DIARY

I love making people smile: Whitney

He is the most hilarious man in the cricketing fraternity today and is the face of the ICL broadcasting crew. Mike has been going around the ground here at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium, interviewing players, fans, everyone else involved with the ICL – making them laugh in the process of course!

“I don’t mind getting in amongst the crowd, meeting people and having a lot of fun. I find India a very interesting place to be in. I find a lot of material here that I can have fun with. The people get really involved and everything is really exciting here.” Another of his exploits has been to roar along with the winning team at the end of every contest at the presentation ceremony.

“I have not been a part of any cricket broadcasting for a number of years now. This (ICL) is my first cricketing event since 1995,” says Whitney. He loves doing creative stuff which he claims not many others attempt. Like the other day, he wore the traditional Punjabi outfit and ‘did the banghra’ with the crew here. He says that “it is good when you laugh at yourself, because it brings a smile to others in the process.”

“Dean Jones rang me 6 or 7 weeks ago and said that we are sitting down and putting a commentary team. A couple of years ago I played in the world cup of Golfing cricketers. Kapil wanted me to come on board here and it has been a lot of fun.”

“There is too much of hate, anger, chaos and depression all over the television. My motive is to make people laugh and if I manage to do that, I feel I am doing my job.”
Whitney admitted that he was an aggressive bowler and had toned down a lot after hanging his boots from the sport. He gives viewers of the ICL more reasons to get glued to their television sets and it is almost impossible to imagine the telecast in the absence of his presence.

Nights at the circus

The ICL as packaged entertainment

From the time the Indian Cricket League was conceived, the question on everyone's lips was: will it grow or will it be stillborn? If one takes popularity as the yardstick, the grand finale on Sunday evening at the packed Tau Devi Lal Stadium would have put to rest all speculation. The stadium, which is about equidistant from both the Sector 16 ground in Chandigarh and the Punjab Cricket Association's stadium in Mohali, can normally accommodate around 6000, but that figure swelled to 10,000 for the final, with people thronging the railings of various stands, and packing themselves into the grass banks that ring the ground outside.

Subhash Chandra, the head of the Zee group, the league's backers, and Kapil Dev declared the inaugural edition a success as they unveiled plans for the future, but their smiling faces hid uncertainty. For the moment the matter of whether the public would recognise the ICL had been dispelled, but one question remains: did those people throng to the ground to witness a sporting spectacle, or was it the other delights on offer that sucked them in?

The verdict from Panchkula has been no different to those from other parts of the world when it comes to the carnival atmosphere of Twenty20. "Entertainment" was the most popular response if you asked young and old on Sunday for the reason for their attendance at the final. For his part, Kapil has no problems with that. "Sport to me is entertainment and I'll let the public decide what is good for them," he said. Then, in what seemed like an aside, but was delivered in seriousness, he added, "If the crowd would like horse-jumping or a dog show, we'll get them."

Of course, definitions of entertainment vary. For die-hard cricket fans the sight of Chris Cairns blasting sixes over the stands was a dream come true. For others it was the glitter, the dancing girls, the music. Young girls, not quite impressed with the ICL's line-up of players, came in to watch the final nevertheless, to experience something different. For them it was all about the festive spirit.

Shrieks, whistles and horns swept the stadium every time a performer stepped on to the stage. Tanushree Dutta, a former Miss India, now a Bollywood starlet, had the crowd's eyeballs glued to the big screen and stage during the final. On the preceding days, Bollywood beauties Kareena Kapoor, Malaika Arora Khan, and Yana Gupta, and popular singers Kailash Kher and Sukhwinder had performed before completely full to near-vacant stands.
If anything can grapple with the might of cricket in India, it is Bollywood. No wonder, then, that some in the BCCI took umbrage recently at Shahrukh Khan's turning up at Twenty20 games and ODIs, in what they saw as an attempt to promote his films using the cricket. The ICL, backed by Chandra's clout in Bollywood, brought the cast of the forthcoming Sunday - Ajay Devgan, Irrfan Khan, and Ayesha Takia - in for the final. Those three together may not have been able to match the star value of Khan, the reigning emperor of the Hindi movie industry, but Chandra understood that something was better than nothing.

The other stars who stole the show were the cheerleaders, referred to here as "dancing girls", none of them Indian. At the end of the evening, amid the Chennai Superstars' victory celebrations, one bunch of the girls happened to pass through the ground, moving to the other end. The crowd, which had been allowed inside the ring to mingle with the players, turned eagerly to the young women as they walked nervously past, in single file. Fortunately, there were bouncers on hand to see the girls across safe. The atmosphere had something of a college festival or a carnival about it.

It wasn't just the young who had been lured by the glitter and the razzmatazz. Families formed a big chunk of the crowd that braved the numbing cold to watch the Superstars put it across the Chandigarh Lions for the million-dollar prize.

Among the incentives was the fairly priced tickets. Engineering student Vikas Dhiman, a 21-year-old Panchkula native, got a free ticket along with the one he bought for Rs 100. On weekends, for Rs 150 one could watch two games. There were no restrictions on bringing bottles of water or other beverages into the stands. The usual red tape that exists at a regular cricket stadium in India was absent, and the crowd management was smooth, all of which served to make the spectator experience that much more comfortable.

