Bangalore v Mohali at Bangalore

May 6: Chennai v Hyderabad at Chennai

May 7: Mumbai v Jaipur at Mumbai

May 8: Delhi v Chennai at Delhi; Kolkata v Bangalore at Kolkata

May 9: Jaipur v Hyderabad at Jaipur

May 10: Bangalore v Mumbai at Bangalore; Chennai v Mohali at Chennai


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Tennis

Men's rankings
                                     
Men's ATP tour rankings, 28 Jan

  1 R Federer Swi    11 T Berdych Cze
  2 R Nadal Spa      12 A Murray GB
  3 N Djokovic Ser   13 M Baghdatis Cyp
  4 N Davydenko Rus  14 G Canas Arg
  5 D Ferrer Spa     15 JC Ferrero Spa
  6 A Roddick US     16 C Moya Spa
  7 R Gasquet Fra    17 T Robredo Spa
  8 M Youzhny Rus    18 JW Tsonga Fra
  9 J Blake US       19 PH Mathieu Fra
 10 D Nalbandian Arg 20 L Hewitt Aus
                     
Other British players:
187 A Bogdanovic   366 J Goodall
238 J Baker        414 A Slabinsky
290 T Henman       486 L Childs
346 R Bloomfield   507 M Kasiri
                    

                                      
Men's ATP tour race, 28 Jan

 1 N Djokovic Ser   11 N Davydenko Rus
 2 JW Tsonga Fra    12 A Murray GB
 3 R Nadal Spa      13 J Blake US
 4 R Federer Swi    14 M Cilic Cro
 5 M Youzhny Rus    15 M Llodra Fra
 6 P Kohl'ber Ger   16 S Wawrinka Swi
 7 J Nieminen Fin   17 L Hewitt US
 8 D Ferrer Spa     18 T Berdych Cze
 9 JC Ferrero Spa   19 PH Mathieu Fra
 10 D Tursunov Rus  20 R Gasquet Fra
                     
* no other British players ranked

Womens's Ranking

                                      
Women's WTA rankings, 28 Jan

 1 J Henin Bel      11 E Dement'va Rus
 2 A Ivanovic Ser   12 N Petrova Rus
 3 S Kuznetsova Rus 13 T Golovin Fra
 4 J Jankovic Ser   14 P Schnyder Swi
 5 M Sharapova Rus  15 N Vaidisova Cze
 6 V Williams US    16 D Safina Rus
 7 A Chakvet'ze Rus 17 S Peer Isr
 8 D Hantuchova Svk 18 A Mauresmo Fra
 9 M Bartoli Fra    19 S Bammer Aut
10 S Williams US    20 A Szavay Hun
                   
British players:
123 K O'Brien      213 M South
135 A Keothavong   270 S Borwell
168 E Baltacha     356 A Fitzpatrick
190 N Cavaday      385 G Stoop

                                      
Women's WTA tour race, 28 Jan

 1 M Sharapova Rus  11 N Li Chn
 2 A Ivanovic Ser   12 V Azarenka Blr
 3 J Henin Bel      13 K Srebotnik Slo
 4 J Jankovic Ser   14 S Peer Isr
 5 D Hantuchova Svk 15 F Schiavone Ita
 6 N Vaidisova Cze  16 L Davenport US
 7 S Kuznetsova Rus 17 SW Hsieh Tpe
 8 A Radwanska Pol  18 M Domacho'ka Pol
 9 V Williams US    19 C Dellacqua Aus
 10 V Villiams US   20 M Kirilenko Rus
                    21 A Rezai Fra

* no British players ranked

Football

Beckham (right) played under Capello at Real Madrid

Beckham left out of England squad

David Beckham has been left out of Fabio Capello's first England squad to play Switzerland on 6 February।

It means Beckham will be left still searching for his 100th cap, although Capello has not fully closed the door on the 32-year-old former captain।

Capello, who also dropped Beckham at Real Madrid, is thought to have had doubts over his match fitness।

The Italian will name his provisional party at 1530 GMT on Thursday, with the final squad announced on Saturday।

Beckham has not played a competitive game since England's Euro qualifying defeat by Croatia on 21 November.
However, Beckham has been training at Arsenal and told BBC World in Brazil on Tuesday that he "is as fit as I can be। I'm fit and sharp and I'm ready to be selected".

The midfielder, who had been in the resort city of Natal to announce plans to expand his soccer academy, also posed for the cameras showing off his footwork skills on a beach.

But Capello does not appear to share Beckham's view and can point to the fact that Beckham's LA Galaxy side have not played competitively since their MLS season ended last October।

Beckham will now have to wait to join Peter Shilton, Bobby Moore, Sir Bobby Charlton and Billy Wright in the exclusive club of players with 100 caps।

Or indeed face up to the distinct possibility he may not play for England again।

Capello also has to make a decision on the issue of who will be captain, something which the 61-year-old has given paramount importance to.
"There are many things I have to evaluate and I must come up with a choice that is right," said the Italian।

"A captain must be a leader, someone who carries the team, somebody that in every moment is important for the team।"

Chelsea centre-back John Terry, likely to miss the friendly because of injury, was the leader of choice under McClaren, but Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has given his endorsement to Rio Ferdinand, while Liverpool's Steven Gerrard will also be in the running।

There is also the issue about who will be Capello's number one goalkeeper, with Tottenham's Paul Robinson, Aston Villa's Scott Carson, West Ham's Robert Green, Portsmouth's David James and the uncapped Joe Hart of Manchester City all in the frame।

Meanwhile, other players understood to be in the running for a place in the final squad include Blackburn midfielder David Bentley, Reading striker Dave Kitson and Aston Villa winger Ashley Young।

FA boss expresses England fears

Football Association boss Brian Barwick admits he is worried the pool of talent available to England boss Fabio Capello is not as well-stocked as it should be.

In an interview with BBC sports editor Mihir Bose, Barwick said: "We do have good players, but we don't have 50, 60, 70 players to pick from any more।"

Barwick also felt the Premier League should be helping redress the balance।
"The Premier League is a great league but it has a responsibility to deliver some good players to the FA," he said।

Barwick said it was important for the health of the game in this country to have a flourishing national side.

"A great England team is great for English football right across the piece," he said.

The Premier League responded to Barwick's comments by claiming they already invested a lot of time and resources in developing England stars of the future।

"The clubs are intellectually and financially committed to producing home-grown players," said Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson.

"Over £40m a year is invested by Premier League clubs in youth development, but also it's about standards of coaching, it's about grass-roots as well।

"We're working with the FA to ensure the coaching certificates and the coaches that they are responsible for, as well as the raw materials that come into the academies, are up to scratch."

Barwick raised his concerns about the national side as he celebrated his third anniversary as the FA's chief executive।

It is also less than a week until Capello leads England out for the first time following his appointment as Steve McClaren's successor.

Switzerland will provide the opposition at Wembley on Wednesday as the 61-year-old Italian attempts to resurrect England's fortunes following their failure to qualify for this year's European Championships।

Barwick admits it is frustrating to see the England team struggle at a time when the Premier League is prospering.

"It's something of a dilemma for us," he said। "Are there enough English players? There aren't the same number of English players, that's for certain। We have to sort it out।

"Some of the top teams have less English players in them than foreign players. That's just the way the game has gone.

"That's not to say the players we have can't deliver। It's about having the right situation in place for them to deliver।"