Disappointingly for the organisers, though, by and large, except on the opening and closing days, the turnouts were sparse. Even if a fair number of the league games were played over weekends, and there were stars like Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Chris Cairns on view, the masses didn't pour in. Reportedly, most of those who did turn up were pass-holders from the Haryana Urban Development Authority, which rented the ground to the ICL, and friends and relatives of the various sponsors and organisers.

There may have been a yawning gap between what was on offer in Panchkula and the international Twenty20 experience, but those who did turn up seemed to enjoy themselves. Will they be back for another edition? Chances are, they will. As long as the entertainment is dished out, the actual cricket will not matter much. The curtains have just gone up on the ICL show.

Teams

Chandigarh Lions

Expect the Chandigarh Lions to gain the maximum amount of props, since the tournament is being played in the province of Panchkula, which is a neighbour to the great city of Chandigarh. A power-packed team will take to the field and offer terrific amusement to the crowds.

Their captain Chris Cairns - one of the most exhilarating cricketers of the 90s will look to lead from the front and pass on his proficiency to the talented young players in the team. The Kiwi all-rounder held the record for the maximum sixes in Test cricket for a long time, which clearly indicates the extent of his capability

Former India batsman Dinesh Mongia, one of the star batsmen of the team will help his team with his familiarity of the local conditions. New Zealand batsman Hamish Marshall will look to give his team the early impetus alongside former Pakistan opener Imran Farhat. The Lions have a couple of resourceful all-rounders in their team - South African Andrew Hall and Reetinder Singh Sodhi.

Kiwi fast bowler Daryll Tuffey will spearhead the bowling attack alongside Love Ablish and Gaurav Gupta. Hall, Cairns and Sodhi are also more than capable of sharing the new ball. Former India fast bowler Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who played a vital role for the national team during the 1983 World Cup triumph, will coach the Chandigarh Lions.

TEAM

Balwinder Sandhu(Coach)

Chris Cairns(Captain)

Amit Uniyal

Andrew Hall

Bipul Sharma

Darell Tuffey

Chetan Sharma

Dinesh Mongia

Gaurav Gupta

Hamish Marshall

Imran Farhat

Harpreet Singh

Ishan Malhotra

Karanveer Singh

Love Ablish

Manish Sharma

Rajesh Sharma

Reetinder Sodhi

Sarabjeet Singh(Wicket Keeper)

Sumit Kalia

TP Singh

Chennai Superstars

The Chennai Superstars possess perhaps the most compelling batting lineup in the tournament. Captain Stuart Law, a former Australian player and seasoned campaigner who has scored heaps of runs in England and Australia, was one of the pioneers of the Twenty20 format when it first began half a decade ago. The Superstars will be coached by former Australian great Michael Bevan – who is a connoisseur of the shorter version of the sport. Bevan will look to pass on his credible skills to his teammates.

Law will be ably supported by another T20 adept Aussie superstar Ian Harvey. The all-rounder was an integral component of the Australian teams which won the World Cup in 1999 and 2003. Harvey has reaped affluent success in England’s domestic T20 tournament, with both bat and ball.

The Superstars will also have in their outfit three solid left-handed batsmen in the middle order – Sri Lankan veteran Russel Arnold, former Indian batsmen Sridharan Sriram and Hemang Badani.

English wicket-keeper and Chris Read will feature as a useful lower-order batsman alongside all-rounder R Satish. Pakistan’s Shabbir Ahmed, former Indian bowler Thiru Kumaran and Jesurj will formulate the fast bowling attack.

TEAM

Maichael Bevan(Coach)

Stuart Law(Captain)

Chris Read(Wicket Keeper)

G Vignesh

Hemang Badani

Hemant Kumar

Ian Harvey

J. Harish

P. Vivek

R. Jesuraj

R. Sathish

Russel Arnold

Sanjeev Martin

Shabbir Ahmed

Sriram Sridaran

Syed Mohammad

Tamil Kumaran

Thiru Kumaran

V Devendra

Vasanth Sarvanan

Delhi Jets

On behalf of the capital of the nation, the Delhi Jets will bring to the ICL plenty of priceless experience from high profile international and domestic players. They will be captained by former Sri Lankan skipper Marvan Atapattu - who has amassed plenty of runs in all Test playing nations and will bring to the Jets all his know-how.

He will be competently supported by Pakistan opener Taufiq Umar, South African veteran Dale Benkenstein and Irish batsman Niall O'Brien. The Jets will be coached by former India all-rounder and national coach Madan Lal.

Yashpal Singh and Abbas Ali, two of the most prolific run-getters in the domestic circuit will put on view their talent in a superior stage, the new face of Indian cricket, the ICL. England old hand and wicket-keeper batsman Paul Nixon will bring his Twenty20 expertise into the team and will be supported by former India all-rounder JP Yadav to strengthen the lower-middle order.
Abhishek T and Shalabh Srivastav will share the new ball and will be supported by the spin duo of Abishek Sharma and Abhinav Bali.

Team

Madan Lal(Coach)

Marvan Atapattu(Captain)

Abbas Ali

Abhinav Bali

Abhishek Sharma

Abhishek Tamrakar

Abid Nabi Ahanger

JP Yadav

Dishat Yagnik

Dhruv Mahajan

Dale Belkenstein

Ali Murtaza

Neil O'Brien

Paul Nixon(Wicket Keeper)

Raghav Sachdev

Sachin Dholpure

Shalabh Srivastav

Taufiq Umar

T. Sudindra

Hyderabad Heroes

The city of the Nawabs, the flush architecture and multilingual culture has produced some fine cricketers in the times gone by. A strong faction of players will embody the Hyderabad Heroes during the foundational Indian Cricket League.
The Heroes will be led by Pakistan living legend Inzamam-ul-Haq and coached by former Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Moin Khan. They will also have in their regime versatile all-rounders of the caliber of Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood. Both Pakistani players are well known for their big hitting and abilities to swing the new ball.
One of the finest outfielders of the contemporary era, Chris Harris, will add more potency to the Heroes outfit. Harris has played some match-winning knocks for New Zealand over the years and his 'dibbly dobby' seamers can never be underestimated.
Nicky Boje, a fine left-arm orthodox bowler and belligerent lower-order batsman is another crucial member of the team that will vie to capture the inaugural ICL Twenty20 championship.
Talented young batsmen Ambati Rayudu and Anirudh Singh will add more firepower to the batting. Stuart Binny, son of former India all-rounder Roger Binny, will hope that the ICL is the perfect launching pad to exhibit his skills. Kaushik Reddy and Alfred Absolam will partner with Razzaq and Mahmood to comprise of the fast bowling attack.

Team

Moin Khan(Coach)

Inzamam Ul Haq(Captain)

Abdul Razzak

Alfred Absolom

Ambati Rayadu

Anirudh Singh

Azhar Mahmood

Chris Harris

Bheema Rao

Baburao Yadav

Ibrahim Khaleel(Wicket Keeper)

Inder Shekhar Reddy

Kaushik Reddy

Nicky Boje

PS Niranjan

Shashank Nag

Stuart Binny

Syed Shahbuddin

Vinay Kumar

Zakharia Zuffri

Kolkata Tigers

The Kolkata Tigers will be a force to reckon with during the introductory season of the Indian Cricket League. They have a cluster of versatile all-rounders and hard-hitting batsmen. The Tigers will be captained by former New Zealand batsman Craig McMillan.

T20 specialist and opening batsman Darren Maddy will open the batting and will have alongside him former India opener Deep Dasgupta. The Kolkata Tigers possess one of the biggest draws of the league – 1999 World Cup hero Lance Klusener, whose abilities the cricketing fraternity is very aware of. ‘Zulu’ is capable of single handedly taking the Kolkata Tigers to sensation.

The Tigers also have in their ranks former Sri Lanka all-rounder and leg spinner Upul Chandana, former India batsman Rohan Gavaskar and talented middle-order batsman Abishek JhunJhunwala. Ireland Boyd Rankin will lead the pace attack and will be supported by Abu Nacheem, Sayed Ahmed and Sujoy Tarafder.

TEAM

Daryll Cullinan(Coach)

Craig McMillan(Captain)

Sujay Tarafdar

Upul Chandana

Subhomoy das

Shiv Sagar Singh

Rohan Gavaskar

Parviz Aziz

Pritam Das

Rajiv Kumar

Syed Akhlakh Ahmed

Mihir Diwakar

Nantie Hayward

Lance Klusner

Deep Dasgupta(Wicket Keeper)

Darren Maddy

Boyd Rankin

Anshu Jain

Ali H Zaidi

Abu Nechim

Abhishek Jhunjhunwala

Mumbai Champs

The city that never sleeps has produced some of the finest cricketers in the history of Indian cricket. The Mumbai Champs will aspire to replicate these achievements and live up to tradition. They will be coached by Sandeep Patil and will be led by West Indian great Brian Lara when they compete for the coveted inaugural ICL Twenty20 Championships.

The Champs also have in their lineup New Zealand great Nathan Astle, who is one of the Black Caps’ most successful batsman of all-time, especially in the shorter version of the game. They also have the destructive English opening batsman Vikram Solanki and South African all-rounder Johan van der Wath in their star studded assemble.

Prolific run-scorers like Robin Morris and Dheeraj Jadhav are also an integral component of the Champs team. Jadhav has in the past come desperately close to representing the national team on a few occasions. Rakesh Patel, Anupam Sanklecha and South Africa’s Nantie Hayward will comprise of the pace battery.

TEAM

Sandeep Patil(Coach)

Brian Lara(Captain)

Anupam Sanklecha

Avinash Yadav

Dheeraj Jhadhav

Nathan Astle

Johan van der Wath

Kiran Powar

Mervin Dillon

Nikhil mandale

Pushkaraj Joshi

Rakesh Patel

Raneet Kirid

Raviraj Patil

Robin Morris

Shreyas Khanolkar

Sridher Iyer

Subhojit Paul(Wicket Keeper)

Suyash Burkal

Vikram Solanki